Look back at all the action in the Eighthfinals by checking out the best photos of the week! 

Top 10 photos of Eighthfinals

The teams from Group A went 4-0 against their opponents in the eighthfinals.

The eighthfinals results prove: Group A was tougher

Back on July 7, 2023, when the draw was completed for the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup Regular Season, the initial reaction among many was that there was some disparity between the two groups. Group A appeared to be the tougher group.

In fact, when club representatives were asked for their thoughts, many used the same adjective about Group A. “Tough”.

Front office members from Group A teams Paris Basketball, Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv, Wolves Vilnius, Umana Reyer Venice and Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana all described the group as tough. Meanwhile, some of their Group B counterparts described their draws as “interesting”.

Eight months have passed since then and while it may have been difficult to make an unequivocal claim about which was the stronger group during or immediately after the regular season, the testimony from the EuroCup Eighthfinals screams out: Group A was stronger.

The eighthfinals pitted the four teams ranked third through sixth in each group against opponents from the other group, with the third-placed teams facing the sixth-placed sides and the fourth- and fifth-placed teams meeting. All four teams from Group A won their single-elimination games and advanced to the quarterfinals.

These sides have been longing for form, with the Spaniards losing three of its last four EuroCup encounters, while the visitors concluded with three straight defeats. Besiktas are leaders in offensive rebounding with 13.3 ppg, while Gran Canaria ranks fourth-worst in protecting its backboard.

Dreamland Gran Canaria-Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul | Eighthfinals Highlights | 2023-24 BKT EuroCup

In most cases, it wasn’t even close. Only outgoing champion Dreamland Gran Canaria managed to take the game to the wire before missing a potential game-winner at the buzzer and falling to Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul at home.  

In the other games, Joventut Badalona, ranked fifth in Group A, bested ratiopharm Ulm, fourth in Group B, by 9 on the road. Both higher-ranked Group A teams, third-placed London Lions and fourth-placed Prometey Slobozhanske, won in blowouts. London torched Turk Telekom Ankara 100-77 and Prometey plastered Aris 95-67.

All this proves is that in the middle of the pack, Group A packed more of a punch than Group B. The next stage in the argument will come in the quarterfinals, when the top two teams from each group, which all earned eighthfinals byes, enter the fray with home games.

Two of those quarterfinals will be exclusively Group A teams. Group A winner Paris will host Joventut and the group runner-up Hapoel will meet Besiktas. Will the other two pairings shed any light on the group comparisons? Those games will feature Group B winner Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse against Prometey, which reached the semifinals last season, and Group B runner-up U-BT Cluj-Napoca against London Lions.  

If either Bourg or Cluj falls, it will cement the claim that Group A is stronger by making the majority of the semifinals teams from Group A. Could it be a clean sweep?

The teams from Group A went 4-0 against their opponents in the eighthfinals.


Petar Bozic is aware his men face a stern test of their credentials in the quarterfinals

London Lions face moment of truth in Cluj after big win over Turk Telekom 

The London Lions are one game away from reaching the BKT EuroCup last four after [an emphatic 100-77 home win](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/game-center/2023-24/london-lions-turk-telekom-ankara/U2023/181/) over Turk Telekom Ankara in the quarterfinals, but their head coach Petar Bozic has urged his players to keep their feet on the ground ahead of next week’s tricky trip to Romania.

The Lions face a one-and-done quarterfinal road game against U-BT Cluj-Napoca in front of what will certainly be a raucous home crowd, an environment London has thrived in this season. London has an 8-1 road record this term, with its solitary defeat coming at the hands of Group A winner Paris Basketball which booked an automatic last-eight spot.

Two teams who stuttered towards the end of the regular season, both ending with 10-8 records, look to recover their form as Ulm faces Joventut. The Spanish side lost three straight to slide to fifth, while Ulm suffered three consecutive home losses to sow seeds of doubt ahead of this knockout showdown.

London Lions-Turk Telekom Ankara | Eighthfinals Highlights | 2023-24 BKT EuroCup

Paris and London, a couple of emerging cities on Europe’s basketball map, could meet in the best-of-three semifinals, but Bozic will surely tell his Lions squad to be fully focused on the tough task ahead when they cross paths with Cluj.

