Gran Canaria expectedly came out on top against Slask Wroclaw on Wednesday night, winning 79-91 on the road. What ultimately made the difference was the deeper roster available to Gran Canaria head coach Jaka Lakovic, as his team closed out a game that hung in the balance until the last few minutes.

Although the Group B leader missed some of its key players, notably the versatile AJ Slaughter, the Spanish side had too much for its Polish rival down the stretch.

Gran Canaria dominated the paint at Centennial Hall, racking up 43 rebounds, 16 of which were on the offensive end, compared to the 32 collected by Slask. The visitors also dished out an impressive 25 assists, nine more than the home side’s total of 16.

Khalifa Diop (17 points) and Nicolas Brussino (11) grabbed 9 rebounds each, while Ferran Bassas had 7 assists to underline the vast array of options available to Gran Canaria.

In addition, 11 of Gran Canaria’s 12 players got on the scoresheet, led by David Mutaf on 19 points, as the Turkish forward showed impeccable shot selection, having nailed 2-of-3 three-pointers and 5-of-8 of his efforts from inside the arc.

With Aleksander Balcerowksi adding 12 points and Vitor Benite 10, Gran Canaria made good use of all its options against a resilient Slask team, whose center Aleksander Dziewa stood out with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Slask was in it until the final few minutes as Jeremiah Martin and Conor Morgan chipped in with 17 and 11 points, respectively, but Slask’s bench produced preciously little against a more resourceful Gran Canaria.

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Deep roster carries Gran Canaria past battling Slask

Slask Wroclaw v Gran Canaria (2023-01-11T19:00:00.000Z)

After Umana Reyer Venice's 89-69 victory over ratiopharm Ulm, it was no surprise that the hosts' were pleased with how they played defense, especially because they felt that was where they needed to improve.

"We've been improving the past two or three weeks", big man Derek Willis explained. "Really focused in on our defense. I think this is where we were struggling the most."

Reyer has quite a high standard. This was already the fourth time they held opponents to fewer than 70 points, and Reyer ranks second in the competition, allowing just 74.3 points per game.

However, there was one big difference in this one compared to previous games. Reyer used its defense to dominate on offense, and finished scoring a season-high 89 points. Reyer's frontline of Mitchell Watt, Derek Willis and Amedeo Tessitori combined to score 51 points and pulled down 18 rebounds.

"From our solid defense we built our ability to run the floor, to find an open shot, to show the talent the team has", Reyer head coach Walter De Raffaele said at the press conference. "I am happy we played a very good game."

Reyer's defense allowed its offense to flourish

Umana Reyer Venice v ratiopharm Ulm (2023-01-11T19:00:00.000Z)

Frutti Extra Bursaspor dominated from the get-go against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, never trailing and running away with a 111-93 win, while breaking a few single-game club records along the way.

Bursaspor shattered its previous scoring record of 103 points. It also netted 18 triples - 2 more than its previous best, on 35 attempts for an impressive 51.4% shooting. Bursaspor did it by dishing 28 assists, which matched its previous EuroCup record.

With all the highs, however, there was one record-low that was key for Bursaspor in this win.

The home team committed only 4 turnovers, beating its previous single-game low of 6. It was also the first time this season Bursaspor's turnovers were in single digits. Considering the hosts forced 16 turnovers, and with the offensive rhythm Bursaspor had, it was hard for this game to end in any other outcome.

Bursaspor dominated, set record highs and lows vs. Cedevita

Frutti Extra Bursaspor v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2023-01-11T17:00:00.000Z)

Prometey Slobozhanske rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys 72-80 on the road in Round 10. Prometey's physicality made the difference in the game. 

Prometey finished the game with 8 blocks, tying this season's best mark. Paris Basketball previously had 8 blocks in Round 6 when it defeated Veolia Towers Hamburg 87-84 at home. Ondrej Balvin recorded 3 of those blocks and D.J. Stephens and James Dickey each had 2. Prometey pulled down 35 defensive rebounds: a new season-high. It previously grabbed 31 against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in Round 5.

The visiting big men also dominated on offense, giving Prometey a much better two-point shooting percentage. Prometey made 23 of 37 two-point shots (62.2% 2FG). Balvin, Stephens and Dickey combined for 9-of-14 shooting inside the arc (64.3% 2FG). On the other side, Lietkabelis made the same number of two-pointers, 23, but from 57 attempts (42.6% 2FG). Caleb Agada made sure Prometey circulated the ball well with 9 assists and just 1 turnover.

