Cedevita assured itself at least a share of third place in Group B halfway through the Eurocup Regular Season when it took out injury-plagued host Elan Chalon-sur-Saone 65-80 on the road Tuesday. Cedevita raised its record to 3-2, a victory behind co-leaders Bilbao Basket and EWE Baskets Oldenburg, while 2-2 Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari plays Wednesday. Cedevita made its move with a 1-11 run bridging the first two quarters and protected the lead against understaffed Chalon the rest of the way. Nolan Smith again led the inners with 16 points, while Miro Bilan had 12, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Goran Suton added 11 points, Luka Babic and newly signed Ray Allen 10 each for Cedevita. Ilian Evtimov and AJ Slaughter each scored 14 points for Chalon, with Clint Capela adding 12, Jordan Aboudou 11 and Steed Tchicamboud 10.

Evtimov's 2 three-pointers had Chalon tied 8-8 midway through the quarter when, after more than 3 scoreless minutes for both teams, Suton ignited a 1-9 run that ended on Smith's dunk with Cedevita up 9-17. Babic's dunk to open the second quarter made it a double-digit lead for the visitors before Evtimov hit 2 more three-pointers to keep Chalon within 19-24. The difference was still 5 when Ivan Ramljak, from downtown, and Bilan, at the rim, restored a 24-34 Cedevita advantage. Aboudou and Tchicamboud cut by half, to 29-34, with the last 5 points before the break. The same duo let Chalon get as close as 34-36 right after halftime, but Cedevita reacted with a 0-10 blast with 4 points by Nolan for a 34-46 advantage. Chalon couldn't resist as 2 three-pointers by Babic quickly made it 38-54 and Cedevita went on to lead 44-56 after 30 minutes. The visitors were content to trade baskets in the fourth quarter, but when the lead dropped to 11 points, Allen drilled a triple to spark a 2-9 run with 4 points by Suton to put the game out of reach and send Cedevita home with a key victory.