London Lions had a strong start of the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup season by downing Umana Reyer Venice 76-69 at The Copperbox Arena in Group A on Wednesday. 


London outlasts Reyer at home, 76-69!

London rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat Reyer 76-69 in both teams' season opener. Donte Grantham led the winners with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Gabe Olaseni added 10 points for London. Amedeo Tessitori was Reyer's top scorer with 16 points. Marco Spissu and Aamir Simms each had 10 for the visitors. 

Tessitori got Reyer going early and Rayjon Tucker struck from downtown for a 7-8 lead. Phillip scored in penetration and Olaseni downed a jumper, giving London an 11-8 edge. Tessitori and Spissu fueled a 0-9 run that made it 11-17 lead. Tessitori dunked and fed Jordan Parks for a fastbreak slam to help Reyer boost its margin to 17-25 after 10 minutes.

Grantham followed a wild three-point play with a fastbreak layup in a 0-8 run that Luke Nelson added with a triple for a 25-25 tie. Phillip's driving layup soon put London in charge, 30-28. Simms and Spissu each struck from downtown to put Reyer back in charge, 38-41, at halftime. 

Game News

Spissu and Parks kept pacing the visitors after the break and Jeff Brooks's three-pointer made it a double-digit game, 42-51. Grantham and Matthew Morgan stepped up for London and Sharma's alley-oop dunk gave the hosts hope, 54-56, after 30 minutes.

Grantham's dunk put London back in charge, 63-61, with over 6 minutes left. Olaseni scored his team's 6 points but Tucket kept Reyer within 70-69 already in the final minute. Morgan and Phillip were ice cold from the foul line to seal the outcome down the stretch.

Game Videos

London Lions had a strong start to the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup season by downing Umana Reyer Venice 76-69 at The Copperbox Arena in Group A on Wednesday. 


London outlasts Reyer at home, 76-69

London Lions v Umana Reyer Venice (2023-10-04T18:30:00.000Z)

Dreamland Gran Canaria showed in two quarters just how strong the defending BKT EuroCup champion can be with AJ Slaughter providing the knockout punch in the fourth quarter. 

Slaughter, Gran Canaria finish off Aris in fourth quarter 

Dreamland Gran Canaria showed in two quarters just how strong the defending BKT EuroCup champion can be with AJ Slaughter providing the knockout punch in the fourth quarter.

After giving up 28 points in the first 10 minutes, Gran Canaria allowed just 7 points in the second quarter and closed the game in Greece by conceding just 11 points in the final frame in a 66-82 victory in Group B.

“The second quarter and last quarter we made some great defensive plays. We found open shots because Aris was giving us shots. Our shooters made the shots,” said Gran Canaria head coach Jaka Lakovic, whose team made 14-of-29 three-pointers (48.3%).

Aris fought back at the end of the third quarter and actually took the lead. The Spanish side answered with a three-pointer to close the quarter and reclaim the lead. Gran Canaria then scored the first 14 points of the fourth quarter for a 55-71 cushion that decided the game.

The 36-year-old Slaughter was key to the final push. He scored 9 points in the first 30 minutes and then buried 3 three-pointers and 3 free throws for 12 fourth-quarter points to go with an assist.

Still, being ever the leader, Slaughter deflected the individual attention afterwards.

"We picked it up defensively \[in the fourth quarter\]. We really played how we wanted to play the full game. Andrew Albicy really did a great job on the point guards. We did it as a team and we are happy with the win to start the EuroCup season off," said Slaughter, who is playing in his third season with the club.

Coach Lakovic said another key was his team dealing with the fans at the Nikos Galis Hall.

"We talked about the atmosphere… and I knew that Aris has been waiting for this game for seven years," said the coach, referring to Aris playing in the EuroCup for the first time since the 2015-16 season. "We wanted to match the intensity of Aris on the court and we did a good job."

Aris Midea Thessaloniki v Dreamland Gran Canaria (2023-10-04T17:00:00.000Z)

Prometey Slobozhanske was second in the EuroCup in scoring last season as it averaged 88.5 points per game in the regular season. Despite some significant roster turnover during the offseason, Coach Ronen Ginzburg's men are just as lethal, if not more so, at the start of the 2023-24 campaign. On Wednesday, Prometey plastered Veolia Towers Hamburg 97-77.

