### Umana Reyer Venice head coach Walter De Raffaele:

"As I told to the players, it’s important carrying on what we are doing and keep pushing on our growing, also in terms of consistency. We had a tough and long trip and I need to thank the club because it allows us to travel in the most comfortable way. Against Bursaspor it’s going to be a difficult game, we play two strong, long away games in 48 hours. We need to recover energies, we knew it. Bursaspor plays physical and tough basketball, a very athletic team with two players as Needham and Andrews, who are playing great. We have to be good in finding energy and stopping their offensive flow, empathized by their fans."

### Umana Reyer Venice player Andrea De Nicolao: 

"We expect a very physical and intense game, Bursa plays aggressive basketball. We need to recover energies since this is going to be a back-to-back European away game. It’s an important game for the standings and if we manage to set our tone from the tip off we will have more chances to get the win."

Pre-game quotes: Bursaspor vs. Venice

Frutti Extra Bursaspor v Umana Reyer Venice (2022-03-18T16:30:00.000Z)

Walter De Raffaele - Umana Reyer Venice (photo Buducnost) - EC21

Already-qualified Valencia Basket announced on Friday a couple of injury reports regarding guards Nenad Dimitrijevic and Sam Van Rossom.

Valencia: Dimitrijevic, Van Rossom sidelined

Dimitrijevic will miss an indetermined number of games due to a viric process. The evolution of his infection will dictate when he can come back to the courts. Dimitrijevic averages 6.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 7 games with Valencia.

Van Rossom is responding positively to the treatment he is undergoing in order to have a muscle tear he suffered during his stay with the Belgian national team, cured. He is expected to be ready for the 7DAYS EuroCup elimination rounds. Van Rossom averages 9.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 11 games this season.

Nenad Dimitrijevic - Valencia Basket (photo Miguel Angel Polo - Valencia) - EC21

Look back at all the action in the Regular Season Round 15  by checking out the best photos of the week!

EuroCup, The Top 10 photos of the week, Round 15

Jerai Grant - Promitheas Patras (photo Luka Novakovic - Buducnost) 

Onuralp Bitim - Frutti Extra Bursaspor (photo Bursaspor)

Brandon Paul - Joventut Badalona - (photo David Grau - Joventut) 

Lukas Meisner - Hamburg Towers (Photo Marvin Contessi) 

Aleksa Avramovic - Partizan NIS Belgrade (photo Dragana Stjepanovic - Partizan) 

Maik Kotsar - Hamburg Towers (Photo Marvin Contessi)

Can Ogut - Turk Telekom Ankara (photo Turk Telekom) 

Moritz Krimmer - ratioharm Ulm (photo Larry Langer - Ulm) 

Stefano Tonut - Umana Reyer Venice (photo Miguel Angel Polo - Valencia) 

Zoran Dragic - Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (photo Matteo Marchi - Virtus) 

Jerai Grant - Promitheas Patras (photo Luka Novakovic - Buducnost) - EC21-RS15

Onuralp Bitim - Frutti Extra Bursaspor (photo Bursaspor) - EC21-RS15

Maik Kotsar 2- Hamburg Towers (Photo Marvin Contessi) - EC21-RS15

Brandon Paul - Joventut Badalona - (photo David Grau - Joventut) EC21-RS15

Aleksa Avramovic - Partizan NIS Belgrade (photo Dragana Stjepanovic - Partizan) - EC21-RS21

Can Ogut - Turk Telekom Ankara (photo Turk Telekom) - EC21-RS15

Moritz Krimmer - ratioharm Ulm (photo Larry Langer - Ulm) - EC21-RS15

Stefano Tonut - Umana Reyer Venice (photo Miguel Angel Polo - Valencia) - EC21-RS21

Zoran Dragic - Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (photo Matteo Marchi - Virtus) - EC21-RS21

Lukas Meisner 3- Hamburg Towers (Photo Marvin Contessi) - EC21-RS15

In his fifth 7DAYS EuroCup season, Buducnost VOLI Podgorica center Zoran Nikolic might be starting to wish that Promitheas Patras was on the schedule more often.

Buducnost's Zoran Nikolic stepped up against Promitheas – again 

On Wednesday, Nikolic led Buducnost to a 90-77 home victory against Promitheas that allowed his team to seal its ticket to the next round. In just 17 minutes on the floor, he made a big contribution, scoring 10 points on near-perfect shooting: 4-for-5 on two-pointers and 2-for-2 on free throws. He added 5 rebounds, 3 blocks and 4 fouls drawn for a PIR of 15. 

