Bizkaia Bilbao Basket will look to extend its perfect record and perhaps to even secure first place in Group E when it hosts Spirou Basket Charleroi on Tuesday. Bilbao comes off back-to-back wins over Turk Telekom that took its record to 4-0. Spirou is winless in the group and lost its last two games to Spartak. For Bilbao to clinch first place this week, it must win and have Spartak lose at Turk Telekom. Otherwise, they meet in St. Petersburg, Russia, next week with the top sot in the group at stake. Bilbao recorded a 67-80 win over Spirou in Belgium when they met earlier this season led by Marko Banic’s 17 points. The strength in head coach Txus Vidorreta’s squad is its depth, with 12 players averaging double figures in minutes played always leaving five fresh players for the end of close games. However Spirou boss Giovanni Bozzi is also quite liberal with his bench. The Belgian champs top players this season have been Dwayne Broyles and Jonathan Tabu on the wings, while Andre Riddick always sets the tone defensively at center. Banic is Bilbao’s main star, but guard Janis Blums, swingmen Renaldas Seibutis and Robert Conley, forward Damir Markota and center Jerome Moiso have also played major roles in the team’s success. Bilbao will look for Conley, Seibutis and Alex Mumbru to control the scoring of the Charleroi swingmen, while the duel between Banic and Wes Wilkinson could also impact the game. Bilbao is the natural favorite at home, where it is 8-0 in the Eurocup over the past two seasons. Meanwhile Spirou has dropped four in a row on the road dating back to last season, including an 82-78 loss at Bilbao in overtime when Markota shined with 23 points off the bench. Nevertheless, Spirou will not want to finish this season winless and will give 100% to score that elusive first win at any cost.
REFEREES: Volodymyr Drabikovskyi, Apostolos Kalpakas, Jurgis Laurinavicius