Three games were played on Tuesday night
Game Center: Bourg clinches postseason berth; Jerusalem, Neptunas, Niners also win on the road
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Wednesday, January 7
Turk Telekom Ankara 92-86 Dolomiti Energia Trento
Turk Telekom defeated Trento 92-86 on Wednesday night at Ankara Spor Salonu to snap a two-game losing streak and remain in thick of the battle for a top-two spot in Group B. Kris Bankston led six Turk Telekom scorers in double figures with 14 points and Kyle Alexander added 13 in lifting their team's record to 8-5.
Trento outshot Turk Telekom from all distances, but allowed 14 offensive rebounds – which the hosts converted into 18 second-chance points, and committed 22 turnovers, which together were too much to overcome. Matas Jogela and Peyton Aldridge scored 16 apiece to pace Trento, which saw its four-game winning streak end as it fell to 7-6.
Neither team led by more than 5 points in the first half, which finished with Turk Telekom up 47-43. Uros Trifunovic heated up with 10 points in the third quarter, including a three that gave the hosts a double-digit lead, 69-57. Khalif Battle scored the first 5 points of the fourth quarter to get Trento within 69-64, but no other Trento player scored in the first 5 and a half minutes of the quarter as Turk Telekom rebuilt a double-digit lead. Jogela late threes were not enough for the visitors.
Lietkabelis Panevezys 73-86 Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg became the first team to clinch a berth in the postseason on Wednesday after it defeated Lietkabelis 73-86 at Kalnapilio Arena and later results went its way. Bourg improved to 11-2 in the standings and is one a three-game winning streak. Meanwhile, Lietkabelis dropped to 3-10 as its already-slim chances to reach the playoffs suffered another blow.
TaJuan Agee led the winners with 19 points. Kevin Kokila added 18 while Ricky Lindo had 11 for Bourg. Jamel Morris paced Lietkabelis with 22 points, Michael Flowers scored 17, Paulius Danusevicius had 14 and Fardaws Aimaq pulled down 12 rebounds for Lietkabelis, which trailed almost all the way but managed to get within 58-60 with less than 8 minutes remaining. Kokila, Agee and Assemian Moulare stepped up in crunch time to make sure Bourg returned home with a good-as-gold road victory.
Panionios Cosmorama Travel Athens 97-85 Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
Panionios ended its 11-game losing slide by beating Buducnost 97-85 on Wednesday evening at National Athletic Center Makis Liougas. On his debut as the team’s new coach, Nenad Markovic saw a much-improved Panionios trade blows with Buducnost in the first half, as the guests took a 43-44 edge at halftime. Then the hosts exploded for 28 points in the third quarter and established a double-figure lead that they maintained throughout.
Having scored a season-high 97 points against the EuroCup's fourth-best defense, Panionios improved its record to 2-11. Meanwhile, Buducnost suffered its third straight road loss, dropping to 8-5.
Giorgos Tsalmpouris led all scorers with 18 points on 4-for-7 shooting from deep. Joe Thomasson stood out on his debut by recording 16 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds. Nate Watson netted 14 points and Jackson Kreuser bagged 13. Nikola Tanaskovic paced Buducnost with 17 points and Yogi Ferrell scored 15 in a losing effort.
Slask Wroclaw 72-115 Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem
Jerusalem’s winning streak moved to 10 games on Wednesday when it defeated Slask Wroclaw and broke multiple records at Hala Orbita. Setting the pace from opening tip, Yonatan Alon’s men cruised to a 72-115 victory which improved their record to 11-2 for the EuroCup campaign.
The hosts’ 64-point first half bested their previous club half scoring record of 61, then with 2 minutes on the clock, they improved their previous game single game record of 112. They did not take their foot off the gas, also shattering their previous score differential record by securing the 43-point victory.
Austin Wiley led the way with a double-double, recording a career-high 18 points and 12 boards. Cassius Winston led the way in scoring, finishing the game with 22 of his own, while Jared Harper scored steadily to earn 17 points and 8 assists. Justin Smith, Anthony Lamb and Isaiah Mobley also finished the game in double digits. Ajdin Penava and Jakub Niziol netted 15 each in defeat.
Veolia Towers Hamburg 94-98 Neptunas Kleipeda
Neptunas claimed a hard-fought 94-98 road win at Hamburg's Inselpark Arena on Wednesday night. The result lifted Neptunas to 6-7 in Group A, while Hamburg fell to 0-13. Played at a fast pace, both teams matched each other early on, with a balanced first half setting the tone. Neptunas’s ability to limit turnovers proved decisive, and in a tight finish, Hamburg’s late turnover with 20 seconds remaining allowed the visitors to pull ahead and close out the game.
