Anthony Cowan recorded his second double-double of the season to inspire Promitheas Patras to an 89-75 victory over Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse. 

Cowan delivered in key moments to put Promitheas into quarters

Anthony Cowan recorded his second double-double of the season to inspire Promitheas Patras to an 89-75 victory over Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse. The hosts secured their fifth home win in a row to seal qualification to the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals after dominating parts of the game at Dimitris Tofalos Arena on Wednesday night.

Cowan stepped up in crucial moments to ensure that Promitheas's hard work didn't come undone. He finished the game with 20 points and 10 assists for a PIR of 32 – his third-best of the campaign. The Promitheas guard went 1-for-3 on two-pointers and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line, while drilling all 5 of his attempts from behind the arc. The only time he made more three-pointers this season was in Round 17 when he registered 6 triples and scored 38 points to lead Promitheas to an 84-81 win over Paris Basketball. His 10 assists were his second-highest total this season after recording 11 in Round 16 against London Lions.

Anthony Cowan (20 points) Highlights vs. JL Bourg en Bresse, 04/12/2023

Anthony Cowan highlights vs JL Bourg en Bresse

Despite leading Promitheas in points scored on Wednesday, Cowan didn’t net his first points until late in the second quarter. In fact, he opened his account with 2:16 to play, when he sank his first three-pointer just before registering his sixth assist in the game to tee up Arnoldas Kulboka for his third straight triple and establish his team’s largest lead of the game at that point, 40-26.

Bourg tried to bounce back after the interval and reduced the deficit to 41-38, but Cowan came to the fore again to take his tally to 8 points for a Promitheas 46-40 lead. The visitors demonstrated their die-hard spirit and fought back to go within 58-55 with less than a minute to play in the third quarter. Yet, Cowan had ice in his veins and scored his fourth triple to help Promitheas take a 61-55 lead into the last quarter. This was when Bourg made its last comeback attempt, with Jordan Floyd netting 3 free-throws to trim the deficit down to 78-71, but Cowan stepped forward once more from three-point land to kill the game.

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Anthony Cowan delivered in key moments to put Promitheas into quarters

Promitheas Patras v Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse (2023-04-12T18:00:00.000Z)

Joventut Badalona booked its place in the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals after defeating the London Lions 89-78 at Palau Olimpic de Badalona on Wednesday night, and one player who was pivotal in the win was veteran center Ante Tomic. At points in the game when London mounted a comeback, the 36-year-old took over to ensure that Joventut remained calm.

Ante Tomic used his experience to keep Joventut in control against London

Joventut Badalona booked its place in the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals after defeating the London Lions 89-78 at Palau Olimpic de Badalona on Wednesday night, and one player who was pivotal in the win was veteran center Ante Tomic. At points in the game when London mounted a comeback, the 36-year-old took over to ensure that Joventut remained calm.

 

The first quarter was defined by Joventut's 5 made three-pointers, which helped it close the opening 10 minutes with a 19-12 lead. Tomic, however, had 0 points – a total he also had going into the halftime break, with Joventut ahead 39-31. In his 10:27, he had missed 1 two-pointer and hadn't been to the free-throw line.

 

That would change after the interval, though. With London looking to get back into the game, Tomic scored 6 points in the third quarter, with 4 of those coming from 5 free-throw attempts. The Croatian big man scored his first points of the game with 7:07 remaining in the third, extending the lead to 48-39, before having two perfect trips to the line to fight off Aaron Best's best efforts, making it 52-41 and 54-42.

Ante Tomic went 4-of-8 from two-point range in Joventut Badalona's 89-78 win against the London Lions in the 7DAYS EuroCup Eighthfinals.

Ante Tomic's made field goals vs. London

In the fourth quarter, Tomic really came into his own. He helped open an 11-point lead once again, 69-58, with 8:01 left, before completing a three-point play to make it a 16-point game, 74-58, shortly after. Some heroics by Sam Dekker and a mid-range make by Jordan Taylor cut the gap to 76-68, but Tomic scored a layup to calm some nerves among the Joventut faithful, 80-68. He was fouled on the hosts' next trip down the floor, going 1-of-2 from the line, 81-68, and a couple of made free throws stopped London's momentum after a Tomislav Zubcic triple, 83-71.

