Last 16, Week 6: Ex-champ and newcomers catch quarterfinals train!

Four first-timers and two former champions are in the Eurocup Quarterfinals mix after the Last 16 ended on Tuesday with a quartet of those teams punching their tickets to the next round. In Group I, already-qualified Valencia Basket defeated VEF Riga on the road 71-82 to help CEZ Nymburk sneak into second place with its 61-91 victory at Gravelines of France behind 22 points and 9 rebounds from Lamayne Wilson. in Group K, it was more straightforward, as Buducnost Voli defeated Krka Novo Mesto 63-58 behind 14 points each from Bojan Krstovic and Nikola Ivanovic. Buducnost took second place with the victory, which knocked out Banvit BK, a 68-61 winner over previously undefeated Spartak St. Petersburg as Kalin Lucas had 18 points. With those results, it's Valencia vs. Buducnost in one two-game quarterfinal series, and Spartak vs. Nymburk in another. Elsewhere on the last Last 16 night, Group L decided both of its qualifiers. Lokomotiv Kuban outlasted Alba Berlin 73-70 on Jeremiah Massey's 23 points and 12 rebounds to claim first place in its first Eurocup season. Then, in a battle of storied clubs, Lietuvos Rytas defeated Benetton Basket 74-80 on the road in Italy to take second place as Ronny Seibutis scored 20 points. In Group J, meanwhile, a tie for first place went the way of Donetsk, a 66-77 road winner at Aris thanks to 15 points from Ramel Curry. Second place in that tie-break belongs to Khimki, which also won away, 79-83 at Asvel on 17 points from Thomas Kelati. Those results led to the following quarterfinal series: Donetsk vs. Lietuvos Rytas and Kuban vs. Khimki, in an all-Russian series that assures the host country will have a team in the Eurocup Finals. Two of the quarterfinalists - Valencia and Rtyas - have won two Eurocup titles since the competition started in 2003. Spartak, Donetsk, Buducnost and Kuban are in the quarterfinals for the first time. The winners on aggregate score in the two-game quarterfinals, played on March 20 and 27, will advance to the Eurocup Finals on April 15 and 16 in Khimki Moscow Region, Russia.