Aris BC, led by coach Giannis Kastritis, beat JL Bourg-en-Bresse last time out and is now hoping to build some momentum in this year's EuroCup.

Coach Kastritis trusts in fighting spirit to show the way forward for Aris Thessaloniki

There are some moments or games even early during a season that may eventually define a team’s path. Like [the stunning win](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/news/aris-stuns-bourg-88-91-on-the-road/) of [Aris Midea Thessaloniki](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/teams/aris-midea-thessaloniki/ari/?season=2024-25) at 2024 BKT EuroCup finalist Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse.

While there’s still a long road ahead in the season, Aris coach Giannis Kastritis believes that this victory can have significant, positive long-term impact on the Greek side as it looks to mount a deep run in the EuroCup.

“Such an important win gives us a lot also when it comes to having confidence,” Kastritis tells Eurohoops. “Trusting in your capabilities for what comes next in the long, difficult season that we have ahead of us. We expect some ups and downs until we stabilize ourselves at a steadily high level of performance.

“These types of wins help you buy some time. \[They\] build confidence, boost your psychology to improve and progress.”

Read more [HERE](https://www.eurohoops.net/en/trademarks/1738843/coach-kastritis-trusts-in-fighting-spirit-to-show-the-way-forward-for-aris-thessaloniki/).

The Greek side, fresh off a win at Bourg, is feeling confident under its Greek play-caller

Dolomiti Energia Trento deserves a lot of respect for [its 87-85 home victory over Joventut Badalona](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/news/trento-shocks-joventut-with-fourth-quarter-rally/). The surprising win came after Trento first fought back into the game from 16 points down but then rallied from 13 points behind to pull it out thanks to some impressive energy boosted by the home fans. 

The Il T Quotidiano Arena witnessed an unexpected comeback and one that exhibited how impactful the fans in Trento can be.

When asked about turning the game around despite trailing by 13 points with under 6 minutes to go, Trento star [Anthony Lamb](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/anthony-lamb/013272/) said: “It was really the fans. They carried us all the way through. Unbelievable energy today, especially the fourth quarter. They helped us come back and win that game. It was all them.”

Lamb scored a team-high 22 points, including 17 of them in the second half. [Jordan Ford](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/jordan-ford/013270/) was limited in the first half as well but ended with 14 points. But perhaps the game-changer was [Andrea Pecchia](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/andrea-pecchia/005438/). The 26-year-old poured in a career-high 11 points to go with 3 rebounds and 2 steals. 

And it was the guard’s effort that sparked the Trento comeback.

Paolo Galbiati’s side trailed by 16 points in the second quarter and pulled to within two points twice in the third period. After the second time, Joventut surged ahead with a 2-13 run to lead 62-75. Trento however did not give up. Lamb responded with two scores, and Pecchia drove coast to coast for a dashing layup and added two more free throws to make it 73-75.

Trento had just seen Joventut open some breathing room again at 75-81 when Pecchia got tied up with [Ante Tomic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/ante-tomic/002507/), who was called for an unsportsmanlike foul with under 2 minutes to go. 

Pecchia split his two free throws before Lamb scored on the ensuing possession. Lamb the next time down drained a triple and it was a one-point game 81-82.

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After a Joventut timeout, the usually sure-handed veteran Tomic threw a pass to a surprised [Adam Hanga](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/adam-hanga/005099/), which Pecchia snatched and put in for Trento’s first lead. 

The next possession, Tomic again made a mistake, committing an offensive foul far from the basket. Joventut’s head coach Dani Miret could not believe it and was hit with a technical. 

The final 45 seconds turned into a free throw shooting game with Lamb converting the technical foul as well as two other free throws and Ford split two chances from the charity stripe. [Devon Dotson](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/devon-durrell-dotson/013285/) could only make one of two for Joventut and Tomic knocked down two foul shots and the game came down to [Keye van der Vuurst](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/keye-van-der-vuurst/013286/) with a three-pointer at the buzzer which went off target. 

“We believed. We were down 13 but we had a great reaction. Anthony Lamb stepped up very well. I am super happy for Pecchia, who played an amazing game with a crazy effort. It was a good win because we defended our home court,” the Trento coach said afterwards. 

Trento is right there in the fight for the playoffs in Group A with a 3-4 record. And the home crowd is definitely providing a major boost as the club has collected a 3-1 record at home. And it showed how much it can help the team rally from big deficits.