New faces, same style for Prometey Slobozhanske

Prometey Slobozhanske was second in the EuroCup in scoring last season as it averaged 88.5 points per game in the regular season. Despite some significant roster turnover during the offseason, Coach Ronen Ginzburg's men are just as lethal, if not more so, at the start of the 2023-24 campaign. On Wednesday, Prometey plastered Veolia Towers Hamburg 97-77.

The Ukrainian club, which plays its home games at Arena Riga in the Lithuanian capital due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, started with a bang by scoring 35 first-quarter points and set a club record with 54 first-half points. It had 52 at halftime in Round 14 last season against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana.    

Prometey seemed on pace to rewrite the record book after 10 minutes. It made 5 of 7 three-pointers in the opening quarter and already led by 20. However, that pace proved impossible to keep up.

"In the second quarter, I think we got a little lackadaisical after starting the first quarter, and they punched us in the mouth and we just had to regroup at halftime to get the win tonight," explained point guard Marcus Keene, who led the charge with 19 points and 6 assists.   

Despite several rallies by visiting Hamburg, the lead was never seriously threatened and one of the main reasons for the team's success, according to Coach Ginzburg, was his team's depth.

Eleven different Prometey players scored and took at least 1 rebound. The only player who did not was forward Andrii Voinalovych, who was only on the floor for 82 seconds. Ten players dished at least 1 assist. Likewise ten players features for at least 13 minutes and no one played more than the 25:35 that center Ondrej Balvin spent on the court.

It all proved to be a winning recipe for Prometey, which after reaching the semifinals last season, started this campaign on the right foot.

Prometey Slobozhanske started the season in style with a 35-point first quarter!

New faces, same style for Prometey 

Prometey Slobozhanske v Veolia Towers Hamburg (2023-10-04T16:00:00.000Z)

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica enjoyed a hard-fought 76-65 victory over 7bet-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. 

Buducnost wins opener at home against Lietkabelis, 76-65

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica enjoyed a hard-fought 76-65 victory over 7bet-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, Vladimir Mihailovic added 12 and Yoan Makoundou 10. Gabrielius Maldunas paced the visitors with 16 points and 8 rebounds and Gediminas Orelik posted 14 and 6.

### Lietkabelis has the upper hand in the first half

Both teams had a slow start offensively, especially from long range. A three by Brandon Paul and an inside basket by Makoundou capped a 7-0 run that pushed the home team ahead, 9-3, midway through the first quarter. Wright raised Buducnost lead to 15-8 with 6 points in a row, but the visitors reacted in style with Maldunas leading the way to make it all square, 15-15, and keep a tie at 17 after 10 minutes. 

Martynas Varnas opened fire from deep to get Lietkabelis going early in the second period, as Deividas Sirvydis and Nikola Popovic took over later to help the visitors build a 24-27 lead. Maldunas and Orelik then showed up inside to increase the margin to 24-32. Lietkabelis kept exploiting Buducnost's problems to secure the defensive board, with Maldunas coming up big to close the first half with a 31-38 visitors’ lead.

### Williams helps the hosts finish in style 

Orelik and Paulius Valinskas chained together a couple of threes right after the intermission to extend it to 35-44. Things got even worse for Buducnost soon after, as Popovic provided a slam and Valinskas hit again from downtown to force the home team stop the game when it trailed 35-49. A 10-0 spark led by Andrija Slavkovic and Mihailovic helped the hosts make it a single-digit deficit, 45-49, as Lietkabelis struggled against a tougher Buducnost perimeter defense. Vytenis Lipkevicius showed up from the line to end a 4-minute scoring drought, but it didn’t prevent Buducnost from completing the comeback when Popovic, Paul and Slavkovic provided free throws to make it 53-50 entering the final quarter.

