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Game Center: Besiktas, Joventut join playoff party among 6 road winners
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Prometey Slobozhanske 91-64 Wolves Vilnius
Prometey improved its chances of reaching the playoffs from Group A by downing Wolves in Riga, Latvia, in Round 15 on Wednesday. Prometey improved to 8-7 while Wolves dropped to 5-10 and were mathematically eliminated from the playoff race. Ronald March led Prometey with 16 points and Oleksandr Lypovyy and Illia Sydorov each added 13. Jeffery Taylor paced Wolves with a EuroCup career-high 18 points.
Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv 86-104 Paris Basketball
Paris clinched first place in Group A with three games to spare and booked an early berth in the competition’s last eight with a road win over Hapoel on Wednesday. Paris improved to 14-1 and, having won its group, it is assured of a bye in the first knockout round and hence a quarterfinal spot. Second-placed Hapoel, which had earlier secured a playoff spot, dropped to 11-4. A balanced team effort saw all 12 Paris players get on the scoreboard, led by TJ Shorts with 20 points and 10 assists. Dez Wells paced Hapoel with 20 points and 6 rebounds.
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 93-104 Umana Reyer Venice
Reyer grabbed a crucial win in Ljubljana in Round 15 to improve to a 6-9 on the season. The result keeps it in the race for the EuroCup Playoffs, while Cedevita is still winless at 0-15. Rayjon Tucker paced Reyer with a game-high 24 points and Amedeo Tessitori added 17. For Cedevita, Karlo Matkovic had 23 points and Justin Cobbs 19.
Aris Midea Thessaloniki 76-75 Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
Roberto Gallinat skied high in the final second of the game and threw down a put-back dunk with 0.8 seconds to go to lift Aris to a thrilling come-from-behind in over visiting Buducnost. Aris improved to 7-8 for a share of fifth place in Group B and swept its head-to-head series with Buducnost, which in turn dropped to 6-9. Vassilis Toliopoulos led Aris with 20 points and Gallinat finished with 14. McKinley Wright led Buducnost with 14 points and Yogi Ferrell scored 13.
ratiopharm Ulm 81-85 U-BT Cluj-Napoca
Cluj rallied from 18 points down to beat Ulm on the road and guarantee a top-four finish in Group B and at least a home game in the eighthfinals. Cluj was down 62-44, but gained control of the game with a 6-24 fourth-quarter run to improve to 11-4. Patrick Richard scored 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and Bryce Jones added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for the winning side. Ulm’s freefall continued with a fourth straight defeat to drop to 8-7 despite 17 points from LJ Figueroa.
JL Bourg en Bresse 104-71 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys
Bourg got back to winning ways by thrashing Lietkabelis at Ekinox. The hosts were in control throughout the game and outscored Lietkabelis in three of the four quarters to secure a convincing home victory. Bourg improved to a 12-3 on the season and, when Gran Canaria lost later in the evening, moved alone atop the group standings, while Lietkabelis dropped to 5-10, currently sitting two wins outside the playoff zone with three games to go. Zaccharie Risacher led all scorers with 22 points and Maksim Salash scored 16, all of which came in the last quarter. For Lietkabelis, Nikola Popovic bagged 19 points.
Veolia Hamburg Towers 83-94 Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul
Besiktas punched its ticket to the playoffs by downing Hamburg after overtime at Edel-Optics.De Arena on Wednesday. Besiktas, pushed by hundreds of fans in this road game, improved to 9-6 in the standings while Hamburg dropped to 2-13. Jonah Mathews paced the winners with 22 points, including 9 in overtime. Angel Delgado posted 17 points and 17 rebounds for Besiktas. Will Christmas led Hamburg with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
London Lions 80-82 Joventut Badalona
Joventut booked its place in the EuroCup Playoffs after defeating London at Copper Box Arena in Round 15. Carles Duran’s side has now won seven straight games to improve to a 10-5 record, while London dropped to the same mark in defeat. Vladimir Brodziansky paced Joventut with a team-high 14 points, followed by Tyler Cook with 13, Shannon Evans with 12, and Ante Tomic and Pep Busquets on 10 apiece. For London, Matt Morgan netted a game-high 20 points. David Nwaba added 14, Donte Grantham had 11 and Gabe Olaseni contributed 10.
Dreamland Gran Canaria 73-83 Turk Telekom Ankara
In a re-match of a last season's EuroCup Finals, Turk Telekom went on the road and made 12 three-pointers on 21 attempts to beat defending champion Gran Canaria 73-83. It was Turk Telekom's fifth win in its last six games, improving the playoff hopeful to a 6-9 record in Group B, while Gran Canaria dropped to 11-4 and a share of the second-best record in the group. Yigitcan Saybir finished as Turk Telekom's top scorer with 19 points and 7 rebounds and James Palmer netted 18 points. Nicolas Brussino scored 18 for Gran Canaria.
Dolomiti Energia Trento 85-79 Slask Wroclaw
Trento avoided a slip-up in its fight for the playoffs as it fended off Slask Wroclaw 85-79 at home. Trento took control of the game with an 11-2 run in the fourth quarter against the last-place team in Group B to win its third game in the last four for a 7-8 record. Kamar Baldwin paced Trento with a double-double of 26 points and 11 assists and Andrejs Grazulis added 15 points. Trento entered the game in a three-way tie at 6-8 with Aris Midea Thessaloniki and Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, who play on Wednesday. The Italian club still faces both of those teams down the stretch. Slask was unable to make it back-to-back victories in falling to 2-13. Dusan Miletic poured in 17 points in the losing effort.