Apoel Nicosia have one foot in the EuroCup Qualifying Round after thrashing Ukrainian outfit Cherkaski Mavpy in Cyprus on Tuesday night.

Loren Stokes poured in 22 points and Tyson Wheeler 20 as Nicosia rolled to a 90-74 victory.

The hosts stamped their authority on the game from the off, building a 24-15 lead by the end of the first quarter and stretching that to 48-29 by half-time.

Any hopes of a second-half comeback were extinguished in the third quarter when the Cypriot team extended the lead even further to 73-50.

Mavpy, who count the world class talent of Fadi El Khatib among their ranks, did not get a huge game from their Lebanon international.

He finished with eight points on two of seven (28.6%) shooting, including zero for one from long range, and also grabbed no rebounds but did hand out five assists.

Ukraine national team point guard Andrii Lebediev poured in 19 points for Mavpy in a losing effort.

Mavpy were awful against the Nicosia pressure, turning the ball over 22 times on the night while forcing just 10 for the hosts.

Pavlo Revzin and Khatib each had four turnovers.

The home side did much of their damage at the free throw line, making 18 of 24 (75%) compare to just six of eight (75%) for the visitors.

Stokes was six of eight (75%) while Nicosia's Balsa Radunovic was five of eight (62.5%) at the stripe.