 

Tomic would add to his 16 points, but his baskets – particularly in the fourth quarter – helped Joventut hold off London's comeback attempt, and it also made sure that the hosts would not have a repeat of last year's shock eighthfinals defeat to ratiopharm Ulm. Now, Tomic will be expected to once again display his leadership on the court when Joventut takes on Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv, the No. 3 seed from Group B, in the quarterfinals.

Joventut Badalona v London Lions (2023-04-12T18:00:00.000Z)

Gran Canaria had to battle hard to beat Frutti Extra Bursaspor 72-66 at home and advance to the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals. Its second-half defense,  in which it protected the paint much better, was among the most significant keys to the game.

Bursaspor was very effective inside the arc in the first half, making 6-of-9 two-point shots (66.7%) in the opening quarter and 8-of-16 (50%) in the first 20 minutes. At halftime, Bursaspor had 56% two-point shooting. After the break, Bursaspor only took 13 two-point shots and converted just 4 for a poor 30.8% shooting inside the arc.

Bursaspor was limited to just 66 points, its second-lowest mark this season. It previously scored 65 in a road loss against Umana Reyer Venice in Regular Season Round 7. Bursapor also struggled from beyond the arc, making just 7-of-31 shots. Its three-point shooting percentage (22.6% 3FG) was the club's season-low on the road. Bursaspor was limited to 11 assists. Gran Canaria had 18 assists with 20-of-32 shooting on two-pointers (62.5%).

Gran Canaria's second-half defense was key 

Gran Canaria v Frutti Extra Bursaspor (2023-04-12T19:15:00.000Z)

### Gran Canaria head coach Jaka Lakovic:

"I think our defense in the second half, I would say this was the key. From our defense, we scored some easy points and finally, when we got stops, we got confidence and made some shots, because in the first half we didn't. We go on to the next one, that's it.

"Congratulations to the players for the win and for the right to play in the quarterfinals. This win gives us the right for one more game in the EuroCup, and again, we will be in the same situation, one-and-done. We are happy, first of all, because we won the game against a very tough opponent who played very physical, pushed us to the limit. And I want to congratulate my players for being mentally tough throughout the game. Even in the fourth quarter, we went down 2 points but we kept playing and kept believing. In the end, I think we deserved to win. Bursaspor scored 66 points with 18 offensive rebounds, taking more shots than we did. Defensively, especially in the second half, I think we played excellent. Yes, 18 offensive rebounds are too many and we were aware it was one of the keys to the game, and they hurt us here. We had to have more concentration on free throws, but I don't want to talk too much about free throws. Next time, we will hit them all. 

"Things were not going the way we wanted. It was hard for us to impose our rhythm and dynamism. Credit to Bursaspor for playing very physical, taking us to our limit. It was important to be mentally strong. We never got a comfortable lead, it was tough, but the players were mentally ready. We talked about focusing on small details we had to do well to win. We focused on small things that everyone had to give to the team's success. Even with that, these games are difficult, especially when everyone sees you as a favorite because you had a good regular season. It is not easy, but the players did well."

### Frutti Extra Bursaspor head coach Dusan Alimpijevic:

"I have to congrat my players, they stuck to the game. We prepared this game good and played good. We really couldn't play better. It is difficult when you have two important players with 5 fouls, one injured players during the game, who had hit with an elbow. What can I say? For sure, Gran Canaria also deserved it. This is a good team with good individuals. This is a team that knows how to read the game. This is a team that, for sure, has the best roster in both groups in the EuroCup. I will not be surprised if I see them as a champions of EuroCup. Of course, there are a couple more teams who deserve it but as I said, I will not be surprised if Gran Canaria is the EuroCup champion."