Nikolic also provided the best defensive play of the night with consecutive blocked shots against Kendrick Ray and Jerai Grant, all in a matter of seconds.

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica Zoran Nikolic had a great performance against Promitheas Patras for the second time this season.

Zoran Nikolic leads Buducnost past Promitheas

Nikolic has averaged 5.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 12 games this season, but his two best games were against Promitheas.

In Round 6, Nikolic led Buducnost to a 60-89 road victory in Patras with a personal-best 20 points on 8-for-10 two-point shooting plus 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 4 fouls drawn for a career-high PIR of 30. In two games against Promitheas, Nikolic has boosted his numbers to 15.0 points on 80.0% two-point shooting, 7.5 rebounds and an average PIR of 22.5. They were his only double-digit scoring nights so far this season.

The 25-year-old center has now played 62 games, all with Buducnost, since he debuted in the EuroCup in 2016. His are the most games for Buducnost in that span, and only three active EuroCup players have played more games with a single club in that time.

A glance at Nikolic's career highs shows Promitheas as the opponent in most of them: 30 PIR, 20 points, 8 two-pointers made, 10 rebounds, 8 defensive rebounds, 3 blocks, 27 minutes played.

It's near-impossible for the two teams to play again, but you can be sure that Nikolic will keep an eye out for Promitheas crossing his team's calendars in the future.

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica v Promitheas Patras (2022-03-16T18:00:00.000Z)

Zoran Nikolic - Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (photo Luka Novakovic - Buducnost) - EC21-RS15

Lukas Meisner became Hamburg Towers' third MVP of the round this season when he claimed the honor for Round 15.

Regular Season Round 15: Lukas Meisner, Hamburg Towers 

Meisner led Hamburg to a 92-86 home victory against Slask Wroclaw with career-highs of 23 points, 12 rebounds and a PIR of 29. He came off the bench to make 3 of 5 two-pointers, 5 of 13 three-pointers and 2 of 4 free throws. Meisner added 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block and 2 fouls drawn. He is the third Hamburg player to earn this honor -after Caleb Homesley and Jaylon Brown did so in Rounds 9 and 12, respectively.

Lukas Meisner became Hamburg Towers' third MVP of the round this season when he claimed the honor for Round 15. Meisner led Hamburg to a 92-86 home victory against Slask Wroclaw with career-highs of 23 points, 12 rebounds and a PIR of 29.

Lukas Meisner | Round 15 MVP | 7DAYS EuroCup

In the same game, Travis Trice of Slask recorded a PIR of 32, but did so in a losing effort. Trice had 29 points on 6 of 13 three-point shooting, 3 rebounds, 10 assists, 1 steal and 11 fouls drawn. JaJuan Johnson of Turk Telekom Ankara amassed a PIR of 31 in his team's 76-83 home loss against MoraBanc Andorra. Johnson had 21 points on 11-of-11 free-throw shooting, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and 8 fouls drawn. Jordan Theodore of Umana Reyer Venice, who had a PIR of 28, and Andrew Andrews of Frutti Extra Bursaspor (26 PIR) complete the top individual performances in Round 15. 

Regular Season Round 15 MVP: Lukas Meisner, Hamburg Towers 

Hamburg Towers v Slask Wroclaw (2022-03-16T18:30:00.000Z)

Let's take a look at the individual highs in Round 15, as well as the regular season leaders. 


Individual highs: Mam Jaiteh of Virtus Segafredo Bologna, 14 rebounds

Travis Trice of Slask Wroclaw led all scorers in Round 15 after scoring 29 points in a losing effort against Hamburg Towers. Errick McCollum of Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar is the competition's top scorer with 22.3 points per game. Mam Jaiteh of Virtus Segafredo Bologna pulled down 14 rebounds to lead the weekly standings. Kerem Kanter of Slask Wroclaw ranks first overall in rebounds with 8.9 per night. 

Three players - Trice, Andrew Albicy of Gran Canaria and Milos Teodosic of Virtus - each had 10 assists in Round 15. Teodosic leads the season-long assists table at 9.3 per night. Seven different players - Albicy, Gediminas Orelik of Lietkabelis Panevezys, Vladimir Micov of Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, Nikolaos Rogkavopoulos of Promitheas Patras, Maximilian Di Leo of Hamburg, his teammate Lukas Meisner, Lahaou Konate of Boulogne Metropolitans 92 - each collected 3 steals to top the weekly charts. Albicy is first for the season in steals with 2.0 per game. 

