BAYREUTH (Basketball Champions League) - Banvit secured an 88-76 win over medi Bayreuth to complete the season sweep over the German side on Wednesday evening.

Damian Kulig's 25 points and 8 rebounds on 9-for-13 shooting led five players into double figures in a balanced team effort for the Turkish side; Andy Rautins had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Gasper Vidmar had 14, Angelo Caloiaro 13, all in the first half, and Tony Taylor 10.

"Congratulations to my players and staff for this good teamwork and this very good win," Banvit Head Coach Sasa Filipovski commented.

"It was a great atmosphere, so I respect very much Bayreuth and their coach, they're doing a good job and playing good basketball; I can see German basketball is going forward fast.

"It was a difficult game, although we took a lead. We knew in the second half they would come out and play more aggressive and that's why they came very close. We succeeded to keep concentration and playing good defence, so I'm happy for this win."

With the win, Banvit are now 8-3 atop of Group C, as Bayreuth fell to 6-5 in fourth.

Andreas Seiferth led Bayreuth in defeat with 14 points, with Gabe York and James Robinson adding 13 points-a-piece.

Bayreuth Head Coach Raoul Korner was proud of his side, despite the loss.

"We lost against a better team today," he said. I thought we didn't play bad, we just didn't make shots. In the first half it was a little symptomatic that the first three that went in was at the halftime buzzer, we were 0-10 before that and it's very difficult to get a rhythm and play basketball if you don't hit shots.

"The story of the game was whenever they needed to hit shots they made some. Some of those we could have defended better, some of those were just big plays. I thought my guys gave everything they had, but Banvit were just that much better." 

Rautins got going early, scoring 8 points in the opening period to allow Banvit to open up a 27-16 lead after the opening quarter.

Banvit's solid started continued in the second quarter, as they began pulling away midway through period, opening up a 39-24 lead with 4 minutes left in the half as Caloiaro started to heat up on his way to 13 first half points.

John Cox knocked down a three from the corner at the halftime buzzer to pull Bayreuth back, but Banvit held a 43-31 halftime lead, off the back of 6-for-10 shooting from deep.

Bayreuth mounted their comeback in the third, opening the quarter on an 8-2 run to pull back within six. A De'Mon Brooks lay up with two minutes left in the quarter saw the home side draw to within three, 52-55, but Banvit responded with three consecutive threes to regain a cushion they would not give up the rest of the way.