The 7DAYS EuroCup Group B clash between the London Lions and Promitheas Patras on Wednesday night produced a superb contest at Copper Box Arena, with Anthony Cowan stealing the show to help the visiting Greek side grab an 89-93 road win in a spectacular atmosphere.

Cowan registered personal bests of 26 points and 11 assists, as he helped spark a second-half comeback by Promitheas which forced London into submission in front of a passionate home crowd, whose enthusiasm suggested that basketball could be making strides in Great Britain.

With Promitheas trailing 50-48 at halftime, Cowan turned on the heat in the third quarter as the visiting side went on a 20-2 run when it was 55-51 down, taking the lead for good and fending off a spirited London fightback in the final 10 minutes.

Visiting coach Ioannis Christopoulos was full of praise for the 25-year old point guard from Maryland, who mixed superb long-range shooting with incisive drives to the basket, resulting in either easy layups or open shots for his teammates.

“He brings a winning spirit and a lot of heart,” Christopoulos said during the post-game press conference. “He is a great character and he learns the game every day. He is still a young guard and he will only become better and better.”

The best plays of Promitheas Patras guard Anthony Cowan in his team's 89-93 win at the London Lions in Round 16 of the 2022-23 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season.

Anthony Cowan's best plays vs. London

The Promitheas coach also praised the impressive atmosphere at Copper Box Arena: “It’s a great place. London is growing as an organization and, as a basketball person, I am happy to see that.”

London tactician Ryan Schmidt was just as impressed with the turnout at the venue and said that he was confident the team’s steady progress in its maiden EuroCup season would generate long-term popularity for basketball in the United Kingdom.

“I love it, the players love it. The fan base has got behind building this organization and it’s been nothing short of remarkable,” Schmidt noted. “It’s been fun to see not just a growing fan base, but a consistent fan base. The guys are feeding off that energy, and you could see in the last three or four minutes they thrived on it. It’s an intimate setting and it could become one of the best environments in Europe.”

Although he praised London for its spirited fourth-quarter fightback, Coach Schmidt was less elated with the overall performance.

“When you give up 93 points to a team in this competition, it’s always going to be tough to win,” he lamented. “I wasn’t happy with how we defended throughout the game, but I thought we got some big stops down the stretch in the last three or four minutes.”

London hit 6-of-12 three-pointers in the first half but only 2-of-16 in the second, allowing Promitheas to turn the game on its head as the Greek side finished on 13-of-32 from beyond the arc. Promitheas was also efficient from the foul line, nailing 22-of-25 free throws while London made 11-of-16. The hosts collected 19 offensive rebounds to Promitheas's 14, but it missed a bunch of opportunities to turn those offensive boards into second-chance points, having been put off by the visiting team’s physicality in the paint.

Ultimately, Coach Schmidt gave credit to Promitheas for a mature performance: “I thought they played extremely well. They compete for 40 minutes. You’ve got to give them credit because there were four possessions or so when the shot clock was down to five seconds, but Cowan and \[Joe\] Thomasson hit some tough shots. That’s what big players do.”

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Anthony Cowan tamed the Lions in incredible atmosphere

London Lions v Promitheas Patras (2023-03-15T19:30:00.000Z)

ratiopharm Ulm pulled out a valuable home 97-85 win against Cedeveita Olimpija Ljubljiana in Round 16 that has kept its hopes alive of securing home-court advantage in the playoffs of the 7DAYS EuroCup.

The German team had several reasons behind wanting to beat the visitors, as, in addition to it helping its goals ahead of the playoffs, the 108-78 defeat it suffered against the same opponent in Round 7 still resonated in it’s the hosts' heads.

“We are happy with this win,” Ulm head coach Anton Gavel stated in the press conference. “We lost against them by 30 in the previous game and we knew it was going to be a tough one, knowing that \[Yogi\] Ferrell and \[Josh\] Adams can get hot every single night and every second."

One of the factors that made the difference for Ulm in this game was the joy it had from the free-throw line. Despite a balanced stat line in terms of fouls, with Ulm committing 22 to Cedevita's 24, the home team went to the line 10 more times (34 vs. 24) and had a far better percentage. Ulm scored 30 points from the charity stripe (88.2%), while Cedevita made 19 (79.2%), which means 11 more points in a 12-point win.

