Banvit, Ostend join Rytas and Oldenburg in semifinals!

Omar Cook - Lietuvos Rytas vs. VEF Riga - QR Vilnius 2013 (Photo bc.lrytas.lt)The host team Lietuvos Banvit BK Bandirma and Telenet Ostend won their first games in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds Wednesday in Vilnius, Lithuania, and advanced to face one another in Thursday’s semifinals. Host team Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius and German League runner-up EWE Baskets Oldenburg won on the event’s opening day, Tuesday, and will also square off in the second stage. Banvit Bandirma blasted CEZ Basketball Nymburk 78-87 on the strength of E.J. Rowland’s 13 assists and Keith Simmons’s 16 points. Six different Banvit players scored in a 0-14 second-quarter run, which led to a 40-52 halftime score. Despite a strong game from Tre Simmons, the Czech champs never fully recovered. In Wednesday’s early game, Pierre-Antoine Gillet hit 5 second-half three-pointers as Telenet Ostend toppled Khimki Moscow Region 79-90. The score was tied at 64-64 with a little over seven minutes left before Ostend nailed 5 three-pointers on its final 6 attempts and went on to pull out the win. Gillet finished with 16 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting. Ryan Thompson led Ostend with 19 points. On Tuesday, Lietuvos Rytas held off resilient VEF Riga 80-71 behind 23 points from Renaldas Seibutis. Omar Cook hit a late three-pointer that took a lucky bounce off the rim to help seal the win. Martynas Gecevicius collected 11 points plus 8 rebounds, and Juan Palacios had 10 points, 8 rebounds plus 4 assists in victory. In the opening game of the tournament, EWE Baskets Oldenburg edged Cimberio Varese 74-79 with Julius Jenkins netting 18 points off the bench. Chris Kramer made key and timely plays in Oldenburg’s win, scoring 8 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. Kramer also added 5 rebounds and 5 assists to his tally. Achille Polonara scored 18 points for Varese, which together with Riga, Nymburk and Khimki will compete in 2013-14 Eurocup. Qualifying rounds continue Thursday with both second round games. Rytas faces Oldenburg at 17:00 CET, before Ostend and Banvit meet at 19:30.