Group A
The University of Bologna triumphed over the University of Debrecen with a 75-74 win after an intense match held in the Trnsko Sports Hall. The heated atmosphere was felt all the way to stands, which were filled to the brim. Loud cheering made the game better with each passing second. The outcome was uncertain until the very last second. The match featured 8 lead changes and for its entirety, neither team had over a 5 points lead. Five seconds before the end, the coach of the Hungarian team asked for a time out because the University of Debrecen was 5 points away from a certain victory. The Hungarian players tried to score a three-point field goal, but luck wasn’t on their side and in the end, the Italian team emerged victorious.
‘We were off to a good start. We entered the match with plenty of energy and won. That’s what matters,’ said Gustav Savio, a player from Bologna.
The University of Zagreb achieved a decisive 94-51 win over the Tilburg University. Even from the first few seconds, it was clear the match was going to be a fierce fight. About thirty fans of each team were present at the game to cheer for their favourites. The Croatian team adopted a strong offensive tactic against the Tilburg University, which secured them a 30 points lead by the end of the third quarter.
‘This was a very important game for us. We have now secured ourselves a fairly good spot and we can rest a bit until tomorrow’s game.’
Group B
In the first match of the third round of Group B the team from the University of Nis beat convincingly the team from the University of Pitesti with 92:59. The Serbian team headed into the match with two wins from the previous rounds and before the game with the Romanians their coach Jovica Aleksic said:
‘We were successful in the first two games. We will try to reach the semi-finals, we have the experience, we were second last year. But we still have to play against VERN’ who has a lot of quality. I expect that we will win this game. ‘
The players from the University of Nis did not show their best in the first quarter which ended with the University of Pitesti having the lead. In the second quarter the Serbs woke up and showed their dominance over the Romanian team and finished at halftime with an 18 points lead. They kept their lead till the end of the game and thy didn’t let the players from Pitesti threaten them.
After the victory Svetozar Stamenkovic, one on the best Serbian players of the match with 12 points, said:
‘At the beginning of the game we played slower than we should have had. We have more experience and we dominated the rest of the game.’
Two teams that didn’t have a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals played against each other in the second match of Group B. The University of Ljubljana won convincingly against the University of Minho with 101: 60. After two lost matches this is the first victory for the Slovenians. The Portuguese have tried throughout the game, but failed to outperform the physically superior players from Ljubljana.
‘We played well. We had a strong defense. We’ll try to play as best as we can in the next match and try to enjoy the game,’ said the Slovenian Gregor Klobcar not hiding his satisfaction with the astonishing result.
On the other team the Portuguese player Luis Araujo said that the players from Ljubljana took advantage of their weaknesses. ‘Every match here is difficult for us. I expect that the next match will be also difficult’
GROUP C
The University of Technology and Design in St. Petersburg played against the team of the Estonian University of Natural Sciences in the first game of the third round of the group C. The Russians secured the win with the score of 89-71.
At the beginning of the game, it looked like the winning team will be the one from the Baltic coast, beyond the Estonian borders. In the first quarter, luck was on the side of Estonia’s basketball players, who finished the game and won the Russians with 12 points difference. The situation didn’t change much in the next quarter. The players of the University of Natural Sciences constantly had a lead of ten points, but then everything changed. The Russians woke up, came dangerously close, and scored for a tie in the last minute of the game.
They returned from the break rejuvenated, with new energy and enthusiasm, and they were impossible to stop. In just a few minutes, the Russians took a 12-point lead and the Estonians had no chance to catch up with them. The Estonians had no luck and they lost the game against the Russians with 18 points difference.
The basketball players of the Vytautas Magnus University faced the team the University of Split and beat them with 26 points difference, with the the score of 87-61. In the first quarter, Split played evenly with the Lithuanian team and followed them with 2 points difference. The team of Vytautas Magnus University increased the pressure in the second quarter, which they maintained until the end. Two Lithuanian players, Tauras Jogela and Paulius Sorokas shared the title of the most efficient scorer with 22 points.
GROUP D
The Turkish team from Fatih University and the French team from the University of Rouen played one of the most beautiful matches of the tournament, but sadly the start of the game was marked by a minute of silence for the victims of the terrorist attack in Nice.
It was evident from the start that it would be a tough game, but the Turkish players were stronger and crowned winners of another game, with a score of 79:63. Even though the Fatih players got lucky in the first quarter, it was clear from their game that they knew what they were doing.
They managed to get a few fouls and free throws, and Seneli scored each time. By the end of the second quarter the tension could be cut with a knife after the French players got dangerously close, and even scored an equalizer for 32:32 in the last second. Turkish players realized that it was not a joke anymore, and after the break they ran onto the court and played like it was their last game, showing how cunning they were. They skilfully stole balls from the French, and a minute later they were under the opponents’ hoop, scoring. By the end of the game the Turkish quintet stayed dominant and qualified for the next round of competitions.
The team from the University of Vienna beat the Technical University of Munich with 20 points of difference for a final result of 71:51. The Viennese players dominated throughout the game, not allowing the Germans to get too close to a draw. Austrian player Terence Aryee was the game’s top scorer with 17 points. Sebastian Ebertz from Munich and Eric Schrans from Vienna both scored 12. In the next round of group D, the Technical University Munich will be playing against the University of Rouen, and the players from Vienna will have a day off.
