By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With three teams securing the Final Four tickets, it was up to MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg to step up and be the only team this season in the Basketball Champions League quarterfinals to force a Game 3. And they did it with a 92-75 win over U-BT Cluj Napoca.
It was a close game all the way until late in the third quarter when the Germans made some distance, leading by 11 (60-49). Cluj showed some comeback effort but Ludwigsburg’s 12-0 run to start the fourth quarter decided the outcome. They went up 76-57 and there was nothing Cluj could do to recover.
Ethan Happ sparked the crucial run but it was far from a one-man show, as the whole Ludwigsburg lineup chipped in. Happ finished with 18 points, as did Jonah Radebaugh.
Justin Simon followed with 17 and Yorman Polas Bartolo with 14 points. Simon grabbed nine and Radebaugh seven rebounds.
For Cluj, Andrija Stipanovic scored 16 points in addition to Karel Guzman’s 15 and Brandon Brown’s 12 points. Brown also dished eight assists.