STRASBOURG (Basketball Champions League) - SIG Strasbourg and Sidigas Avellino squared off once again in the Basketball Champions League and the second time around proved to be much sweeter for the French outfit.

Gunning for a sixth win in the competition and looking to avenge a 72-69 defeat to the Italian club on Gameday 2, SIG prevailed 63-57 to leapfrog their opponents into second place in Group C.

Only Iberostar Tenerife, whom Vincent Collet's side beat in the Canary Islands on Gameday 4, are above them in the standings. They meet for a second time in two weeks.

Strasbourg seized the initiative when they outscored Avellino 16-5 over the last six minutes of the second quarter for a 36-20 advantage.

The Italian outfit fought back early in the second half and cut the deficit to single digits but the hosts never really wobbled. Some late magic from Maarten Leunen did make things interesting.

Both coaches reminded the players that goal differential was important with Avellino needing to reduce the deficit in Wednesday's game so SIG did not have the advantage in a potential tie-breaker.

Leunen struck with a 3-pointer to trim the hosts' lead to 61-53 just 1:45 from the end. Matt Howard replied with a basket down low to stretch the advantage back to 10, only for Leunen to hit another 3-ball and get fouled on the shot. He made the free-throw to cut the deficit to 63-57 with 1:11 remaining.

Avellino got the ball back but failed to get closer as Erving Walker stepped in front of Joe Ragland and drew a charge just as the American was laying the ball off to a teammate for a score.

Ragland had a game-high 15 points while AJ Slaughter poured in 14 points for the winners. Paul Lacombe was excellent for Collet's side, especially on the defensive end with 3 blocks and 2 steals to go with his 8 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.