Day 1 of Basketball Champions League Qualification wrapped up / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

24 teams are attempting to qualify for the upcoming season's Basketball Champions League. They have been divided into four qualifying tournaments. The four winners of the Qualification Round tournaments will advance to the Regular Season, joining 28 teams that are already waiting for them.

On Monday, six qualification matches wrapped up the first day of the qualification. In the first game, Juventus Utena (Lithuania) defeated Kapfenberg Bulls (Austria) 90-68(20-15, 25-19, 22-20, 23-14).

Martynas Gecevicius had a game-high 19 points, adding 6 assists and 3 rebounds. Mindaugas Kupsas supplied 15 points and 12 rebounds. Their team will face Brose Bamberg (Germany) at the semi-final.

In the second match, KK Split (Croatia) locked down AEK Larnaca (Cyprus) 65-50 (13-11, 15-12, 13-16, 24-11).

Karlo Zganec led his team with 15 points and 8 boards, while Toni Perkovic added 13 points and 5 rebounds. Split is set to take on Fribourg Olympic (Switzerland).

Moving on, ZZ Leiden (Netherlands) edged out Belfius Mons (Belgium) 76-74 (21-21, 17-18, 14-20, 24-15).

Asbjorn Midtgaard was the leading scorer for Leiden with 22 points and 4 rebounds. Worthy de Jong contributed 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. Their team will challenge Tsmoki Minsk (Belarus) at the semi-final.

BC Kalev/Cramo (Estonia) have also advanced to the next round by defeating Sporting CP (Portugal) 86-69 (20-18, 22-9, 23-14, 21-28), despite 27 points from Travante Williams.

Kamari Murphy had 15 points and 8 rebounds for Kalev, Kregor Kermet added 12. The Latvian-Estonian Basketball League Champions will take on Mornar Bar (Montenegro) next.

In a high-scoring affair, Cluj Napoca (Romania) beat Salon Vilpas (Finland) 106-97 (30-17, 18-31, 22-23, 36-26).

Patrick Richard helped his team win with 24 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. Stefan Bircevic aided with 17 points. The Romanian squad will face Peristeri (Greece) in the next round.

Finally, De'Longhi Treviso Basket (Italy) crushed London Lions (Great Britain) 89-62 (23-12, 19-15, 22-19, 25-16).

Henry Sims led the Italians with 16 points and 6 boards. Giordano Bortolani added 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Treviso will take on Bakken Bears (Denmark) next.

Two more qualification matches will be played today. Lukoil Levski (Bulgaria) will challenge Prometey (Ukraine), and Parma Perm (Russia) will take on Hapoel Eliat (Israel). The qualification stage will run through September 17.

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