Banvit does it job, needs help to advance

Banvit Bandirma beat the first place Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem 93-79 on Wednesday, and now can only wait for other to do the job for them. Win improved Banvit to 3-3 in Group M, and in order to advance to the eighthfinals it will need Union Olimpija Ljubljana to defeat Budivelnik Kiev later on Wednesday. Hapoel already clinched the first place, and finished the Last 32 with 4-2 record. Banvit took control early, building a double-digit lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Hapoel cut within 6 points on several occasions, but that’s the closest they got. Keith Simmons paced the winners with 21 point, Earl Rowland finished with 20 plus 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Klemen Prepelic netted 12, and Cevher Ozer added 11 in victory. Bracey Wright scored 17 in defeat, while Artsiom Parakhouski collected 16 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. Josh Duncan had 15, and Ronald Dupree 13 points for the visitors.

Aminu Alade dominated inside early, grabbing a pair of off rebounds for put-backs. Simmons hit one triple, Sammy Mejia dished assists and had a basket-plus-foul, while Rowland scored twice as the hosts built 20-8 after only 7 minutes. Back-to-back triples from Dupree and Duncan got Hapoel going, as it halved the deficit, but a triple from Prepelic ended the first quarter 26-17. Teams traded baskets in the second, with another Prepelic triple helping extend it to 33-21. A layup and a fastbreak dunk from Duncan got Hapoel closer. Parakhouski had a pair of baskets for the visitors, but Simmons nailed a triple and a pair of jumpers for 44-33. A three from Ozver helped the hosts to a 14-point margin, but Yotam Halperin buried a last second three-pointer for 51-40 halftime score.

Teams went basket-for-basket in the third, with Ozer and Simmons each hitting a triple for Banvit, while Wright and Parakhouski had a pair of buckets apiece on the other end. But triples from Ozer and Prepelic, with a fastbreak dunk from Rowland sandwiched in between, opened 71-52 lead. Hapoel answered with a 0-11 run sparked with Halperin's three-pointer, and Wright made it 75-65 after three quarters. At the start of the fourth, however, it was all about Banvit's defense not allowing a single field goal for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, Rowland had a triple and finished a fast break with a layup for 84-67. Rowland's triple couple minutes later made it 89-69, before downtown shots from Wright and Michael Bruesewitz trimmed the deficit in the final minutes of the game.