ANTALYA (Turkiye) - There were no upsets in the Semi-Finals of Tournament 2, one of the two brackets of the Champions' Path in the Basketball Champions League Qualifiers, as ERA Nymburk and Kalev/Cramo made it through to the Final.
The Czech champions have been a regular member of the BCL, and after beating Trepca 84-78 on Friday in Antalya, they are just a win away from another Regular Season run.
Nymburk were able not just to win the game, but also to manage the load, as coach Francesco Tabellini used 11 players on the day and none of them stayed on the floor longer than 26 minutes.
Each of the 11 Nymburk players scored at least 3 points, led by Christian Bishop's 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks. Tylan Birts was the only other player in double figures for the Czech champions, while Stephen Brown and Ondrej Sehnal combined for 16 assists.
In a spectacular losing effort, Samuel Hunter signed out with 28 points on 5-of-10 shooting from deep for Trepca.
Nymburk played each of the BCL's first seven seasons, only missing out in 2023-24. To make it eight appearances in nine seasons, they need to defeat Kalev/Cramo in the Final on Sunday.
The Estonian champions had to overcome the Slovak league title holders, Patrioti Levice, in the Semis. Kalev took the lead midway through the first quarter, and did not allow their opponents to retake the lead the rest of the way.
Kalev/Cramo prevailed 84-76, as Severi Kaukiainen led the way for the Estonians with 24 points an 6 assists, the veteran Tanel Kurbas finished with 20 points shooting 5-of-6 from three-point range, while 22-year-old Kasper Suurorg did a bit of everything with 11 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds.
The winner of the Final between ERA Nymburk and Kalev/Cramo on Sunday will move to BCL Regular Season Group D, alongside Galatasaray, Promitheas Patras and RASTA Vechta.