Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir moved a step closer to reaching the Last 32 of the Eurocup with a 91-87 home victory over CSU Asesoft Ploiesti in Group E. Pinar nearly let slip a 13-point fourth quarter lead, but held on as Bobby Dixon poured in 28 points and Esteban Batista collected 15 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal in helping Karsiyaka improve to 5-2 in the group. Mutlu Demir added 13 points, Baris Hersek scored 12 points and Leo Lyons chipped in 11 points in the win. Ploiesti had a 24-point showing from Gerald Lee in losing its fourth straight game and dropping to 2-5. Rawle Marshall added 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals while Dragan Zekovic and Christopher Dunn both had 12 points and Alhaji Mohammed scored 10 points.

Dixon hit an early three-pointer in opening a 5-0 lead. Marshall’s three-point play got Ploiesti on the board at 5-3. Dixon nailed another long ball and helped push the Karsiyaka advantage to 16-8. CSU Asesoft cut the gap to 17-12 but Lyons scored four points and Dixon nailed another trey in an 11-3 run for a 28-15 lead. The cushion was 28-18 after one quarter. Demir opened the second quarter with a three-point play to re-establish the 13-point lead. The gap was still 37-26 when Marshall knocked down a three-ball and had two assists and Lee scored two baskets in a 0-9 run to cut the game to 37-35. Hersek answered with four points and Dixon scored another basket to make it 46-39 at the break. Dixon got the lead up to 49-39 before Marshall and Lee cut it back to 49-47. Dunn tied the game at 52-52 on a technical foul free throw and Mohammed made it 52-53. Hersek helped get the margin to 59-55 but Zekovic nailed a triple late to tie it back up at 62-62 and the score was 64-64 after three quarters. Karsiyaka started the fourth quarter on an 18-5 run with Jon Diebler nailing two three-pointers, Dixon hitting one and Demir converting a three-point play as the lead was 82-69 with 3:46 left to play. Filip Adamovic drained a three-ball to start a frantic Ploiesti comeback, which included a trey by Zekovic and two long balls by Dunn to make it 88-85 with 21 seconds left. After Diebler missed two foul shots, Marshall hit just one of two from the line to make it a two-point game. Can Altintig split two free throws with 12 seconds remaining for the hosts, but Dunn hit just one of two as well to make it 89-87 with 9 seconds to play. Hersek, however, made two foul shots with seven seconds remaining to ice the game.