Cedevita head coach Miro Alilovic pointed to this in his post-game press conference: “I can be satisfied with the will of the players to prepare for the game, with big desire. And from this big desire, we were over aggressive too many times and we allowed them to make too many free throws." It was a similar story with Coach Gavel. “Offensively we were attacking the basket, which allowed us to have 34 free throws, which was good. We found a way, as always, to score a lot of points.” Ultimately, Ulm's joy from the free-throw line proved key en route to an important victory.

Ulm made the most of free throws to beat Cedevita

ratiopharm Ulm v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2023-03-15T18:30:00.000Z)

7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys beat Germani Brescia 65-74 on the road in Round 16, which extended the hosts' winning streak to five games. Curiously, that run has coincided with the arrival of center Nikola Popovic, who joined the team in late January.

Indeed, Popovic is 5-0 in the EuroCup with Lietkabelis, and his contribution has slowly increased in the last five contests. Against Brescia, Popovic led his team in scoring with 11 points. Lietkabelis had seven other players scoring 6 points or more, which says a lot about the team's balanced offense. Popovic added 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 fouls drawn for a team-high PIR of 13.

Nikola Popovic joined 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys in late January and has helped his team to go on a five-game winning streak... and counting!

Lietkabelis: 5-0 since Popovic arrived

Wednesday night's Round 16 fixture was Popovic's third consecutive double-digit game in the competition. In Round 14, Lietkabelis edged Umana Reyer Venice 87-84 at home, with the 25-year-old recording 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a PIR of 17. Popovic had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and a PIR of 13 in Round 15 against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, too. In his five games with the team, Popovic has averaged 8.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and a PIR of 10.0 in 18 minutes on the floor. By adding Popovic and Gediminas Orelik, Lietkabelis has become an unstoppable force and has many reasons to be optimistic moving forward.

Nikola Popovic is Lietkabelis's lucky charm

Germani Brescia v 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys (2023-03-15T19:30:00.000Z)

### Jaka Lakovic, Gran Canaria head coach

“It was a very difficult game because Turk Telekom is a great team. They made their run in the third quarter. We hung on and, in the end, we controlled the finish of the game. We are happy with the win and we go forward.

“I congratulate the team for our victory. It was an important victory between the top two teams in our group. Both are trying to win and secure the best possible spot before the playoffs start. I thought we started the game well, focused and played pretty good defense. Today we had good percentage on threes and twos. We moved the ball well and found good solutions. But in the third quarter, Turk Telekom came back into the game, which we expected to happen. We didn’t panic too much. We handled the 7-point lead all the way to the end. And we deserved the win."

### Erdem Can, Turk Telekom Ankara head coach

"I congratulate Gran Canaria. It was an important game. I hope people watch this game and evaluate it in the right way.”

### John Shurna, Gran Canaria forward

“We started off strong in the first half, but Turk Telekom obviously is a great team and we let them get some easy baskets and get some confidence. It was back and forth for a little, but we are happy to defend home court and get a win against them.”

John Shurna, Gran Canaria: 'We are happy to defend home court'

Gran Canaria v Turk Telekom Ankara (2023-03-15T20:00:00.000Z)

### Ioannis Christopoulos, Promitheas Patras head coach

“We showed exactly who we are. We played defense and turned it up in the third quarter. We are now looking forward to the next \[game\].

“It’s a great feeling to win on the road. We knew it was going to be difficult and both teams fought very hard. We did a good job defensively in the third quarter as we set the tone and took the lead; it was wonderful to see our players respond and make a statement on the defensive end.

(On Anthony Cowan): “He brings a winning spirit and a lot of heart. He is a great character \[guy\] and he learns the game every day. He is still a young guard and he will only become better and better.

(On the atmosphere at Copper Box Arena): “It’s a great place. London is growing as an organization and, as a basketball person, I am happy to see that.”

### Ryan Schmidt, London Lions head coach

“Credit to them, that’s a very good team. Obviously, every time you give up 93 points in a game, it’s going to be tough to win. We’ve got to be better defensively, but again, give them credit. Three or four times, we got them to under four seconds on the shot clock and they hit some tough shots. When you’ve got guys who hit shots like that, it’s going to be tough to win a game. We made an effort to make a comeback in the fourth quarter. Congratulations to them.

