Brian Greene - Spirou Basket See Slide Show!!

Alba, Khimki,Le Mans and Spirou win openers!
The second phase of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds began on Tuesday with three home teams and one road warrior punching out opening-night wins! Each will have to defend those results and victory margins when their series go to the opponents' home courts for the second and final game on Friday. No doubt the team with the biggest edge coming out of Tuesday is Khimki Moscow Region, which routed host Budivelnik 58-87 on the road in Ukraine as Keith Langford once again led the way with 16 points. Khimki was followed by three home winners. Spirou Basket downed Unics 75-69 in Charleroi, Belgium to set up an intriguing re-match in Kazan, Russia on Friday. Brent Wright led Spirou to victory with 19 points. In the German capital of Berlin, meanwhile, host Alba outlasted visiting Hemofarm Stada by 73-67 behind 15 points from Marko Marinovic. Alba led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter before Hemofarm rallied to cut the difference before heading home to Vrsac, Serbia for Friday's decider. And, in an all-French showdown, host Le Mans downed visiting Asvel 85-75 in a game that was tied until late in the final quarter. Le Mans got 18 points from big man J.P. Batiste and has the shortest trip of all Tuesday's winners before the rematch on Friday in Lyon, France. The winners of these four series will face off in the last of the qualifying rounds next week to see which two survive to reach the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season!

Julius Jenkins - Alba Berlin See Slide Show!!

Alba, Le Mans, Khimki, Spirou advance!
The Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds are down to four teams fighting next week for two places in the continent's top competition. The second phase of qualifying concluded on Friday with appropriate dramatics as three out of four two-game series were decided by a basket or less. The only team to win both games of its series was Khimki Moscow Region, which defeated Budivelnik 74-67 behind 14 points from Keith Langford. Khimki won the series by 36 total points. The others could not have been closer as three road teams lost but succeeded - just barely - in protecting their victory margins from earlier in the week. For Spirou Basket lost by 75-71 at Unics Kazan in Russia, but 3 late triples by Demond Mallet and Chris Hill meant a two-point victory in the series. Spirou had won their first game by 6. It was even more dramatic for Alba Berlin, which lost 78-73 to Hemofarm Stada in Vrsac, Serbia, but survived that series by a single point on a Julius Jenkins triple with 2 seconds left. Alba had trailed by 10 entering that game's final minute. And finally, in all-French battle to finish the phase, Le Mans fell to host Asvel 71-63 but protected its 10-point win from the first game thanks in part to Antoine Diot scoring 18 points, many down the stretch. While the losers in those series will play in the 2010-11 Eurocup Regular Season, the winners face off in the third and last of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds next Tuesday and Friday. It's Alba-Spirou and Khimki-Le Mans next week to reach the Euroleague! In one series, it's Khimki vs. Le Mans, with the Russian powerhouse enjoyed the advantage of playing Game 2 on Friday at home. In the other series, Alba vs. Spirou, it's the German club that has the same advantage.