“It’s a big challenge ahead of us because they are a great team on their home court, so we’ll have to keep the same level of aggressiveness, physicality and unselfishness that we had tonight,” Bozic told the post-game press conference after seeing his outfit blow away Turk Telekom.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ON TO THE <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EuroCup</a> QUARTERFINALS! 🦁🔥<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreLondon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreLondon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToGreatness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToGreatness</a> <a href="https://t.co/EyThY3zHJK">pic.twitter.com/EyThY3zHJK</a></p>&mdash; London Lions (@LondonLions) <a href="https://twitter.com/LondonLions/status/1765474482263601525?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### London dominated on the interior

London broke the club’s record for most points in a half when it poured in 60 in the opening period against Turk Telekom, shooting a staggering 19-of-23 from inside the arc and 4-of-8 from downtown. Bozic was purring with delight and pointed out that that his team had stuck with a winning strategy that bore so much fruit this season.

“We scored most of the points from the paint in the first half – our pace was great and that’s something we’ve been doing throughout the season,” said the 45-year-old Serbian tactician.  “We were decisive on the pick and roll and also very active on the offensive boards, which gave us extra possessions and hence we were very efficient offensively.”

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Post game scenes from an unforgettable night! 🤩🔥<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreLondon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreLondon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToGreatness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToGreatness</a> <a href="https://t.co/ecI3GbXq45">pic.twitter.com/ecI3GbXq45</a></p>&mdash; London Lions (@LondonLions) <a href="https://twitter.com/LondonLions/status/1765686419048087786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Asked to elaborate on the domination of Gabe Olaseni and Josh Sharma against their Turk Telekom rivals, Bozic highlighted it was business as usual for the two big men after they made their athleticism count.

“There’s a lot of things we’ve been working on since the beginning of the season, like setting the screens and reading the defense,” Bozic commented. “We’ve been preaching that all season and they got their reward.”

### A tough challenge awaits

Cluj, which has won eight Romanian League titles including the last three, finished the regular season as the Group B runner-up with a 13-5 record, having gone an impressive 7-2 at home. That clinched the team a bye in the eighthfinals and hence Cluj will likely head into the game against London confident it can go at least a step further.

However, Cluj will take nothing for granted against Bozic’s high-flying unit which proved its worth against top-quality opposition, meaning that a spectacular clash is on the cards when the two teams meet in search of a semifinal spot.

London Lions face moment of truth in Cluj after big win over Turk Telekom

London Lions v Turk Telekom Ankara (2024-03-06T18:00:00.000Z)

Joventut Badalona playmaker Andres Feliz stepped up when he was needed most, posting a career performance in his team's 79-88 road win over ratiopharm Ulm in BKT EuroCup Eighthfinals. That effort earned Feliz his first career MVP of the Round honor.

BKT EuroCup Eighthfinals MVP: Andres Feliz, Joventut

Joventut Badalona playmaker [Andres Feliz](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/andres-feliz/011247/) stepped up when he was needed most, posting a career performance in his team's 79-88 road win over ratiopharm Ulm in BKT EuroCup Eighthfinals. That effort earned Feliz his first career MVP of the Round honor.

Feliz scored a personal best 28 points, making a career-best 9 two-pointers on 11 attempts, and also sank 3 of 6 triples. He also posted 6 assists and 6 rebounds in accumulating a PIR of 36, which was a career-best and the highest in the eighthfinals.

Joventut Badalona playmaker Andres Feliz stepped up when needed most, posting a career performance in his team's 79-88 road win over ratiopharm Ulm in EuroCup Eighthfinals, earning his first career MVP of the Round honor.

Andres Feliz |  Eighthfinals MVP | 2023-24 BKT EuroCup

[Ondrej Balvin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/ondrej-balvin/002644/) of Prometey Slobozhanske had the second-best PIR of the week with a 31 in leading his team to a 95-67 rout of Aris Midea Thessaloniki. Balvin boasted a line of 12 points, 9 boards, 4 assists and 3 blocks.

[Tyrone Wallace](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/tyrone-wallace/011925/)’s final EuroCup game of the season was another impressive effort as he posted a PIR of 28 for Turk Telekom Ankara in their 100-77 loss at London Lions. Wallace scored 25 points, dished 4 assists and collected 3 steals.

Rounding out the top performers of the eighthfinals were London’s [Gabe Olaseni](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/gabe-olaseni/006600/) and [David Nwaba](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/david-nwaba/012797/) and Ulm's [Trevion Williams](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/trevion-lamon-williams-/012604/). Olaseni posted 18 points and 8 rebounds for a PIR of 26. Nwaba paired 19 points with 4 boards and 3 assists for a PIR of 25, which Williams matched by collecting 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals.

