BC Budivelnik Kiev came back from a double-digit deficit to down Banvit BK Bandirma 76-69 and pick up an important victory in the opening game of Eurocup Last 16 Group I. Banvit led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, however, Budivelnik crawled back to take its first lead at the end of third. The hosts then hit 4 of their 10 three-pointers in the final 10 minutes. Three triples at the start of the fourth, two from Sergiy Gorbenko and one from George Tsintsadze, put Budivelnik in control, and another triple from Tsintsadze with 35 seconds remaining sealed the win. Leo Lyons had 15 points plus 9 rebounds in victory while Dainius Salenga scored 14 points. Tsintsadze netted 12, Malcolm Delaney had 11 points, while Artur Drozdov grabbed 10 rebounds along with 4 points for Budivelnik. Chuck Davis scored game-high 21 points for Banvit, Sammy Mejia scored 13 and Vladimir Stimac chipped in with 10 in defeat.

Stimac opened the game with three baskets in a row, giving Banvit the lead from the get-go, while Lyons got the hosts going. Mejia and Kenan Bajramovic added to Banvit’s lead, before Kalin Lucas hit a three-pointer making it 6-13. Budivelnik had an answer in Salenga who first hit a jumper, then made layups at the end of the first quarter as well as to start the second for 14-15. After Salenga hit 6 in a row for the hosts, Davis strung together 8 consecutive points for Banvit, extending the lead to 16-23. Lyons answered with a triple, later added a layup to his tally, but Mejia’s jumper and two more layups from Stimac kept the margin intact before Davis made it 23-33. Budivelnik cut it closer with baskets from Delaney and Michalis Anisimov, but Lucas and Keith Simmons answered right back to restore a 10-point lead. To close out the first half, Delaney hit a pair of free throws, making it 31-39 at the break.

Lyons hit a three-pointer and Anisimov added a layup to help the hosts get a jump-start in the third quarter. After Mejia hit a jumper, Salenga made a layup-plus-foul for 39-42, sparking a spurt during which Delaney sank a triple and Lyons scored a layup for the first tie in the game, 44-44. Inside baskets from Bajramovic and Izzet Turkyilmaz kept Banvit in the slim lead, while Frank Robinson hit a triple and a put-back for Budivelnik. After Erdogan and Sergiy Gorbenko traded three-pointers, Salenga made a shot from downtown to give the hosts their first lead, 57-54 at the end the third quarter. At the start of the fourth, Gorbenko hit back-to back threes to make it a 7-point game, and George Tsintsadze hit one from long distance for 68-60. The visitors answered through Davis and Mejia, cutting the deficit to 3 points, before Artur Drozdov made a layup for 71-66. There was no quit in Banvit as Mejia hit a three-pointer, but Tsintsadze capitalized on an offensive rebound, hitting a three-pointer for another 5-point lead. That turned out to put the game out of Banvit’s reach, as Delaney rounded out the scoring in a big opening win for Budivelnik.