Round 13 action, the last of 2023 in the BKT EuroCup, saw two teams reach the playoffs: Bourg by virtue of a victory on Tuesday and Gran Canaria thanks to other results on Wednesday.
Game Center: Cluj triumphs at Buducnost; Besiktas, Hapoel, Aris, Prometey, Trento win at home
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Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul 72-59 Wolves Vilnius
Besiktas grabbed its first home win in three games by beating Wolves on Wednesday. The Turkish side took its revenge on Wolves, which had beaten Besiktas 90-88 in the first game between the two teams back in October. With this victory, Besiktas improved to an 8-5 record, while Wolves dropped to 4-8. Angel Delgado produced a sublime performance, having recorded 16 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists, while Matthew Mitchell netted 15 points too. Tre'shawn Thurman paced the guests with 15 points.
Prometey Slobozhanske 105-100 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
Prometey knocked down 16 three-point shots on the way to pulling out a dramatic win over visiting Cedevita on Wednesday at Arena Riga in the Latvian capital. Prometey's record improved to 7-6 for sixth place of Group A, while Cedevita remained the only winless team in the competition after 13 rounds and was eliminated from playoff contention. Tai Odiase tallied 17 points and 8 rebounds, while Gian Clavell paired 17 points with 6 assists for the winners. Jaka Blazic led Cedevita with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists.
Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv 118-101 Veolia Hamburg Towers
Hapoel made it six wins in a row and set a club scoring record in its victory over Hamburg at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. Despite missing four of its top five scorers to injury, Hapoel prevailed in a game that it led by just 1 point heading into the fourth quarter. The victory kept Hapoel just behind Paris Basketball in second place in Group A with a 10-2 record, while Hamburg slipped 2-11. Bar Timor paced seven Hapoel scorers in double figures with a career-high 21 points and 6 assists. Aleksander Dziewa posted 23 points and 8 rebounds to lead Hamburg.
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 77-79 U-BT Cluj-Napoca
Cluj bounced back from its last home loss in the Eurocup by grabbing a hard-fought win at Buducnost at Moraca on Wednesday night. The visitors had to overcome a 15-point first-half deficit but finished strong and outscored their opponent 16-29 in the fourth quarter to turn the tables. Patrick Richard and Andrija Stipanovic led the visitors with 16 points each to lift Cluj’s record to 9-4. Petar Popovic and Brandon Paul scored 13 points apiece to pace the hosts, who slipped to 5-8.
Aris Midea Thessaloniki 93-71 Slask Wroclaw
Aris strengthened its playoff push and improved to 6-7 with a comfortable home win over Slask, which dropped to 1-12 at the foot of Group B. The host jumped to a double-digit advantage in the first quarter and never looked like losing the lead, which reached 17 points before halftime. Vassilis Toliopoulos led the way with 18 points, while Roberts Blumbergs scored 17 by netting 5 of his team’s new club record 17 three-pointers. Hassani Gravett shined for Slask with 23 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting.
Dolomiti Energia Trento 76-70 Lietkabelis Panevezys
Trento protected its home floor and solidified its position in a tight playoff race by holding off visiting Lietkabelis on Wednesday night. With the win, Trento not only improved to a 6-7 record and a share of the fifth-best record in Group B, but also gave it a season-sweep of its direct playoff-chasing rival Lietkabelis, which dropped to 5-8. Andrejs Grazulis collected 18 points and 7 rebounds while Davide Alviti netted 14 on 4-for-5 three-point shooting to lead the winners. Deividas Sirvydis paced the visitors with 21 points and 7 rebounds.
Tuesday, December 26
JL Bourg en Bresse 92-84 Dreamland Gran Canaria
Bourg secured a ticket to the BKT Playoffs and took sole possession of first place in Group B with a 92-84 overtime victory over defending champion Gran Canaria at Ekinox on Tuesday night. Bourg remained undefeated at home this season with its seventh straight win to improve to 11-2, while second Gran Canaria to its third straight loss and a 10-3 record. Despite the loss, Gran Canaria managed to retain the potential head-to-head tiebreaker between the teams. Isiaha Mike paced the winners with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while A.J. Slaughter netted a game-high 23 in defeat. Despite the loss, Gran Canaria qualified for the playoffs the next day through other results.
ratiopharm Ulm 79-85 Turk Telekom Ankara
Turk Telekom remained alive in its late push for the playoffs as it knocked off Ulm on the road for its third win in the last four games. Tyrone Wallace scored a career-high 31 points with 7 three-pointers and 6 assists for last season’s runner-up, which improved to 4-9 in Group B. Steven Enoch collected 14 points and 8 rebounds and James Palmer chipped in 14 points. Ulm missed a change to take a big step towards grabbing a spot in the playoffs as it lost its second straight game to fall to 8-5. Trevion Williams tallied 26 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Joventut Badalona 89-81 Umana Reyer Venice
Joventut celebrated its fifth win in the last six games and improved to 8-5 in Group A after a hard-fought home win over Umana Reyer Venice, with six of its players scoring in double figures. In contrast, Reyer slipped to its fifth defeat in the last six games and dropped to 4-9, although the Italian outfit did not go down without a fight. Yannick Kraag paced Joventut with 17 points and Andres Feliz posted 15 points. At the other end, Rayjon Tucker stood out for Reyer with a game-high 21 points.
Paris Basketball 94-77 London Lions
Paris cruised past London at Halle Georges Carpentier. The hosts outscored the English side in three of the four quarters to sweep their opponents, having previously grabbed a 102-106 double-overtime victory in London back in October. Group A leader Paris improved to a 12-1 record, while London dropped to 9-4. Nadir Hifi paced Paris with 26 points, with TJ Shorts and Collin Malcolm scoring 13 each. Bandja Sy paired his 10 points with 5 rebounds. Matt Morgan led the visitors with 18 points.