Spanish Cup semifinals
Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas rallied from a 19-point third quarter deficit to beat Dominion Bilbao Basket 71-81 and reach its first ever Spanish Cup finals where it will play either Real Madrid or Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz which play later on Saturday. Gran Canaria scored 33 fourth quarter points, and outscored Bilbao 16-45 over the span of the final 14 minutes. Clevin Hannah and Dairis Bertans both made three three-pointers, and scored 13 points each in the first half, helping Bilbao build 46-34 advantage at halftime. Margin increased to 55-36 after 26 minutes of play, but Gran Canaria finished the third quarter on a 0-12 run fueled by Albert Oliver. Three consecutive triples from Pablo Aguilar, Kevin Pangos and Sasu Salin tied it at 62-62, and another triple, this one from Eulis Baez with 4:25 to go made it 63-67. In key moments Baez also grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds, then another triple to make it 69-75 with 1:43 left, paving way to victory. Oliver led the way with 18 points, Salin netted 12, while Baez finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds in victory. Hannah scored 20, Alex Mumbru had 17, and Bertans remained at 13 points in defeat.
Italian Cup semifinals
Sidigas Avellino is the first finalist of the Italian Cup after pulling out a thrilling 69-71 semifinals win over Dolomiti Energia Trento on Saturday in Mediolanum Forum in Milan. Avellino will play either the tourney host EA7 Emporio Armani Milan or Vanoli Cremona in Sunday’s final. Trento led 28-22 late in the second quarter, but Avellino finished first half on a 2-12 run capped by back-to-back threes from Benas Veikalas and Marques Green, making it 30-34 at halftime. Back-to-back threes from Totto Forray tied it at 38-38 early in the third, and teams continued trading leads and baskets as the game went down to the wire. Trento had 60-57 with 7 minutes to go, but big man Ivan Buva strung together 9 straight points, and single-handedly put Avellino in front 63-67. Julian Wright scored twice from close range to tie things up at 69-69 with 31 seconds to go, but Riccardo Cervi drove to the hoop and drew a foul, making both free throws 4.1 seconds before the final buzzer. Trento did not manage to take the last shot, as Avellino made it to the Cup finals for the first time since it won the competition in 2008. Cervi finished with 19 points, as did Buva, while Green had 10 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Wright and Forray scored 15 apiece for Trento.
German Cup semifinals
Two teams that will go at each other in the Eurocup eighthfinals, FC Bayern Munich and ALBA Berlin, will square off in the finals of the German Cup on Sunday. It will be first of four games between two teams over the next two weeks, because Bayern and Alba will play each other in the German League action next weekend, too. In Saturday’s thrilling semifinals, in a hard-fought game in which neither team had lead bigger than 7 points, FC Bayern Munich held off Brose Baskets Bamberg 79-86 on home floor of Audi Dome. Bayern reached its first German Cup final in the Top Four era, and will contend for its first Cup title in 48 years. There was a lot more drama in the second semifinal, as Jordan Taylor hit a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds to go to lift ALBA Berlin 79-76 over Fraport Skyliners.
Bamberg and Bayern changed leads eight times in the first two quarters, before Janis Strelnieks scored 8 points in the final 3 minutes of the second quarter to give Bamberg 39-38 at halftime. Bayern re-took slim lead and held it for most of the third quarter, but after 46-50, Nikos Zisis and Daniel Theis combined to score 13 points for Bamberg late in the third and at the start of the fourth quarter, before Bradley Wanamaker made it 61-57. Threes from Zisis and Darius Miller opened 69-64, but Justin Cobbs from downtown and Bryce Taylor with a three-point play tied the game, before Deon Thompson’s put-back dunk put Bayer back in front with 3 minutes to go, 71-73. Dusko Savanovic scored from close range, Taylor stole the ball under Bamberg’s basket, and Thompson’s score inside to open 73-78 with 76 seconds to go, and the hosts held on to the lead to start big celebrations in Audi Dome. Thompson and Savanovic each finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds, while Cobbs had 9 points and 6 assists. Zisis netted 15 points for Bamberg, and Strelnieks finished with 13 points in defeat.
ALBA needed to win in a thriller despite leading for majority of the night. A 15-2 run at the start of the second quarter put ALBA in front 25-20. However, the Berliners never had lead bigger than 8 points, 66-58 early in the fourth. That is when Jordan Theodore hit a triple to spark Skyliners’ run, and Johannes Voigtmann hit from long range to give them 71-72 entering the final 2 minutes. Taylor hit his first triple to make it 74-72, but Theodore’s three with 12 seconds to go tied it at 76-76. After a timeout, Taylor took the ball again and pulled up from way downtown and buried it with 1.1 seconds to go, sending ALBA into finals. Dragan Milosavljevic hit 5-for-8 from three-point range to pace the winners with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Elmedin Kikanovic scored 17, and Taylor finished with 12 points and 8 assists. Theodore netted 22 in defeat.
Lithuanian Cup semifinals
Arch-rivals Zalgiris Kaunas and Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius will face off in the Lithuanian Cup finals in the Siemens Arena in Vilnius after registering big semifinal wins on Saturday. Zalgiris trailed at halftime before pulling away in the second half to down Vytautas Prienai 90-67. Led by Laimonas Kisielius and Paulius Ivanauskas, Vytautas took the lead in the first half, led by as many as 7 points (27-34), and held a slim 39-40 margin at the break. Teams traded blows in the third quarter, before Zalgiris ended the quarter with a 12-3 run, then behind Martynas Pocius, Renaldas Seibutis and Edgaras Ulanovas pulled away to 75-60 in the fourth. Another 10-1 run opened 85-61 lead as Pocius finished with 17 points and 6 rebounds, and Ulanovas scored 14 in Zalgiris victory. Kisielius had 26 points, and Ivanauskas hit 5 of 6 triples for 19 points in defeat.
In the second semi, Lietuvos Rytas led from start to finish in thrashing of Neptunas Klaipeda 97-79. Rytas opened the game with an 8-1 lead, and the margin grew by the end of first 10 minutes to 38-21. Neptunas never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way. Rytas held 60-41 at halftime, and after Neptunas closed within 60-48 in the third quarter, Rytas answered with 6 consecutive points in going on a 21-5 spurt, breaking the game wide open and going into the fourth quarter with insurmountable 86-56 margin. Six different players scored in double figures, led by 15 points from Marius Runkauskas and 14 from Arturas Gudaitis.
Polish Cup semifinals
For second consecutive year Stelmet Zielona Gora and Rosa Radom will meet in the final of the Polish Cup. In the semifinals on Saturday, Zielona Gora routed Anwil Wloclawek 87-59 to get a chance to defend the title it won last year. Przemyslaw Zamojski and Vlad Moldoveanu fueled a 17-2 run early in the game that gave Zielona Gora 21-7 lead in the first quarter, and the margin increased to 40-19 with 4 minutes to go in the second. Anwil did come within 8 points midway through the third quarter after a 1-9 spurt, but Mateusz Ponitka hit a three-pointer and scored 9 points before the end of the quarter as Zielona Gora went up 67-48 and cruised the rest of the way. Zamojski finished with 20 points, Mateusz Ponitka scored 16, while Dejan Borovnjak and Adam Hrycaniuk scored 10 apiece in victory. Rosa Radom defeated Energa Czarni Slupsk 81-70 thanks to outscoring its opponent 49-23 in the middle two quarters. It helped Rosa Radom build 67-48 lead going into the fourth quarter, and comfortably close out the game as Daniel Szymkiewicz netted 18 points, and C.J. Harris had 16 in victory which allows Rosa Radom to play for its first Cup title on Sunday.