This is what the protagonists had to say after the Round 17 showdown between MoraBanc Andorra and Boulogne Metropolitans 92.

Post-game quotes: Andorra vs. Metropolitans

### Vincent Collet, Boulogne Metropolitans 92 head coach: 

“It’s a very good win because we were tied with Andorra and now we will be in the first four and have home-court advantage in the first game in the playoffs. We have a chance, if we beat Lietkabelis, to keep third place, which is our goal. So it’s a very important game. We knew before we came here that Andorra is not very confident at the moment. We wanted to not give them confidence. We knew they would try very hard for a good start. So for me, the beginning of the game was the most important - to have a defensive game. I think we were aggressive the whole game and we provoked a lot of turnovers, which was another goal for us. In the first half, unfortunately, we couldn’t control the ball. We were very weak on defensive rebounds. That gave them second chances and let them get into the game. We did better on that in the second half. And after that, we controlled the score quite well.”

### David Eudal, MoraBanc Andorra head coach: 

"Again a game where we are behind in the score. We tried to come back, but we’re in a very good moment and we have 23 turnovers. Too much for us. The effort was good, but was not enough to win."

Post-game quotes: Virtus vs. Gran Canaria

### Gran Canaria head coach Porfi Fisac:

“First of all, I want to congratulate Virtus for the win. We played two different games. In the first half we had a lot of problems stopping their main players and stopping their pick-and-roll and low-post game. In the second half, we improved a lot our defense of the pick-and-roll and we played really well in offense, sharing the ball, but in the right moment, in the very important moment, the key of the game was that they made the threes in the last quarter”

### Virtus Segafredo Bologna head coach Sergio Scariolo:

“Very nice win against a really good team, deep, tough, well trained. We really had to extend our effort till the very end to beat them. Even if we led in the score for most of the time, they were always there and coming back even in the last couple of plays. You may see how good they are as a team and especially with their shooters, but also with the big men. I’m pretty happy with our defensive performance overall. I think one of the keys of the game was that we regained control of the defensive rebounds in the second half after losing it a little bit in the second quarter. I think we also made good decisions offensively in the fourth quarter. I think that, right now, scoring 19 points against this defense is very meaningful, having not a great shooting situation from the three-point line, as we don’t have so great shooters that we missed in tonight’s game.”

### Virtus Segafredo Bologna forward Kyle Weems:

“I’m proud of the way we paid attention to details tonight. We know Gran Canaria is a very good offensive team, very good rebounding offense and transition team, and we held them to 68 points. The last 6 points were tough, but holding them to 68 points, I'll take that. I’m proud of the team” 

Virtus Segafredo Bologna v Gran Canaria (2022-03-29T18:30:00.000Z)

Sergio Scariolo - Virtus Segafredo Bologna (photo Matteo Marchi - Virtus) - EC21-RS17

Boulogne Metropolitans 92 clinched home-court advantage for the first knock-out stage by defeating MoraBanc Andorra 74-83 on the road on Tuesday.

Metropolitans clinch home-court advantage with 74-83 win in Andorra 

Metropolitans gained control of the game with a 3-12 run in the fourth quarter to improve to 10-5in Group A, including its sixth win in the last seven games. Lahaou Konate led the way with 19 points, Jordan McRae had 18 points and Will Cummings tallied 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Andorra has now suffered two straight losses to fall to 9-6. Codi Miller-McIntyre was Andorra’s leading scorer with 16 points and 8 assists, Moussa Diagne added 14 points and Oriol Pauli and Clevin Hannah both scored 10 points.

McRae opened the scoring for the visitors with a three-pointer and Cummings added 3 points for a 0-6 cushion. Andorra committed 4 turnovers in the first 2 minutes before Moussa Diagne finally scored for the hosts to start an 8-0 run. McRae ended a drought of nearly 3 minutes before Konate nailed back-to-back triples and Metropolitans was up 10-14. Miller-McIntyre punched back with 5 points at the other end to put Andorra back up 15-14 and the game was even 16-16 after 10 minutes.

 

After McRae started the second-quarter scoring, Andorra netted the next 4 points for a 20-18 lead. McRae started taking over with 7 points in a 0-9 run and Cummings drained a triple to extend the margin to 24-34. Miller-McIntyre hit a three-pointer and Victor Arteaga had a putback just before the halftime buzzer and it was 35-40 at the break.