Zoran Nikolic of Buducnost, Balsa Koprivica of Partizan NIS Belgrade and JaJuan Johnson of Turk Telekom Ankara each blocked 3 shots in Round 15. Octavius Ellis of Turk Telekom is atop the blocks standings qith 1.5 per game. Meisner, Trice, Kanter, Koprivica and Jaiteh each registered a double-double in Round 15.

Mam Jaiteh - Virtus Segafredo Bologna (photo Matteo Marchi - Virtus) - EC21

MoraBanc Andorra scored its third straight win and punched its playoff ticket with a 76-83 road triumph over Turk Telekom Ankara thanks to a well-balanced offensive effort.

Everybody joined in on Andorra's party

Andorra scored 83 points, but had only three scorers in double figures, led by big man Victor Arteaga who finished with 13 points. That was because Andorra had seven different players score 8 or more points.

Codi Miller-McIntyre not only scored 12, but also dished 7 of the team's 20 assists and Mario Nakic scored 10, including a key fourth-quarter three-pointer.

Other big contributors were Connor Morgan with 9 points and 7 rebounds, and David Jelinek with 9 points plus 6 rebounds. Each player also nailed a pair of three-pointers. Moussa Diagne had a fast start to the game and had 9 points and Clevin Hannah scored 8.

Coach David Eudal used 11 players and all but one scored. That was Amine Noua, who made up for missing all four of his shots by pulling down 3 offensive rebounds.

It was a team effort that improved Andorra to a 9-6 record. Not only did the team secure its place in the post-season, but also remained on course to earn home-court advantage in the first round.

Conor Morgan - MoraBanc Andorra (photo Turk Telekom) - EC21-RS15

Turk Telekom Ankara v MoraBanc Andorra (2022-03-16T17:00:00.000Z)

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana earned its fifth consecutive victory by downing Virtus Segafredo Bologna 74-86 in Round 15. And Jacob Pullen had a lot to do with it. 

Pullen put Cedevita on the right track 

Pullen briefly played for Virtus almost a decade ago. He wore the famous Black-V jersey for eight Italian League games in the 2012-13 campaign. 

Pullen was ready to deliver against his former team and showed that as soon as he came off the bench. He took Daniel Hackett one-on-one and used a screen to bury a three-pointer from the top of the key. He soon added a mid-range jumper off the dribble to give Cedevita a 14-19 lead.

Before the end of the first quarter, Pullen found Zoran Dragic for a layup, connected with Zach Auguste for a big slam and struck twice more from downtown to keep Cedevita ahead, 24-29, after 10 minutes. 

Jacob Pullen (20 points) Highlights vs. Segafredo Virtus Bologna, 03/16/2022

Pullen shines in return to Bologna

Pullen remained on fire early in the second quarter, hitting a pair of free throws and his fourth three-pointer to give his team its first double-digit lead, 26-36. Pullen scored 16 points in his first 7 minutes on the floor and when he returned to the bench, Cedevita had the game flow required to keep going. 

Yogi Ferrell and Jaka Blazic led Cedevita the rest of the day. Pullen ended up leading Cedevita with 20 points in as many minutes. In his sixth EuroCup season, Pullen continued to lead Cedevita with instant offense off the bench. 

Jacob Pullen - Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (photo Matteo Marchi - Virtus) - EC21-RS21

Virtus Segafredo Bologna v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2022-03-16T19:30:00.000Z)

Lukas Meisner has seen some highs and lows in his first season in the 7DAYS EuroCup. But his career night in Hamburg Towers’ 92-86 win over Slask Wroclaw was definitely one of his biggest showings.

Magnificent Meisner helped Hamburg to vital victory

The 26-year-old knocked down 5 three-pointers en route to scoring a career-high 23 points. He also set personal bests in rebounds (12), defensive rebounds (8), offensive rebounds (4), steals (3) and performance index rating (29) while also dishing out 2 assists and blocking 1 shot.

Meisner is playing his fourth season professionally in Germany after two years in Bayreuth and one in Braunschweig. His maiden EuroCup campaign has included some less than spectacular performances, including going scoreless over a three-game stretch from Rounds 6 to 8. But the season has also seen Meisner be a real leader for Pedro Calles’s team. 

He made 4 three-pointers in scoring 20 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in Hamburg’s 96-100 victory at Lietkabelis Panevezys in Round 4. And he was one of Hamburg’s few bright spots in last week’s 85-62 loss at Boulogne Metropolitans 92, collecting 17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Meisner’s last two games have seen him pour in 40 points, which is just 26 more than the total he had combined in his first 11 games in the EuroCup. And the two contests have definitely been two of his biggest highlights.