Slask Wroclaw outshot Hamburg Towers from all ranges and controlled the rebounding battle in its comfortable win on Wednesday. The hosts made 14 of 30 two-pointers (46.7%), 13 of 33 threes (39.4%) and 20 of 26 free throws (76.9%). 

By the numbers: Slask dominates the box score

Though those numbers were far from outstanding, they dwarfed Hamburg’s 17 for 43 on twos (39.5%), 11 for 35 on threes (31,4%) and 4 for 7 on from the foul line (57.1%). Slask also had 48 rebounds to Hamburg’s 38.  Even though the visitors had more offensive rebounds (11-13), Slask scored 15 second-chance points, which were 7 more than the Hamburg total. 

Hinrichs is the bright light for Hamburg

Hinrichs scored 7 points in the fourth quarter to help the team trim a 26-point deficit down to 13. His previous personal best in scoring was 12 in Round 4 against Lietkabelis. This is the 28-year-old forward’s second season in the competition.

Justin Cobbs was the man for a bit of everything all game for the winners. He poured in 17 points as he connected on 6 of 9 shots and 5 of 8 free throws while also grabbing 5 rebounds. 

Cobbs did it all for Buducnost

The veteran leader also dished out 5 assists and snagged 3 steals for an index rating of 26. Cobbs will be happy about following up his amazing Round 5 game with a strong showing, but he will likely be disappointed about 3 missed free throws, considering he had made 39-of-45 thus far this season from the line.

Justin Cobbs - Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (photo Patras) - EC21

Promitheas Patras v Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (2021-12-08T17:30:00.000Z)

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica shrugged off a whirlwind first half and ended up running away with a 60-89 victory over host Promitheas Patras on Wednesday to remain one of the top teams in Group B. Buducnost started hot and used a 2-17 run to take a 10-27 lead. Promitheas punched back with a 21-2 surge to pull ahead. The guests responded with a 6-20 run spanning halftime to reestablish control and never looked back in moving to 5-1. 

Shorthanded Buducnost rolls past Promitheas, 60-89

DJ Seeley led the way with career highs of 29 points and a 30 performance index rating. Zoran Nikolic also set personal bests with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 30 PIR while Justin Cobbs chipped in 17 points. Only eight players played for Buducnost. Promitheas saw its two-game winning streak snapped in falling to 2-4. Kendrick Ray scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the second quarter and Jerai Grant added 10. But the hosts did not have enough other options, scoring just 8 points in the third quarter.

Nikolic opened the scoring for the guests while Grant hit first for Promitheas. That was the only score for the hosts in the first 4 minutes while Vladimir Micov's layup gave Buducnost a 2-6 lead. Grant scored again and Ray's first basket trimmed the margin to 8-10. The guests started to really roll, with Nikolic pushing his tally to 13 points and Marko Jagodic-Kuridza draining a three-pointer in a 2-14 run to finish the first quarter with a 10-24 lead.

Seeley opened the second quarter with a three-pointer and the Buducnost margin grew to 10-27. Ray finally got the hosts back on the board with a three-pointer and then went off with 2 more bombs from deep and a three-point play among his 16 points in a 21-2 run to put Promitheas ahead 31-29. Buducnost responded with Cobbs and Edin Atic both scoring 5 points in a 4-10 run to lead 35-41 at the break.

Micov tallied the first 2 points of the second half to push the lead to 35-44. Ray finally got Promitheas on the board after nearly 2 minutes. Another basket by Nikolic increased Buducnost's lead to 37-49 as the hosts just could not score with any consistency. Seeley took his turn to lead the offense with 3 triples among his 11 points in a 2-15 run to extend the Buducnost advantage to 43-66 after 30 minutes.

Ray and Grant started the fourth quarter with baskets and Promitheas was within 47-66. Buducnost hit the next 4 points and Seeley knocked down another three-pointer to push the margin to 49-73. Seeley just keep going in the fourth quarter, ending the final frame with 13 points as Buducnost just coasted the rest of the way.

Dennis Seeley - Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (photo Patras) - EC21

One of the few bright spots for Promitheas all game was the second quarter, and the main man in that frame was Kendrick Ray. The 27-year-old drained 3 three-pointers, converted a three-point play and also hit a tough layup among his 16 points in the quarter. 

Ray second-quarter show wasn't enough

That output alone evened his career high in points and he ended with 22 points to go along with 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals for a PIR of 22, which was also his career high.

Kendrick Ray - Promitheas Patras (photo Patras) - EC21

Buducnost was unstoppable on offense as it made 66.7% of its two-pointers and also connected on 8 of 17 shots from long range for 47.1%. Buducnost's team PIR of 121 ranked tied for third in club history. 