Pauli knocked down a three-pointer to start the second half for Andorra and an Arteaga dunk had the margin down to 40-41. Metropolitans picked things back up with Konate making another three and Cummings and Miralem Halilovic both scoring 4 points to extend the cushion to 45-56. Four more Cummings points increased the advantage to 47-60. Andorra had a strong finish to the quarter and was down 54-62 after 30 minutes.

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The momentum continued in the fourth quarter with a Diagne three pointer and 4 points from Babatunde Oulumyima to close within 61-62. Konate responded with a jumper and three-pointer to get the guests back on track offensively. Bandja Sy added a three-pointer and another basket and Metropolitans’ advantage was double figures again 64-74 with less than 5 minutes left. Hannah countered with a three-point play and Andorra fought to within 70-76 with 2 minutes remaining. Konate however finished off the hosts with a layup and then buzzer three-pointer dagger with 68 seconds remaining for a 71-81 cushion.

Vince Hunter - Boulogne Metropolitans 92 (photo Martin Imatge - Andorra) - EC21-RS17

This is what the protagonists had to say after the Round 17 showdown between Joventut Badalona and Slask Wroclaw.

Post-game quotes: Joventut vs. Slask

### Joventut Badalona head coach Carles Duran:

"Good victory. We achieved a big goal after six months. First, I would take to congratulate and thank all the fans that came today, because one of the greatest successes we had in the EuroCup this season was that our fans came back. Our fans are coming in the middle of the week to give us spectacular support, and I want to thank them and encourage them to keep coming back. No one talked about us \[as a candidate to win the EuroCup\] and the team did a 10-out-of-10 work. We are the best team at the end of the regular season, with difficulties, as always, but the team kept fighting and played well. I believe we played very well in this first stage. Like I said, we turned our home court into a fortress, playing well at home, and now it is all up to us, not just the team, but also the club and our people. Our new challenge is the eighthfinals at home and everything is in our hands. We knew we will face opponents who are also fighting for a title, but this is when the final stages start and all together, we could achieve something historic."

### Slask Wroclaw head coach Andrej Urlep:

"Congratulations to Joventut. I think they showed why they are at the top of the ladder. They definitely have high-quality players. Definitely for us, the big problem is our size, and that's why we had so many problems on the boards, especially in the first half. We played quite a good game for the roster that we had, with the exception of the second quarter, which was a really bad one. We committed 9 turnovers in that quarter, which is not acceptable. I think that, for us, it was important that Meiers was playing after a long break. We had the chance to play some young guys. We tried our best, but Joventut definitely deserved the win."

### Joventut Badalona center Simon Birgander:

"It is a great win for the team, a very necessary win to be the leaders of our group. As for my game, my teammates passed me the ball, I scored when they passed me, and I tried to take as many rebounds as I could."

Joventut Badalona v Slask Wroclaw (2022-03-29T19:00:00.000Z)

Carles Duran - Joventut Badalona - (photo David Grau - Joventut) EC21-RS17

[ratiopharm Ulm 72-86 Frutti Extra Bursaspor](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2021-22/ratiopharm-ulm-frutti-extra-bursaspor/U2021/170/)

Bursaspor punched its ticket to the eighthfinals by downing Ulm 72-86 on the road in Group B. Bursaspor improved to 8-9 in Group B and with its fourth straight win, while Ulm dropped to 7-10 though it could qualify for the playoffs on Wednesday if Buducnost VOLI Podgorica beats Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse. Kevarrius Hayes led the winners with 25 points and 11 rebounds and David Dudzinski added 14 points. Semaj Christon paced Ulm with 20 points. 

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Starting off the game strong ! 💪 <a href="https://twitter.com/BsBasketbol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BsBasketbol</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7DAYSMagicMoment?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7DAYSMagicMoment</a> <a href="https://t.co/dBAZt35dWp">pic.twitter.com/dBAZt35dWp</a></p>&mdash; 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup/status/1508862439491731461?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[MoraBanc Andorra 74-83 Boulogne Metropolitans 92](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2021-22/morabanc-andorra-boulogne-metropolitans-92/U2021/162/)

Metropolitans clinched home-court advantage for the eighthfinals after it defeated Andorra 74-83 on the road in Group A. Metropolitans gained control of the game with a 3-12 run in the fourth quarter to improve to 10-5, including its sixth win in the last seven games. Lahaou Konate led the way with 19 points and Jordan McRae scored 18 points. For Andorra, which lost its second straight game to fall to 9-6, Codi Miller-McIntyre produced 16 points and 8 assists.

