Hemofarm Stada hosts BC Triumph on Tuesday in a must-win game for both sides. The winner of this game will finish in second place in Group B and advance to the Last 16 if undefeated Power Electronics Valencia beats Le Mans in Tuesday’s other game. However if Le Mans does down Valencia, this game is rendered meaningless. Both teams limp into this game. Triumph has lost three in a row to fall to 1-4. Its only win came in Week 2 against Hemofarm, 83-82, as Brion Rush led five Triumph scorers on double figures with 22 points. Jarod Stevenson led Hemofarm that night with 19 points on 5-for-6 three-point shooting. Both teams play with somewhat limited rotations and rely on a handful of players for much of their production. But those players all produce. The Hemofarm attack, which boats seven players averaging at least 8 points per game, is led by point guards Stefan Markovic and Miljan Pavkovic. Sharpshooter Stevenson, who ranks second in the competition in three-point accuracy, joins them in the backcourt. Triumph counters with the high-scoring Rush and Pavel Sergeev as its main weapons at guard. Meanwhile the trip of center Paul Miller and forwards Valery Likhodey and Konstantin Nesterov help make Triumph one of the best rebounding clubs in the competition. Hemofarm features the likes of Milan Lacvan, Boban Marjanovic and Goran Jagodnik up front plus experienced small forward Bojan Krstovic. One major differenc between the two is they pace they play at. With Markovic and Pavkovic, Hemofarm likes to speed things up, which is why it averages nearly 10 points per game more than Triumph. Despite a slower pace, Triumph averaged 16 turnovers per game, a number it must cut down on to win on the road. Both teams must focus solely on this game without worrying about Le Mans. Like many do-or-die games, this could be decided by small things, like hustle plays and strong shooting. Expect a proud fan base to cheer its players on for the victory, creating an exciting atmosphere in this season-changing contest.
REFEREES: Christos Christodoulou, Murat Biricik, Oskars Lucis