

Paris Basketball has made it to the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals! Paris stayed alive in the competition by downing 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys 97-98 on the road in a thriller at Cido Arena on Wednesday. Paris became the fifth French League team to reach the EuroCup Quarterfinals, after LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne, AS Monaco, Strasbourg and Metropolitans 92. Lietkabelis lost in the eighthfinals for the second consecutive campaign, finishing the 2022-23 EuroCup season with a 10-9 record.
Juhann Begarin led the winners with 22 points. Tyrone Wallace posted a double-double of 19 and 10 assists. Aamir Sims contributed 16 points, including 5-for-6 free-throw shooting in the final 15 seconds. Gauthier Denis added 11 points while Ismael Kamagate had 10 and 9 rebounds for Paris. Jamel Morris led Lietkabelis with 23 points. Gyorgy Goloman added 22 and 7 rebounds, while Kristian Kullamae had 20 points, Zeljko Sakic 11 and Vytenis Lipkevicius 10.
Kullamae downed a couple of jumpers in a 6-0 run that gave Lietkabelis an early 8-4 lead. Begarin single-handedly restored an 8-10 Paris lead. Morris, Kullamae and Lipkevicius each struck from downtown in a 14-0 run that made it a double-digit game, 22-10. Kamagate and Simms brought the guests within 24-19 after 10 minutes. Nikola Popovic stepped up early in the second quarter, getting help from Sakic and Morris to restore a 33-23 Lietkabelis margin. Denis and Amar Gegic fueled a 0-9 Paris run highlighted by Kamagate's put-back slam. Jeremy Evans's three-point play completed Paris's comeback, 38-39. Axel Toupane and Begarin kept the guests ahead, 45-46, at halftime.
Morris hit a triple right after the break and Lipkevicius restored a 50-46 Lietkabelis lead. Begarin kept pacing Paris and Simms's dunk gave the visitors a 52-55 edge. Goloman followed a dunk with a three-pointer but Simms and an unstoppable Begarin kept Paris ahead, 57-61. Kullamae, Goloman and Morris each struck from beyond the arc to put the hosts back in charge, 68-63. Gegic and Evans kept Paris within 74-71 after 30 minutes.
Simms gave Paris a 74-75 edge with 8 minutes left. Kullamae rescued Lietkabelis with a driving layup and back-to-back triples. Denis answered from downtown for an 84-85 Paris lead with over 4 minutes left. Wallace scored in penetration, Sakic and Denis traded three-pointers and Goloman's jump hook kept the hosts within 89-90. Wallace answered from downtown for a 89-93 score with 43.2 seconds remaining. Simms hit 5 of 6 free throws in crunch time to seal the outcome as Sakic's buzzer-beating circus shot from midcourt was too little, too late for the hosts.