[Virtus Segafredo Bologna 70-68 Gran Canaria](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2021-22/virtus-segafredo-bologna-gran-canaria/U2021/168/)

Virtus edged Gran Canaria 70-68 to keep alive its chances of gaining home-court advantage in the eighthfinals. Daniel Hackett and Toko Shengelia combined for 8 points in crunch time, which sealed the outcome. Hackett paced the winners with 14 points and Shengelia finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds. The win lifted Virtus to 10-7 and third place in Group B. Gran Canaria remained atop the table at 12-5. Dylan Ennis led the Gran Canaria attack with 19 points.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Huge block for <a href="https://twitter.com/izaycordinier?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@izaycordinier</a>!!<br>HE WENT UP 👀<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7DAYSMagicMoment?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7DAYSMagicMoment</a> <a href="https://t.co/M31xrDFPpM">pic.twitter.com/M31xrDFPpM</a></p>&mdash; 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup/status/1508878442887974915?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Joventut Badalona 97-79 Slask Wroclaw](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2021-22/joventut-badalona-slask-wroclaw/U2021/163/)

Joventut clinched the top spot in Group A by downing Slask 97-79 at home. Joventut finished the regular season with a 12-4. Albert Ventura and Simon Birgander led the winners with 16 points apiece and Vladimir Brodziansky scored 12. D'Mitrik Trice scored 22 for Slask in defeat. The loss dropped eighth-placed Slask to 3-12. 

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/derekxwillis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@derekxwillis</a> goes off at the rim! 😱<a href="https://twitter.com/Penya1930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Penya1930</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7DAYSMagicMoment?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7DAYSMagicMoment</a> <a href="https://t.co/Qo1VBBIgA4">pic.twitter.com/Qo1VBBIgA4</a></p>&mdash; 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup/status/1508898149452029953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Tuesday’s four games in the 7DAYS EuroCup saw two teams, Bursaspor and idle Reyer, clinch tickets to the eighthfinals, Joventut wrap up the top spot in Group A and Metropolitans secure home-court advantage in the next stage. 

Game Night: Bursaspor, Reyer advance; Joventut clinches first place in Tuesday games

David Dudzinski - Frutti Extra Bursaspor (photo Larry Langer - Ulm) - EC21

Frutti Extra Bursaspor punched its ticket to the 7DAYS EuroCup Eighthfinals by downing ratiopharm Ulm 72-86 on the road on Tuesday. 

Bursaspor clinches playoff berth with 72-86 win at Ulm

Bursaspor improved to 8-9 in Group B with its fourth straight win. Ulm dropped to 7-10, though it could still qualify for the playoffs this week if Buducnost VOLI Podgorica beats Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse on Wednesday. Kevarrius Hayes led the winners with 25 points and 11 rebounds, David Dudzinski added 14 points, Derek Needham 13, Onuralp Bitim 12 and Andrew Andrews scored 11 for Bursaspor. Semaj Christon paced Ulm with 20 points, Jaron Blossomgame added 14, Karim Jallow 12 and Nicolas Bretzel 10. Hayes scored 11 first-quarter points as Bursaspor took control early, led 15-32 after 10 minutes and held on the rest of the way.  

Dudzinski got Bursaspor going with a jump hook and a fastbreak slam. Hayes dunked and Needham bettered Nicolas Bretzel's alley-oop tip-in with a triple that boosted the visitors' lead to 3-9. Andrews sank a jumper and found Hayes for a three-point play that made it a double-digit game. Hayes kept pushing Bursaspor and Dudzinski made another jump hook for a 7-20 score. Christon stepped up with a couple of jumpers and a driving layup. Hayes downed a baseline jumper and Bitim knocked down back-to-back triples for a 13-30 Bursaspor lead. Needham matched Karim Jallow's dunk with a buzzer-beating jumper that fixed the score at 15-32 after 10 minutes.

John Holland buried a jumper early in the second quarter. Christon banked in a close shot and got help from Jaron Blossomgame and Per Guenther to bring Ulm a bit closer, 20-36. Bretzel took over with a second-chance layup and a one-handed dunk. Needham answered from beyond the arc and Bitim scored in penetration for a 24-41 Bursaspor lead. Blossomgame scored in the low post and Jallow added a running hook to bring the hosts within 28-41. Dudzinski buried a corner triple and Hayes erased Christon's rainbow jumper with an alley-oop slam that restored a 32-47 Bursaspor margin. Hayes scored again and Metin Turen helped the visitors boost their margin to 34-53 at halftime.