### Gran Canaria forward John Shurna:

"It was a tough game, a playoff atmosphere. We had great teams, and that is a team that played in the finals last year with a lot of the same guys. It was a tough matchup but we were able to get some plays at the end and get a 'W'. We have to play another tough team \[Paris\]. Each game is tough from now on, we have to defend our home court and play our best."

Coach Lakovic, Gran Canaria: 'When we got stops, we got confidence'

Gran Canaria returned to the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals by downing Frutti Extra Bursaspor 72-66 in the do-or-die eighthfinals at home on Wednesday. 

Gran Canaria eliminates Bursaspor, 72-66

Gran Canaria returned to the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals by downing Frutti Extra Bursaspor 72-66 in the do-or-die eighthfinals at home on Wednesday. Gran Canaria reached the quarterfinals for the eighth time in club history and is set to face Paris Basketball in the next phase. Bursaspor, which won three consecutive road playoff games to reach the final last season, could not repeat that success, finishing the season with an 8-11 record.

John Shurna led the winners with 17 points. Khalifa Diop added 11, and five of his teammates scored 5 points or more for Gran Canaria. Onuralp Bitim paced Bursaspor with 22 points. Zach Auguste posted a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds for the visitors.

Auguste scored twice around the basket and Bitim added a coast-to-coast reverse dunk, a circus shot and a jumper in an early 0-13 run that put Bursaspor in charge, 5-13. Balcerowski and Diop stepped up for the hosts and Ferran Bassas's three-pointer fixed the score at 14-18 after 10 minutes. 

Gran Canaria found a go-to guy in Vitor Benite, who got help from Diop and Damien Inglis to give the hosts a 24-22 lead. Bitim kept pacing Bursaspor and Derek Needham's layup-plus-foul tied it at 27-27. Omer Utku Al soon scored in transition to put the visitors ahead, 31-33. Anthony Clemmons and Nico Brussino traded baskets to fix the halftime score at 33-35.

Shurna banked in a close shot and struck from downtown for a 38-35 Gran Canaria lead soon after the break. Bursaspor kept struggling to score and Inglis's layup boosted the margin to 44-36, after a 13-1 run. Clemmons sank a three-pointer and Auguste's tip-in gave the visitors hope at 47-42. David Dudzinski found his first points and Bitim brought the Bursaspor even closer, 50-49, after 30 minutes. 

Bitim sank his third triple to put the visitors in charge, 50-52, with over 8 minutes left. A.J. Slaughter and Miquel Salvo fueled a 13-0 run that Bassas capped with free throws for a 63-52 Gran Canaria lead. Shurna scored again and Diop added a backdoor layup that sealed the outcome, 67-54, as Bursaspor did not within striking distance in the final 3 minutes.

Promitheas Patras secured an 89-75 victory over Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse on Wednesday night at Dimitris Tofalos Arena to seal a spot in the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals. 

Promitheas overpowers Bourg to advance to quarterfinals

Promitheas Patras secured an 89-75 victory over Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse on Wednesday night at Dimitris Tofalos Arena to seal a spot in the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals. The hosts were superior from start to finish and managed to hold a comfortable lead whenever the visitors tried to fight back. Promitheas will play away Prometey Slobozhanske on the road in next week’s quarterfinals.

Anthony Cowan paired his 20 points with 10 assists to lead the winners. Arnoldas Kulboka also recorded 20 points. Joe Thomasson added 13 points and George Conditt had 12. For Bourg, Jordan Floyd scored 16 points, Isiaha Mike registered 13 and Pierre Pelos had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The two teams got off to a slow start, missing a couple of three-pointers each before Dustin Hogue netted 5 quick points and Vassilis Mouratos added 3 for an 8-3 Promitheas lead. Bourg had no field goal in the first 3 minutes, with all its points coming from the free-throw line. James Palmer scored the visitors' first field goal on a fast break, but Thomasson sank the hosts’ first three-pointer and Hogue took his tally to 6 points, as Promitheas went 14-5 up. Nikos Gkikas came off the bench to set up Nemanja Dangubic and scored a layup to stretch the lead to double digits, 24-13.

