Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana has relied on several of its mid-season signings to get to the EuroCup Quarterfinals. One of them, center Alen Omic, became the EuroCup's new all-time offensive rebounds leader. 

Omic: all-time offensive boards king - for now 

Omic finished the game with 15 points and 16 rebounds - 8 of them on the offensive end - in leading Cedevita to a 93-80 victory. That allowed him to claim first place in the all-time standings with 258 offensive boards. Bojan Dubljevic is now second with 255 offensive rebounds but his team, Valencia Basket, hosts Hamburg Towers on Wednesday, giving him the veteran big man a chance to claim first place back. The fight is also there in all other rebounding categories. Dubljevic is first in defensive (481) and total rebounds (736), with Omic right behind at 732 boards, 474 of them on the defensive end.

Alen Omic (15 points) Highlights vs. TURK TELEKOM ANKARA, 04/19/2022

Omic leads Cedevita with monster double-double_5428137.mp4

Omic, a 2015-16 All-EuroCup First Team selection with Gran Canaria, made 7-of-10 two-pointers and had a PIR of 28. He tied the club's single-game record for rebounds, which he originally set in November 2014. Omic also came within 1 rebound of the record for the eighthfinals, which Janis Timmma set with Zenit St Petersburg in February 2016.

Zoran Dragic and Yogi Ferrell, who arrived to Cedevita midway through the current season, also played a big role in this important victory. Ferrell had 11 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists for a PIR of 18. Dragic had 14 points, 7 rebounds and a PIR of 12. All of them combined for 29 boards, helping Cedevita outrebound Turk Telekom 41-34. Omic earned another opportunity to hold on to first place in the all-time offensive rebounds list and most importantly, Cedevita is set to keep fighting for EuroCup glory.

Alen Omic - Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (photo Ales Ferves - Cedevita) - EC21-EF

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana v Turk Telekom Ankara (2022-04-19T17:00:00.000Z)

### Slask Wroclaw player Jakub Karolak:

"We didn't come here for a trip. Obviously, we have a very difficult match ahead of us, because we are playing against the leader of the second group. There are, however, surprises in basketball and we will try to do that in Spain. We will go to the court motivated and although we've just had two tough games in polish league, we will come with the attitude of making a surprise." 

Pre-game quotes: Gran Canaria vs. Slask

Gran Canaria v Slask Wroclaw (2022-04-20T19:00:00.000Z)

Jakub Karolak - Slask Wroclaw (photo Wojciech Cebula - Slask) - EC21

Max DiLeo can hear it already... man, a second foul in the first quarter. The coach's voice is supportive but also includes a hint of "you should have known better". 

Parents gave Hamburg's DiLeo his love for the game

But it's not the voice of his Hamburg Towers head coach, Pedro Calles, that DiLeo is hearing. Rather, it's the voice of his father, who the 29-year-old knows will call post-game with some advice. 

The Hamburg guard is the son of Tony DiLeo, the former Philadelphia 76ers scout, executive and head coach who does not miss a Hamburg game and regularly talks with Max afterward.

"I know that when I mess up or get a couple of early fouls, I am going to hear about it on the phone: It's the little things," Max says without complaint. "I really look forward to the phone calls after games. I get a text message from my mom after each game with a couple of things that I did here or there and a couple of words of encouragement. It's always nice to just see them support me."

"I have a lot of memories from those days but one of my favorites is when I was the ball boy for Michael Jordan's last game."

DiLeo's mother is Anna DiLeo, formerly Anna Aszalos of Romania, who played many years of professional basketball in Germany. His father Tony coached in Germany in the 1980s and 1990s, and they now live in New Jersey, not far from Philadelphia, which is where Max was born and raised as his father made a name in the NBA. 

Over a span of nearly 30 years, Tony DiLeo held various posts with the 76ers, including at the height of the Allen Iverson era, which of course Max soaked up as an eight-year-old when the Sixers reached the NBA finals in 2001.

"The Sixers were a huge part of my life growing up," he recalls. "When I was young in the summer I would go to work with my dad, watch practices. Being around that level of basketball and those guys, that passionate side of basketball, really grew on me and made me want to be the best and try to get to that level."

His favorite player was Lou Williams, who had come to the 76ers right out of high school at a time when DiLeo was in middle school. "I thought that was the coolest thing in the world," Max says.

"Defense is something that I really take pride in. I know that when I'm on the court, that's my main job, so I try to do that as best as I can."

DiLeo also had a connection with Michael Jordan.

