Canadians In Europe: March 29th - April 2nd

An important week in both the FIBA Champions League and Euroleague, where each team played twice, notable for a lot of clubs get the results that would guarantee them a place in the next phase of their respective competitions.

Euroleague

Dyshawn Pierre was the best off the bench for Fenerbahce, scoring nine points as his team held on to a slender lead against Bayern Munich. Midway through the game their inside shooting saw that small lead climb to twelve points while Bayern’s three-point shooters could only limit the damage they were facing.

Led by 21 points from Nando De Colo, Fenerbahce chalked up another win, 77 points to 68 over the German team. A few days later they looked to continue that win streak against FC Barcelona, but early three-point shooting success put the Spanish club in front at the end of the first quarter, which saw seven lead changes.

Pierre this time had ten points off the bench while his team mate Marko Guduric led all scorers with 19, but a concentrated low post effort kept Barcelona in control at the business end of the game. Fenerbahce may have dropped this game 82-73, but had already done enough to secure their place in the playoffs.

At the start of the week Kevin Pangos had 12 points for Zenit St Petersburg who from the start of their game against CSKA Moscow had to play catch-up with their compatriot team. Despite Pangos and Zenit’s top scorer Billy Baron, who had 24, they were outdone by CSKA’s three-point shooting which outdid them in the end.

Following the 86-74 loss to CSKA, Zenit finally improved their losing streak against ASVEL at the start of the week. After a dicey second quarter, the Russian team held their opponents to just sixteen points in the second half while they went on rampage on offence, scoring 64% from close range and dropping ten three-pointers by the final buzzer.

Pangos scored 10 points, one of four Zenit players to finish in double digits in their 87-53 decimation of ASVEL, which would saw see them claw on to their place in the playoff position as the end of the regular season draws ever nearer.

FIBA Champions League

PTT Ankara were in need of a win to keep their competition hopes alive but this week faced tough opposition in AEK Athens. Helping to orchestrate that win was Kyle Wiltjer, who had the most shots drop of anyone in the game, finishing as the top scorer with 24 points.

His efforts helped Ankara overcome an early onslaught from AEK and they went on to dominate in the second half. With the final score 78-66 in their favour, the Turkish team keep their hopes of reaching the next round alive with one game to go in a highly competitive Group K.

With 14 points off the bench, Aaron Doornakemp was the second-best scorer for Canarias Tenerfie, behind Tyler Cavanaugh who had 18 against VEF Riga. The team saw a slow start but built a big lead just before half time. The Latvian club kept up the pressure on offence and closed the gap to a point in Q3, but the Spanish team were quick to respond and sank the dagger in the final period. Closing the game out with 21 points, Canarias confirm their place in the next round following the 78-66 win over Riga.

Dylan Ennis was the lead scorer for Zaragoza in their first of two games in the week. He registered 18 points at the end of the match-up with Dinamo Sassari where the Spanish team fell behind eleven points to Sassari at the end of the first quarter, but their play in the paint got them back into it and after a tight period either side of the half, they finally took control of the game.

Outscoring Sassari 54-36 in the second half, they finished off the rampaging win with a final score of 105-88 over their Italian opponents. It was the same story in Zaragoza’s second game, after falling behind early on to CEZ Nymburk they found their rhythm at the game's mid-section, dominating the business end of the game with 45 second-half points.

Almost half of Zaragoza's score came from the paint and they saw a lot of bench production – most of all from Jacob Wiley who recorded a 22-points, 10-rebound performance in just 27 minutes on the court. Ennis turned in a more sedate showing against the Czech team with just seven points, but the final results was what counted. As 90-71 winner, Zaragoza are guaranteed a place in the final eight with a game to spare.