Andrews stepped up with an off-balance three-point play right after the break. The visitors kept running their offense through Hayes, whose alley-oop slam made it 36-60. Christon and an unstoppable Hayes traded baskets before Jallow made it 40-62. Guenther buried a step-back jumper that Dudzinski improved on with a three-pointer. Hayes added a put-back layup to give the guests a 42-68 margin. Blossomgame struck three times from downtown and got help from Christon to bring the hosts closer, 54-71, after 30 minutes. 

 

Moritz Krimmer buried a jump hook early in the fourth quarter and Blossomgame copied him right after that to give Ulm hope, 60-73, with over 7 minutes left. Needham rescued Bursaspor with a three-pointer and Andrews also struck from beyond the arc to restore a 62-79 margin. Turen joined the three-point shootout to seal the outcome, 62-82, midway through the fourth quarter. Little changed in the final 5 minutes, as Bursaspor maintained a safe margin all the way and had plenty of time to celebrate.

ratiopharm Ulm v Frutti Extra Bursaspor (2022-03-29T17:30:00.000Z)

Andrew Andrews - Frutti Extra Bursaspor (photo Larry Langer - Ulm) - EC21-RS17

This is what the protagonists had to say after the Round 17 showdown between ratiopharm Ulm and Frutti Extra Bursaspor.

Post-game quotes: Ulm vs. Bursaspor

### Frutti Extra Bursaspor head coach Dusan Alimpijevic:

"For sure, I have to be satisfied. From the first second until the end, we were serious. We were really concentrated on the things we prepared for this game. I have to say sorry, because it is a little bit of emotional for everybody in our club, this thing right now. This is a historical thing for our club. This is our second year, just the second year in European competition and we are already in the top 16, so congrats to my players, to my club, management, sponsors and to our fans. This is for them, for all of them. I am really grateful to be the coach of this team. And it is not just that we are in the playoffs, we avoided eighth place. So now we will see in the last round if we are sixth or seventh. I have to be happy and really proud of this team from really deep in my heart. To be honest, they had also some injuries and struggled with the number of \[available\] players, like we struggled in recent games in which maybe we had this number of players."

### ratiopharm Ulm head coach Jaka Lakovic:

"At the start of the game, we didn't come to play the first quarter. They scored more than 30 points in the first quarter and then it was a game of chasing. I thought the first half was really bad defensively, especially, but because of our basic - running back, fighting for the low post position, defending the cuts... In the second half, I thought the guys came to fight. I think the young players, especially Michael Nataj, had an excellent game. Without scoring, he was a big factor for us being successful in the second half. This is the way to go. We saw in the second that we can do it, but we have to do it for 40 minutes. We have to congratulate Bursaspor for this deserved win, for sure. They are playing well during the last weeks with a short rotation, great quality and a lot of ball movement. They deserved the qualification to the playoffs."

### Frutti Extra Bursaspor center Kevarrius Hayes:

"This is very big for us, really huge. This is for everybody, coming out there and playing as hard as we could, trying to secure that spot for us so we could make it to the playoffs. Playing with guys like this is really fun. They know the game well, and it is really good to play with a group of guys that really play hard and know what this means." 

Dusan Alimpijevic - Frutti Extra Bursaspor (photo Larry Langer - Ulm) - EC21-RS17

Two rounds to go until the end of the regular season and it’s time to evaluate where the 19 EuroCup teams stand in regards to their performance.

7DAYS EuroCup Power Rankings Vol. 4

The 7DAYS EuroCup regular season enters its final two laps and the playoffs picture is starting to become clear. Two tickets remain up for grabs, both in Group B, and the battle for the final placement is heating up.

With the new playoffs format approaching, it’s time to rank all 19 teams again in regards to their recent performance and their possible projection for the one-off games which will follow in April.

[MORE...](https://www.eurohoops.net/en/trademarks/1326065/7days-eurocup-power-rankings-vol-4/)

Aleksander Balcerowski - Gran Canaria (photo Gran Canaria) - EC21-RS16

### MoraBanc Andorra head coach David Eudal:

"It will be very tough, as they have some of the best American players in the competition. All we have to do is focus on the things we do well and that have already made us win games. The crowd is always very loyal and is always with the team, I didn't ask them for anything because they are always there."

### MoraBanc Andorra player Babatunde Olumyiwa:

"We always have to play to win and the game is very important for us. The lockerroom is doing fine and it has already done its process of moving forward after the hard defeat on Saturday in Manresa."

Here are some insightful comments about the game from the protagonists themselves.


Pre-game quotes: Andorra vs. Metropolitans 92

David Eudal - MoraBanc Andorra (photo Trento) - EC21