"I have a lot of memories from those days but one of my favorites is when I was the ball boy for Michael Jordan's last game, because it was in Philadelphia. It was so cool just to pass him the ball as he was warming up, even though he was on the other team," he remembered.

His father being so involved in the game helped him immensely in growing his understanding of basketball.

"When he was coaching with the Sixers, my passion for the game just grew like crazy," he said.

His parents' love for basketball was also passed along to Max's older brother, T.J. DiLeo, who is nearly three years older and played professionally in Europe for eight years -- all in Germany, for Giessen and Bonn -- before retiring from the game last summer at age 31 to become a player development coach for the 76ers.

Maximilian Di Leo Top Plays from 11/01/2021 to 04/20/2022

Maximilian Di Leo's highlights of the season

After playing collegiately at Monmouth University, Max started his professional career in Germany's second division with Rockets Gotha in 2015. He also played at Rhein Stars Cologne before making the jump to the German first division in 2018-19 for Rasta Vechta. DiLeo followed Calles, his Vechta head coach, to Hamburg ahead of the 2020-21 season. By then, he had built his reputation mainly as a defensive menace who provides great energy to his team.

That defensive stopper mentality came from his offensive game not being very strong when he started in college, DiLeo said, so he decided to look for other ways to help a team win:

"I started talking and being loud and just trying to win sprints -- do anything I can to set an example for myself. I realized that is what I could do to help a team, and that carried with me into the pros.

"Defense is something that I really take pride in. I know that when I'm on the court, that's my main job, so I try to do that as best as I can."

DiLeo knows also that if he doesn't do his best he will hear about it in his post-game phone call with dad.

Semaj Christon led ratiopharm Ulm to eliminate host Joventut Badalona by registering a career-high performance index rating of 31.

Christon's magic night boosted Ulm

Ulm's starting point guard won't soon forget his 7DAYS EuroCup Eighthfinals showdown against top-seeded Joventut Badalona. Christon became the best player on the court by scoring 21 points, grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing 6 assists in 34:04 minutes of playing time. That was good for a career-high PIR of 31 for Christon, who is playing in his second EuroCup season.

Christon was even more lethal when the game was on the line. He took over in the last quarter and provided Ulm with 12 points, with half of them coming within a 3-16 run that allowed the visitors to take the lead for good, 63-72, entering crunch time. Altogether, Ulm outscored Joventut 19-28 in that final 10 minutes, accounting for all of the difference – and more – in the 73-79 final score.

Watch the Game Highlights from Joventut Badalona vs. ratiopharm Ulm, 04/19/2022

Joventut Badalona vs ratiopharm Ulm  | Highlights | Eightfinals

"We stuck together. In the first half, we knew that if we kept it close, we would have a chance to make it a good game and that's what we did," Christon said afterward. "We played a good game and that was the goal, to make it through the first round."

After knocking off the top seed in the EuroCup Playoffs on the road, Christon was not about to predict what might come next for Ulm, which will face the winner of Wednesday's game between Virtus Segafredo Bologna and Lietkabelis Panevezys in the quarterfinals. 

"Anything can happen, anything is possible right now," Christon said. "We just grabbed the first win so let's see what happens next. But tonight, we have to celebrate."

Joventut Badalona v ratiopharm Ulm (2022-04-19T18:30:00.000Z)

Semaj Christon - ratiopharm Ulm - (photo David Grau - Joventut) EC21-EF

Clevin Hannah could not have picked a better moment to have his best scoring night of the season, lifting MoraBanc Andorra to a 74-64 eighthfinals win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica.

Hannah caught fire to send Andorra through

Andorra played from behind for just about the entire first half and a good portion of the third quarter. The hosts tied the game on multiple occasions and one of those was on Hannah's second triple of the night, tying the score at 42-42 early in the third. But Andorra could not get in front.

Until Hannah got it going.

Clevin Hannah (21 points) Highlights vs. Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, 04/19/2022

Clevin Hannah 21 points Highlights vs Buducnost VOLI Podgorica

His second-chance triple finally put Andorra up 49-47 midway through the third quarter and he added a three-point play to help the hosts open a 9-point lead late in the third.

Buducnost rallied behind D.J. Seeley and went in front 60-61 with 6:42 to go, but that's when Hannah – and Andorra's defense - took charge. Hannah answered with his fourth triple to quickly restore the hosts' lead and hit his fifth with 4:00 minutes to go to open a 67-61 margin. Andorra did not allow a single point for almost 6 minutes, and Hannah went on to knock down his sixth triple of the game with 57 seconds to go, making it an unsurmountable 70-61.