Orelik and Lipkevicius combined for a 0-5 run that brought Lietkabelis back in charge, 53-55, but the hosts were still hot. Williams started fire with a basket, Paul added a 3-point play and Makoundou nailed a long jumper to make it 60-55. Williams and Makoundou kept rocking inside to raise the difference to 66-59 with 4 minutes remaining. Even though the visitors managed to build some scoring momentum, Buducnost was confident enough to find the right player at the right moment, which was Williams, who remained unstoppable in the paint. Another bucket by him boosted the Buducnost lead to 72-61 entering crunch time, and when he drew an unsportsmanlike foul soon after, everyone at Moraca knew that the win would remain at home.

The hosts erased a 14-point third quarter deficit to rally for the victory.

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica v 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys (2023-10-04T17:00:00.000Z)

Dreamland Gran Canaria opened the defense of its BKT EuroCup title with a 66-82 victory at Aris Midea Thessaloniki. 

Gran Canaria overcomes slow start, rolls past Aris 66-82

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.

### Aris is brilliant early

Gallinat drained a three-pointer to start the game and for Aris’s first points in the competition since 2015-16. The guard moved to eight points as the Aris lead grew to 12-4. Gran Canaria knocked down 3 three-pointers but another triple from Gallinat had the hosts up 21-13. Miguel Salvo began to step up for the visitors with 7 points but could not cut into the lead as Aris remained hot. Ronnie Harrell’s three-pointer at the end of the first quarter made it 28-20 and had Aris shooting 73 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes.

### Gran Canaria recovers by halftime

As hot as Aris was in the first quarter, it cooled off in the second frame, with just 2 points in the first 5 minutes and watched Gran Canaria pull within 30-29. The Spanish side finally took its first lead 32-34 on a Jovan Kljajic three-pointer. Sylven Landsberg added a three-point play and Gran Canaria’s cushion grew to 32-38. The score was 35-38 at the break.

Aris needed nearly 3 minutes to score its first basket in the second half and Brussino buried 2 three-pointers to push the Gran Canaria advantage to 38-46. Aris stood strong defensively to keep Gran Canaria in check and knotted the game 52-52. Vassilis Toliopoulis put Aris back ahead 55-54 only to see Andrew Albicy beat the buzzer at the other end and Gran Canaria was up 55-57 after 30 minutes.

### The finish belongs to Slaughter

Gran Canaria again used its defense and held Aris scoreless for the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter and Slaughter scored 9 points for a 55-71 margin. Aris could not get closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

The Ukrainian club, which scored 35 first-quarter points, led from start to finish in season-opening win

Prometey starts strong to thump Hamburg 97-77

Prometey Slobozhanske never trailed in starting the season with an impressive 97-77 victory over Veolia Towers Hamburg at Arena Riga in the Latvian capital. Marcus Keene starred for the winners with 19 points and 6 assists, Davon Reed, Illia Sydorov and Vyacheslav Bobrov each scored 11, Ronald March had 10 and Ondrej Balvin tallied 8 points and 11 rebounds. Eleven different Prometey players scored.

Al Durham led the Hamburg attack with 15 points, Mark Hughes and VJ King both contributed 11 points and Terrell Gomez 10. All 11 Hamburg players scored.

### How Prometey took control

Prometey led 5-0 before Hamburg even took a shot and needed less than 5 minutes to take its first double-digit lead, 21-9, after Keene's second triple. Hamburg fought hard and made some noise with offensive rebounds, but struggled to find the bottom of the net. The Prometey run reached 14 unanswered points before Gomez stroked a triple for the visitors. Ivan Tkachenko's triple left Prometey comfortable in control, 35-15, after 10 minutes.

Issuf Sananon's three-pointer to open the second quarter made him the 10th Prometey player to score. Hughes heated up for Hamburg, though after a timeout, an assist and a layup from Keene kept Prometey cruising. Hamburg continued to play hard and, behind King, rallied to within 10 in the final minute of the half. Free throws by Sydorov left Prometey on top 54-42 at the break.

### Late Hamburg run falls short

Strong play by Balvin kept Prometey's comfortable lead intact despite the best efforts of Hughes and Durham. Sydorov fed March for an alley-oop and scored himself as the lead swelled to 73-52. William Christmas scored the next 7 points to give Hamburg hope and the sides parted ways after three quarters at 78-62.