More Trento News

The Italian side won in a dramatic finale

How Trento rallied from 13 points down in final 6 minutes to surprise Joventut

Dolomiti Energia Trento v Joventut Badalona (2024-11-05T19:00:00.000Z)

Dolimiti Energia Trento did an excellent job taking care of the ball and that allowed the defense to hold its own and eventually pull off a surprising come-from-behind victory over Joventut Badalona.

Trento took care of the ball to get comeback win

[Dolimiti Energia Trento](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/teams/dolomiti-energia-trento/roster/trn/) did an excellent job taking care of the ball and that allowed the defense to hold its own and eventually pull off a surprising come-from-behind victory over [Joventut Badalona](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/teams/joventut-badalona/roster/jov/?season=2024-25).

Trento committed only 8 turnovers in registering an [87-85 home win](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/news/trento-shocks-joventut-with-fourth-quarter-rally/) to move to 3-4 in Group A, including a 3-1 record at home. 

“A tough win. We don’t have any club in Italy like Badalona who can play with these towers and the way they tried to limit our transitions. Spending fouls, bringing big men inside to avoid layups and shots at the rim,” Trento coach Paolo Galbiati said referring to the Joventut big man duo of [Ante Tomic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/ante-tomic/002507/) and [Artem Pustovyi](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/ante-tomic/002507/). 

Game Videos

“It’s a nice win but we have to understand that we have to play with that kind of effort every single time. And we have to play our style no matter what because in the first quarter, we slowed down too much and didn’t find a way.”

Galbiati also made special mention of his team’s ball-handling, saying: “We had just 8 turnovers which for us is kind of like a miracle.”

Trento’s offense came into the game ranked 16th in turnovers at 16.3 per game. That failure to maintain possessions is a big reason the Italian side also ranked 16th in scoring at 76.7 points a contest - which Galbiati’s men passed by more than 10 points. 

It must be said that Joventut’s defense ranked last in the league in turnovers forced at just 9.8 per game. Trento also took advantage of Joventut’s poor foul shooting, which reared its head in this one. The Spanish side converted only 11 of 19 free throws (57.9%). That is actually quite a bit worse than its average of 69.5% coming into the game - which ranked second to worst in the league.

Lamb was unstoppable for Trento in the second half

Another major reason Trento pulled out the win was the improved play of [Anthony Lamb ](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/anthony-lamb/013272/)and [Jordan Ford](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/jordan-ford/013270/) in the second half. Lamb was limited to 5 points in the first 20 minutes while Ford had just 4 points. 

Lamb finished the game with 22 points and Ford tallied 14 points. 

“I’m so thankful to Trento for this opportunity. I am very elated right now and have a lot of emotions pumping. But everybody showed us a lot of love down the stretch and gave us the energy to pull it out,” said Lamb. 

Game News

The hosts erased a 16-point deficit to stun Joventut 

Johnathan Motley’s absence was ruthlessly exploited by a Bahcesehir team which used superb efficiency close to the basket to claim a vital 90-82 victory and retain first place in the group.

Tai Odiase exploited Motley absence in big Bahcesehir win

The headline news ahead of the Group A crunch clash between pace-setting [Bahcesehir College Istanbul](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/teams/bahcesehir-college-istanbul/roster/bah/?season=2024-25) and [Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/teams/hapoel-shlomo-tel-aviv/roster/hta/?season=2024-25) was the absence of the Israeli team’s star center [Johnathan Motley](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/johnathan-motley/011157/).

The big man had continued his strong start to the season with a spectacular 30 points to help Hapoel overcome [Buducnost VOLI Podgorica](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/teams/buducnost-voli-podgorica/roster/bud/?season=2024-25) [in Round 6](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/news/hapoel-shows-no-mercy-to-beat-buducnost-92-72/), but that was quickly followed by intense speculation about a supposed big-money offer to return to the [Turkish Airlines EuroLeague](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/) with [Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/euroleague/teams/crvena-zvezda-meridianbet-belgrade/roster/red/?season=2024-25).

Ironically, Hapoel’s next game was in the Serbian capital, with Tuesday’s meeting with Bahcesehir relocated away from Istanbul. And it was perhaps therefore inevitable that Motley did not appear for action, leaving a massive hole in the paint and a question mark over how Hapoel could fill it.