Hannah finished with a season-high 21 points and set a career-high by making 6 three-pointers on 10 attempts. He scored 18 of his points in the second half, while the entire Buducnost team scored 25 over that same period. 

His barrage of triples gave Hannah 136 for his EuroCup career, which placed him 21st in competition history - and just 2 behind Tre Simmons for 20th place. Hannah's 42.5% is fourth-best among the 25 players with the most threes. 

Thanks to his performance, Andorra and its new coach Oscar Quintana can now look towards the quarterfinals, where the team will face either Group B winner Gran Canaria or Slask Wroclaw.

Clevin Hannah - MoraBanc Andorra (photo Martin Imatge - Andorra) - EC21-EF

MoraBanc Andorra v Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (2022-04-19T18:45:00.000Z)

"The key was rebounds and defense," Coach Oscar Quintana said after his first game on Andorra's bench. "The players played a very good second half. Hard on defense and very good on rebounds."

 

Andorra outrebounded the visitors 46-26 and did not allow more than 13 points in any of the final three quarters. Andorra allowed 26 points in the first quarter. Buducnost had 3 steals and only 2 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, but what kept Andorra within striking distance was its 7 offensive rebounds.

Andorra continued attacking the offensive glass after the break, grabbing 7 more in the second half. Oriol Pauli, Babatunde Olumuyiwa, Nacho Llovet, Moussa Diagne and Drew Crawford each pulled down multiple offensive boards. Buducnost had 5 total offensive rebounds.

What Andorra also did was step up defensively in the second half, too. The hosts forced 8 turnovers in the last two quarters while committing 7 themselves.

 

It all contributed to a big victory and a spot in the quarterfinals.

MoraBanc Andorra defeated Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 74-64 to move into the 7DAYS EuroCup quarterfinals and it was the team's rebounding and defensive effort that played a key part in the triumph.

Telling numbers: Andorra dominated the boards

Babatunde Olumuyiwa - MoraBanc Andorra (photo Martin Imatge - Andorra) - EC21-EF

Joventut Badalona came to this game possessing the best scoring defense in the 7DAYS EuroCup, allowing just 71.0 points per game. Moreover, that number dropped to 69.0 points on its home floor. But visiting ratiopharm Ulm managed to find the weak points of its opponent and outscored Joventut 19-28 to stun the top-seeded team.

Ulm didn’t need to use the three-point line to amass such a big score as the visiting team converted just 2 triples in the last 10 minutes. Shooting 5 of 9 from two, Ulm took advantage of Joventut’s fouls to get to the free-throw line 15 times, from which they collected 12 more points to sign off on a memorable win.

ratiopharm Ulm managed to score 28 points in the last quarter against the best defensive team in the competition.

Telling numbers: Ulm’s offense prevailed in the last quarter

Fourth-seeded Andorra will play either on the road against a fellow Spanish League side Gran Canaria or at home against Slask Wroclaw in the quarterfinals next week. Guided by new head coach Oscar Quintana, Andorra trailed for the majority of the first half before using a 10-0 run late in the third quarter to go in front. D.J. Seeley got Buducnost back in front 60-61 in the fourth, but Hannah hit 3 triples during a game-sealing 10-0 run. Hannah shot 6-for-10 from long range on the night and Codi Miller-McIntyre collected 12 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds in the victory. Seeley netted 25 points on 5-for-5 three-point shooting for Buducnost and Petar Popovic and Marko Jagodic Kuridza scored 11 apiece in a loss.

Seeley put Buducnost on the scoreboard with a corner triple, but Oriol Pauli scored 4 points for the hosts before Hannah hit a wide-open corner shot on the other end to make it 7-5. Buducnost went in front behind Jagodic-Kuridza, who made a pair of threes. Zoran Nikolic scored in traffic to help the visitors open a 9-13 lead. Miller-McIntyre knocked one down from way out - his first shot of the game, but Vladimir Micov scored inside and Jagodic-Kuridza again from the outside to give Buducnost a 12-20 lead. But Pauli and David Jelinek drove to the basket and Jelinek hit a long triple to help the hosts go back in front after an 11-2 run. Buducnost made foul shots in the final minute to lead 23-26 after the first quarter.

Kendrick Perry opened the second quarter with a step-back triple -the 5th for Buducnost on 8 attempts. But Victor Arteaga had a jumper and Pauli a layup before more close-range baskets from Arteaga and Miller-McIntyre tied it at 31-31. The defenses picked up the intensity and started making more stops as the scoring slowed down. Donatas Tarolis and Zoran Nikolic gave Buducnost a slim lead before Mario Nakic and Miller-McIntyre tied it up, only for Popovic to nail a jumper with his toes on the three-point line. Seeley set up Zoran Nikolic for an easy layup to make it 35-39 at halftime.