What followed was a nervy second quarter, as the two teams recorded a combined 10 turnovers in 4 minutes. As a result, Bourg scored just 3 points in 5 minutes and Promitheas managed its first points in the second quarter from the free-throw line through Hogue for a 26-16 lead with 5:20 to play. Kulboka opened his account with 8 back-to-back points and Cowan scored his first points 8 minutes into the second quarter to boost Promitheas's lead to 37-26. Bourg went on a 0-5 run in the closing stages to get within 41-33 before the break.

 The visitors hit the ground running in the second half, with Floyd scoring 7 back-to-back points to reduce the deficit to 44-40. Promitheas stars Cowan and Kulboka responded, with the latter taking his tally to 16 points, 53-40. Axel Julien and Maxime Courby sank a three-pointer each to bring Bourg within 58-55, but Cowan scored a much-needed triple from the corner as Promitheas headed into the last quarter with a 61-55 lead.

Thomasson and Dangubic pushed their team's lead back to double digits, but Pelos scored 6 straight points and Floyd sank 3 free throws to trim the deficit to 78-71. Cowan stepped up again when Promitheas needed him most and scored his fifth three-pointer of the game for an 81-71 lead to deal Bourg a hard blow. Then Conditt rejected Floyd on one end and scored a put-back-and-one on the other end to practically put the game to bed and seal the victory for the hosts.

Hapoel Vegan friendly Tel Aviv reached the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals with a resounding 90-80 home win over Umana Reyer Venice, on the back of aggressive defense in the first three quarters of the game garnished by selfless teamwork on offense.

Defense and assists carried Hapoel past Reyer

Hapoel Vegan friendly Tel Aviv reached the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals with a resounding 90-80 home win over Umana Reyer Venice, on the back of aggressive defense in the first three quarters of the game garnished by selfless teamwork on offense.

The home team forced 19 turnovers from the visitors, who had fought back from a 77-55 deficit at the end of the third quarter and closed the gap to just 84-80 in the closing stages, but they ran fell short of turning the game on its head.

Hapoel also shared the ball unselfishly on the attack, as it racked up a total of 22 team assists, while six players posted double figures in scoring. The bench made a massive contribution and the second unit's effort was personified by Idan Zalmanson, who had 10 points and 5 rebounds in just 13 minutes on the court.

The overall performance drew praise from head coach Danny Franco, who can now look forward to a last-eight clash with Joventut Badalona and hope that his team will be able to reach the semifinals in their debut EuroCup season.

"I want to congratulate my players for a great night. We played a team with a lot of experienced guys and a great coach, we were never going to take anything for granted against them," Franco said in the post-game press conference.

"The fans gave us incredible energy and with so many players contributing, I am proud as a coach of how we reacted. We needed to be more focused to prevent the momentum that Venice got \[in the latter stages\], but I am happy we’re here and I hope we can keep dreaming."

Reyer made 12 of 36 three-point attempts and 14 of 21 from two-point range, with its head coach Neven Spahija criticizing the shot selection.

"We needed to play inside more because a serious team can’t afford to take 36 shots from three-point range and just 21 from two-point territory," he said. "Basketball is about balancing the inside and the outside game."

Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv v Umana Reyer Venice (2023-04-12T18:00:00.000Z)

The story of the eighthfinals game in Germany on Wednesday was ratiopharm Ulm coming back from a 17-point deficit to defeat Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 92-83 and one of the keys to that victory was the hosts dominating the paint. 

Ulm's dominance inside paved the way against Buducnost 

The story of the eighthfinals game in Germany on Wednesday was ratiopharm Ulm coming back from a 17-point deficit to defeat Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 92-83 and one of the keys to that victory was the hosts dominating the paint.

In the first minute alone, Bruno Caboclo showed some of what was to come with 4 points – including a put-back basket – a block and a defensive rebound. It seemed to matter little as Buducnost outscored Ulm 12-30 over the next 9 minutes. However, Caboclo and the Ulm big men had plenty to say all game long.

