FIBA Basketball Champions League: qualifiers continue

The FIBA Basketball Champions League is entering its second season and the qualification rounds are underway. Over the last few days, the first leg of the Qualifying Round has been played out across Europe.

Global Basketball’s governing body has created a successful competition in the FIBA Basketball Champions League. The tournament gives lesser teams around Europe the chance to play continental hoops besides other competitions and organizations like EuroLeague and EuroCup.

Some of the first leg games got underway on Wednesday. In the first leg of qualifiers on Thursday, teams started their quest to reach the competition proper:

CSU Sibiu – BK Pardubice 78-79

Pardubice holds a slender one-point advantage after downing Sibiu in leg one. However, the team will be at home next week and will be confident of picking up a victory to progress. Jackson Kent paced the win with an excellent 25 points for Pardubice. A 29-17 run in the third act largely pushed the team to success.

Boras – Kormend 61-78

Kormend put a very big foot into the Champions League with a commanding road win over Boras. The team now holds a huge 17-point lead heading into the second leg at home. Kormend controlled large parts of the game and cruised to victory on 21 points from Eric Fanning, while also chipped in with 6 rebounds.

Parma – Rabotnicki 88-63

Parma is another team that looks to be heading to the next round after a cruising victory over Rabotnicki. The team holds a 25-point cushion and even thought Parma plays away in the second leg, the deficit appears to be too much, barring a Rabotnicki miracle. Travis Taylor topped the winners with 21 points and 8 boards.