"There are no easy games in this competition. They are the best team in our group, \[so\] it was a really good test for us. I didn’t like we did defensively \[in the third quarter\]. We went into this game as the third-rated defense in the EuroCup and I thought we gave them too many easy opportunities. At the same time, you’ve got to give them credit because there were four possessions or so when the shot clock was down to five seconds, but \[Anthony\] Cowan and \[Joe\] Thomasson hit some tough shots. That’s what big players do.

(On the atmosphere at Copper Box Arena): “I love it, the players love it, the fan base has got behind building this organization and it’s been nothing short of remarkable. It’s been fun to see not just a growing fan base, but a consistent fan base. The guys are feeding off that energy, and you could see in the last three or four minutes, the guys thrived on it. It’s an intimate setting and it could become one of the best environments in Europe."

### Anthony Cowan, Promitheas Patras point guard

“\[My performance\] was pretty good. We’ve got to finish more plays down the stretch but my teammates helped me out and we were able to get a good road win. We’ve got to finish strongly. It’s been a long season for us, but we can’t stop now. We’ve got to keep working and get more wins.”

Ioannis Christopoulos, Promitheas: 'It’s a great feeling to win on the road'

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

"We are in an even better position now than before the game. It was a great game for us defensively today. Of course, the fact that \[Kenny\] Gabriel and \[Amedeo\] Della Valle didn't play helped us, but okay, I think that we deserved that win.

"It is a very important win for us because now, we are fighting for a better position before the playoffs. In the game, we played very solid defense. We controlled the rebounds and, in the end, I think we deserved that win and we will keep fighting in the EuroCup."

### Alessandro Magro, Germani Brescia head coach 

"We tried to compete against their physicality. We were not able to find good shots, and the good shots we generated, we missed them. So obviously, if you don't score, it is tough. There are a lot of things that we have to do better. We will watch the game and will be ready for the next one.

"For sure, we are disappointed because we knew the importance of the result of this game. We had the chance to gain some better positioning in the standings and we didn't. We knew that our weak point could be playing against their physical defense. They decided to have their regular edge defense, but also switching. In the first half especially, we moved the ball, in my opinion, not properly and too slow. Then we tried to do it better, we also generated some open shots that we missed. We had a very, very bad three-point percentage. To be honest, it was not an excellent game, a dirty game for both teams. We let them shoot 27 free throws, and I think this is a number that can determine the game. We were a bit nervous and we have to understand that I do my job with the referees and the players have to play the game, not to play and think about refereeing. We know, for sure, what we missed, and we are ready to come back immediately tomorrow. We have a very, very important \[Italian League\] game on Saturday, where I hope Amedeo Della Valle and Kenny Gabriel can help us. We are happy that we were able to give minutes to Troy Caupain, who is coming back in that game."

### Nikola Popovic, 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys center 

"We are really happy about this win. We needed it. We just wanted to better our position in the playoffs, and we did what we had to do."

Nenad Canak, Lietkabelis: 'We deserved that win'

### Anton Gavel, ratiopharm Ulm head coach

“We are happy with the result; we knew it was going to be a tough game. Zoran Dragic got them going pretty early in the game, and we had trouble with that. But, overall, I think we won the offensive battle. We found our solutions: defensively, offensively. We made a couple of mistakes, but we could fix that. Overall, we are happy about the win. I hope \[that we are heading in the right direction for the playoffs\]. We still have two games left, playing in Bourg and at home against Cluj, so definitely we need at least one \[win\]; we would like to get both, but it’s going to be tough. We will do anything possible to achieve this goal to get the home-court \[advantage\]. Let’s see what’s gonna happen.”

### Miro Alilovic, Cedevita Olimpija Ljbuljana head coach

"The players had desire and, because of that, we were overaggressive in many situations, especially when we had one-on-one situations. I expect \[us to play\] a little bit more smarter, with better selection to play on offense. But we have to keep going, stay together, think positive and try to improve our things in the game, going step by step.”

### Bruno Caboclo, ratiopharm Ulm center

“I think we learned how to play better together. I think our defense and offense is getting more consistent, and that’s what is bringing us to win games. I think so \[putting Karim Jallow on Yogi Ferrell was a key factor\], Ferrell is the leading scorer so putting a tall guy on him made his shots harder, so I think the strategy worked. I don’t care much about points or my scoring, I care only about winning.”