Back-to-back threes early in the fourth by Keene and Reed restored a 20-point lead and prompted a Hamburg timeout. The closing minutes saw one final push from Hamburg, which using full-court pressure trimmed the gap to 90-75. Keene helped Prometey finish the game with a 20-point victory.  

U-BT Cluj-Napoca opened the BJT EuroCup Regular Season in style by downing last season's finalists Turk Telekom Ankara 80-71 at home in Group B on Wednesday.


Jones, Guzman lead Cluj past Turk Telekom, 80-71!

After going 0-3 at the start of its EuroCup season debut a year ago, Cluj has opened the 2023-24 campaign with a resounding victory, topping Turk Telekom Ankara 80-71 at BT-Arena. Bryce Jones and Karel Guzman led the winners with 14 points apiece. D.J. Seeley had 12 and Andrija Stipanovic added 10 for Cluj. Tyrone Wallace paced Turk Telekom with 18 points, Okben Ulubay added 12, James Palmer 11 and Jalen Adams 10. 

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.

Guzman needed just 2 seconds to get his team's first basket and he got help from Stipanovic and Seeley to boost Cluj's lead to 12-0. Wallace and Markis McDuffie stepped up for Turk Telekom but Seeley and Guzman each hit a triple to establish a 21-8 Cluj margin. The hosts found a new go-to guy in Jones and then Guzman followed a windmill dunk with a three-pointer to keep Cluj way ahead, 28-14, after 10 minutes. 

Steven Enoch tried to change things with an alley-oop slam early in the second quarter. Emanuel Cate and Adam Mokoka fueled a 12-0 run that Guzman capped with a triple to make it 40-17. Mokoka kept pushing Cluj and Eddie's three-pointer gave the hosts a 50-26 lead at halftime. 

Wallace scored 7 quick points after the break and Palmer's layup gave Turk Telekom hope at 53-39. Wallace remained unstoppable and Adams scored twice in the paint to get the guests as close as 53-49, after a 0-18 run. Patrick Richards and Seeley gave Cluj fresh air, 59-52, after 30 minutes. 

Troy Selim Sav brought Turk Telekom even closer, 61-59, with 8 minutes left. Jones rescued Cluj with 8 points in crunch time, as his team restored a 74-62 margin with 3 minutes left and never looked back.

Jones, Guzman lead Cluj past Turk Telekom, 80-71

U-BT Cluj-Napoca v Turk Telekom Ankara (2023-10-04T16:00:00.000Z)

The London Lions and Umana Reyer Venezia go head-to-head at Copper Box Arena in Round 1 of the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup season.

London Lions vs. Reyer Venezia preview: A battle awaits

Two of the most ambitious teams in the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup will come head-to-head at Copper Box Arena on Wednesday night, as the [London Lions](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/carousels/london-lions/?q=%7B%22articleId%22%3A%22%22%2C%22categoryId%22%3A%22%22%2C%22linkedId%22%3A%7B%22sourceSystem%22%3A%22FS_BASKETBALL_TEAM%22%2C%22sourceSystemId%22%3A%22lli%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22%22%7D%7D&carouselTitle=London%20Lions) host [Umana Reyer Venice](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/carousels/umana-reyer-venice/?q=%7B%22articleId%22%3A%22%22%2C%22categoryId%22%3A%22%22%2C%22linkedId%22%3A%7B%22sourceSystem%22%3A%22FS_BASKETBALL_TEAM%22%2C%22sourceSystemId%22%3A%22vnc%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22%22%7D%7D&carouselTitle=Umana%20Reyer%20Venice). Never before have London and Reyer faced off, which makes this Group A fixture hard to call.

While London is entering its second EuroCup campaign, Reyer can lean on six years of experience at this level. Due to the format changes in the EuroCup this year, with just six teams making it to the playoffs from each group, getting wins on the board early could prove crucial. Therefore, both London and Reyer will be eager to do whatever it takes to get the victory in this matchup.

### London: Stronger across the board

Last season saw London lean heavily on the play of star forward [Sam Dekker](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/sam-dekker/009672/), who was the EuroCup's leading scorer in the regular season in 2022-23 at 18.9 points per night. Dekker was also in contention to secure the EuroCup MVP award after guiding London to the playoffs at the first time of asking, but he is set to miss Round 1 of the 2023-24 season due to an injury.

