Gran Canaria enjoyed its highest point tally of the EuroCup season in a 118-99 home win over Paris Basketball and in what was a vintage performance worthy of the Group B leader. It was lights out for the visitors in the opening two quarters as the home side romped into a 68-49 lead on the back of nailing 10 three-pointers from 20 attempts in the first half, 5 of them coming from David Mutaf who lit up the crowd with four successive shots from downtown that hit the bottom of the net.

Gran Canaria finished on 13-of-25 shooting from three-point range and dished out a staggering total of 31 team assists, which highlighted selfless teamwork. Paris had less than half as many assists (15).

The visiting team’s head coach, Will Weaver, acknowledged his men lost to a superior rival but stressed he would look forward to another clash in the knockout stages if these two sides were pitted against each other.

Game News

"They’re an exceptionally good team, one of the best in Europe," Weaver told the post-game press conference. "Very well coached, they are deep and they shot the ball extremely well tonight. My only disappointment is that we didn’t have a healthy enough team to compete with these guys in either game we played. In the first game we were missing three players and tonight we were missing five. Maybe there will be an opportunity for these two teams to meet again and if there is, I’ll look forward to it."

Paris sank 11 three-point shots from 29 attempts and performed reasonably well in most other departments too, shooting 24 of 44 from inside the arc (Gran Canaria was 27 of 43), with the two teams tied on 35 rebounds each. But the visitors also committed 15 turnovers to Gran Canaria’s 11 and the hosts ruthlessly punished the losses of possession, having nailed a barrage of long-range shots from a quick transition of the ball.

The home team’s head coach Jaka Lakovic was humble in victory: "We are happy with the win. We respect \[Paris\] and we entered the game very strongly and with a great mentality. This translated into having a good game. Paris is a good team, they missed three very important players and their presence would have made the game different," he said.

Game Videos

Gran Canaria had too much firepower for Paris

Gran Canaria v Paris Basketball (2023-02-01T20:00:00.000Z)

Buducnost sailed into the EuroCup Playoffs with five games to spare after a 78-68 home win over the London Lions elevated the Montenegrin side to an 8-5 record, largely thanks to its primary weapon.

The home team, which leads the competition in offensive rebounds, grabbed 17 boards in London’s paint and also had 23 at the other end to prevail over the visitors, who also committed 15 turnovers.

Buducnost was 0-of-6 for three-point range in the first half but improved vastly after the break and finished on 5-of-15, while the visitors hit 5-of-21 shots from downtown.

London paid the price for an awful start, missing its opening 13 shots from the floor and having lost the first quarter 13-7, which was the team's lowest tally ever in the competition in a single quarter.

The visiting team’s outstanding forward Sam Dekker stood out with 27 points and 8 rebounds, while Ovie Soko added 11 points. However, Buducnost was able to benefit from a more balanced workload as Erick Green netted 16 points, Trae-Bell Haynes chipped in with 14 and Cameron Reynolds added 11.

In addition, Alpha Kaba racked up 9 points and 11 rebounds while Edin Atic had 8 boards, highlighting the home team’s more resourceful roster which had too much for the battling Lions.

Offensive boards lifted Buducnost to victory over London 

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica v London Lions (2023-02-01T18:00:00.000Z)

Prometey Slobozhanske has been one of the best teams in the 7DAYS EuroCup this season. But one area the debutant had struggled is from long range. That changed as the Ukrainian side flashed some deadly aim in grabbing a crucial 95-90 win over Joventut Badalona.

Prometey knocked down 13 of 34 three-pointers (38.2%), which was a massive improvement over the 29.9% the league’s second-highest scoring offense (86.3 ppg.) had shot coming into the game. That ranked 19th in the competition.

DJ Kennedy, DJ Stephens and Issuf Sanon all knocked down 3 three-pointers and seven Prometey players hit from the outside.

Prometey did show just how streaky it can be. After making 4 of 5 to start the game, the team made just one of its next 16 three-point attempts until draining 4 straight triples in the third quarter. And Stephens, Sanon and Gian Clavell all connected in the final 6 minutes as Prometey made 3 of 4 triple attempts down the stretch.

Prometey flashed three-point accuracy in big win

Prometey Slobozhanske v Joventut Badalona (2023-02-01T17:00:00.000Z)

Despite allowing a 12-4 run early in the game and trailing 40-37 at halftime, Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv was able to react in the second half and outscored its opponent 20-41 to cruise to a 60-78 win that secured its place in the 7DAYS EuroCup Playoffs. 

