Saporta Cup: Towers stun Turks but still slip out of Europe
Haribo London Towers will not extend their stay in this year's Saporta Cup past next Tuesday's visit to Belgium, despite pulling off a shock 75-73 win over Turkish group leaders Darafussaka at Crystal Palace.
A 68-74 victory for Adecco Milan against Aalst in Belgium eliminated Towers and put the Italians through in fourth place.
Steve Bucknall led all scorers with 25 points as the Istanbul side suffered only their second loss in the group stages, extending Towers own winning streak to five games.
Towers came back into the game after trailing 39-42 at half-time but their guests looked to have secured a decisive lead when they went ahead 68-73 ahead with four minutes left. But Danny Lewis, Martin Henlan and Malcolm Leak combined for the last seven points of the game for the hosts and produce an impressive victory, one which underlines the missed opportunities which the Britons have had to make further advances in this competition.
Lewis added 18 points while Darafussaka were led by 16 from Michael Ansley.
In Sweden, Plannja Lulea secured their passage into the last 32 with a simple 89-63 defeat of Croatia Split, who had already qualified.
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