Eighthfinals MVP: Andres Feliz, Joventut

ratiopharm Ulm v Joventut Badalona (2024-03-05T18:30:00.000Z)

Here are the leaders in the main statistical categories for Round 18 of the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup Regular Season. 

Individual highs: David Nwaba, London Lions, 4 blocks

[Points](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/stats/expanded/?size=1000&viewType=traditional&seasonCode=U2023&statisticMode=perGame&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=score)

Andres Feliz of Joventut Badalona was not only the BKT EuroCup Eighthfinals MVP, but he was also its top scorer with 28 points.

[Rebounds](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/stats/expanded/?size=1000&viewType=traditional&seasonCode=U2023&statisticMode=perGame&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=totalRebounds)

Trevion Williams of ratiopharm Ulm had the only double-double in the eighthfinals with 20 points and 10 rebounds. His rebound total was the most of this stage of the competition and he finished his debut EuroCup season with a competition-best 10.8 rebounds.

[Assists](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/stats/expanded/?size=1000&viewType=traditional&seasonCode=U2023&statisticMode=perGame&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=assistances)

Dreamland Gran Canaria’s Andrew Albicy dished 8 assists to lead all players in the eighthfinals. He raised his season average to 4.8, which is eighth-best in the EuroCup.

[Steals](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/stats/expanded/?size=1000&viewType=traditional&seasonCode=U2023&statisticMode=perGame&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=steals)

Ronnie Harrell of Aris Midea Thessaloniki became the EuroCup leader in steals for the season when he took 4 in an eighthfinals loss at Prometey Slobozhanske. He pushed his average to 2.3 per game while taking the most of any player in the eighthfinals.

[Blocks](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/stats/expanded/?size=1000&viewType=traditional&seasonCode=U2023&statisticMode=perGame&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=blocksFavour)

Ondrej Balvin of Prometey Slobozhanske was the leading shot-blocker in the eighthfinals with 3 blocked shots. He remains fourth in the EuroCup and upped his season-long average to 1.3 blocks per game.

[Double-doubles](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/stats/expanded/?size=1000&viewType=miscellaneous&seasonCode=U2023&statisticMode=accumulated&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&statistic=doubleDoubles)

Trevion Williams of ratiopharm Ulm had the only double-double in the eighthfinals with 20 points and 10 rebounds. 

Individual highs: Ronnie Harrell of Aris, 4 steals

The Ukrainian side, which reached the semifinals last season, is not about to rest on its laurels.

Prometey stars look ahead after crushing Aris

Prometey Slobozhanske center [Ondrej Balvin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/ondrej-balvin/002644/) had reasons to be pleased after [his team’s 95-67 rout of Aris Midea Thessaloniki on Wednesday](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/game-center/2023-24/prometey-slobozhanske-aris-midea-thessaloniki/U2023/184/). He led all players with a PIR of 31 after posting 12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks in the team’s first playoff game of the season.

In doing so, Balvin posted his second-highest PIR of the season, tied for his most blocks and his second-most assists. And while saying he wasn’t happy with his or his team’s play would be unfair, Balvin certainly was not celebrating right after the game when the EuroLeague TV cameras caught up to him.

“We showed that we are not just a team to pass through the playoffs, we are actually here to fight for the championship and the way we played today is the way to go,” Balvin said. “We made some mistakes, but I think with our hustle and our energy, we were able to eliminate \[them\].”

Ondrej Balvin did it all against Aris

The message that Balvin and his Prometey teammates were not content with simply beating Aris to reach the quarterfinals continued to echo after the game.

[Gian Clavell](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/gian-clavell/011942/), who scored 7 first-quarter points and added 9 more in the second to help Prometey to a 19-point halftime lead, added: “We are not satisfied. We still have a long way to go to finish where we want to go. But a win is a win. We have to enjoy now and get ready for Bourg.”

Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse was surely watching. And what they saw was a team that seemed to have it all together on both ends of the ball.

Prometey shot well, rebounded well and defended well against Aris. It made half of its 20 three-point shots, outrebounded 33-29 and forced 19 turnovers – which it turned into 25 points. Moreover, the 67 points allowed marked Prometey’s second lowest of the season.

“I think that we played great all game and all the respect to the players. We showed character, we fought,” Coach Ronen Ginzburg commented. He also credited a group of some 50 soldiers from Ukraine who attended the game for lifting his team. “I think maybe the soldiers from Ukraine that were here gave our players some inspiration.”

The Prometey players made it clear even before the game that they were eager to represent Slobozhanske and Ukraine. All of the players were draped in Ukrainian flags when they were introduced.

