Joventut Badalona got back to winning ways by defeating visiting Turk Telekom Ankara 76-67 at Palau Olimpic de Badalona on Wednesday night. Joventut improved to 3-1 in Group A, while Turk Telekom dropped to 2-2. 

Parra, Tomic lead Joventut past Turk Telekom, 76-67

Joventut took control in the first quarter, using 7 assists to open a 21-10 lead. It increased the margin to 17 points with a 12-0 run in the second quarter. Turk Telekom did not go away in the second half, but never got closer than 5 points. Joel Parra led Joventut with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Pau Ribas scored 12, Ante Tomic collected 11 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, and Vladimir Brodziansky also scored 11. Aaron Harrison and JaJuan Johnson scored 17 apiece for Turk Telekom, and Aubrey Dawkins scored 10 in a losing effort.

Turk Telekom shows grit with comeback 

The visitors cut the deficit to single digits in the fourth quarter and when down 72-64 in the final 3 minutes of the game, Turk Telekom missed a fastbreak opportunity and a pair of three-pointers that could have turned the finish into a drama. 

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

Post-Game Quotes: Joventut 76-67 Turk Telekom


### Carles Duran, Joventut Badalona
"I am happy for the victory because when you play against Turk Telekom, every time it's difficult. I think we played well in the third quarter, but I think we played very bad in the fourth quarter. I don't know why, but we played with turnovers, did other different things bad. The most important is a good victory for the team. It is very important every time you win, and today is a good victory."



### Burak Goren, Turk Telekom Ankara
"Congratulations to Joventut. They are a very good team on the offensive side and defensively they are really organized. First half, we had some problems under pressure. We did not solve problems, we did not organize well under pressure. Second half, on offense, we played very well and we fought all the way. We had some shots when they were up by 6 or 7 points, if we had made them, the result could have changed. It is an away game for us against a very difficult team, so thanks to my players. We fought all the way through. We lost. Next week, we are going to win on our home court."



### Ante Tomic, Joventut Badalona
"We feel good after every victory. Not so tired like we feel after a loss. After every victory youneed too be happy, you have to be satisfied because it is very difficult to win these days, especially a win with a lot of points. We only played four games, there is still a longways to go. We have to keep our concentration before every game, stay focused and play our game."


Post-Game Quotes: Cedevita 96-101 Ulm


### Jaka Lakovic, ratiopharm Ulm
“It's a big win against a big team. Here in Ljubljana a lot of teams will have a hard time because simply they are a very good team. I thought we should have closed the game in the first overtime, but we hung on, we managed to stay focused and the praise goes to the players who made a great effort and finished the game well.”



### Jurica Golemac, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
"Congratulations to Ulm for the win. We didn't start the game the way we prepared ourselves. We were bad, especially in the opening 5 minutes of the game, and afterward, it was tough to turn the game upside-down. Regarding the second half, I cannot blame them for anything, since they gave all they have. In the end, we lacked energy and luck."



### Semaj Christon, ratiopharm Ulm
“It was a great game from both teams. We ended up coming out with a victory, we fought hard, we stuck together and figured out how to win the game. Two overtimes, so I know we are both tired and both teams need to get some rest. At the end of the day, we're very excited about the win.”



### Edo Muric, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
"There’s a long game behind us. In the first half, only they owned the court and in the second half we have managed to turn it around. We demonstrated how we should be playing, but we must do that for the entire 40 minutes. We were close to winning and in the end, one situation was decisive. We have seen how we should be playing. That’s what we need to do in every game. I hope that this game will be a great lesson for us. We should have won that, but we must go on and we hope for the best."


Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana v ratiopharm Ulm (2021-11-10T19:00:00.000Z)

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana made just 15 of 42 two-point shots and the 35.7% success rate was the second-lowest in the history of the club. Its only worse shooting night came last season when the team was 8 of 29 (27.6%) in a game it won against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica. 

By the numbers: Cedevita hounded by shooting struggles

Cedevita almost overcame that poor shooting this time too thanks to a club-record 16 three-pointers, but it also left too many points at the foul line. The hosts shot 18 for 27 on free throws. Ulm won the rebounding battle 46-53 and in doing so set a club record for rebounds in a game. Its previous best was 52 in an overtime win at Spirou Charleroi in October 2015. 

Post-Game Quotes: Virtus 96-97 Valencia


### Joan Penarroya, Valencia Basket
“It was an important victory for us. We started very soft on defense and offense. We had turnovers and Virtus is a great team when they run. Our defense was soft. Virtus scored on all their first shots, easy shots. They scored 57 points in the first half. Our defense in the first half was very bad. But my team showed it has character. The last two months have been very difficult months for us - with injured players and a lot of other things. We had confidence that if we played defense and played together it would be possible to win the game. The second half was good for us. They only scored 39 points, we played good defense, we rebounded well, we played physically on offense and defense. And it’s a good victory for us.”



### Sergio Scariolo, Virtus Segafredo Bologna
“I think it was an interesting and really fun-to-watch basketball game. Definitely, the two teams shared controlling the two halves. We played a great first half but we could not sustain that efficiency. They scored a lot in the second half. Overall, they scored 33 points on fastbreaks and they had 15 offensive rebounds. That was without a doubt the key to our loss. We have to congratulate Valencia. They played with great experience and great composure. Their veteran players like Van Rossom and Prepelic always made the right choice. And other guys stepped up too. You have to give them credit. On our side, I think we did a lot of good things, but we also did some bad things, especially from the defensive standpoint. We have to show more maturity, more toughness when games go down, when things get more complicated. We have to find the way to stay solid, to be a little bit more organized and disciplined and to play better defense in those minutes where the offense is not scoring.”



