Gran Canaria opened its 15th 7DAYS EuroCup campaign with a hard-fought 92-81 win over visiting Slask Wroclaw on Wednesday night. Slask led for the majority of the first three quarters, but A.J. Slaughter took the game over in the fourth. The Gran Canaria guard scored 11 points, including 3 three-pointers, during a 16-6 fourth-quarter run that put the hosts up 82-74, paving the way to a Gran Canaria victory.

Slaughter overcame foul trouble and scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half while Ferran Bassas, had 17 points and 6 assists. Damien Inglis and Khalifa Diop also finished in double figures with 11 points apiece, and each also had 5 rebounds. Lukasz Kolenda paced Slask with 23 points. Jeremiah Martin had 15 points and 5 assists while Jakub Niziol tallied 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in a losing effort.

The game featured too many mistakes in the early going. Martin stood out for Slask. He already had 13 points on his card when he put the visitors ahead 34-41 late in the second quarter. But the hosts finished the second quarter with a 6-0 run to cut it to 40-41 at halftime. After the break, Slask kept a slim lead and had a 5-point lead late in the third with Kolenda in the main role. But Bassas hit a last-second triple to make it 64-64 after 30 minutes and then Slaughter opened the fourth by nailing a long jumper with his toes on the three-point line. He proceeded to make 3 triples and a pair of free throws to put Gran Canaria. His third three capped a 16-6 run and Bassas followed with another three of his own to open an 85-76 margin with under 3 minutes to go as Gran Canaria closed out the game.

Slaughter lifts Gran Canaria over Slask, 92-81

Gran Canaria v Slask Wroclaw (2022-10-12T19:00:00.000Z)

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Live Blog Round 1, Wednesday: Three teams win on the road

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana v Frutti Extra Bursaspor (2022-10-12T18:00:00.000Z)

Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse v U-BT Cluj-Napoca (2022-10-12T17:30:00.000Z)

Dolomiti Energia Trento v Promitheas Patras (2022-10-12T18:00:00.000Z)

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica v Veolia Towers Hamburg (2022-10-12T17:00:00.000Z)

Prometey Slobozhanske v 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys (2022-10-12T16:00:00.000Z)

Prometey Slobozhanske rode the wave of emotional support from Ukrainians on hand for its first-ever 7DAYS EuroCup game to finish with a historic victory.

Many Ukraine flags could be seen in the Arena Riga in the Latvian capital where Prometey knocked off 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys 82-71.

"I told my players you cannot play without emotions if a lot of people from Ukraine make this long trip to come here with all the risks,” Prometey head coach Ronen Ginzburg said. “Even one person coming from Ukraine is a big support for us. But we felt the support. I can’t say anything, it’s amazing how they came and we felt them. You could tell that they really wanted us to succeed and win the game.”

Prometey will be playing its home games in Riga - almost 1,500 kilometers from its home in war-torn Ukraine.

Prometey stood tall with emotional support from Ukraine fans

### Gran Canaria head coach Jaka Lakovic:

"First of all, I would like to congratulate Slask on a good game. They were playing really physical on both sides of the court and made the job very difficult. We were never comfortable in the game. Even though the game was always close, we were always with bad sensations and that is why we did not execute that well. In the second half, we made some open shots, we made some stops that were important to get our confidence. And, of course, we had A.J. Slaughter who made the difference today. Congratulations to my players. But it is just the first win. We go on."

### Slask Wroclaw head coach Andrej Urlep:

"We lost because we did not have energy to play how we need to play until the end of the game. We let Bassas and Slaughter get too many open shots in the fourth quarter. But I cannot say anything bad about my players. I am proud about the way how they were fighting, just in the end we ran out of gas. Congratulations to Gran Canaria, they deserved the win.

"We came here without some really important injured players. So, players had to play too many minutes, 31, 32, 37 minutes, that is far, far too many. That is why we were too tired at the end of the game. For us, the main goal is to reach the playoffs. When we get the whole team back and if we keep playing with this energy, I think we will be able to achieve that."

### Gran Canaria guard A.J. Slaughter:

"Congratulations to my team. First game of the EuroCup this season, we wanted to come out and make a statement with a good home win. Credit to Slask, they came in and competed today and they pushed us."

Post-game quotes: Gran Canaria vs. Slask Wrockaw

Frutti Extra Bursaspor forced Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana into a poor shooting night from the outside and it helped carry the team to a road win.

Cedevita made just 10 of 35 three-pointers (28.6%) as Bursaspor won 73-81 in an important opening game in Group A for both teams. The home side on the other hand was a solid 16 for 31 (51.6%) from inside the stripe. Bursaspor meanwhile was more efficient from three-point range, making 13 of 31 triples (41.9%).

Bursaspor also was superior on the glass with 41 rebounds to the hosts' 33 which helped offset Cedevita from taking advantage of 19 points off turnovers compared to just 6 for Bursaspor.

By the numbers: Bursaspor forces Cedevita into three-point troubles

### Frutti Extra Bursaspor head coach Dusan Alimpijevic:

"It was a pretty tight game, tough game from both sides. Both teams have good rosters with good names, players who can change a lot by themselves with their individual quality. We saw that on the court. It was up and down for both teams. I would say that if Cedevita Olimpija had won this game it would also had been well deserved. They were a little more concentrated. Maybe we took some better shots but I didn’t see anything less from Cedevita Olimpija. I want to wish them good luck in the ABA League and EuroCup. We could see that both teams are missing some players. But this is life, this is sports. We have to continue and adjust. It’s always good to start a competition like this."

### Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana head coach Jurica Golemac:

"They were better the whole game. We didn’t pass the ball enough. We didn’t play as a team. We tried to force the game offensively. Then they got some easy fastbreak points which in the end cost us the game."

### Frutti Extra Bursaspor forward Yigitcan Saybir:

"It was a very good game for us. The start of a new season and we won the game with great teamwork. So I am happy."

### Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana forward Edo Muric:

"For sure, we can regret this defeat. We were very close until the very end. We have to look forward. We didn't play the best, maybe it was even our worst performance in the matches this season. Already on Sunday, we have a match against Crvena Zvezda mts, so we have to learn from our mistakes. We are a new team, so we have to find the right recipe to win."

 

### Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana center Amar Alibegovic:

"The first game of the new 7DAYS EuroCup season certainly did not end as we would have liked. We have to learn from our mistakes and we have enough time for that. We have a very good team. We made mistakes, but we need to get to know each other better. At the moment, we still lack mutual chemistry. We are waiting for the analysis and we will do everything to be better in the next game."

Post-game quotes: Cedevita vs. Bursaspor

Frutti Extra Bursaspor picked up a big road victory to start the 7DAYS EuroCup as it beat Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in a rematch of last season’s quarterfinals. The Turkish side returned to the site of its 83-85 win last April and grabbed the 73-81 victory in Group A.

Anthony Clemmons was the leading scorer for the winners with 20 points and Yigitcan Saybir added 19 points. Yogi Ferrell scored 12 points with 7 assists in a losing effort.

Bursaspor led most of the early stages and the hosts did not pull ahead until a 10-0 to lead 25-20. Bursaspor answered with a 1-13 spurt to go up 26-33 and was ahead 31-34 at the break. Both offenses started scoring more in the third quarter but it remained tight until a 2-10 surge had Bursaspor up by 8 points and leading 52-58 after 30 minutes. The guests bent in allowing Cedevita to tie the game at 65-65, but did not break with Clemmons draining back-to-back three-pointers for a 71-78 lead with 79 seconds to play to decide the game.

Bursaspor opens season with 73-81 win at Cedevita

Mincidelice JL Bourg en Breese had to wait until the last second to defeat 7DAYS EuroCup newcomer U-BT Cluj-Napoca, 88-85, from the free throw line. The home team led 85-76 entering crunch time, but Jordan Taylor made it a 1-point game to cap a 0-8 run that brought the game to the line. Leo Meindl missed a couple of free throws to tie the game and James Palmer Jr. sealed the outcome for the hosts from the line with 1 second to go.

Palmer was Bourg’s top scorer with 17 points. Pierre Pelos followed with 16 and Frantz Massenat, Jordan Floyd and Isiah Mike contributed 10 apiece. Meindl paced Cluj with 19 points and 7 rebounds, Jordan Taylor had 13 and Andrija Stipanovic and Stefan Bircevic contributed 12 each in the losing effort.

 After a balanced start of the game, the home team managed to amass an 18-11 margin behind a three by Pelos, but Cluj didn’t panic and got within 21-20 midway through the second period after an unsportsmanlike foul converted by Karel Guzman. Massenat boosted Bourg with 8 points in a row for a 33-25 edge, although Meindl showed up from the free-throw line to help Cluj stay within 37-32 at halftime. 

 

The Brazillian forward stayed hot after the break and provided 9 points in less than 4 minutes to tie it at 44-44 midway through the third period. The hosts managed to rebuild the lead from behind the arc, as Maxime Courbey, Mike and Pelos combined for 4 threes that pushed Bourg to a double-digit margin entering the last quarter, 62-51. Bourg managed to keep Cluj out of reach and entered crunch time dominating 85-76, but a 0-8 run in which Bircevic nailed a three and Taylor provided a three-point play sent the game to the wire, 85-84. Floyd gave Cluj the opportunity of tying it up twice, but Taylor and Meindl missed from the line too, ruining their team’s hope to debut with a win.

Bourg survives thriller to edge Cluj 88-85

Veolia Towers Hamburg opened the season with a 66-73 road win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica at Moraca on Wednesday night. 

After winning just three games on the road in all of last season, Hamburg struck early in 2022-23. Lukas Meisner led the way with 15 points on 3 of 6 three-point shooting, Ziga Samar and Seth Hinrichs added 11 points each and Kendale McCullum and produced 10 points, 10 assists and 3 steals in his debut. Petar Popovic paced the hosts with 13 points and Aaron White scored 10.

A pair of threes by Cameron Reynolds helped Buducnost take an early lead, however, Hamburg stayed close, took its first lead on a Marvin Clark triple and led 23-24 after 10 minutes. Meisner and Jonas Wohlfarth-Bottermann combined to score 10 points in a 0-12 second-quarter run as the visitors assumed control and settled for a 37-47 halftime advantage,

 

Despite the best efforts of Igor Drobnjak, Buducnost could not get closer than 6 at any point in the third quarter. A three point play by Kenan Kamenjas and a dunk by White drew the home team within 60-63 early in the fourth. Samar responded with a three and Buducnost was held scoreless for nearly 3 minutes as Hamburg padded its lead and held on the rest of the way.