The Spanish team was made to work hard by its Italian rival but prevailed thanks to a more balanced effort.
Joventut grinds out 89-81 win over battling Reyer



Joventut Badalona celebrated its fifth win in the last six games and improved to 8-5 in Group A of the BKT EuroCup after a hard-fought 89-81 home win over Umana Reyer Venice, with six of its players scoring in double figures. In contrast, Reyer slipped to its fifth defeat in the last six games and dropped to 4-9, although the Italian outfit did not go down without a fight.
Yannick Kraag paced Joventut with 17 points, shooting 6 of 7 from the floor and 2 of 2 from the foul line. Andres Feliz posted 15 points, Andrew Andrews netted 14, while Pau Ribas and Michael Ruzic scored 12 each. Ante Tomic chipped in with 10 points for the hosts, who shot 9 of
19 from downtown on the back of free-flowing offense for much of the contest. At the other end, Rayjon Tucker stood out for Reyer with a game-high 21 points, having garnished his fine individual performance with a couple of eye-catching dunks and a pair of spectacular blocks on Tomic and Feliz in quick succession. Jordan Parks scored 16 points for the visitors, Kyle Wiltjer added 14 and Amedeo Tessitori netted 12.
Three-point shooting made all the difference in the first half as Joventut sank 5 of 10 from long range while Reyer was 0 of 6, with the hosts gradually building a 41-31 lead in the closing stages of the second quarter before Reyer slashed the deficit with a late run.
Reyer looked capable of pulling off what would have amounted to a shock win on the road when the visitors closed in to 55-54 on the back of Tucker’s blocks on Tomic and Ruiz, but getting rejected only seemed to galvanize Ruiz who responded by sinking some tough shots in the closing stages of the third quarter.
In the blink of an eye, Joventut pulled away to 70-58 and the writing was on the wall for Reyer midway through the fourth, when the home team had an 80-64 cushion. Still, the visitors refused to roll over and pulled it back to 84-77, but Joventut did a good job of running the clock down and getting the win that kept last season’s semifinalist firmly on course to reach the playoffs.