MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) - Drama was in generous supply on the final game day of the FIBA Europe Cup Round of 32 as 14 teams that had not done their homework early scrambled at the finish line, vying for the seven last tickets to the next stage of the competition.

It is unlikely that champagnes were uncorked on Wednesday night to celebrate the passage to the Round of 16 but the seven teams who eventually made it through were more than jubilant and with good reason, as the storylines of week 6 action in the Round of 32 reveal.

Fans in Minsk, Cantu, Le Havre and Targu-Jiu experienced the most nail-biting finale of the respective team's campaign while local fans in Aarhus and Sofia had no vested interest in the game but also witnessed a campaign-defining finish.

If there were advanced stats for the use of calculators in the stands, fans of Group S teams would lead the category hands down as all four contenders in this hotly-contested pool finished on an identical win/loss record, 3-3.

Their final place in the standings was decided by overall goal difference and it is indicative that only a 17-point differential, spread over six games, separated group winners Energia Targu-Jiu (509-498), from the fourth-placed team, STB Le Havre (516-522).

In Le Havre, Cibona Zagreb avenged their overtime loss in the reverse fixture in the most gratifying way imaginable, as they edged out STB Le Havre 93-92 and, quite literally, preyed the ticket to the Round of 16 from the hands of their hosts.

At the time the final buzzer sounded off, Cibona had no way of knowing their one-point victory in France would prove sufficient and turned their attention to Romania.

Pieno Zvaigzdes had led Energia Targu-Jiu by as many as 23 points in the second half and a 17-point margin would have been enough to see the Lithuanian side grab the coveted ticket, rather than Cibona.

Energia though suddenly realised that they were flirting with losing their own position in the next round if Pieno Zvaigzdes continued to extend the gap, so they reacted in the fourth to cut their losses and Pieno Zvaigzdes' 101-86 win fell two points short of gifting them a berth in the Round of 16.

In Group V action in the Belarus capital, Tsmoki Minsk needed to defeat AEK Petrolina Larnaca by at least six points in order to advance to the Round of 16.

Minsk led several times by double digits and were ahead by as many as 11, 84-73, with 2:10 remaining.

But AEK did not despair and Calvin Leslie sunk a triple with seven seconds on the clock to bring the gap below the magic margin, 86-84, while the hosts failed to score on their last possession.

Juventus Utena and BK Ventspils knew beforehand that their fate is in their own hands as a win would see them through to the Round of 16 and they both did their duty.

The Utena side defeated Khimik 74-63 at home to advance from Group T while Ventspils emerged 69-62 winners from their game in Sofia against Lukoil Academic.

Foxtown Cantu were in a similar position to the two Baltic teams, only a win by any margin would not be enough as they needed a 28-point victory over Elan Chalon to advance.

The Italian side flirted with the seemingly improbable feat as they led by as many as 27, 51-24, but the indifferent Chalon gave a lesson of fair-play and reduced the final gap to 13, 103-90.

That result meant that Enisey Krasnoyarsk, who cruised to a convincing 96-70 win at Tartu Rock, became the team to accompany Elan Chalon to the Round of 16 from Group R.

Performances of the week
Those who argue that the statsheet is the only reliable measure of a player's contribution will not see anything extraordinary about the Wednesday night displays of Thaddus McFadden of AEK Petrolina Larnaca and Spencer Butterfield of Juventus Utena.

It's not that either player's lines were poor - McFadden had 28 points on 7-for-12 shooting, three assists, one steal and seven drawn fouls, while Butterfield finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals.

These figures however do not quantify their inspirational display of leadership and all-round contribution on Wednesday.

Both guards rose to the occasion on a night where the ticket to the Round of 16 was on the line and, it can be argued, guided their team-mates to the next stage of the competition.

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