Jordan McRae came off the bench to shine for Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv in a resounding 83-100 comeback road win at Promitheas Patras, and as a result picked up the MVP honor for Round 9. His performance index rating of 32 was the best of among 7DAYS EuroCup players in Round 9. McRae posted career highs with 26 points and 8 assists, making 9 of 16 two-point shots and 2 of 3 three-pointers. He had 8 points and 4 assists in a game-breaking 0-22 run en route to becoming 

### Hapoel's third MVP in nine rounds this season.

This round's second best PIR, 28, was shared by Axel Bouteille of Turk Telekom Ankara and Karim Jallow of ratiopharm Ulm. Bouteille led Turk Telekom to a 71-84 road win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica by scoring a career-high 26 points, knocking down a career-best 5 of 8 three-pointers, and pulling down 7 rebounds. Jallow pace Ulm in an 81-84 road win at U-BT Cluj-Napoca by collecting 21 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists. 

Completing the list of Round 9's top performers are Ulm's Robin Christen, Pierre Pelos of Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse and D.J. Kennedy of Prometey Slobozhanske, each with a PIR of 27. Christen had 26 points, going a perfect 5-for-5 from both two- and three-point range and making his only free throw. Pelos had 22 points plus 7 rebounds in a 90-91 loss to visiting Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana. Kennedy posted 15 points, 5 assists, 5 steals and 5 rebounds in his team's 71-75 road win at Umana Reyer Venice.

Jordan McRae came off the bench to shine for Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv in a resounding 83-100 road win at Promitheas Patras, picking up MVP of the Round honor as a result. His PIR of 32 was the best of all EuroCup players in Round 9.

Jordan McRae | Round 9 MVP | 2022-23 7DAYS EuroCup

### Individual highs: Jeremiah Martin, Slask, 6 steals

Four different players scored 26 points in Round 9: McRae, Bouteille, Christen and Josh Adams of Cedevita. Promitheas guard Joe Young leads the EuroCup at the halfway point of the regular season with 23.4 points per game. Jeremy Evans of Paris Basketball topped all rebounders with 11 boards this round. Buducnost center Alpha Kaba heads the overall rebounds list with 11.5 per game. Jerian Grant of Turk Telekom and Jordan Taylor of London Lions each had 9 assists, the most in Round 9. J'Cowan Brown of Hapoel tops the assists charts with 7.3 per game. Jeremiah Martin of Slask Wroclaw led all players with 6 steals this week. Martin improved his EuroCup-best average to 3.0 steals. Emanuel Cate of Cluj and Aleksander Balcerowski of Gran Canaria had 3 blocks in Round 9. Simon Birgander of Joventut Badalona and Ismael Kamagate of Paris lead rankings with 2.0 blocks per game. The only two players with double-doubles in Round 9 were Kosta Koufos of London Lions, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and D.J. Stephens of Prometey, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Round 9 MVP: Jordan McRae, Hapoel

Promitheas Patras v Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv (2022-12-20T18:30:00.000Z)

Congratulations to Quique Garcia, who is the EuroCup Fantasy Challenge winner for Round 9! His team Chxffineta posted a score of 202.5.

The team featured the following lineup: team captain Ondrej Balvin of Prometey Slobozhanske, Joel Parra of Joventut Badalona, Axel Bouteille of Turk Telekom Ankara, A.J. Slaughter of Gran Canaria ans his teammate Andrew Albicy as starters; Kahlifa Diop also of Gran canaria as the sixth man; Matteo Spagnolo of Dolomiti Energia Trento, Juan Nunez of ratiopharm Ulm, Axel Toupane of Paris Basketball and Aleksa Ilic of Buducnost VOLI Podgorica as bench players; and Andrej Urlep of Slask Wroclaw as head coach. The prize for finishing first in Round 9 is a free subscription to Euroleague TV for the 2023-24 season!

Fernando Benito is the new leader atop the overall standings. Her team Ocasion Plus is ahead of everyone else with 1,536.6 fantasy points.

Trades are now open for Round 10. Remember, three trades are allowed before each round until the end of the regular season, and you can also trade your head coach.

The first games in Round 10, Paris Basketball vs. Turk Telekom and Germani Brescia vs. Joventut, are scheduled to tip off on Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 20:30 CET, 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: Round 9 winner!

The scene was set for the London Lions to thrive on Wednesday night, with a first-ever sellout crowd at Copper Box Arena for the visit of Paris Basketball, but the team's shooting struggles from three-point range ultimately proved to be their downfall.

Paris came away with an 80-93 victory to maintain its 100% record on the road – it is now 5-0 away from the French capital – and improve to 6-3 in the standings. One of the keys to the win was Paris's shooting from behind the arc, as it went 15-of-44 (34.1% 3FG), whereas London could only make 3 triples from 22 attempts (13.6% 3FG). In fact, until Tomislav Zubcic hit a three-pointer at the end of the third quarter, London had not made a triple in the entire game.

