Prometey Slobozhanske came up with a rare hot-shooting night from the outside in racing past Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 94-68 thanks in large part to DJ Stephens.

 Stephens leads Prometey three-point attack 

Prometey Slobozhanske came up with a rare hot-shooting night from the outside in racing past Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 94-68 thanks in large part to DJ Stephens.

The Prometey forward Stephens drained 6 of 9 triples in scoring a game-high 28 points. The American came into the game shooting just 33.3% from long range although he had raised his efficiency while hitting 7 of 15 triples in his previous two games.

Prometey as a team has struggled from the outside this season. Despite having the second-best offense with 87.0 points per game, the Ukrainian side had made just 30.6% of its three-point attempts, ranking 18th in the EuroCup. But Prometey connected on 13 of 31 three-pointers for 41.9% against Cedevita.

Prometey's long-range prowess may also have been a result of the Cedevita defense, which came into the contest ranked last in PIR (102.6), opponents scoring (89.8) and turnovers forced (11.8), as well 19th in opponents’ three-point shooting (39.2%).

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Stephens leads Prometey three-point attack

Prometey Slobozhanske v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2023-02-08T17:00:00.000Z)

Joe Thomasson, Promitheas: 'I love our energy right now'

### Promitheas Patras head coach Ioannis Christopoulos:  

"\[This win\] is very important. It will help us climb up  as much as we can. Every game is a different game. We are looking forward to the next one…"

 

### Slask Wroclaw head coach Andrej Urlep:

"We had problems.  We have a short rotation. We were not able to keep the pace. We committed too many bad turnovers and that’s why we lost."

 

### Promitheas Patras guard Joe Thomasson:

"Defense is what wins championships. You can score all the points you want, but if you can’t stop the other team, the opponent, then it’s gonna just be a high-scoring game. Anybody can win there… I am looking forward to the next game. Honestly, I am just trying to win as much as I can in the EuroCup, show how valuable I can be to myself first and my team. Continue to help lead this team to as many victories as I can. But I feel pretty good. Two months ago we weren’t a serious basketball team. No one was talking about us. People didn’t believe. Now we’re stringing some wins together. Now, mind you, we have a lot of work to do. But I love our energy right now, the comradery in the locker room. We are coming together from our coaches down to the last player on the bench, we’re finally believing in something and that’s what matters. "

 

Promitheas Patras v Slask Wroclaw (2023-02-08T17:30:00.000Z)

 Prometey races past Cedevita for 7th straight win

Prometey Slobozhanske remained atop Group A with a comfortable 94-68 home win over Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana. The Ukrainian side took over the game in the third quarter to extend its winning streak to seven games for a 10-4 record. 

DJ Stephens paced the winners with 28 points including 6 three-pointers. Caleb Agada chipped in 16 points and Issuf Sanon added 11. Cedevita’s chances of reaching the playoffs are slowly fading away with a fourth loss in the last five games for a 3-11 record. Alen Omic scored 16 points and Yogi Ferrell tallied 10 points in the defeat. 

Both teams went inside earkt to their big man. Cedevita’s Ondrej Balvin and Omic both scored 6 points as the score went back and forth with 8 lead changes up to an 18-19 Cedevita lead. The guests pushed ahead 20-24 for their second four-point lead but Prometey led 25-24 after 10 minutes. Prometey scored the first 9 points of the second quarter – all from the free throw line – for a 35-24 cushion. Omic added 5 more points and Marko Jeremic’s triple cut the difference to 41-36. The deficit got as low as 44-40 but Prometey had an 8-2 finish until it lead 52-43 at halftime. 

 Stephens and Sanon hit three-pointers to start the second half and Prometey’s cushion grew to 58-43. Cedevita fought to get within 59-50 and Promotey punched back with 10 straight points for a 69-50 advantage. Stephens added 2 more triples and the lead was 78-58 after 30 minutes. Cedevita could not get closer than 16 points in the fourth quarter.

Prometey races past Cedevita for 7th straight win 

 Coach Canak, Lietkabelis: 'The best medicine' 

### 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys head coach Nenad Canak:

"Of course, I am happy about that win. It is a very important win for us. As you know, we are really struggling in our national championship and for us, a victory is always the best medicine. I am very happy because we didn't give up at minus-11. Things were not going how we want but guys showed character and I think we deserved that win. At this moment, we don't know the situation with \[Gediminas\] Orelik but \[Jamel Morris\] stepped up, \[Paulius\] Murauskas played well his minutes. Great win for us."

### Umana Reyer Venice head coach Gianluca Tucci:

"We were unlucky because details made this game. The game is there, so everybody can watch how many triples touched the rim twice or three times before going in and out. It is important to be sure that we have 100% of our team spirit, our way to approach a new course. It is clear that we also need to be luckier, but I am happy for our game. Everybody gave 100% of effort."