Prometey plays all of its home games in Riga, Latvia, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. To date, all four of its playoff games – including the three last season – have been played at Arena Riga. That will change next week when Balvin and co. head to France to face Bourg.

A playoff game on the road will surely be a new challenge for Prometey. However, the determination with which Balvin, Clavell and company spoke after beating Aris points to a team that is eager to keep playing beyond the quarterfinals.

The Ukrainian side, which reached the semifinals last season, is not about to rest on its laurels.


Prometey Slobozhanske v Aris Midea Thessaloniki (2024-03-06T17:00:00.000Z)

Congratulations to Milos Mihajlovic, the Round 18 winner in EuroCup Fantasy Challenge! Milos' team, Crni Djordje, posted a round-high score of 227.95 fantasy points.

EuroCup Fantasy Challenge: Round 18 winner

Congratulations to Filip Gajić, the eighthfinals winner in [EuroCup Fantasy Challenge](https://eurocupfantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/)! Filip' team, PAR 3, posted a round-high score of 259.40 fantasy points.

His squad featured the following players as starters: Trevion Williams of ratiopharm Ulm as team captain, Andres Feliz of Joventut Badalona, Ondrej Balvin of Prometey Slobohzanske and a pair of London Lions players in David Nwaba and Matthew Morgan. His sixth man was Tyrone Wallace of Turk Telekom Ankara. The rest of his bench consisted of: Aris Thessaloniki pair Ronnie Harrell and Diamantis Slaftsakis, Andrew Albicy of Dreamland Gran Canaria and Ivan Tkachenko of Prometey. Filip' head coach was Petar Bozic of London.

The prize for finishing first in the eighthfinals is a free subscription to EuroLeague TV for the 2024-25 season!

The overall leader after 19 rounds remains Uros Kostic, whose GargamelFalkao team is ahead of everyone with 3,494.40 fantasy points.

Trades are now open for the quarterfinals, which mark the first round of the EuroCup Playoffs. From now on, unlimited trades are allowed before each round until the end of the season and, as always, you can also trade your head coach.

The first quarterfinals game is scheduled to tip off on Tuesday, March 12, and thus marks the next round's deadline.

Make new teams now or improve your existing ones and try to become EuroCup Fantasy Challenge's next winner!

EuroCup Fantasy Challenge offers weekly prizes to the top team manager, so get in the game and go for the gold!

EuroCup Fantasy Challenge: eighthfinals winner

Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul pulled off a stunning upset by defeating Dreamland Gran Canaria 78-80 on Thursday night, with the Turkish side’s defense playing a key role in their qualification for the BKT EuroCup Quarterfinals. Besiktas may have boasted the fifth-stingiest defense in the regular season with an average 80.4 points conceded, but it was called to face off against the fourth-best offense in the competition with 88.9 points scored per game.

Besiktas's rigid defense ended the defending champion's reign

Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul pulled off a stunning upset by defeating Dreamland Gran Canaria 78-80 on Wednesday night, with the Turkish side’s defense playing a key role in their qualification for the BKT EuroCup Quarterfinals. Besiktas may have boasted the fifth-stingiest defense in the regular season with an average 80.4 points conceded, but it was called to face off against the fourth-best offense in the competition with 88.9 points scored per game.

The Spanish side hit the ground running in the first quarter and outscored Besiktas 22-14, but when everything indicated that Gran Canaria would dictate the tempo at home, the Turkish side imposed its game on the hosts. Head coach Dusan Alimpijevic saw his team turn the clash into a physical affair, with his team keeping the hosts to just 3 points in the first 5 minutes of the second quarter, where Gran Canaria scored just one field goal.

Game News

“We were very physical tonight, but Gran Canaria is a team that has players in positions 3, 4 and 5 who are huge with their wingspan and size,” Alimpijevic told the post-game press conference. “If you don’t put the physicality, you can be 20 or 30 points down in a few moments, something that we saw in their last games.”

Besiktas forced a team that committed a league seventh-least 13.6 turnovers per game in the regular season to 10 errors in the first half alone. In fact, Gran Canaria ended the duel with a season-high 21 turnovers, which is tied for fifth-most of all time by the Spanish side in EuroCup.

“It was the game we expected,” Gran Canaria Jaka Lakovic said in the press conference. “It was a tough game, on the limit of a foul. The rhythm was slow with a lot of fouls and with a low score at the end. And I think that this was more in Besiktas’s favor.”