In the end, the loss was too big for Hapoel to overcome as Motley’s absence was ruthlessly exploited by a Bahcesehir team which used superb efficiency close to the basket to claim a vital [90-82 victory](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/news/bahcesehir-stays-atop-group-a-by-downing-hapoel-90-82/) and retain first place in the group.

Tai Odiase dominated against Hapoel

[Tai Odiase ](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/tai-odiase/011823/)must have been particularly happy to see Motley’s name absent from the stats sheet and the Bahcesehir big man had a great night as he scored 19 points on 7-of-8 two-point shooting. That haul included a series of super slams, with the best saved for the last as he threw it down with brutality inside the final 90 seconds to cap the win.

Odiase wasn’t the only one who enjoyed himself in the paint, with [Tyler Cavanaugh](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/tyler-cavanaugh/009601/) also excelling as he recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, without a miss from the field. [Sehmus Hazer](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/sehmus-hazer/011201/) and [Mateusz Ponitka](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/mateusz-ponitka/004172/) were also very effective inside the arc, both converting 4 of their 5 two-point attempts in their respective totals of 23 and 14 points.

So did Hapoel miss the presence of Motley close to the basket? Just a bit, and it didn’t help matters that his replacement in the starting five, [Bruno Caboclo](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/bruno-caboclo/012096/), got himself into early foul trouble before eventually finishing strong to record his own double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.

But that wasn’t enough to quell Bahcesehir’s inside dominance, reflected in the fact that the Turkish team converted an extremely impressive 23 of its 31 two-point attempts (74.2%), and won the rebounding battle 33-31.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ht" dir="ltr">𝑩𝑬𝑳𝑮𝑹𝑨𝑫 𝑯𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑹𝑨𝑺𝑰 🤩<br><br>❤️💙<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyHighTogether?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyHighTogether</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EuroCup</a> <a href="https://t.co/8sIkO7shWK">pic.twitter.com/8sIkO7shWK</a></p>&mdash; Bahçeşehir Koleji Spor Kulübü (@BKBasketbol) <a href="https://twitter.com/BKBasketbol/status/1853918904831111172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This also marked a major shift in strategy, because Bahcesehir came into the game as the most accurate three-point shooting team in the BKT EuroCup, knocking down 41.4% of its attempts from beyond the perimeter.

That wasn’t the case on Tuesday night, with Dejan Radonjic’s men converting just 1 of their first 10 three-point attempts. Those numbers later improved, mostly thanks to Hazer making 3 of his 5 long-range efforts, but the final tally of 8 makes on 23 tries (34.8%) was still well below the season average.

It didn’t matter, though, because the one-two punch of Odiase’s scoring and Cavanaugh’s rebounding was more than enough to secure a victory that further underlines Bahcesehir’s title credentials.

Bahcesehir College Istanbul v Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv (2024-11-05T19:00:00.000Z)

Dolomiti Energia Trento rallied from 13 points down in the final 6 minutes to shock Joventut Badalona 87-85 at home on Tuesday. 

Trento shocks Joventut with fourth-quarter rally 

Dolomiti Energia Trento rallied from 13 points down in the final 6 minutes to shock Joventut Badalona 87-85 at home on Tuesday. Trento trailed by 16 points midway through the second quarter before getting close only to fall back behind by double figures. The hosts took advantage of Joventut collapsing in the closing minutes to improve to 3-4 this season, including a 3-1 mark at home.

Anthony Lamb scored 22 points, Jordan Ford had 14 points, Eigirdas Zukauskas 12 and Andrea Pecchia chipped in 11 points in the win. Joventut crashed to its fourth straight loss in Group A play for a 2-5 record - and just two wins in its last 10 regular season games dating back to last season. Ante Tomic collected a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds but committed 2 turnovers and an unsportsmanlike foul in the final 2 minutes. Devon Dotson had 14 points and Kassius Robertson and Adam Hanga both scored 12 points in the loss. 

Joventut came out firing on all cylinders with a 2-13 lead thanks to 4 points from Tomic and Yannick Kraag and a Hanga triple. Dotson scored back-to-back baskets and Pep Busquets drained a triple and the guests’ lead grew to 8-23. Zukauskas had 5 points at the other end and Trento trailed 17-30 after 10 minutes.