Buducnost shot the lights out

The guests' defense also held Promitheas to just 24.1% on three-pointers and 47.2% on two-pointers. The hosts dished out just 11 assists, 9.6 fewer than their average coming into the game. All told, Promitheas managed a PIR of just 34, which was a new club low, 18 less than the 52 PIR it had in October 2020 against Dolomiti Energia Trento.

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Zoran Nikolic - Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (photo Patras) - EC21

This is what the protagonists of the game had to say after such a close deal down the stretch.

Post-Game Quotes: Patras 60-89 Buducnost


### Aleksandar Dzikic, Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
“I still believe [Promitheas is] a very good team, a balanced team. We just played well in some moments. In the end, I’m not sure this points difference is the real projection of the quality of the teams. But tonight we were better and it is what it is. Maybe this was more important for us because of our situation. As you saw, we only had eight guys. It has been more than three weeks since we practiced five on five. I don’t know. We’ll have to do something about it.”



### Ilias Zouros, Promitheas Patras
“I will try to find out what went wrong. I am very surprised by my players. I’m very disappointed by the effort from my players. I never saw a team give up like that. I’m very disappointed in my players. If we continue like this it’s going to be a problem. Of course, we are going to have changes in the team. That is something sure. We have to start working to get better.”



### Zoran Nikolic, Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
“We are so thankful that the fans traveled so far to support us. I hope this can happen more often. We were short with only eight men and they helped us a lot. We hope they can help us in some other games on the road. Me and the whole team are so thankful for them coming here and supporting us the whole 40 minutes. They were pushing us and gave us another load of energy.”


Dario Hunt - Promitheas Patras (photo Patras) - EC21

Lietkabelis Panevezys gained its first home win of the 7DAYS EuroCup season by downing Joventut Badalona 87-77 on Wednesday night after leading from start to finish. Strong defense gave Lietkabelis an early advantage, and the host was able to stay ahead, 41-37, at the interval. The lead grew to double digits early in the third and Lietkabelis never looked like losing. 

Lietkabelis overcomes Joventut for first home win, 87-77

Nikola Radicevic led the home team’s offense with 12 points and 9 assists, while Panagiotis Kalaitzakis top scored with 16 points and Vytenis Lipkevicius added 14. Pau Ribas paced Joventut with 15 points while Brandon Paul and Guillem Vives both scored 11. Lietkabelis improves to 3-3 while Joventut drops to 4-2.

Gabrielius Maldunas scored 6 early points to send Lietkabelis ahead, but Joventut responded through 5 points from Pau Ribas including a triple for the first Joventut lead, 6-7. Lipkevicius struck the home team’s first triple and soon added another for a 12-10 advantage. Kalaitzakis added a floater in an 8-0 run to make it 17-10. Paul’s triple snapped that run, and it was 20-13 after ten minutes. Paul made another three-pointer to start the second quarter and Vives added a transition layup, before Paul stayed hot with a layup. Derek Willis and Vives also hit from deep to tie it up, 26-26, before Djordje Gagic and Ante Tomic exchanged close-range scores. Kalaitzakis and Kristupas Zemaitis got Lietkabelis back in front, followed by 4 points from Dovydas Giedraitis for a 38-32 lead. Paul made another three-pointer but Zemaitis answered with his own, and it was 41-37 at the interval.

Willis opened the second half with a triple but that was bettered by a two-pointer from Maldunas and a triple from Lipkevicius, before Radicevic added a pair of jumpers for a 50-40 lead after a 9-0 run. Tomic got Joventut moving again, but Gagic dunked before Kalaitzakis and Radicevic added layups for a 57-46 lead. Ribas hit a three but Zamaitis beat the buzzer with a steal and score to give Lietkabelis a 61-49 lead after three quarters. Kaspars Berzins and Ferran Bassas traded triples early in the third, and Gedminas Orelik also scored from long range before adding a transition layup for a 72-56 lead midway through the fourth. Orelik hit another threeball and Joventut struggled to score anything other than free throws until Vives and Pep Busquets scored from deep to make it 77-68 with three minutes left. Radicevic and Gagic ensured the visitors didn’t get too close, as Lietkabelis secured a big win.

Panagiotis Kalaitzakis - Lietkabelis Panevezys (photo Karolio Kavolelio - Lietkabelis) EC21

Lietkabelis Panevezys v Joventut Badalona (2021-12-08T17:00:00.000Z)

In a closely contested first half, Joventut did not help its hopes of getting into the lead by missing 5 of its first 6 free throws. The visitors improved somewhat but still only finished with 10-of-17 conversions from the foul line. 

Free throws boost Lietkabelis

Lietkabelis, meanwhile, was regularly able to get to the foul line with aggressive offense, attacking the basket to draw a lot of shooting fouls. The hosts generally made the most of those opportunities, sinking 21 of its 28 free throw attempts to protect its lead.

Gediminas Orelik - Lietkabelis Panevezys (photo Karolio Kavolelio - Lietkabelis) EC21