Seeley and Drew Crawford traded triples early in the third quarter. A three-pointer from Hannah tied it at 42-42. Seeley nailed a baseline jumper, and after Miller-McIntyre finished an acrobatic layup in a crowd, Seeley's step-back three gave Buducnost another lead, 44-47. Andorra used consecutive offensive rebounds to score 5 points on one trip down the floor and a triple from Hannah gave the hosts their first lead since the first quarter. A monster dunk from Babatunde Olumuyiwa and a three-point play from Hannah made it 54-47. Seeley snapped a 10-0 run, but Olumuyiwa helped extend the margin to 9 points before Seeley made it 58-51 after 30 minutes.

Seeley opened the fourth with a corner three-pointer and, after Popovic drove for a basket, Seeley scored 5 more points, including a tough triple for Buducnost to regain the lead, 60-61. But Hannah answered right back with his fourth three and then knocked down his fifth with exactly 4:00 to go, making it 67-61. No team scored for more than 3 minutes and into the final minute before Hannah nailed his sixth three with 57 seconds to go, opening a 70-61 margin. Popovic snapped Buducnost's drought of almost 6 minutes without a single point, but it was too little too late as Andorra wrapped up the win.

Clevin Hannah scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half in lifting MoraBanc Andorra to a 74-64 win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica in their eighthfinals clash on Tuesday night. 

Hannah lifts Andorra over Buducnost, 74-64, and into quarters

The visitors used a 0-10 run in the fourth quarter to turn the tables and earn a 63-72 advantage entering crunch time that Joventut could not recover from. This was the first loss all season for Joventut at home and it cost the team dearly, while Ulm advanced to the quarterfinals for the second time in club history. Semaj Christon led the visitors with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists for a PIR of 31. Jaron Blossomgame also scored 21 points and Sindarius Thornwell and Philipp Herkenhoff netted 12 points each and grabbed 9 and 7 rebounds, respectively. Derek Willis led the way for Joventut against his former team by scoring 17 points. Joel Parra and Pau Ribas followed with 13 and 11 points in the losing effort.

Willis started red hot with 6 of Joventut’s 8 first points to boost the home team to an early 8-4 lead. Even though Christon made it all square from long range soon after, the hosts found Joel Parra and Ribas to build a 14-8 edge after 6 minutes. Ulm reacted quickly after a timeout with Christon pulling the strings for a 16-16 tie that Karim Jallow converted into a 17-18 for the visitors at the end of the first quarter. 

 

Joventut tightened its defense, holding the visitors scoreless for 3 minutes and Andres Feliz and Brandon Paul took advantage of that to put the home team back in charge, 24-18. A four-point play in which Jallow provided a free throw and Blossomgame nailed a three off an offensive rebound made it 25-24. Parra took over on offense and scored 6 points to keep Joventut calm, 33-26, but a 2-6 run led by Per Guenther allowed Ulm stay in the game, 35-32, at halftime.

Willis opened fire from behind the arc and soon provided a free throw that Ante Tomic followed with a layup and a dish for Parra’s corner three that made it 44-36. Once again, Ulm prevented the hosts from escaping thanks to a triple by Herkenhoff, a three-point play by Blossomgame and a layup by Christon that reset the game at 44-44. Despite Blossomgame pushing Ulm in front, 46-47, Joventut counterattacked with Albert Ventura, Willis and Ribas combining to enter the last stanza ahead 54-51.

 

Herkenhoff and Ferran Bassas swapped threes to start the quarter. Then Willis took over with 4 points in a row to push the hosts to a 61-56 edge. Christon struck back and led a 0-6 run that sent Ulm in front once again, 61-62, midway through the fourth quarter. Blossomgame nailed a corner three and Herkenhoff completed a three-point play to extend it to 63-68 entering crunch time. The hosts got stuck on offense and allowed another jumper by Christon, who followed with a couple of free throws that built a 63-72 margin with 1 minute to go. Triples by Guillem Vives and Ribas allowed Joventut to dream, but Ulm just needed to secure some more free throws to confirm the outcome.

ratiopharm Ulm stunned Joventut Badalona with a 73-79 victory at Palau Olimpic de Badalona on Tuesday night. 

Ulm stuns Joventut, 73-79

Jaron Blossomgame 2- ratiopharm Ulm - (photo David Grau - Joventut) EC21-EF