Trento scored the first 4 points of the second quarter to trim the gap to nine points. Joventut knocked down 3 triples and the cushion grew to 25-41. The hosts responded in strong fashion with an 18-5 run to finish the first half down just 43-46 thanks to 2 more three-pointers from Zukauskas and 5 points from Lamb.

Both teams struggled to execute offensively in the first 5 minutes of the third quarter and Joventut led 47-53. Ford started heating up a bit with four points for Trento but Artem Pustovyi netted up back-to-back scores to keep the visitors ahead 55-62. Ford’s first triple made it 60-62 only to see Joventut lead 60-66 after 30 minutes.

Joventut continued the momentum from the end of the third quarter, especially defensively in holding Trento to 2 points in the first 4 minutes and the visitors were up 62-75. Trento suddenly woke up and scored the next 11 points to bring it within 73-75. Dotson punched back with two baskets in the span of 8 seconds and Joventut had a bit of breathing room again at 73-79.

An unsportsmanlike foul on Tomic resulted in 3 points and then Lamb made a triple and the Joventut lead was just 81-82 with 61 seconds to go. Tomic turned the ball over trying to pass to Hanga with Pecchia snatching the ball and making the layup for Trento’s first lead. Tomic committed an offensive foul on the very next possession after which Joventut coach Daniel Miret was charged with technical and Lamb made the free throw. Dotson missed a chance to tie the game as he split foul shots before Lamb and Tomic swapped made free throws. Ford also split foul shots to make it 87-85 with 10 seconds to go and Keye Van der Vuurst missed the potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer. 

The Italian side improved to 3-4, with the visitors dropping to 2-5

Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul ultimately made light work of its 79-100 win at Trefl Sopot after setting a club record of 32 points in the first quarter, before holding the Polish team to a mere 5 in the fourth to keep its postseason bid going strong.

High-scoring Besiktas fired on all cylinders against hapless Trefl

Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul ultimately made light work of its 79-100 win at Trefl Sopot after setting a club record of 32 points in the first quarter, before holding the Polish team to a mere 5 in the fourth to keep its postseason bid going strong.

Besiktas was lethal from deep in the first half and made 8 of 13 shots from downtown, finishing on 14-of-29 shooting as the Turkish side also sank 21 of 37 from two-point territory and 16 of 17 from the foul line.

The visiting team’s utter dominance in all departments was also illustrated by 26 assists and 11 offensive boards, 8 of which came in the second half as Besiktas romped away in the fourth quarter when it held the home team to a mere 5 points.

Alongside four visiting players scoring in double figures, led by Jonah Mathews who poured a game-high 21 points, big man Emanuel Terry stuffed the stat sheet with 8 points and as many rebounds to go with 5 assists.

His contribution underlined a flowing team effort which left Besiktas head Dusan Alimpijevic coach purring with delight: “I am very happy because we kept them down to only 28 points in the second half, when we also improved our desire to go for offensive rebounds,” Alimpijevic said in his post-game comments. “We totally changed our defensive approach while the offense was already there. It was a good game."

In contrast, it was another difficult evening for Sopot’s Croatian head coach Zan Tabak, who faces the formidable task of turning around his team’s fortunes.

“We played against a stronger team but towards the end of the game, we just gave up,” he said. “We now have to try to lift the team in the next few days for the upcoming games.”

In the next round, Besiktas is at home to the competition’s 2023 winner Dreamland Gran Canaria while Trefl entertains Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv in an effort to chalk up its first EuroCup win of the season. 

The Turkish side broke its first-quarter scoring record in the EuroCup and then closed shop in the fourth

Trefl Sopot v Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul (2024-11-05T18:00:00.000Z)

Bahcesehir College Istanbul grabbed a key win by overcoming direct rival Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv 90-82 in a game relocated to Belgrade

Bahcesehir stays atop Group A by downing Hapoel, 90-82

Bahcesehir College Istanbul grabbed a key win by overcoming direct rival Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv 90-82 in a game relocated to Belgrade. The Turkish team stayed atop of Group A at 7-1, while Hapoel dropped to 4-3.

A closely contested first half was followed by Bahcesehir slowly pulling away, establishing a double-digit lead early in the fourth which eventually proved decisive. 

Jaleen Smith came close to a EuroCup record with 15 assists, while Seamus Hazer scored a career-high 23 points. Tai Odiase added 19 and Tyler Cavanaugh had a double-double of 12 points plus 10 rebounds, while Mateusz Ponitka scored 14 and Marko Simonovic netted 13. Patrick Beverley led Hapoel with 18 points and 8 assists, and Marcus Foster scored 15.

