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Game Center: Aris edges closer to playoff berth, Bourg claims top spot in Group B
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Turk Telekom Ankara 64-68 Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse
Bourg clinched a place in the quarterfinals by downing Turk Telekom in the Turkish capital on Wednesday. Bourg improved to 14-3 and clinched first place in Group B later on Wednesday when U-BT Cluj-Napoca beat Dreamlife Gran Canaria. Turk Telekom dropped to 7-10. Bodian Massa led the winners with 13 points and Isiaha Mike added 11. Tyrone Wallace paced Turk Telekom with 16 points.
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 85-92 London Lions
London remained in the running for a top-two spot in Group A after coming back from 10 points down en route to an 85-92 victory at Cedevita. London has won three of its last four games for a 12-5 record. Cedevita dropped to 1-16 on the season, including a winless 0-9 mark at home. Matt Morgan paced London with 26 points and 6 assists and Luke Nelson scored 19 points. Cedevita’s Jaka Blazic scored 28 points in the loss.
ratiopharm Ulm 66-86 Aris Midea Thessaloniki
Aris moved a step closer towards clinching its playoff ticket with a resounding 66-86 road win over Ulm on Wednesday night. Aris improved to 8-9 in Group B, which — combined with Turk Telekom's loss — put the Greek side in a great position to book its spot in the postseason and even give it a chance at hosting a game in the eighthfinals. That is due to winning the head-to-head tiebreaker with Ulm, which, on the other hand, dropped to 9-8 in fourth place.
Dolomiti Energia Trento 78-97 Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
Buducnost came away from Il T Quotidiano Arena with a convincing win over Trento on Wednesday. Buducnost improved to 7-10 and will fight for a playoff spot in Round 18 against Dreamland Gran Canaria at home. Trento slipped to the same record, 7-10, and will need to defeat Aris Midea Thessalonikki on the road to have a chance to qualify for the next stage. Nikola Tanaskovic led six Buducnost scorers in double figures with 19 points plus also had 8 rebounds. Kamar Baldwin paced the hosts with 13 points and 4 dimes.
Dreamland Gran Canaria 111-113 U-BT Cluj-Napoca
Cluj rallied from 19 points down to knock off Gran Canaria in an overtime thriller in the fight for a top-two spot in Group B. Gran Canaria was up 19 points in the first quarter, but the game was even late in the first half. Cluj itself lost an 8-point fourth-quarter lead and ended up winning in overtime on a tip-in by Emanuel Cate with 2 seconds left. Jarell Eddie scored 24 points to lead Cluj with Patrick Richard and Cate both scoring 23 in the win for a 13-4 record and a four-game winning streak. Gran Canaria missed a chance to lock up a top-two finish as it fell to 12-5 despite Nicolas Brussino scoring 30 points.
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys 91-75 Slask Wroclaw
Lietkabelis did its part to keep its season alive by defeating Slask to snap a four-game losing streak in Group B. Lietkabelis improved to 6-11 but will be eliminated if any one of Aris Midea Thessaloniki, Buducnost VOLI Podgorica or Turk Telekom Ankara wins on Wednesday. Deividas Sirvydis paced Lietkabelis with 21 points and Dovis Bickauskis tallied 17 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Slask is guaranteed to finish last in the group and fell to 2-15. Hassani Gravett scored 21 points in the loss.
Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul 72-95 Paris Basketball
Paris guaranteed the best record in the BKT EuroCup Regular Season and thus the top-seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs by defeating Besiktas on the road on Tuesday. Paris improved to 15-1 and has already qualified to the quarterfinals while Besiktas dropped to 9-8. T.J. Shorts paced the winners with 23 points and 6 assists and Collin Malcolm added 15 points. Jonah Mathews led Besiktas with 22 points.
Wolves Vilnius 94-84 Veolia Towers Hamburg
Wolves cruised past Hamburg after overcoming energetic starts by the visitors through the opening three quarters. Jeffery Taylor paced Wolves with 20 points, Tre’Shawn Thomas added 19 and Kristupas Zemaitis chipped in with 10 points to go with 7 assists for the home team, which improved to 7-10 on the season. At the other end, VJ King led Hamburg with a game-high 21 points and Mark Hughes scored 17 for the visitors, who fell to 2-15.
Umana Reyer Venice 108-92 Prometey Slobozhanske
Reyer rallied from 13 points down to defeat Prometey thanks to a massive turnaround in the third quarter. Despite being already eliminated from playoff contention, Reyer took the third quarter 38-14 to improve to 7-10 in Group A. The third-period tally was the most Reyer ever scored in a single quarter and the 108 marked a club record for an entire game. Kyle Wiltjer was Reyer’s leading scorer with 25 points and Rayjon Tucker had 19. Prometey had won three of the last games but lost to fall to 9-8 and missed a chance to jump to fifth place in the group. Ondrej Balvin poured in 15 points and Gian Clavell had 14 points in a losing effort.
Joventut Badalona 85-91 Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv
Hapoel secured at least a top-four finish in Group A with a game to spare and hence home-court advantage in the playoffs by beating Joventut on the road. Will Cummings led a balanced Hapoel effort with 19 points, followed by Xavier Munford who netted 16. At the other end, Andres Feliz paced Joventut with 19 points and Shannon Evans scored 10 for the hosts, who committed 21 turnovers against an aggressive Hapoel defense.