Curiously, London had considerably more success on two-pointers, making 31-of-57 (54.4% 2FG) compared to Paris, who went 18-of-40 (45.0% 2FG), but the three-point disparity helped the visitors open a lead from the second quarter onwards that the hosts just couldn't catch.

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Paris leaned on three-pointers to beat London

London Lions v Paris Basketball (2022-12-21T19:30:00.000Z)

Gran Canaria ground out an 83-76 win at Veolia Towers Hamburg after four of its players chipped in with double digits in scoring,

Balanced attack was pivotal for Gran Canaria to win in Hamburg

Gran Canaria ground out an 83-76 win at Veolia Towers Hamburg after four of its players chipped in with double digits in scoring, paced by the imposing Khalifa Diop who led all performers with 16 points and 5 rebounds. The talented 20-year old center was a menace at both ends of the court, hurting Hamburg in the paint and doing a great job protecting his own at pivotal moments.

Diop enjoyed a rock-solid support cast in Nicolas Brussino (15 points), Vitor Benite (12) and Miquel Salvo (8), the latter hitting a pair of clutch three-pointers although he nailed just 2 of 7 shots from downtown.

Hamburg did a good job limiting the visitors to just 7-of-21 three-point accuracy but were overpowered inside the arc as Gran Canaria grabbed 32 rebounds to the home side's 28. Crucially, the Spanish outfit shot 72.4% on two-pointers (21-for-29) and contained Hamburg to just 53.7% (22-of-41), as the visitors carved out an insurmountable 22-point lead in the third quarter.

Hamburg's late fightback fell short with Kendale McCullum and Jonas Wohlffarth-Bottermann, who scored 15 points apiece, being left with too much work to do against a more resourceful visiting team.

Veolia Towers Hamburg v Gran Canaria (2022-12-21T18:45:00.000Z)

Slask Wroclaw has been underperforming in the 7DAYS EuroCup so far this season, but that has definitely not been the case for the Polish team’s guard Jeremiah Martin, who has produced a string of consistently high-level performances. And so it was no surprise at all that Martin was the star performer as Slask finally grabbed its first win of the season by thrashing Dolomiti Energia Trento, 80-57, on Wednesday night.

Martin came into the game with very solid season averages of 14.1 points, 4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.6 steals, scoring in double digits on seven of his eight appearances to present a very strong case that he should be considered the EuroCup’s top rookie this season following his summer move from German team Goettingen.

And the 26-year-old excelled again by leading the way to down Trento with a season-high 21 points, making 9 of his 14 two-point attempts, and also adding 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 6 steals for a PIR of 25. Importantly, the majority of his contribution came during the key phase of the game in the first half as he reached 15 points by the interval, allowing Slask to establish a 19-point lead that never came close to being threatened after the break.

Those 6 steals allowed Martin to move clear at the top of the competition’s chart in that category. He now averages 3.0 steals per game, just ahead of Prometey Slobozhanske’s DJ Kennedy with 2.9 per night. And that commitment to defensive effort, in addition to his scoring exploits at the other end, gives hope to Slask Wroclaw that Martin will lead his team to a lot more wins in the New Year.

Martin continued to shine for Slask

Slask Wroclaw v Dolomiti Energia Trento (2022-12-21T19:00:00.000Z)

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana had to wait for 9 rounds in the 7DAYS EuroCup to grab its first road win of the season, but it managed to get it in one of the toughest courts, as it defeated Group A leader Mincidelice Bourg en Bresse 90-91 on Wednesday night. 

Even though Cedevita was in front for most of the game, the home team never surrendered and reached the last period trailing 60-64. It was a one-possession game when Pierre Pelos scored a bucket early in the quarter. 

That is when Yogi Ferrell and Josh Adams decided to take over and lead their team. The former drilled a couple of threes and the latter added another to keep Cedevita calm and continued rocking all over the place to push the visitors to a prestigious road win.

The duo combined for 20 fourth-quarter points - including 6 free throws in the last minute that became crucial to avoid Bourg’s late rally. Adams also contributed 2 assists - 1 to Alen Omic and another to Amar Alibegovic - that turned into 5 points for the winners. Overall, 25 out of 27 last-quarter points of Cedevita came from the hands of the Adams-Ferrell duo. 

“\[A road win\] is what we all hoped, we got a little break coming up between EuroCup games so we are looking to rest, recover and keep this momentum going forward in the second half of the EuroCup," said Adams after finishing with a season-high 26 points and a PIR of 24.

His backcourt mate Ferrell was also happy for the outcome: “It was a tough game, coming in here, but we played great, whatever it came down the stretch, and pulled out the win, so it’s a great credit to the whole team."

Magic backcourt duo lifted Cedevita against the leader

Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2022-12-21T18:30:00.000Z)

Prometey Slobozhanske rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat Umana Reyer Venice 71-75 on the road in Group A. Its fighting spirit and physicality arguably were the decisive factors in the victory.