Both teams found fluent offense in the opening exchanges, with Bruno Caboclo and Odiase throwing down fierce dunks while Ish Wainright and Cavanaugh traded three-pointers. Beverley’s driving basket got Hapoel in front, 11-13, and Bar Timor protected the lead from long-range. Hazer’s determined layup and Simonovic’s hook shot tied it up, and Simonovic added free throws for a 22-20 lead after 10 minutes.

Ponitka started the second quarter with a brutal dunk before Caboclo’s tip-in ended Hapoel’s three-minute scoring drought. Hazer and Foster scored tough close-range baskets, keeping the hosts ahead at 29-25. Beverley’s triple followed by Wainright’s layup-and-one saw Hapoel move ahead before Axel Bouteille and Beverley both made tough shots. Foster scored 4 points in a row, including a high-flying alley-oop, and Hazer and Beverley traded triples. Tomer Ginat ended the half in style, beating the buzzer for a 38-44 lead.

The second half started with a Beverley triple, but Odiase’s three-point play sparked a big Bahcesehir fightback. Bouteille scored at the rim, Odiase netted again and Hazer was on target from long- and close-range for a 12-2 run and a 52-49 lead. Foster and Bouteille traded triples, and Odiase kept on rolling with another three-point play for a 60-54 advantage. Beverley hit his fourth triple, before Ponitka and Joe Ragland both netted two and three-pointers to make it 68-64 with 10 minutes left.

Another Hazer triple and Simonovic’s dunk pulled Bahcesehir further clear, and Ponitka was also on target from deep for a 76-64 lead. Deep strikes from Ginat and Caboclo gave Hapoel hope, and Ginat’s layup completed a 0-8 run for a 76-72 score. But Ponitka scored twice to reassert Bahcesehir, and close-range baskets for Cavanaugh and Odiase secured the win as Hapoel could only score free throws in the closing 5 minutes.

Jaleen Smith and Sehmus Hazer put up the big numbers for the winners

Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul improved to 4-3 in Group A of the BTK EuroCup after blistering shooting from deep helped it to a 79-100 road win over Trefl Sopot in Round 7. 

Besiktas shines from long range to thrash Trefl Sopot

Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul improved to 4-3 in Group A of the BTK EuroCup after blistering shooting from deep helped it to a 79-100 road win over Trefl Sopot in Round 7.

Jonah Mathews led the charge with a game-high 21 points. Yigit Arslan added 19 points while Conor Morgan and Dustin Sleva chipped in with 11 apiece for the visitors, who found an extra gear in the last few minutes to break Sopot down after leading for the lion’s share of the contest.

Trefl, which is still winless as the Polish outfit dropped to 0-7, was paced by Andy van Vleet who had 15 points. Robert McGowens scored 15, Aaron Best amassed 12 and Mikolaj Witllinski netted 11, but the supporting cast was well short of the requirements for the home team to register its first win of the season in the competition.

Trefl made a promising start as the hosts raced into a 6-2 lead, but they nosed ahead for the last time in the game, 17-16, before a 4-16 run by Besiktas turned the tide for good. The visitors were 25-32 ahead at the end of the first quarter.

Although Sopot fought hard to slash the deficit, the Turkish team led 33-45 midway through the second quarter before the home side managed to close the gap to 51-57 at halftime.  

Besiktas thrived from deep as it made 8 of 13 shots from downtown in the opening two quarters and the visiting team carried on in the second half where it left off in the first, with Mathews scoring its first 7 points after the break.

Still, stubborn Sopot kept coming and soon closed in to 72-75 late in the third quarter before a Besiktas blitz lifted the visitors to 74-81 ahead of the final 10 minutes.

The fourth quarter was one-way traffic as Besiktas, which was 78-86 in front midway through the final period, beefed up its defense and raced clear on the back of a 1-14 streak in the last few minutes to celebrate an emphatic victory over its beleaguered rival.

The visitors shot the lights out and kept their feet on the gas in the fourth quarter

Besiktas shines from long range to thrash Trefl

Bahcesehir and Hapoel Tel Aviv, two of the leading contenders to win the EuroCup, go head to head in Round 7 on Tuesday night.

