Akasvayu Girona pounded Spirou Charleroi 92-72 on Tuesday night to wrap up first place in Group C and a top seed in the upcoming elimination rounds draw. Week 8 MVP Jackson Vroman had another big night with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals and the never-ending Darryl Middleton scored in double figures for the second straight week as the hosts improved to 7-2. Because Hemofarm Stada, which entered the evening tied with Akasvayu for the group lead, was upset by Hanzevast, it allowed Akasvayu to take care of business with one game remaining in the regular season. Meanwhile Charleroi’s chances of playing beyond next week ended with the loss. The tide of the game turned during a 17-3 second-period run, which the 41-year-old Middleton led with 8 points. Middleton finished with 16 points and 6-of-7 shooting for the home team, Marc Gasol added 14 points, Jarod Stevenson had 10 and newcomer Maurice Whitfield celebrated his debut with 9. Tremmell Darden paced Charleroi with 16, Christophe Beghin added 14, Jonathan Tabu had 10 and Andre Riddick finished with 8 points.

Akasvayu got on the board first via a Gasol free throw and soon led 6-2 on Vroman’s first bucket. The hosts looked ready to pull away, but Darden finished the quarter with a pair of baskets in a 1-6 spurt to make it 19-17 after 10 minutes. Beghin continued the visitor’s momentum when he tied the game with the first basket of the second period. But that would be the end of the line for Charleroi. Stevenson sank a basket and a triple as the hosts scored the next 9 points during a 17-3 run to give Akasvayu a commanding 36-22 lead. Middleton scored 8 during that charge. Baskets by Riddick and Tabu did little to help the visitors as the halftime score settled at 43-27. Four points by Beghin and a Justin Hamilton free throw made it 50-41 midway through the third period, however that was as close as Charleroi would get. Vroman scored thrice from the line, Stevenson hit another three and Branko Cvetkovic did the same and Roman Montanez added two threes as the lead swelled to 65-49 at the end of the third period. The best efforts of Beghin and Tabu weren’t enough to get closer than 10 the rest of the way as Akasvayu held on for a big win that may lead to bigger things to come.