Gran Canaria triumphed in Thessaloniki, while Besiktas scored a win in Badalona. The other eight games played Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were won by the home teams.
Game Center: Bourg protects home court to close Round 1
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Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse 90-74 Slask Wroclaw
Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse turned back visiting Slask Wroclaw to win their Group B opening game by 90-74 on Thursday. Slask held the lead until the final minute of the first quarter and tied again near halftime, but after that it was all Bourg. Hugo Benitez led the winners with 19 points and 5 assists, including a personal 9-0 run that kept Bourg in the game early. Jeremy Morgan added 14 points, Zaccharie Risacher 13 and Bryce Bown 12 for Bourg. Slask got 19 points and 13 rebounds from Dusan Miletic. Jakub Niziol added 13 points and Saulius Kulvietis 11.
U-BT Cluj-Napoca 80-71 Turk Telekom Ankara
Cluj opened the season in style by downing last season's finalists Turk Telekom 80-71 at BT-Arena. Bryce Jones and Karel Guzman led the winners with 14 points apiece. Tyrone Wallace paced Turk Telekom with 18 points. Cluj opened the game on a 12-0 run, led 28-14 at the end of the first quarter and 50-26 at halftime. Wallace rescued Turk Telekom after halftime with 10 points in a 0-18 run that brought his team within 53-49. After the deficit was trimmed to 2, Jarell Eddie and Jones sank back-to-back triples, as Cluj regained a double-digit lead and held on the rest of the way.
Prometey Slobozhanske 97-77 Veolia Hamburg Towers
Prometey never trailed in starting the season with an impressive victory over Hamburg at Arena Riga in the Latvian capital. The Ukrainian club was hot from the start and scored 35 first-quarter points. Marcus Keene starred for the winners with 19 points and 6 assists. Eleven different Prometey players scored. Al Durham led the Hamburg attack with 15 points.
Aris Midea Thessaloniki 66-82 Dreamland Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria opened the defense of its EuroCup title with a road victory at Aris. AJ Slaughter poured in 21 points, including 4 three-pointers, and Nicolas Brussino added 16 points in the Group B game. Aris, which has returned to the EuroCup for the first time after seven seasons away, was led by Roberto Galliant’s 22 points. The game was tied late in the third quarter, but the fourth was all Slaughter and Gran Canaria.
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 76-65 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys
Buducnost enjoyed a hard-fought victory over Lietkabelis at Moaraca on Wednesday night. The hosts trailed 35-49 early in the third period, but punished their opponent with a 18-1 run in less than 7 minutes to get back into the game. An offensive exhibition by Jacorey Williams down the stretch made the difference for Buducnost. Williams and McKinley Wright scored 13 points each to led Budcnost. Gabrielius Maldunas paced the visitors with 16 points and 8 rebounds.
Joventut Badalona 62-63 Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul
Besiktas stunned Joventut on Leyton Hammonds's game-winning basket with 2.9 seconds remaining in an entertaining duel at Palau Olimpic De Badalona. Besiktas lost its star, Derek Needham, to a broken nose in the second quarter. Yigit Arslan led Besiktas with 13 points and 8 rebounds and Berkan Durmaz recorded a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds,. Andrew Andrews paced Joventut with 10 points.
London Lions 76-69 Umana Reyer Venice
London rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat Reyer in the teams' season opener. Donte Grantham led the winners with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Amedeo Tessitori was Reyer's top scorer with 16 points. Tessitori had 11 first-quarter points, getting help from Marco Spissu and Jordan Parks to give Reyer a 17-25 lead after 10 minutes. Grantham rescued London and Tarik Phillip gave his team a 30-28 lead. Spissu's buzzer-beating triple fixed the halftime score at 38-41. Reyer boosted its margin to 40-51 soon after the break. Grantham and Josh Sharma took over to tie the game again, 56-56, early in the fourth quarter. Grantham completed the hosts' comeback, 63-61, then Gabe Olaseni and Morgan made sure their team registered its first win of the season.
Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv 100-73 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv started its 2023-24 BKT EuroCup campaign on the right foot by dominating Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 100-73 in front of a packed-out crowd at Shlomo Group Arena. After boasting the joint second-best home record in last year's regular season, Hapoel seems set to be a big threat on its home court once again.
ratiopharm Ulm 80-70 Dolomiti Energia Trento
German League champion ratiopharm Ulm ground out an 80-70 home victory against Dolomiti Energia Trento to get its BKT EuroCup Group B campaign off to a winning start, thanks to superb offensive rebounding coupled with a flurry of turnovers from the visitors.
Paris Basketball 105-78 Wolves Vilnius
Paris Basketball hit the ground running in the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup season by grabbing a 105-78 victory over Wolves Vilnius at Halle Georges Carpentier on Tuesday night. The hosts recorded their first win of the season, while Wolves debuted in the competition with a loss on the road. Paris looked dominant throughout the duel, comfortably breaking the 100-point barrier in the fourth quarter.