Prometey's physicality led to win

7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys v Prometey Slobozhanske (2023-01-11T17:00:00.000Z)

Sometimes, the story to a game is simple: one team shot better than the other team. That was certainly the case at BTarena on Wednesday evening, as Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse came away with a 79-88 win at U-BT Cluj-Napoca to retain its place atop the standings in Group A of the 7DAYS EuroCup.

 

Bourg finished the game with a percentage of 68.8% from two-point range after going 22-of-32. Interestingly, the lowest percentage a player from the visiting team managed from inside the arc was 50.0%, with this being the case for James Palmer, Hugo Benitez and Jordan Floyd. Meanwhile, five Bourg players scored 100.0% of their two-pointers. In the case of Cluj, it went 18-of-34 on these shots, good enough for 52.9%.

 

As is to be expected, it was a different story from deep, yet Bourg once again came out on top. While Bourg made 10 of its 25 three-point shots (40.0% 3FG), Cluj saw 8 of its 29 triples fall (27.6% 3FG). This was another of the keys to the game.

 

On free throws, too, Bourg was almost perfect from the line, going 14-of-15 (93.3%), whereas Cluj went 19-of-26 (73.1%). Cluj outrebounded Bourg by 36-31, but it was never going to win with shooting percentages like these.

Bourg took advantage of better shooting to beat Cluj

U-BT Cluj-Napoca v Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse (2023-01-11T17:30:00.000Z)

Group B leader Gran Canaria improved to 8-2 and held on to the top spot with a hard-fought 79-91 win at Slask Wroclaw, with the home side dropping to 1-9 at the bottom of the standings after running out steam in the final quarter of an absorbing contest.

David Mutaf paced the visitors with 19 points, shooting 7-for-12 from the floor and 5-for-8 from three-point range. Khalifa Diop chipped in with 17 points, including a pair of huge dunks, Aleksander Balcerowski added 12 points and Vitor Benite netted 10. Center Aleksander Dziewa led Slask with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds, Jeremiah Martin scored 17 points and Conor Morgan added 11 for the home side.

Expectably, the game was decided in the paint as Gran Canaria grabbed a staggering 43 rebounds, 16 of them offensive, while Slask managed 32, of which 6 were offensive.

Roared by a vocal home crowd, Slask made a bright start and took an early 12-6 lead before Gran Canaria responded with a streak of their own, with long-range shots raining in from all angles at both ends.

Slask had nailed 4-of-7 shots from behind the arc in the opening 10 minutes while the visitors hit 3-of-8, but they still nosed ahead 22-23 at the end of the first quarter.

It was clear from the offset that Slask was always going to struggle in the paint against a more athletic Gran Canaria side, whose towering center Diop caused the home team all sorts of problems.

Gran Canaria pulled away to 33-44 late in the first half before an 8-0 run by Slask cut the deficit to just 3 points at the interval, with Dziewa pacing the hosts on 12 points while the sharp-shooting Mutaf had amassed 13 at the other end.

Gran Canaria’s offensive rebounds continued to hurt Slask after the break, especially late in the third quarter as the visitors turned a 58-55 deficit into a 62-65 lead before the final period.

The home side looked out for the count after a couple of three-pointers from the visitors early in the fourth quarter had engineered a 64-73 lead, but Slask was right back in it after Martin slashed the deficit to 73-70 with a three-point play.

Moments later, with the visitors leading 75-80, Diop came up with a massive dunk and garnished it with a free throw to force Slask into submission as there was no way back for the hosts in the dying minutes.

It was one-way traffic from there on and Gran Canaria emerged as the game’s worthy winners thanks to a deep and hard-working roster, which had more left in the tank down the stretch.

Strong finish gives Gran Canaria 79-91 win at Wroclaw 

Promitheas Patras gained an important victory in its fight to make the playoffs as it defeated Dolomiti Energia Trento 84-71 at home. Promitheas took control of the game with a 17-2 third-quarter run to snap a three-game home losing streak and improve to 6-4 in Group B. 

