The Montenegrin side’s playoff push was given a boost by securing its sixth win of the season.
Buducnost stuns Group B leader Bourg, 78-74

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica has kept its BKT EuroCup playoff hopes alive by beating Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse, the leader in Group B coming into Round 14, 78-74 at Moraca on Wednesday evening. This triumph improved Buducnost to a 6-9 record, giving it hope entering the final regular-season games of the campaign, while Bourg’s seven-game winning run came to an end as it dropped to 11-3.
McKinley Wright paced Buducnost with 16 points, followed by Yoan Makoundou with 12, Vladimir Mihailovic with 11 and Brandon Paul with 10. For Bourg, Jeremy Morgan and Jequan Lewis had 13 points apiece in defeat.
Andrija Slavkovic got the game off to a perfect start for Buducnost with a floater from the right wing, but he landed badly on his ankle on that play and saw his night come to a premature end. Buducnost boosted its lead to 9-0 before Bourg finally got on the board thanks to Zaccharie Risacher, who drained a three, 9-3, with 7:00 minutes left in the first quarter. That bucket provided a boost for Bourg, which cut the gap to 9-8 on a Maksim Salash layup. But, Bourg led at the end of the opening period, 15-14.
Salash drained a triple with the first basket of the second quarter to give Bourg its first lead of the night, 15-17. Buducnost kept fighting back, but Bourg continued to find ways to nudge itself in front. There was Kevin Kokila’s put-back layup to set a 20-23 score, then an Isiaha Mike triple in transition to set Bourg’s biggest lead, 22-28, before a new game-high advantage – and the joint highest overall – was established when Earl Rowland made a tough three-pointer, 28-37. At the halftime break, Bourg retained its 9-point lead, 30-39.
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When Risacher knocked down a three to set a game-high 11-point lead, 35-46, it seemed hard to imagine Buducnost responding. Yet, that’s just what it did and Mihailovic’s triple cut the gap to just 1 point, 44-47. There was a showtime alley-oop between Mihailovic and Marvin Jones, too, as he made it 46-47 before Paul stepped up from beyond the arc, 49-47. That 12-0 run saw Buducnost get back into the game and, crucially, in front. However, a strong response from Bourg meant that the visitors led 51-54 after 30 minutes.
Fletcher McGee got the fans off their seats by resolving a broken play with a three at the start of the fourth, 54-54, and the hosts then took a 60-54 advantage before Mike got Bourg’s first points of the final frame with a dunk, 60-56. When Makoundou scored a put-back dunk following some questionable defense by Bourg, the scoreboard read 68-60, with Buducnost having outscored the visitors 17-6 to that point in the fourth. Bourg refused to give up, though, and responded through Lewis and Morgan, but it proved to be in vain as Buducnost grabbed a 78-74 win.