### 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys guard Jamel Morris:

"I think everybody had a good effort today. I think we fought hard for four quarters. We didn't give up, everybody played together. I thought we got stops when we needed to get stops. We made some adjustments in the second half, they helped us, and of course, we had to make shots, but I am just glad that everybody, from the first guy to the last guy, came in and contributed. Everybody did well and did their job. That's a good team to beat and we are happy for it. We had a good team meeting after our last game and just kind of looked at ourselves in the eyes and had a good soul searching-type meeting. Slowly but surely, everybody is just buying in, everybody is playing together and fighting hard for each other, not worrying about outside things that we can't control. We are just controlling everything amongst ourselves, and I think we took a step forwards today."

Coach Canak, Lietkabelis: 'The best medicine'

7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys v Umana Reyer Venice (2023-02-08T17:00:00.000Z)

 Morris's three wins it for Lietkabelis, 87-84! 

In a thriller that went down to the final shot, 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys grabbed its third consecutive win in Group A by topping Umana Reyer Venice 87-84 at Kalnapilio Arena in Round 14 on Wednesday. Lietkabelis improved to 7-7 in the standings, the same as Reyer, which won their first game 74-71 in Round 5. Reyer, despite it's fourth consecutive loss, is currently ahead of Lietkabelis in the standings due to a higher group point differential in its favor. 

Jamel Morris led the winners with 28 points on 6-for-7 three-point shooting, firing in his sixth and final one from the EuroCup logo with 1.3 seconds remaining. Gyrogy Goloman added 14 points and Nikola Popovic 13 for Lietkabelis. Mitchell Watt led Reyer with 19 points, making 8 of 11 two-pointers. Jayson Granger added 15 points, Derek Willis 14 and Jordan Parks 11.

Willis stepped up early with consecutive dunks, giving Reyer a 2-8 lead. Morris struck three times from downtown, getting help from Stefan Peno to put Lietkabelis in charge, 15-12. Parks stepped up for the guests and Granger restored a 27-28 Reyer lead after 10 minutes. Goloman scored twice in the paint in a 9-0 run that Murauskas capped with a three-pointer, making Reyer call timeout at 36-28. Jeff Brooks fueled a 0-10 run highlighted by Watt's put-back slam. Parks and Willis kept Reyer ahead, 43-46, at halftime.

Mike Bramos buried a three-pointer, Willis and Watt each hit a jumper and Granger's fastbreak layup made it a double-digit game, 47-57, for Reyer. Morris and Kristian Kullamae tried to change things for Lietkabelis but Granger and Marco Spissu each answered from downtown for a 60-67 score. Goloman and Murauskas kept Lietkabelis within 64-67 after 30 minutes. Willis and Spissu gave Reyer fresh air at 69-76 with over 7 minutes left. Goloman and Popovic rescued the hosts and Morris's driving layup tied it, 80-80, with over 3 minutes remaining. Morris completed Lietkabelis's comeback, 84-83, with 1:19 left. Watt split free throws before Morris delivered from way downtown and Bramos missed a three-point shot at the buzzer.

Morris's three wins it for Lietkabelis, 87-84!

Umana Reyer Venice announced on Wednesday that it appointed former 7DAYS EuroCup champion Neven Spahija to be its new head coach. He replaces Walter De Raffaele, who was relieved of his duties earlier in the week after spending 13 years at the club. Gianluca Tucci will serve as Reyer's head coach for Wednesday's Round 14 game on the road against 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys.

Reyer appoints Neven Spahija as new head coach

Umana Reyer Venice announced on Wednesday that it appointed former 7DAYS EuroCup champion Neven Spahija to be its new head coach. He replaces Walter De Raffaele, who [was relieved of his duties earlier in the week](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/reyer-parts-ways-with-head-coach-walter-de-raffaele/) after spending 13 years at the club. Gianluca Tucci will serve as Reyer's head coach for Wednesday's Round 14 game on the road against 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys.