Aware that it needed to lighten the load on Dekker, London picked up an elite-level scorer this summer in [Matt Morgan](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/london-lions-bring-in-scorer-matt-morgan/), who was the French League's third leading scorer with 20.7 points per game last season. Morgan now gets his first shot at the EuroCup and, following some impressive domestic displays for the Lions, will be determined to put on a show in Round 1 against Reyer. Also, look out for fellow new additions [Conor Morgan](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/conor-morgan-signs-for-london-lions/), [Donte Grantham](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/london-inks-forward-donte-grantham/) and [Gabe Olaseni](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/lions-brings-london-native-gabe-olaseni-home/), all of whom should play big roles in this encounter.

<center>

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London, now guided by first-year head coach [Petar Bozic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/london-signs-head-coach-bozic/), finished 8-10 in last season's EuroCup, which was good enough for seventh spot in its group. Curiously, the team had a better record on its travels than at home, going 3-6 in London and 5-4 abroad, but two of those home defeats came at OVO Arena. If London is to reach the playoffs this season, turning Copper Box Arena into a fortress is a must, so that means getting off to a good start when Reyer comes to town.

### Reyer: Making a statement on the road

After entering last season with lots of expectations, Reyer's campaign ended up being rather underwhelming. So much so that Walter De Raffaele was replaced by 2010 EuroCup champion Neven Spahija, who came in for the last four games of the regular season and the eighthfinals matchup with Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv, which Reyer lost.

Now, Coach Spahija has had a full summer to work with his players, and hopes are high about what Reyer could achieve in the 2023-24 EuroCup season. Guard [Marco Spissu](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/marco-spissu/004381/) is expected to run the team's offense, while new arrivals [Kyle Wiltjer](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/reyer-venezia-completes-signing-of-kyle-wiltjer/), [Aamir Simms](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/reyer-signs-forward-aamir-simms/) and [Rayjon Tucker](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/news/reyer-adds-scoring-punch-with-rayjon-tucker/) should all have big roles to play on the road at London.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GameDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GameDay</a> @ Copper Box Arena <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/London?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#London</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EuroCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToGreatness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToGreatness</a> <a href="https://t.co/2eMTXvHKNd">pic.twitter.com/2eMTXvHKNd</a></p>&mdash; Reyer Venezia (@REYER1872) <a href="https://twitter.com/REYER1872/status/1709493727750693240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Unlike London, Reyer's big problem last season was playing on the road, as it went 3-6 on its travels – 3-7 including the playoffs – and 6-3 in Venice. It is therefore crucial that Coach Spahija's men rise to the task in the English capital. Should Reyer record an impressive road win, it should send a message to the rest of the EuroCup.

Both sides have goals of reaching the BKT EuroCup Playoffs.

London vs. Reyer preview: A battle in the Lions' den

Euroleague Basketball have today confirmed that TNT Sports have acquired the rights in the UK and Ireland to broadcast all games played by the London Lions in the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup season.

London Lions’ EuroCup games to be broadcast on TNT Sports

Euroleague Basketball have today confirmed that TNT Sports have acquired the rights in the UK and Ireland to broadcast all games played by the London Lions in the 2023-24 BKT EuroCup season.

Fans in the UK and Ireland will be able to tune in and watch live last year’s British Basketball League champions embark on their second season in the BKT EuroCup.

The London Lions made their BKT EuroCup debut last season, reaching the eighth finals phase. This year, the London Lions have been placed in Group A ahead of the 18-game regular season, with the other teams in their group being: Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv, Joventut Badalona, Paris Basketball, Prometey Slobozhanske, Umana Reyer Venice, Veolia Towers Hamburg and Wolves Vilnius.

European basketball action tips-off on TNT Sports when London Lions take on Umana Reyer Venice, Wednesday 4th October at 19.15 on TNT Sports 9.

TNT Sports is available on discovery+, and all major TV platforms including BT, Sky and Virgin Media, offering a wide variety of options for all UK and Irish basketball fans to tune in and enjoy the London Lions in the BKT EuroCup.