Game Videos

This was just the fourth time that a team has kept Gran Canaria to less than 80 points, with Besiktas proving that its defense can win crucial games. Back in December, after Besiktas secured a 72-59 victory over Wolves Vilnius, Alimpijevic hailed his team’s defensive effort and made a bold prediction. “When we play like this, I’m really not afraid of anyone,” he stressed. “I think that my team has a big potential, especially defensively, to play games like this. At the end of the day, I think that this will be the most important thing when important times come.”

An important duel came and Besiktas’s defense stepped up again. Onto the next challenge now, as Besiktas will travel to Lithuania where it will face Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv, the league’s second-best offense (96.1 ppg.), at the Avia Solutions Group Arena in Vilnius next week.

Dreamland Gran Canaria v Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul (2024-03-06T20:00:00.000Z)

Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul shocked Dreamland Gran Canaria by beating the hosts 78-80 on the road to clinch a spot in the BKT EuroCup Quarterfinals. 

Besiktas stuns Gran Canaria, 78-80, secures quarterfinal spot

Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul shocked Dreamland Gran Canaria by beating the hosts 78-80 on the road to clinch a spot in the BKT EuroCup Quarterfinals. The Spanish side was superior in the first quarter, but Besiktas turned the game into a tight affair from that point on. The second half was an exchange of blows between the two sides, with Besiktas coming out victorious to knock out the defending champion.

Jonah Mathews paced the winning side with 14 points and Angel Delgado registered 11, with Kyle Allman and Marko Simonovic netting 10 each. For Gran Canaria, Ben Lammers scored 14 points, Nicolas Brussino recorded 11 and Ethan Happ added 10.

Happ made 1 of 2 from the line before netting a bucket in transition for Gran Canaria’s first 3 points of the game. Then, Brussino drilled one from beyond the arc for a 6-0 lead. Mathews opened his account with a layup on the break and Delgado scored one from inside, but a John Shurna triple and an Andrew Albicy basket extended Gran Canaria’s lead to 11-4. An exchange of blows saw Happ take his tally to 5 points, while Delgado scored his second bucket of the night to make it 15-8. A Matthew Mitchell bucket was followed by an AJ Slaughter three-pointer, before Simonovic and Lammers scored their first baskets of the night, 20-12.

Besiktas went 0-for-7 from deep in the first 10 minutes, with Gran Canaria’s second unit retaining control of the game and taking a 22-14 cushion into the second quarter. Yigit Arslan nailed Besiktas’s first triple of the night to cut the difference to 23-19 before Miquel Salvo and Mathews exchanged baskets from inside. Besiktas’s defense kept the hosts to just 3 points in the first 5 minutes of the second quarter, while just 2 of Gran Canaria’s 14 points in the second 10 minutes came from the line. Meanwhile, the Turkish side made the most of the energy they received from their solid defense to tie the game, 32-32, through Allman with 2 minutes left until halftime. Then, Allman gave Besiktas its first lead of the night by making 1 of 2 from the line, 32-33, but the two teams were tied 36-36 after 20 minutes.

Derek Needham opened the third quarter with a midrange jumper, which was his first field goal of the game. Then, Kerem Konan and Happ exchanged buckets before a tough Mathews basket from inside made it 39-42. Slaughter responded with a triple, but Mathews took his tally to 10 points with another bucket before Albicy netted an open layup to tie it, 44-44. Lammers and Allman traded triples before an Albicy three-pointer and 4 unanswered Pierre Pelos points gave Gran Canaria a 56-49 lead. A Berk Ugurlu triple was followed by a Mitchell bucket from inside and Besiktas cut the deficit to 57-54 heading into the closing quarter.

Ferran Bassas completed a three-point play, but Arslan and Ugurlu drilled back-to-back triples to tie it at 60-60. A Delgado bucket was followed by a buzzer-beating triple from Sylven Landesberg before the two players scored a bucket each to make it 68-65. A couple of Mathews baskets gave Besiktas back the lead, 68-69, with 3:34 left on the clock.

Slaughter netted a midrange jumper, but Needham responded with a triple before Lammers scored one from inside to tie it at 72-72. Then, Delgado and Simonovic scored back-to-back buckets for a four-point cushion, but Brussino nailed a big triple to cut the difference to 75-76. Needham scored a tough layup before a Simonovic put-back bucket made it a two-possession affair, 75-80, with 11 seconds remaining. Yet, the hosts didn’t give up, with Brussino hitting a deep triple to cut the deficit to 2 points. Then, Simonovic missed a couple of free throws with 5 seconds left on the clock, but Lammers missed a tough triple and Besiktas eliminated the defending champion from the competition.