"Mentally I think we struggled a little bit in the first half," Hapoel head coach Danny Franco recognized in the press conference. "But we picked it up defensively in the second. That effort on defense helped us win in a game that we didn’t play our way on offense."

Trento averaged 71.4 points per game, the fewest of all teams this season, before this game, but had scored 40 in the first 20 minutes, something Hapoel needed to stop. And it did, as the visitors limited their opponent to 7-of-32 field goal shooting (21.8%), which also shifted the momentum on offense. 

After being held scoreless from outside the arc in the first half, the visitors managed to score their first triple right after the break through Xavier Munford and went 4-of-10 on three-pointers and 9-of-11 on twos in the last 20 minutes. 

"We actually played defense \[in the second half\]," Hapoel center Chinanu Onuaku stressed after the win. "We got stops, and it helped us getting in offense, getting easy buckets and more flow on offense."

Hapoel mutated on both ends in the second half to suffocate Trento

Dolomiti Energia Trento v Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv (2023-02-01T19:00:00.000Z)

ratiopharm Ulm won a hard-fought battle over Frutti Extra Bursaspor 92-86 thanks to some record and some near-record performances by its players.

Playing in only his fourth game in the competition, center Bruno Caboclo tied a club record with 33 points and set a new one with 14 two-point shots made, doing it on 17 attempts. Those 14 two-pointers are the most scored in a single game in the 7DAYS EuroCup since Sharrod Ford set a competition record with 16 two-pointers made eight years ago, on February 11, 2015. Caboclo and Ford are the only two players with 14 or more two-pointers made in a single game in more than 10 years.

While Caboclo set club records, two other players flirted with rewriting club record books. Brandon Paul nailed 6 triples on 9 attempts, coming one three-pointer made shy of Ulm's record of 7 threes, set by Edgar Sosa in the 2013-14 season.

Meanwhile, rookie point guard Yago Dos Santos dished a personal best 11 assists, also one shy of Sosa's record of 12, set in the 2013-14 campaign.

Ulm trio put up big numbers in a huge win

ratiopharm Ulm v Frutti Extra Bursaspor (2023-02-01T18:30:00.000Z)

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana grabbed a much-needed 77-73 win over visiting Umana Reyer Venice on Wednesday night at Arena Stozice. In a back-and-forth affair, Cedevita managed to hang in the game and then edge in front late in the fourth quarter. 

Alen Omic shined with 19 rebounds, but it was the rebounding effort of the entire team in the fourth quarter that made the difference.

Reyer held a rebounding advantage throughout the game, and at the end of the third quarter, Cedevita had 26 rebounds to his tally, while Reyer had 31. However, in the final quarter, Cedevita outrebounded the visitors 14-9.

The hosts sank 10 triples in the game, but none in the fourth quarter. However, winning the battle on the glass and the ability to get to the free-throw line allowed Cedevita to come away with a victory.

Omic, Cedevita finished strong on the boards

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana v Umana Reyer Venice (2023-02-01T19:00:00.000Z)

Group B pace-setter Gran Canaria improved its record to 11-2 and sent an ominous warning to its rivals in the EuroCup knockout stages about just how offensively potent the side is after six players finished in double figures in a 118-99 home rout of Paris Basketball.

David Mutaf paced the hosts with 22 points, Aleksander Balcerowski poured in 20, while Andrew Albicy and John Shurna netted 12 each and Damien Inglis and Khalifa Diop scored 10 points apiece, underlining a smooth team effort that also produced 31 assists. Aamir Simms led Paris with 22 points, Tyrone Wallace sank 19, new signing Michael Roll chipped in with 17 and Amar Gegic added 14 for the visitors, who dropped to 8-5.

It was a battle of two teams who had already booked playoff spots and Gran Canaria came out with all guns blazing, romping to a 23-9 lead before closing out the first quarter with a 36-26 advantage, equalling the highest points tally in a single quarter in the club’s history.

At that stage, Albicy led the home team with 9 points while Simms had 12 at the other end before the second quarter produced a festival of three-pointers for the home team with forward David Mutaf taking center stage. The 20-year-old nailed four long-range shots in a row as Gran Canaria’s precarious 53-43 advantage midway through the second period soared to 65-45, with Mutaf finishing the first half on 18 points, shooting 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.