Spahija, 60, returns to the EuroCup for the first time in almost a decade after leading Cibona Zagreb of his native Croatia for the first five games of the 2013-14 season. Spahija previously helped Valencia Basket win the EuroCup in 2010, and he also reached the competition's final with the Slovenian side Krka Novo Mesto in 2003. He has a 35-17 (67.3%) career record in the competition and now takes over Reyer, a team sitting in fifth place in Group A with a 7-6 record.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="it" dir="ltr">✍️🇭🇷 Neven Spahija è il nuovo head coach dell’Umana Reyer maschile 👉 <a href="https://t.co/zLZfL3MObA">https://t.co/zLZfL3MObA</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Reyer150?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Reyer150</a> <a href="https://t.co/VLSIyww6fG">pic.twitter.com/VLSIyww6fG</a></p>&mdash; Reyer Venezia (@REYER1872) <a href="https://twitter.com/REYER1872/status/1623295568603750401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Spahija last coached in the 2021-22 season with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, which he led to a ninth-place finish in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the semifinals in the Spanish League. That was his second stint with the Spanish club, which he also guided to the 2008 EuroLeague Final Four. Spahija has an 89-93 (48.9%) record across 10 EuroLeague seasons during his career, having started with Elemes Sibenik, Zrinjevac Zagreb and Gradine Pula in Croatia. He also coached Olimpija Ljubljana of Slovenia, Avtodor Saratov of Russia, Euro Roseto of Italy, Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius of Lithuania, Fenerbahce Istanbul of Turkey, Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv of Israel and Shanghai Sharks of China, as well as spending time as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks and the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.

He has won domestic league titles in Spain (Baskonia 2008), Croatia (Cibona 2000, 2001), Slovenia (Krka 2003), Lithuania (Rytas 2006), Israel (Maccabi 2007, 2018) and Turkey (Fenerbahce 2011). Spahija also won Croatian Cups with Cibona in 2000 and 2001, the Turkish Cup with Fenerbahce in 2011 and the Baltic League with Rytas in 2006. He has coached the Croatian national team, too.

London Lions forward Sam Dekker has been one of the 7DAYS EuroCup's most impactful players this season. That said, the 28-year-old has taken his game to another level in recent weeks. 

Who's hot: Sam Dekker, London Lions

London Lions forward [Sam Dekker](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/sam-dekker/009672/) has been one of the 7DAYS EuroCup's most impactful players this season. That said, the 28-year-old has taken his game to another level in recent weeks. 

Dekker, who ranks sixth in minutes played (31:31 mpg.), has been competition's best scorer thus far in the second half of the regular season. His overall production since Round 10 has shot London up the EuroCup statistical rankings, all the way to second in average PIR and third in scoring.

Dekker already starred in the first half of the regular season, his second in the EuroCup. He overcame an injury in that season opener that had held him to 5 minutes and just 5 points that night. After returning in Round 4, he went on to score at least 15 points in each of the next six games, including 20 points twice in that span.

Since Round 10, however, Dekker has been positively explosive. No player has scored more points in the four games since Round 10 than Dekker's 97.

Dekker started off this span of strong performances by dropping 29 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds against Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv. He followed that up with a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds in a key road win at Dolomiti Energia Trento.

Dekker continued by scoring 18 of team's 57 points in a tight home loss against Group B leader Gran Canaria. And finally, in Round 13, he netted 27 points and grabbed 8 rebounds on the road against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica.

Over that span, Dekker impressed not only with his 24.3 points per game, improved from 16.6 before Round 10, but also by improving his three-point shooting. He went from making just 6 triples on 24.0% accuracy in his first seven games to averaging 2.3 on respectable 34.6% shooting in the last four.

Dekker also went from pulling down 4.9 rebounds to averaging 7.3 since Round 10, and has blocked 6 shots in the last four games. It all led to him posting an average PIR of 25.8, behind only this season's PIR leader Yogi Ferrell of Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, who has averaged 26.5 in the same four-game span.

Dekker will try to keep up his hot streak when his team hosts Veolia Towers Hamburg on Wednesday knowing that a win will book London's place in the playoffs.

London Lions v Veolia Towers Hamburg (2023-02-08T19:30:00.000Z)

Both Paris Basketball (8-5) and Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (8-5) have already secured their place in the 7DAYS EuroCup Playoffs, but during Wednesday night's showdown at Halle Georges Carpinter, these two teams with aspirations of reaching the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague will be able to test themselves against one another.

When Buducnost hosted Paris in Round 5 in their first-ever meeting, it was Paris that came away with the victory, winning 74-77. Coach Will Weaver's team leaned on a 7-point swing in the fourth quarter to improve to 3-2, while Buducnost tactician Vlada Jovanovic saw his team drop to 3-2.

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica - Paris Basketball | Round 5 Highlights | 2022-23 7DAYS EuroCup

The two teams had the same record after that Round 5 game, and they come into Wednesday's contest with an identical record, too: 8-5. Kyle Allman was one of Paris's best performers that day, pairing 13 points with 4 rebounds and 5 assists, but he has not played since Round 10 due to injury and will miss his team's game against Buducnost.

Instead, Paris will have to rely on some of its other top performers from its Round 5 matchup, as Aamir Simms, Juhann Begarin, Amar Gegic and Ismael Kamagate all got into double figures for points. Last time out, Paris lost 118-99 on the road at Gran Canaria, with Simms scoring a career-high 22 points, while Tyrone Wallace, who didn’t play against Buducnost, was not far behind with 19. In the absence of Allman, Wallace has also become the team's lead playmaker.

