Joventut had no answer for the hosts in the final period.
Small lineup led to Prometey’s historic fourth quarter in comeback win
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Ronen Ginzburg did not have many options left as Prometey Slobozhanske found itself with a hefty deficit to Joventut Badalona in the final game of the regular season. The Prometey head coach decided to install a small lineup and it worked to perfection, as the team responded with a historic fourth quarter in a magical comeback en route to a 94-80 win.
Prometey trailed by 13 points after three quarters and Joventut was up 64-76 with more than 8 minutes to go. That caused Ginzburg to go with the quartet of Caleb Agada, Gian Clavell, Issuf Sanon and Ronald March, along with big man Ondrej Balvin, in search of a response.
The quickness and length of the Prometey guards and wings gave the hosts enough scoring ability while also providing problems for Joventut’s offense.
A historic fourth quarter
Prometey reeled off a 20-0 fourth-quarter run to turn the game on its head before taking the fourth quarter 36-9. It set a new club record for the most points in a EuroCup fourth quarter and it evened the team’s mark for most points in a quarter, tying the 36 points from the second quarter of a 105-100 win over Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana on December 27, 2023.
“We went 36-9 in the fourth quarter. I have never seen anything like this in my life,” admitted Prometey’s Illia Sydorov.
“We started playing with a small lineup. It was a gamble because it can go both ways. It worked great. All the respect to the players. Amazing game for us,” said Ginzburg.
Joventut had committed just 6 turnovers in the first 34 minutes of the game, but Prometey forced three turnovers in a stretch of four possessions in its big 20-0 surge. That took Joventut completely out of its offense and Prometey never let go of the game.
That quintet of Prometey players remained in the game almost the entire fourth quarter and ended up carrying the weight offensively as well.
Clavell finished with 24 points, Sanon had 23 points, March added 19 points and Agada collected 14 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Balvin scored just 6 points in the game, but he provided the support on the glass with 12 rebounds.