Gran Canaria also broke the club’s points record in a single half as it led 68-49 and the third quarter served up more one-way traffic as the home side romped ahead 92-63 with 2 minutes left in the period, having displayed a vast array of offensive firepower.

Gran Canaria took its foot off the gas pedal in the final quarter and Paris took advantage to add some respectability to the scoreboard, but the night belonged to the hosts who marched on in their quest to clinch the group’s top spot.

Trigger-happy Gran Canaria overwhelms Paris 118-99

### Gran Canaria head coach Jaka Lakovic:

"We are happy with the win. We respect \[Paris\] and we entered the game very strongly and with a great mentality. This translated into having a good game. Paris is a good team, they missed three very important players and their presence would have made things different. But it is what it is, we will take the win. Offensively we were good but there is always something to improve. Tonight we are happy, tomorrow is a new day."

 

### Paris Basketball head coach Will Weaver:

"They’re an exceptionally good team, one of the best in Europe. Very well coached, they are deep and they shot the ball extremely well tonight. My only disappointment is that we didn’t have a healthy enough team to compete with these guys in either game we played. In the first game we were missing three players and tonight we were missing five. Maybe there will be an opportunity for these two teams to meet again and if there is, I’ll look forward to it.

"It’s the first time for the team and the first time for me coaching in this competition, so we look forward to it every week. The competitiveness of it, the professionalism, the depth of teams capable of beating each other on any given night, we love the EuroCup and we are excited with the chance to get to the playoffs. To compete with the other teams on the other side of the bracket.

"We have two games a week which is new to most of our players. We’re a very young team, one of the youngest in France as our average age is 23 years old. I am trying to behave the way I want them to behave, which is to focus on recovery tonight and move on tomorrow."

 

### Gran Canaria head coach Aleksander Balcerowski:

"We came out really strong making those shots in the first half, we got efficiency from three-pointers and pick-and-roll. We guarded them really well and in the second half, we carried on like in the first period. We took the win in what looked like an easy game but it wasn’t easy, it was a lot of hard work out there. I am happy that we won and scored so many points because it will give confidence to everybody."

Aleksander Balcerowski, Gran Canaria: 'It was a lot of hard work out there'

### Buducnost VOLI Podgorica head coach Vlada Jovanovic:

"In the first half, we had a lot of opportunities to make easy shots and we missed all of them. We are under some kind of pressure when we play at home, it’s obvious. In the second half, I expected their reaction and it we got it because they played much better defense. In the third quarter, they pushed us away from the basket and we played 10 meters away from the basket, that was the main problem. We found some open shots but the most important thing was the defense.

"An important game for us. After the last round, I expected a reaction from my team and they showed it. First of all, I talk all the time about our defensive approach, as it’s so important to play good defense. In the first half, we played perfect defense but at the other end of the court, we missed easy shots. My players feel some kind of pressure. They play with a soul, they play with huge energy, but sometimes they have a bad game. I have to use this opportunity to defend them. The first half was a real picture of that observation. In the second half, it was a totally different picture. First of all, \[London\] tried and succeeded in being much tougher and we couldn’t find easy shots. We were forced to play 10 meters from the basket and we had to find another way, with one point guard who played 33 minutes. That’s too much, \[Bell-Haynes\] played a great game at both ends and we found a way to win. I really want to use this opportunity to congratulate my players, they’ve been very good the last two games in my opinion. I wish, if possible, we could stay on the same track in the upcoming period."

### London Lions head coach Ryan Schmidt:

“A tough loss for us. They were really good, that’s a good team. We knew that coming here after playing them the last time, playing them on the road was always going to be tough, but it’s frustrating. We made a lot of little mistakes while they were being constant. We had 12 turnovers in the first half, they scored 16 points off that, the margin was 11 at halftime. They had 17 offensive rebounds and we missed 11 free throws, you can’t do things like that and expect to win a game like this. We’ve got a lot to clean up, it starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job with the details, until we get this stuff better the results are still going to be the same against better teams in this competition."

### Buducnost VOLI Podgorica guard Trae Bell-Haynes:

"We gained some momentum in the second half of the season, we had a big win at Cedevita this weekend \[in the ABA League\] and to build on that is good for us and good for our confidence."