

Joventut Badalona grabbed a convincing road win when it defeated Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse 65-86 at the Ekinox on Wednesday evening. The visitors led just by one at halftime, 39-40, but held Bourg to just 26 points in the second half to soar to the victory. Joventut avenged its 80-75 home loss against Bourg earlier this season to improve to 10-5 and continue fighting for first place in Group A. Bourg lost its fourth game in a row and slipped to 8-7.
Ante Tomic led all scorers with 22 points, to which he added 8 rebounds and 5 assists, good for a PIR of 31. Kyle Guy followed with 21 points on 5 three-pointers. Henry Ellenson provided 16 points and Andres Feliz chipped in 10. James Palmer Jr. paced Bourg with 17 points and 6 boards, as Jordan Floyd and Axel Julian contributed 10 apiece in the losing effort.
Palmer and Amida Brimah pushed the hosts to an early 11-8 advantage after 5 minutes. Joventut took charge when Tomic entered the court, as he immediately produced both scoring and assists to help his team finish the first quarter ahead, 20-21. Floyd took the reins with 5 points in a row at the beginning of the second to give Bourg a 25-21 edge, but it didn't last for long. Tomic took over again with 6 points in a 3-12 run that brought the visitors back in charge, 28-33. Bourg managed to steady itself thanks to Palmer, who showed up in offense to reduce the margin to 39-40 at halftime.
Things went the same after the break, as Bourg quickly earned a 43-40 lead, but Joventut struck back with a strong 3-12 run behind triples by Feliz and Guy, plus 6 inside points by Tomic. Julian and Palmer tried to revitalize the hosts, but poor percentages from behind the arc and 5 more points by red-hot Guy established a 52-59 score entering the last stanza. The final blow came soon after the last period started; Ellenson showed up with a three and a couple of two-pointers to establish a double-digit margin, 55-69, while Bourg was able to score only from the free throw line. With a solid difference between both teams, Joventut felt comfortable and found several ways to score through Guy, Ellenson and Tomic. They were good for a 21-point lead, 63-84, entering crunch time, that the home team could never repair.