As the penultimate round of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season came to a close, three more playoffs-bound teams - Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv, Turk Telekom Ankara and Promitheas Patras - guaranteed themselves home-court advantage in the first postseason round, joining Gran Canaria, Joventut Badalona and Prometey Slobozhanske.
Game Center: Three Wednesday winners join eighthfinals hosts
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7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys 88-85 Frutti Extra Bursaspor
Lietkabelis outlasted Bursaspor thanks to Jamel Morris's game-winning three in the final seconds on Wednesday at Cido Arena. The hosts won their sixth consecutive game to improve to 10-7 in Group A. Morris led the way with 21 points and 7 assists. Bursaspor led by as many as 10 points early in the third quarter before Morris rallied the hosts. Derek Needham paced the Bursaspor attack with 21 points and 7 assists. The loss dropped Bursaspor’s record to 7-10.
Promitheas Patras 84-81 Paris Basketball
Promitheas earned home-court advantage for the eighthfinals after downing Paris at Dimitris Tofalos Arena. Promitheas improved to 11-6 and secured a top-four finish in Group B, while Paris dropped to 10-7 and will finish fifth. Anthony Cowan paced the winners with a club record and a EuroCup season-high 38 points; he made 6 of 8 three-point shots, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 4.3 seconds left. Cowan added 10 free throws without a miss. Tyrone Wallace led Paris with 22 points.
U-BT Cluj-Napoca 87-96 Prometey Slobozhanske
Prometey extended its winning streak to 10 games with the victory over Cluj at BT-Arena. The visitors led for the majority of the game, but Cluj bounced back and even grabbed a narrow lead in the last quarter, only for Prometey to respond with a 10-0 run that helped it secure the win. The Group A leaders improved to 13-4 and the already-eliminated Cluj dropped to 5-12. Caleb Agada led the winning side with 21 points. Emanuel Cate scored 17 points for Cluj.
Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse 78-85 ratiopharm Ulm
Ulm pulled out a valuable win from the Ekinox when it defeated Bourg. The visitors set the basis for the victory in the second quarter when they outscored their opponents 1-19 in the last 7 minutes before halftime. Ulm then resisted all Bourg comeback attempts after the break. Ulm improved to 10-7 and will try to secure the home-court advantage for the next stage next week, while Bourg slipped to 8-9 with its sixth loss in a row. Karim Jallow and Bruno Caboclo paced the winners with 16 points apiece James Palmer led Bourg with 22 points and 7 rebounds.
Slask Wroclaw 76-87 Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv
Hapoel secured home-court advantage for the eighthfinals and remained in contention for second place in Group B after Jordan McRae poured 17 points and Xavier Munford scored 14 to go with 6 assists in a smooth 76-87 win at Slask Wroclaw. Hapoel improved to 12-5 ahead of its final regular season game at home against Promitheas Patras (11-6), with Turk Telekom also on 12-5 after an 84-89 win at London Lions. Slask remained rooted to the bottom of the group at 1-16. Jeremiah Martin stood out for Slask with a game-high 21 points.
Umana Reyer Venice 74-80 Joventut Badalona
Joventut locked up a top-two finish in Group A as it fought past Reyer on the road. Joventut had an answer for each push by Reyer for its fourth straight win and sixth in the last seven games for a 12-5 record. Henry Ellenson led the way with 18 points and Ante Tomic scored 16. Reyer lost its first game under new head coach Neven Spahija, snapping a two-game winning streak in falling to 9-8. Mitchell Watt tallied 20 points and 8 rebounds for Reyer, which suffered a setback in its hopes of hosting a home game in the eighthfinals.
London Lions 84-89 Turk Telekom Ankara
Turk Telekom survived a tough test by downing London at Copperbox Arena in the British capital. Turk Telekom improved to 12-5, securing home court advantage in the eighthfinals and remained in the race to finish second in Group B. London dropped to 7-10 and is locked into seventh place already, set to face either Prometey Slobozhanske or Joventut Badalona in the EuroCup Eighthfinals. Axel Bouteille paced the winners with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Sam Dekker led London with 25 points, but left the game with an ankle injury in the final seconds.
Veolia Towers Hamburg 89-87 Dolomiti Energia Trento
Hamburg sealed its qualification to the eighthfinals after grabbing an 89-87 victory over Trento at Edel-Optics.De Arena. Hamburg improved to 6-11, while Trento was eliminated, as it dropped to 3-14. Anthony Polite led Hamburg with a season-high 27 points, while Yoeli Childs added 18 and downed 20 rebounds to tie the all-time EuroCup record with a whopping 11 offensive boards. Matteo Spagnolo had 21 points in defeat.
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 69-94 Gran Canaria
Gran Canariadominated Buducnost 69-94, building a 20-plus-point advantage before halftime that the home team was never close to threatening. Gran Canaria improved to 14-3 and secured first place in Group B, and could add the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs if Prometey Slobozhanske loses on Wednesday. Buducnost, on the other hand, slipped to 9-8 and will finish in sixth place in Group B. Miquel Salvo and John Shurna led five Gran Canaria scorers in double figures with 16 points apiece. Erick Green paced Buducnost with 25 points.
Germani Brescia 84-82 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
Brescia (7-9) will try to put an end to a two-game slide when it hosts Cedevita (3-13), which has already been eliminated from postseason contention. The hosts enter the week in seventh place, but only two wins behind the pack of teams tied for third and could conceivably still finish among the top four if it wins out. Amedeo Della Valle scored 19 to lead Brescia to an 80-83 victory in the Slovenian capital when they met in December.