For Neptunas, Rihards Lomazs led the way with a career-high 33 points and 6 assists, while Harrison Cleary added 16, Zane Waterman finished with 15, and Arnas Velicka contributed 11 points and 4 assists. Ross Williams posted a career-high 32 points and 5 rebounds for Hemburg, Zacharie Perrin added 16 points and 5 rebounds, Leonard Thorpe recorded 14 and 4 assists, and Martin Breunig finished with 12.
Umana Reyer Venice 90-83 U-BT Cluj-Napoca
Reyer remained a powerhouse at home with an important 90-83 victory over Cluj to snatch the head-to-head tiebreaker between them. Reyer put together a 13-5 run late in the third quarter for a 12-point lead and made it hold up to extend its winning streak to three games and improve to 7-6 including, 5-1 at the Palasport Taliercio.
Stefan Nikolic poured in a career-high 23 points to lead the way for Reyer with RJ Cole picking up 18 points and 8 rebounds. Cluj had won its last two games but fell to 7-6 despite Trey Woodbury and Mitch Creek both scoring 18 points and Dusan Miletic tallying 16 points with 9 rebounds.
London Lions 70-78 NINERS Chemnitz
NINERS grabbed its fourth consecutive victory in Group B by downing London 70-78 at the Copper Box Arena in the British capital on Wednesday. Chemnitz improved to 7-6 in the standings and has a two-win gap over the Lions, which dropped to 5-8. Chemnitz also claimed the head-to-head tie-break advantage after London had recorded a 67-68 road victory against the NINERS in Round 4.
Kostja Mushidi paced the winners with 22 points and 5 assists. Kevin Yebo added 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, Corey Davis had 12 points while Yordan Minchev got 11 for Chemnitz. Tarik Phillip and Shavar Reynolds led the Lions with 15 points apiece. Deane Williams added 13 while Karolis Lukosiunas got 10 for the hosts, who trailed 68-69 with 3 minutes left. Davis buried a critical three-pointer and followed Mushidi's layup with and driving basket that sealed the outcome, 70-76, in the next-to-last minute.
Tuesday, January 6
Besiktas GAIN Istanbul 97-76 ratiopharm ulm
Besiktas remained the only undefeated team at home in the EuroCup by rolling past Ulm 97-76 to snap a two-game losing streak. Besiktas took control of the game with a 23-4 run spanning the middle two quarters to improve to 9-4 overall and 7-0 at home.
Vitto Brown paced five Besiktas players in double figures with 23 points while Jonah Mathews scored 18 points with 4 assists and Ante Zizic tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Ulm continues to struggle with its sixth loss in the last seven games for a 5-8 record. Christopher Ledlum paced the guests with 17 points.
BAXI Manresa 113-99 Aris Thessaloniki Betsson
Manresa moved ahead of its opposition on Tuesday night at Pavello Nou Congost, holding on to win by 14 and move to 7-6 for the season. The home team's best work was done in the first half, in which they smashed their single-half scoring record by 63 in the opening 20 minutes. Despite a buoyant fourth quarter comeback attempt, Aris couldn’t quite come back from a sizeable 32-point deficit, so slips below the hosts with a 6-7 EuroCup record.
Diego Ocampo’s team scored by committee on their way to victory, with Retin Obasohan leading the way with 18 points from 7-10 shooting. Ferran Bassas, Agustin Ubal and Gerard Fernandez all finished the game with a total of 14, while Marcis Steinbergs and Alex Reyes reached 12 apiece.
With the win Manresa bounces back from last week’s loss to Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem and strengthens its hopes of postseason basketball. Aris now holds a two-game losing streak, so will hope to regroup ahead of next week’s contest.
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 59-67 Bahcesehir College Istanbul
Bahcesehir secured a 59-67 road win over Cedevita Olimpija at Arena Stozice in a closely contested Group A matchup, breaking the tie between the two sides to move to 9-4 in the standings, while Cedevita dropped to 8-5. After Cedevita held the momentum and built a 10-point lead by halftime, Bahcesehir responded with a strong third-quarter run. The Istanbul side took control in the second half, stretching the lead behind effective shooting from beyond the arc and closing out the game.
Matt Mitchell led Bahcesehir with 13 points and 5 rebounds, while Tyler Cavanaugh posted 12 points and 10 rebounds. Trevion Williams added 9 points and 10 rebounds, and Ismet Akpınar contributed 12 points. For Cedevita Olimpija, Umoja Gibson led the way with 25 points, Aleksej Nikolic added 16 points, and Luka Brajkovic finished with 6 points and 9 rebounds.