### Klemen Prepelic, Valencia Basket
“Obviously a bad start for us. The first 15 minutes we were embarrassing ourselves. As coach said before the game, these are the games you want to play. We want to be in the finals this year, try to get another title for this big club. And Virtus is another great team with great players who can make great shots in the end. We knew that. But we showed character. We were down 21 points and this is the heart of this team. We never give up and today we earned the reward.”


### Jasiel Rivero, Valencia Basket
"The comeback was unbelievable. We didn't start the game motivated in the first half and I think that was our mistake, we didn't play with the intensity that we always have to have a more balanced game. I believe that in the second half we came out with a much bigger effort, with a lot more energy, and this is what gave us the comeback in this game."



Virtus Segafredo Bologna v Valencia Basket (2021-11-10T19:30:00.000Z)

Valencia Basket fought back from a 21-point deficit to defeat Virtus Segafredo Bologna 96-97 on the road in a game that lived up to its billing with two of the 7DAYS EuroCup's main favorites going head-to-head. Virtus raced ahead 46-25 midway through the second quarter before Valencia started to chip away back into the Group B battle. 

Valencia erases 21-point deficit to down Virtus on road, 96-97

The guests finally managed to get ahead with under 3 minutes left and then converted all 6 free throws in the final 35 seconds to secure their first road win of the season for a 2-2 mark. Klemen Prepelic scored 20 points - including a three-pointer in the final minute - to pace Valencia, while Sam Van Rossom scored 15 points, Martin Hermannsson and Jasiel Rivero both had 11 and Bojan Dubljevic finished with 10 points. Virtus dropped to 2-2 in wasting a 30-point fireworks show by Kyle Weems. Milos Teodosic added 18 points and 9 assists and Marco Belinelli chipped in 10 points in the loss. 

Weems started the game with a steal and layup-and-one for the hosts. Van Rossom scored the guests’ first basket, but Virtus was unimpressed with Teodosic and Amar Alibegovic draining three-pointers for a 9-2 lead. Valencia was able to keep up with Weems and Virtus thanks to triples from Van Rossom and Hermannsson to make it 17-12. Teodosic and Alibegovic both hit from deep again as the advantage grew to 25-14. The guests were able to get to the foul line with 7 free throws to cut the margin to 29-23. Virtus followed with the final 4 points of a high-scoring first quarter and led 33-23. 

Belinelli’s jumper started the second quarter with Xabi Lopez-Arostegui hitting at the other end. Virtus got hot from long range with Belinelli, Isaia Cordinier and Weems all draining three-pointers as the cushion swelled to 46-25. Valencia responded with a 0-8 run with Prepelic converting a four-point play to pull within 46-33. Virtus answered with 5 straight points, but Valencia had gained some rhythm and Van Rossom and Millan Jimenez both hit three-pointers in a 3-10 run to close the deficit to 54-43. It was 57-45 at the break. 

Valencia built on the momentum from the end of the first half with the first 7 points of the third quarter, including a three by Van Rossom. Weems got rolling again with a jumper and three-pointer to help Virtus keep Valencia at an arm’s length. Teodosic and Alessandro Pajola both hit from deep as the cushion was up to 71-59. Valencia fought back thanks to the long ball with Prepelic, Hermannsson and Louis Labeyrie all draining triples and the visitors were within 75-70. The score was 79-72 after 30 minutes.

Valencia continued its fight in the fourth quarter, Rivero working hard on the offensive glass and Labeyrie scoring inside to trim it to 79-76. Virtus did not score in the first 3 minutes of the final frame until Kevin Hervey’s three-pointer. Valencia would not be stopped and Lopez-Arostegui converted an and-one and the advantage was down to 84-83 with under 4 minutes to play. The guests finally nosed ahead with a three-pointer from Dubjlevic to make it 86-87. Teodosic answered right back for Virtus and after Dubljevic tied it with a free throw, Virtus maestro Teodosic banked in a jumper off the glass for a 90-88 lead with 56 seconds remaining. Valencia was not ready to concede and Prepelic splashed a three-pointer to go back ahead 90-91. After Weems missed a triple, Lopez-Arostegui converted 2 foul shots with 35 seconds remaining for a 90-93 advantage. Rivero and Van Rossom both hit free throws in the final 35 seconds to fend off triples from Belinelli and Weems to get the win. 

When Valencia was down by 21 points midway through the second quarter, the main thing the team was looking for was a spark. And Klemen Prepelic provided that, hitting a four-point play after having just scored to get the deficit down to 15 points. 

Pivotal performer: Prepelic sparks Valencia comeback

He ended up scoring 20 points including 3 three-pointers. The veteran also dished out 4 assists and grabbed 2 steals. On top of that came 5 fouls drawn for an index rating of 17.

Kyle Weems was in rare form in this big encounter, scoring a game-high 30 points - 5 more than his combined total from the first three games of the season. And he was extremely efficient: hitting 12 of 16 shots including 3 of 5 from long range as well as 3 of 5 free throws. 

Weems not enough for Virtus

He added 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 steal for a PIR of 27. Neither the points nor PIR totals were career bests for Weems though as he poured in 35 points and had a 32 index rating for Strasbourg against Nizhny Novgorod in March 2016.