Even after the halftime break, when Ulm needed to get its attack going, its first 2 baskets came via the offensive glass: one by Caboclo and the second via Philipp Herkenoff. For the night, Ulm outrebounded Buducnost 45-33 and it almost doubled the visitors on the offensive glass, 17-9. From those, Ulm netted 21 second-chance points compared to 10 for Buducnost. Those numbers are even more impressive considering that Buducnost was third in the regular season with 39.0 rebounds per game.

What’s more, Ulm shot 21-for-36 on two-pointers for the game (58.3%), while holding Buducnost to 22-for-47 (46.8%). Caboclo was key to the hosts inside scoring, making 7 of 8 two-point shots. He finished with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks. Buducnost's star center Alpha Kaba also had 11 rebounds as well as 3 steals and 3 blocks, but was quiet on offense with just 6 points on 2-for-5 two-point shooting.

Without a consistent frontcourt scoring threat – 55.4% of Buducnost’s points came from starting guards Erick Green (29) and Trae Bell-Haynes (17), the visitors could not threaten Ulm inside and the hosts were able to become more aggressive in other areas to turn things around in the second half and advance to the quarterfinals.  

ratiopharm Ulm v Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (2023-04-12T17:30:00.000Z)

Carles Duran, Joventut: 'The most important thing is the win'

### Carles Duran, Joventut Badalona head coach

"Probably \[it was a typical playoff game\]. The worst thing is the turnovers, but it's a good victory. The most important thing is to win. I don't know if the team played well or not – sometimes it played well. But, the most important thing is the win and to think in the next round. The fans were spectacular. I think we have Hapoel? Great team, but now we're happy with the victory and we'll try to think about Hapoel.

"Congratulations to the team, the club, but in the next round it will be very difficult. I'm happy for the club and now we'll try to think about the next game."

### Ryan Schmidt, London Lions head coach

"I'm really proud of our guys. I thought the fight was there. We talked a lot the last few months of the season, the games against the better teams – like we played tonight – it's going to come down to the marginal things: missed free throws, offensive rebounds, not being able to capitalize after stops. Credit to them, that's a hell of a team. I'd expect them to go on a really deep run, but I'm really proud of how we fought tonight.

"Obviously it's a tough result for us, but I'm really proud of the way our guys fought. We knew going into this game that it was going to be tough from a size and physicality standpoint. You look at their roster, you watch the film, they do a really good job of just imposing their will in the paint. I thought we did a good job with our post defense, I think just the second-chance opportunities… You give up 15 offensive rebounds, it's going to be tough to win the game. And that's been something that's been hurting us since we've been missing Kosta \[Koufos\] and our roster got, from a size standpoint, a little smaller with four guards playing on the court basically the whole time. But look, overall, I think perspective on the season is really important. There's a lot of firsts that we accomplished as an organization – the first time that a British team has qualified for the playoffs – and that's what we need. As an organization, as a team, you need playoff experience and I don’t think there's a better test than coming over here and playing a team that's rich in history and tradition. Again, just to be able to be in that game continuously, I was proud of the way that we played. I told the guys in the locker room that there were multiple times in that game when we could have let it get out of hand and I thought the fight and resolve we showed was really good. On the flip side, now you see on the other side where we have to get to. That's a team tonight where every time we got it to 6 or 4, they'd make you pay and they'd get it back to 8 or they'd get it back to 10. That's just where we need to get to. I'm really happy with the season, obviously disappointed we didn’t advance, but at the end of the day, I'm really pleased with how we constantly showed improvement from the beginning of the EuroCup competition until now."

### Ante Tomic, Joventut Badalona center

"We were playing good the whole game and we deserved to win today. Starting good always gives us more confidence, especially defensively. Against teams like London, you need to be careful and concentrated during the 40 minutes. We did that today and I'm really proud of the team, because it was a really difficult game for us. But, we did it. The crowd always \[helps us\]. When the Olimpic is like this, it's much easier to play."