Follow all the BKT EuroCup action for Round 9 of the Regular Season!
Game Center: Paris, Bourg win on the road; Cluj, Hapoel, Trento, Joventut, Granca protect home courts
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U-BT Cluj-Napoca 120-111 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys
In a high-scoring overtime thriller, Cluj outlasted Lietkabelis at BT-Arena. With the win Cluj improved to 7-2 in Group B while Lietkabelis dropped to 4-5 and saw its three-game winning streak come to an end. D.J. Seeley paced the winners with 25 points and Emanuel Cate and Jarell Eddie each added 20. Deividas Sirvydis led Lietkabelis with 29 points and Gediminas Orelik scored 22.
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 77-93 Paris Basketball
Paris bounced back from its first loss of the season and eventually pulled away from Cedevita for a road victory to remain atop Group A. Paris put the game away with a 4-15 run spanning the final two quarters in moving to 8-1 at the midway point in the regular season. TJ Shorts paced the Parisian side with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals and Nadir Hifi scored 15 points. Cedevita set a club record with 31 made free throws but they were not enough in falling to 0-9 as the only winless team in the competition. Justin Cobbs was Cedevita’s leading scorer with 18 points.
Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv 81-75 Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul
Hapoel claimed its second straight win at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade by defeating visiting Besiktas on Wednesday. The game was incredibly balanced for nearly 40 minutes, with neither team able to amass an advantage greater than 6 points, but Hapoel was stronger defensively in the end and gave up just 2 free throws in the last 3 minutes to seal the outcome. J’Covan Brown was the go-to guy in crunch time and led Hapoel with 19 points and 7 assists. Jaylen Hoard followed with 15 points and 8 boards to help Hapoel improve to 6-2. Besiktas, which slipped to 6-3, was paced by Derrick Needham with 16 points and 9 assists.
ratiopharm Ulm 84-89 JL Bourg en Bresse
Bourg defeated Ulm at ratiopharm arena on Wednesday night. The visitors took a 33-53 lead into halftime and later held off an Ulm comeback to improve to 7-2, causing the hosts to drop to 6-3 in the process. Maksim Salash paced the guests with 19 points, with Jeremy Morgan and Zaccharie Risacher scoring 17 each. Thomas Klepeisz netted a game-high 20 points, having gone 5-for-7 from behind the arc for Ulm.
Dolomiti Energia Trento 69-67 Aris Midea Thessaloniki
Trento boosted its playoff hopes with a 69-67 victory over Aris thanks to a game-winning layup by Quinn Ellis in the final second. The victory kept Trento in the all-important top six with a 4-5 record, while Aris dropped to 3-6. A low-scoring first half was perfectly poised at the break, 32-32, before Trento pulled away in the third quarter. Aris roared back but Ellis had the final word with a driving layup. Kamar Baldwin paced the winning team with 15 points. Ronnie Harrell was Aris’s hero with 24 points including 12 in the fourth quarter.
Joventut Badalona 79-76 Prometey Slobozhanske
In a battle between two of the last season's semifinalists, Joventut edged Prometey. Andrew Andrews led the winners with 15 points and Pau Ribas added 14, all of them in a game-changing third quarter. Issuf Sanon and Ronald March paced Prometey with 15 points apiece. Both teams now have a 4-5 records in Group A.
Dreamland Gran Canaria 97-70 Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
Gran Canaria remained the only undefeated in the EuroCup with a dominant third quarter in producing a victory over Buducnost. The reigning champion put together a 19-4 run in the third quarter to pull away for good and finish the first half of the regular season with a 9-0 record in Group B. Sylven Landesberg paced four scorers in double figures with 18 points for Gran Canaria, while Andrew Albicy netted 11 points. In the fight to reach the playoffs, Buducnost dropped to 3-6 after last week having snapped a four-game losing streak. Marvin Jones was Buducnost’s main weapon with 22 points.
Turk Telekom Ankara 71-80 Slask Wroclaw
Slask kept alive its faint hopes of reaching the playoffs by surprising Turk Telekom on the road for its first victory of the season. Jakub Niziol poured in a career-high 25 points to lead the Polish side, which improved to 1-8 in Group B and snapped a 17-game EuroCup losing streak. Hassani Gravett added 15 points - 12 of them in the final 5 minutes. 2023 runner-up Turk Telekom has now lost seven straight games for a 1-8 record despite Markis McDuffie scoring 18 points with 9 rebounds.
Wolves Vilnius 87-101 London Lions
London ensured itself at least a share of second place at the midway point in Group A after racing past Wolves at Avia Solutions Group Arena in the Lithuanian capital to improve to 7-2 on the season. Conor Morgan starred with 22 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting for a PIR of 36 to pace the winners. Gabe Olaseni added 21 points. Wolves dropped their second straight at home in slipping to 4-4 this season. Tre'Shawn Thurman posted 22 points and 8 rebounds in defeat.
Umana Reyer Venice 94-77 Veolia Hamburg Towers
Reyer gained an important victory in its fight to reach the playoffs by rolling past Hamburg at home. Marco Spissu led the way with 22 points and 9 assists for Reyer, which won for the third time in the last four games for a 4-5 record in Group A. Amedeo Tessitori added 18 points and RayJon Tucker chipped in 12 points. Hamburg’s playoff hopes are fading fast after it dropped to 1-8 despite Aljami Durham scoring 17 point.