ULEB Cup Draw profile: Triumph Lyubertsy
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 Just as expected, Triumph Lyubertsy was not the average ULEB Cup newcomer and enters the elimination rounds as the Group E champion. It is unbeaten at home - and it will have the home court advantage in at least the two opening elimination rounds but Triumph was also 54th and last in free throw accuracy during the regular season, which could well become a problem now that the competition becomes a do-or-die battle. Triumph had a strong start in the competition with a convincing 66-75 road win against Buducnost behind 15 points from Terrell Lyday. It was the start of a three-game winning streak that also saw Triumph down Hapoel Galil Elyon 84-68 with 21 points from Igor Zamanskiy and then thrash Allians Swans Gmunden 53-83 in Austria behind 20 points from Lyday. Triumph registered its first loss in shocking fashion, as Benetton Olympic Fribourg edged the Group E leaders 78-77 on a game-winning basket by Pascal Perrier-David. Triumph did not panic, however, as Mire Chatman had 16 points in a 88-67 home win against the Antwerp Giants, enough for the club to reach the ULEB Cup regular season's halfway mark with a 4-1 record.  Triumph downed Buducnost 75-65 with 15 points from Ognjen Askrabic and then topped Galil Elyon 73-82 behind 17 points from Sergey Toporov to almost seal first place at 6-1. Triumph mathematically reached the elimination rounds with a 78-87 home win against Gmunden and then won Group E by downing Fribourg 76-61 at home with 16 points from Lyday. Triumph had 6 different scoring leaders in respective wins so far this season, showing that danger can come anywhere for Triumph. Lyday, Chatman, Askrabic and Toporov have a double-digit average score while players like Kristaps Valters, Uros Slokar or Nikola Vasic are set to play a major role in the elimination rounds. In his previous ULEB Cup appearance, Chatman was simply unstoppable to make Dynamo go undefeated for 7 games and lift the trophy. He hopes to do the same now and make Triumph write a brilliant page in European basketball history.
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