Michael Roll had 17 points against Gran Canaria, but he has now left Paris after only signing a short-term deal. Gegic added 14 points, Gauthier Denis chipped in with 12 and Jeremy Evans had 11, so it will be important that Paris finds scoring options from multiple players at Halle Georges Carpinter.

The best scoring plays of Paris Basketball in the 7DAYS EuroCup in the absence of Kyle Allman, who has been out since Round 11.

Paris's best scoring plays since Round 11

Kamagate, however, is coming off his worst performance of the season, having struggled up against Gran Canaria's center duo of Khalifa Diop and Aleksander Balcerowski. The 22-year-old finished with 2 points, his joint lowest total of the season, and 5 rebounds. Only in one game has he had fewer rebounds: against Buducnost in Round 5 (4). Kamagate will therefore be hoping to turn things around on Wednesday, as he looks to get the better of Alpha Kaba.

Yet, Kaba will be feeling pretty confident ahead of his second matchup with Kamagate. When they met in late November, Kaba dominated the Paris center, recording a 17-point, 16-rebound double-double and also getting 3 steals. The Buducnost big man has been a force in this year's EuroCup, and another dominant performance may see his team exact some revenge for its Round 5 defeat to Paris.

Only Phil Booth and Trae Bell-Haynes joined Kaba in reaching double digits for scoring in Round 5, however Booth is no longer on the team's roster. Buducnost has been combing the market in recent months and has added some players to help it on its push to reach the EuroLeague, such as Erick Green, J.J. O'Brien and, in the last few days, Manu Lecomte. Green and O'Brien have played since Round 10, while Lecomte could make his debut in Round 14.

The best scoring plays of Buducnost VOLI Podgorica duo J.J. O'Brien and Erick Green since they joined the team ahead of Round 10 in the 7DAYS EuroCup.

J.J. O'Brien and Erick Green's best scoring plays since Round 10

In Buducnost's last game, a 78-68 triumph over the London Lions in Round 13, Green led the way with 16 points, while Bell-Haynes scored 14 and Cameron Reynolds contributed 11. O'Brien, a 2021 EuroCup champion with AS Monaco, had 8 points on his fourth appearance for the team, with his average in those games standing at 8.5 ppg. Green, meanwhile, a player with 102 games experience in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, has hit the ground running, scoring at least 16 points in three of his four games so far.

With just five games to go until the end of the regular season, this clash between Paris and Buducnost could go some way towards determining the playoff seeding in Group B. What's more, given that Paris won by 3 points in Round 5, Buducnost will be eager to overturn that deficit in order to win the tiebreaker, should it come down to that.

Both Paris and Buducnost have their sights set on the EuroLeague, and Wednesday's game in the French capital could be a chance for one of these two to show that they are ready to take the step-up to Europe's premier club basketball competition.

Paris vs. Buducnost: Two teams with big aspirations

Paris Basketball v Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (2023-02-08T19:30:00.000Z)

Jerian Grant carried Turk Telekom to Trento triumph

Jerian Grant produced his finest game yet for Turk Telekom Ankara to lead the team to a 72-80 road win at Dolomiti Energia Trento on Tuesday. His 26 points were a personal best and his 10-for-10 free throw shooting was just 1 off the club record. And on this night, his team needed all of it.

Starting center Tyrique Jones came into the game second to Grant in PIR on the team – and seventh in the EuroCup – in average PIR with 18.4, was ejected in the second quarter and finished without any points in 10:12 minutes on the floor. The team’s leading scorer, Axel Boutielle, contributed 12 points, but did so with subpar shooting; he made 2 of 5 two-pointers and 2 of 7 threes. The team’s next-best scorer, Tony Taylor, finished with 7 points after making 1 of 3 two-pointer and 1 of 4 threes.

Grant was not only efficient, but he was timely. He missed his first shot and committed 2 turnovers in the first 2 minutes. After another turnover midway through the opening quarter, Grant would not commit another. He scored 16 second-quarter points, including the go-ahead three-pointer, to help Turk Telekom take a slim halftime lead, 40-43.

He keyed the key fourth-quarter run too. After Darion Atkins drew the hosts within 59-62, Grant assisted on the next 5 points before scoring in the lane to establish a double-digit lead from which Trento never recovered.  

Perhaps Grant’s most impressive number of the night was 12. That’s how many points Turk Telekom outscored Trento by when he was on the floor. In the 3 minutes and 22 seconds that Grant sat out, Trento outscored the visitors by 4.

Dolomiti Energia Trento v Turk Telekom Ankara (2023-02-07T19:00:00.000Z)