Bahcesehir hosts Hapoel in high-profile showdown

A big basketball battle is expected in Group A on Tuesday night as Bahcesehir College Istanbul (5-1) takes on Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv (4-2) at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade, Serbia. Entering this contest, Bahcesehir has won its last three games while Hapoel has lost just one of its last five showdowns. 

The two squads have confirmed their status as title contenders so far this season. Bahcesehir is back in the EuroCup after its first experience in the 2020-21 campaign that did not go too well. With experienced players like [Mateusz Ponitka](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/mateusz-ponitka/004172/), [Jaleen Smith](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/jaleen-smith/011192/), [Tyler Cavanaugh](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/tyler-cavanaugh/009601/) and [Axel Bouteille](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/axel-bouteille/003840/), things were meant to be different. 

It is defense, however, which is setting Bahcesehir apart from the other teams in Group A. Coach Dejan Radonjic's team statistically has the best defense in the competition, allowing just 68.8 points per night. That is over 7.0 points better than any other team in the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup; Turk Telekom Ankara ranks second on that list, allowing just 76.0 points per game. 

Bahcesehir has been protecting its paint at an elite level, allowing opponents to hit just a league-low 48.5% of its two-point shots, and teams are not doing much better from downtown (32.1% 3FG). Despite so many misses, Bahcesehir only allows 10.3 offensive rebounds per night, getting 25.0 defensive boards. Only 29.2% of all rebounds under its rim end up in their rivals' hands. 

One can think Bahcesehir allows fewer points because of the game pace. Numbers should prove critics wrong, as Coach Radonjic's team ranks fifth in scoring at 85.2 per game. Excellent defense leads to a very efficient offense, as Bahcesehir ranks first overall in three-point shooting (41.4%) and has an excellent 1.50 assist-to-turnover ratio. 

Bahcesehir College Istanbul ranks first overall in three-point shooting (41.4%).

Bahcesehir: effective from beyond the arc

Four of its players are shooting over 45.0% from beyond the arc. [Marko Simonovic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/marko-simonovic/012711/) (57.1% 3FG) ranks seventh overall, then Bouteille (46.4%), Cavanaugh (46.2%) and Ponitka (45.5%) also being deadly from three-point territory. 

No team has scored over 75 points against Bahcesehir this season, but Hapoel is definitely a good candidate to do so given its very talented roster. 

Hapoel averages 84.8 points this season, boosting that number to 90.3 points in its four wins until now. It ranks second in assists (20.2 apg.) with a slightly better assist-to-turnover ratio than its opponent, 1.53. It is also fourth in steals at 8.2 per night, with [Patrick Beverley](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/patrick-beverley/001927/) leading the competition at 2.2 per night. 

Hapoel Tel Aviv Top Steals of the 2024-25 Regular Season

Hapoel's steals make the difference

Boxing out should be an issue for Hapoel as it faces the best offensive rebounding team in the competition. Bahcesehir leads the standings at 12.7 offensive boards per night, way ahead of Hapoel, which ranks 17th at just 9.7 per game. This is partly because Hapoel barely misses shots inside the arc, leading the competition with a 62.6% two-point percentage. 

[Johnathan Motley](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/johnathan-motley/011157/) leads the EuroCup in two-point shots made (6.3 per night) with a really solid percentage (66.7%). With his future and status uncertain, Motley – if available – is set to test his strengths against a top-class defender like [Tai Odiase](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/tai-odiase/011823/). Other players with really high numbers inside the arc are [Marcus Foster](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/marcus-franklee-foster/010386/) (74.1% 2FG), [Joe Ragland](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/joe-ragland/005181/) (68.8%) and [Tomer Ginat](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/tomer-ginat/010550/) (68.6%), giving Hapoel head coach Stefanos Dedas plenty of scoring options everywhere. 

Hapoel has players that have nor performed to their full potential, such as [Bruno Caboclo](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/bruno-caboclo/012096/) (8.0 ppg.), [Ish Wainwright](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/ishmail-carzell-wainright/013284/) (6.5 ppg.) and Ragland (5.7 ppg.), and it only seems a matter of time before all of them step up and make their team an even tougher opponent. There is plenty of room for improvement, and going against the group's leader should be an extra motivation. 

Both teams had impressive performances until now, playing very different basketball brand, and go against each other in this amazing showdown. Expect nothing but a great basketball game on EuroLeague TV from 20:00 CET to find out.

Both teams have started strong in Group A and come into this game in good form