 Prometey's hustle paid off 

Prometey Slobozhanske rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat Umana Reyer Venice 71-75 on the road in Group A. Its fighting spirit and physicality arguably were the decisive factors in the victory.

Prometey outrebounded Reyer by 38-43, grabbing as many as 15 offensive rebounds. D.J. Stephens finished the game with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, Caleb Agada pulled down 9 boards and Ondrej Balvin grabbed 8. The guests took a much better care of the ball, getting 16 assists and 12 turnovers. Reyer had 13 turnovers and just 8 assists: its lowest mark in the club's 7DAYS EuroCup history.

Prometey had 10 steals in this game. DJ Kennedy had half of those, also getting 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. He is just the 23rd player in EuroCup history to get a 15-5-5-5 line, and the first to do it since Gary Browne of Dolimiti Energia Trento had 27 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals against Nanterre 92 on November 18, 2020. On the other hand, Reyer finished the game with just 4 steals.

Prometey's hustle paid off

Umana Reyer Venice v Prometey Slobozhanske (2022-12-21T19:00:00.000Z)


Gran Canaria stayed tied atop Group B alongside Turk Telekom after an 83-76 win at Veolia Towers Hamburg lifted the Spanish side to a 7-2 record, while its German rival dropped to 3-6 and remained eighth in the standings, just inside the playoff picture.

Man of the match Khalifa Diop led Gran Canaria's charge with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Nicolas Brussino added 15 points and Vitor Benite chipped in with 12. At the other end, Kendale McCullum and Jonas Wohlfarth-Botterman netted 15 points each, while Lukas Meisner scored 11 for the hosts.

Hamburg turned an early 2-6 deficit into a 13-8 lead but the hosts were on the back foot for the rest of the first half as Gran Canaria hit back quickly with an 11-2 run and went on to take a 25-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. Hamburg replied with 6 unanswered points but played in fits and starts, allowing Gran Canara to pull away again on the back of another 11-2 streak. AJ Slaughter and Nicolas Brussino paced the visitors while Kendale McCullum cut a lonesome figure for Hamburg, who trailed 29-43 late in the second quarter. With Gran Canaria leading 48-37 at the interval, their smooth offense and domination in the paint also produced a balanced offensive workload as Diop poured 10 points in the opening half, while Slaughter, Brussino and Benite chipped in 8 each. McCullum had 11 for Hamburg but with preciously little support from his teammates, the home side was on the receiving end. 

Hamburg looked out for the count when a rampant Gran Canaria opened up a 65-44 lead midway through the third quarter, but the hosts then tightened their defense and hit some tough shots at the end to engineer a 17-5 run which saw them cut the gap to 61-70. However, a resilient Gran Canaria fended off the comeback with 6 straight points and although a battling Hamburg slashed the visiting team's lead to nine points again (70-79) in the closing stages, it was too little too late to salvage the game.

Gran Canaria rolls on with 83-76 win at Hamburg

### Gran Canaria head coach Jaka Lakovic:

"The first half and the third quarters were good, defensively we were solid. We didn’t give up fastbreak points and we protected the offensive rebound... 

With a 22-point lead we somehow stopped playing, our young guys made some mistakes which is normal. They \[Hamburg\] tried to get back into the game with a lot of contact and they managed to get back but we controlled the game. Every day somebody can step up and today our big guys were present and protected the rim. In offense, they had good finishing around the basket and gave us big help."

 

### Veolia Towers Hamburg head coach Raoul Korner:

"They are a very high-quality team and they proved that tonight. In the first half, we played a little too shy, we could have stepped on their toes a little more. We did that towards the end of the third quarter and in the fourth, we were right up there with them, but we needed more than a solid game.

"We played a solid game but not more and that was not enough. We couldn’t protect the paint and overall we should have been more aggressive. If we are not allowed to run, we have problems to score, that’s not a secret anymore. Our offense looked pretty good today but you have to be very precise against a team like this as they don’t make many mistakes.

"We got a couple of good looks that we didn’t convert into baskets and they don’t give you too many of those. You have to be at a very high percentage and we didn’t execute sharp enough to get enough chances."

### Gran Canaria center Khalifa Diop:

"We played good pick-and-roll defense and also did a good job with defensive and offensive rebounds. I stayed focused on the little details, helping everybody protect the paint and mostly rebounds."

Round 9 MVP: Jordan McRae, Hapoel

EuroCup Fantasy Challenge: Round 9 winner!

Paris leaned on three-pointers to beat London

Balanced attack was pivotal for Gran Canaria to win in Hamburg

Martin continued to shine for Slask

Magic backcourt duo lifted Cedevita against the leader

Prometey's hustle paid off

Gran Canaria rolls on with 83-76 win at Hamburg

Coach Lakovic, Gran Canaria: 'We controlled the game'