Six games follow on Wednesday
Game Center: Cedevita, Bahcesehir, Chemnitz, Aris win on Tuesday
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Tuesday, January 20
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 86-80 U-BT Cluj-Napoca
Cedevita Olimpija secured an important win in its battle for a top-two spot in Group A by defeating Cluj 86-80 at home. Cedevita wasted a 16-point lead and rallied from 10 points down itself before getting two big three-pointers in the closing minutes to fend off Cluj. Cedevita swept the season series with Cluj and has a 10-4 record, including three wins in the last four games.
DJ Stewart poured in 25 points with 6 rebounds while Aleksej Nikolic added 24 points off the bench. Cluj has lost its last three road games to fall to 8-7 in the group despite Dusan Miletic collecting 16 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists, Karel Guzman scoring 16 points and Fatts Russell chipping in 14 points and 10 assists.
Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem 82-94 Bahcesehir College Istanbul
Bahcesehir snapped Jerusalem’s 11-game winning streak with an 82-94 victory on Tuesday night. A 12th straight win looked nearly certain for Jerusalem after it took the first quarter 29-19, but Bahcesehir, led by the scoring of Malachi Flynn, responded emphatically and outscored the hosts 53-75 the rest of the way. After a frustrating loss to Manresa last week, Marko Barac’s Bahcesehir delivered the perfect response, improving to 10-5 on the season. Jerusalem, meanwhile, fell to 12-3 with its first defeat since Round 3 in mid-October.
Flynn led Bahcesehir with 22 points, while Caleb Homesley added 16. Tyler Cavanaugh contributed 11, and Mateusz Ponitka finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds. In the loss, Jerusalem’s Khadeen Carrington scored 25 points, followed by Justin Smith with 15 and Jared Harper with 11.
NINERS Chemnitz 87-82 Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse
Chemnitz posted a strong 88-82 home win over Group B leader Bourg, improving to 8-7 in Group B and staying in the playoff race. Bourg dropped to 11-4. After a closely contested first half, Chemnitz went into halftime three points ahead. In the third quarter, Chemnitz extended the lead to 14 with an efficient three-point performance, and had plenty of second-chance opportunities after controlling the offensive boards. In the fourth quarter, Bourg responded with solid defense and attacking the basket to cut into the deficit, but Chemnitz closed out the game.
Corey Davis Jr. led Chemnitz with 19 points and 7 assists, while Amadou Sow added 16 points and 7 rebounds. Kevin Yebo contributed 15 points and 6 rebounds, Yordan Minchev finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds, and Jordan Schakel added 11. For Bourg, Both Gach posted 17 points and 6 rebounds, Assemian Moulare scored 16 points, and Tajuan Agee finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. Adam Mokoka added 12 points, and Darius McGhee chipped in 11 points.
Wednesday, January 21
Lietkabelis Panevezys vs. Dolomiti Energia Trento (18:00 CET)
Trento (8-6) will attempt to maintain its challenge for a top-two finish by triumphing on the road at eliminated Lietkabelis (3-11). The Italian team has won five of its last six games thanks to Khalif Battle’s last-second game-winner against Panionios last time out, and will look to dominate by crashing the glass – Trento ranks third in the competition in offensive rebounding (12.6 per game), led by Andrej Jakimovski with 2.1 per night. To counter that, Lietkabelis can call upon one of the EuroCup’s best rebounders, Paulius Danusevicius (6.6 rebounds per game), but the Lithuanian team has not won at home since the opening round and needs to find an offensive spark after averaging just 78.4 points per game (third-worst in the competition).
Besiktas GAIN Istanbul vs. Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (18:00 CET)
A key showdown for Group B’s top two takes place between second-placed Besiktas (10-4) and third-placed Buducnost (9-5). Both teams are in good form, with Besiktas flying high after last week’s road win at group leader Bourg behind ever-dependable big man Ante Zizic. He will be challenged inside the paint by visiting center Nikola Tanaskovic, who continued his excellent season by draining 20 points against Lietkabelis in Round 14 – also showing his range by netting four three-pointers. Besiktas needs a win of four points or more to claim head-to-head advantage after Buducnost won the Round 6 matchup 82-79, when Rasheed Sulaimon proved decisive with 20 points including the game-winning basket.
Panionios Cosmorama Travel Athens vs. Turk Telekom Ankara (18:30 CET)
Eliminated Panionios (2-12) is hoping to restore some pride by damaging the playoff push of visiting Turk Telekom (9-5). The Greek team is playing better than its record suggests and came agonizingly close to a second straight win at Trento last week, with new signing Joe Thomasson showing great leadership with 17 points and 8 assists. The visitors have won two straight and have shooter Uros Trifunovic in his best form of the season, draining four triples in last week’s win over London. Turk Telekom won easily, 95-67, when the teams met earlier in the season behind 18 points and 7 assists from Michael Devoe, but Panionios has improved greatly since then and this should be a much closer affair.
Veolia Towers Hamburg vs. Umana Reyer Venice (19:30 CET)
Reyer (8-6), one of three teams currently tied for fourth place in Group A, is aiming to maintain that status by downing winless Hamburg (0-14). Red-hot Reyer has won four consecutive games thanks to an outstanding offense which has averaged 101.3 points during that winning run, and Hamburg’s struggling defense (96.7 points per game allowed, second-worst in the competition) will have to contain the three-point shooting of Denzel Valentine after he hit four triples against Slask last week. Hamburg will look to compete through the inside presence of Zacharie Perrin (12.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game), but he won’t have an easy night against consistent Reyer big man Chris Horton, who bagged a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds last week.
London Lions vs. ratiopharm ulm (20:30 CET)
Two teams fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive meet for a must-win matchup as London (5-9) welcomes Ulm (6-8). The German team needs to maintain the form that delivered a strong win over Chemnitz last week, and will rely on the leadership of young guard Tobias Jensen (12.2 points and 4.9 assists per night). The English team knows it must win every remaining game to have a realistic chance of making the playoffs, and must reignite an offense which has averaged only 68.7 points during its ongoing three-game losing run. An unexpected source of the needed improvement could be forward Ciaran Sandy, who hadn’t scored all season before netting 12 points in last week’s loss at Turk Telekom.
BAXI Manresa vs. Neptunas Kleipeda (20:45 CET)
Manresa (8-6) will attempt to continue pushing for Group A’s seeded spots by beating a Neptunas team (6-8) close to elimination. The hosts have evolved into one of the competition’s most dangerous offenses, winning five of their last six games and scoring at least 96 points in each of those victories. Last week’s impressive win at Bahcesehir was spearheaded by 14 points and 5 rebounds from in-form guard Agustin Ubal, who will attempt to overcome the threat of visiting playmaker Arnas Velicka, who leads the EuroCup with 7.1 assists per night. But the key to the outcome is whether Neptunas can improve a defense which has allowed more than 100 points in three of the last four games.