George Conditt led the way with 17 points and 8 rebounds, Arnoldas Kulboka scored 16 points and new addition Joe Thomasson added 15 points in his first game. Trento’s road woes continued as it fell to 2-8 overall and 0-6 away from home this season, extending the club’s EuroCup road losing streak to 20 games dating back to November 2020. Drew Crawford had 15 points in the losing effort. 

Promitheas was the first team to pull away as Kulboka converted a three-point play in a 9-1 surge to lead 16-7. New Promitheas signing Thomasson added a second basket as the lead grew to 20-10, and it was 23-16 after 10 minutes. 

Matteo Spagnolo delivered 2 assists and had 2 free throws to help Trento get within 26-24. Crawford added 4 points and Diego Flaccadori hit a triple to push Trento ahead 31-36. Conditt countered with 4 points in a 10-0 answer as Promitheas went back in front 41-36 and led 45-38 at the break.

Trento scored the first 7 points of the second half to even the game only to see Simpson tally eight points in a 17-2 run to race ahead 66-51. The lead was 66-55 after three quarters. 

Conditt added 4 points as the lead got to 72-59. Trento could not get closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Promitheas snaps home losing skid, defeats Trento 84-71 

Promitheas Patras v Dolomiti Energia Trento (2023-01-11T17:30:00.000Z)

Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv rallied from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to knock off London Lions 93-95 on the road in a Group B thriller. Jordan McRae scored 15 of his 36 points in the final frame for an index rating of 40 as Hapoel improved to 6-4 with its third straight win. J’Covan Brown added 18 points - including the game-winning jumper with 12 seconds left - and Chinanu Onuaku chipped in 10 points and 17 rebounds. London dropped its third straight game to fall to 4-6 despite Sam Dekker pouring in 29 points and Tomislav Zubcic and Jordan Taylor both scoring 19 points.

London jumped ahead 7-0 in the first 2 minutes and Taylor drained a three-pointer in a 10-2 run for a 22-9 lead. McRae answered with 6 points in a 3-10 spurt to get within 28-23 and the score was 30-27 after 10 minutes. 

Zubcic drained 2 three-pointers for a 38-32 advantage early in the second quarter but Brown would not let Hapoel get too far behind with 5 points to pull within 44-43. Dekker punched back with 5 points as the lead grew to 49-43 and it was 58-48 at the break.

Hapoel picked up its defense and kept London scoreless for 3 minutes and trimmed the deficit to 59-56. London finally got its offense going again to move ahead 66-56, and a transition triple from Taylor increased the gap to 75-63, which was 75-65 after 30 minutes. 

Three-pointers from Taylor and Dekker early in the fourth quarter pushed the margin to 81-67 with under 8 minutes to play. Hapoel was not ready to give up with Tomer Ginat and Brown hitting triples and McRae fought in 11 points in a 2-20 run to put the guests ahead 83-87. Taylor would not have it with a three-pointer and 2 free throws as London reclaimed the lead 90-89. After a McRae jumper, Dekker connected from deep to make it 93-91 with 58 seconds remaining. Hapoel was unfazed with Onuaku putting back a miss and Brown hitting a jumper for a 93-95 lead with 12 seconds to go. London could not find a final score on the final possession and Hapoel got the win.

McRae sparks amazing Hapoel comeback for 93-95 win in London 

London Lions v Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv (2023-01-11T19:30:00.000Z)

### Promitheas Patras head coach Ioannis Christopoulos: 

"It was a big win for us after the break. We knew it was an important game - a must-win game if we want to move ahead. I think we did a good job defensively building up the offense from the defense. We made good decisions offensively and we took advantage of their weaknesses, like the open court. That was huge for us to help build the lead. It’s very important for our guys that we still managed to have a good game even though we were missing people. It’s a good lesson and we move on."

### Dolomiti Energia Trento head coach Emanuele Molin: 

"Congratulations to Promitheas on the win. I think my team played a consistent game for 25 minutes. But it was not enough. The last 5 minutes of the third quarter created a big lead for Promitheas. So the fourth quarter was too much to recover from like we did two times in the first 25 minutes. Our players were always affected by the turnovers similar to unforced errors in tennis. And when you play away, 15 turnovers are too many."

### Promitheas Patras center George Conditt: 

"It was a great team performance, a really great team performance. I am proud of the guys. We had our moments where Trento battled and we stayed together, we stayed as a team, got locked in defensively and got the job done.”