FIBA Europe Cup Semifinals Underway

The FIBA Europe Cup got underway on Wednesday night and s.Oliver Wuerzburg and Banco di Sardegna Sassari managed to claim upset victories over their respective opponents in Game 1 to swing the homecourt advantage in their favor.

Hapoel Holon 89-94 Banco di Sardegna Sassari

This was an exciting game with more than its fair share of back-and-forth lead changes as both teams proved to be quite evenly matched. Things would change in the fourth quarter, however, as Sassari turned things around for a dominant performance to outscore Holon 17-26 to emerge victorious in the end.

Rashawn Thomas came through for Sassari, dropping 21 points, three 3-pointers, seven rebounds and four assists. Achille Polonara chipped in 17 points of his own. Their team effort overcame a game-high 26 points from Holon’s Corey Walden.

Unet Holon will have to reassess and study what went wrong during their late-game implosion as they head to Italy for the next game for a do-or-die game.

Openjobmetis Varese 66-89 s.Oliver Wuerzburg

This game was all about Wuerzburg being in control of the game from start to finish. They outgunned their hosts thanks to some unselfish basketball with their 22-14 advantage in the assists category. They also made 13-of-31 3-point shots compared Varese’s 9-for-32 outing from long range.

Jordan Hulls and Cameron Wells led the way for Wuerzburg with 19 and 18 points, respectively.

Varese will need to come up big if they want a shot at advancing to the FIBA Europe Cup finals.