Bruno Caboclo, Ulm: 'I care only about winning'

Gran Canaria locked up a top-two finish in Group B as it fought off Turk Telekom Ankara 89-79 at home on Wednesday night. Gran Canaria saw a 21-point lead cut to 6 before prevailing and improving to 13-3, including 8-0 at home and nine wins in the last 10 games. Turk Telekom saw its three-game winning streak snapped, as it dropped to 11-5 and fell two games behind Gran Canaria.

John Shurna led the way with 20 points for the winner, who also had Ferran Bassas hit 5 three-pointers for 15 points and Aleksander Balcerowski and A.J. Slaughter both add 11 points. For Turk Telekom, Jerian Grant finished with 23 points, and Tyrique Jones scored 20 points in his return to action.

In a battle of the top two teams in Group B, Gran Canaria first opened some space with Nicolas Brussino, Slaughter and Shurna all hitting triples in a 9-0 run to lead 17-11. Bassas lit it up with 3 three-pointers to put the hosts up 28-16, and it was 28-18 after 10 minutes.

The Gran Canaria defense stepped up and Bassas added 2 more triples as the advantage grew to 48-27. Another Slaughter triple made it 51-30, as the Spanish side led 51-34 at the break.

Early in the third quarter, 2 more three-pointers pushed the cushion back to 21 points, 57-36. Gran Canaria’s offense dried up for more than four minutes and Nathan Sestina bookended a 0-15 run with three-pointers to pull the visitors within 57-51. A three-point play and triple from Aleksander Balcerowski put the hosts back up by double digits 65-55, though. The score was 69-60 after three quarters of play.

Turk Telekom needed more than two minutes to score in the fourth, but it managed to pull within 73-66. But, Shurna delivered the dagger three-pointer with two minutes left for a 79-69 cushion.

Gran Canaria grabs important win over Turk Telekom, 89-79

Promitheas Patras boosted its hopes of gaining home-court advantage in the 7DAYS EuroCup Playoffs after an impressive 89-93 win at the London Lions on Wednesday, with the Greek side’s playmaker Anthony Cowan lighting up the spectacular clash with career-highs of 26 points and 11 assists for a career-best PIR of 34.

The outcome lifted Patras to 10-6 while the Lions, who are also assured of a playoff berth, dropped to 7-9 as they threw away a 10-point lead they built in the first quarter after the visitors turned the game on its head with a 20-2 run in the third period.

Arnoldas Kulboka racked up 14 points and 7 rebounds for Promitheas, Joe Thomasson scored 13 points and Michalis Tsiarelis added 10. At the other end, Tomislav Zubcic equaled his career high of 24 points to go with 9 rebounds, Sam Dekker amassed 19 points and 8 rebounds, and Miye Oni posted 15 points for the hosts.

London dictated proceedings in the first quarter and carved out a 25-15 lead, with Zubcic and Dekker carrying the home team’s effort. The hosts hit 4 three-pointers and had as many blocks in the opening 10 minutes, but the visitors found its rhythm in the second quarter thanks to a barrage of offensive rebounds.

Patras totaled 22 boards in the first half and 11 of them were offensive, while London racked up 6 blocks and had 12 assists to the visiting team’s 11. Cowans led the second-quarter charge by Promitheas as he finished the first half on 10 points, while Zubcic netted 14 for London.

The second period served up a plethora of spectacular dunks at both ends, with Aaron Best delighting the home fans after he completed a Jordan Taylor alley-oop pass in midair, but George Conditt quickly responded by rocking the rim with a monstruous one-handed slam several seconds later.

Promitheas seemed to find two extra gears after the break, as it turned a 55-51 deficit early in the third quarter into a 57-71 lead, scoring almost at will during that run. Cowan mixed long-range shots with piercing runs through London’s defense for easy layups, and the home team had no reply for the 25-year-old point guard.

Having trailed by 10 points or more for much of the fourth quarter, London staged a valiant late comeback which fell short, as Thomasson sank a pair of free throws to give Patras a 4-point lead and the hosts then failed to score on their last possession.

Cowan was again instrumental in the final 10 minutes, as he hit several tough shots in crunch time with the shot clock down to just a few seconds, as London threatened to force a final twist. In the end, Promitheas ran out worthy winners and got sweet revenge for a 67-77 home defeat by London in the reverse fixture.