Despite early shooting struggles, Clevin Hannah put MoraBanc Andorra on his back late to avoid a collapse in Poland.

Hannah rescued Andorra in the final minutes

Hannah has been quietly building a resume as one of the top point guards in EuroCup history both as a scorer and a passer. Only one of those skills was on display for much of the game against Slask Wroclaw on Wednesday. 

Through 36 minutes, Hannah had dished 8 assists, but had missed all 6 of the shots he had taken – 3 three downtown and 3 inside the arc – and was scoreless. But with Slask, which had trailed by as many as 16 in the third quarter, rallying back, Hannah stepped up. 

Hannah carried Andorra with the game on the line

After Travis Trice’s triple brought the hosts within 82-85, Hannah sniped a three for his first points of the game. Even so, the Slask had the momentum and Lukasz Kolenda’s three tied the game at 88-88. Again Hannah came to the rescue with a go-ahead floater. And when Trice’s three-point play again put the hosts on top, Hannah penetrated to score and give Andorra the lead, this time for good, 91-92. 

As it would turn out, that would be enough because Slask did not score in the final 90 seconds. Even so, Hannah continued to take responsibility. He attempted two more pressure-filled shots in the final 30 seconds and went to the line and added a free throw with 5 seconds left.

Hannah finished the game with 8 points and 8 assists. His three-pointer moved Hannah into a three-way tie for 25th on the all-time EuroCup charts with Chris Lofton and Adam Waczynski with 130. Only four players in competition history have made more threes at a better career shooting percentage than Hannah’s 41.9%. 

He is also ranked 26th with 268 assists – trailing teammate Codi Miller-McIntyre by 1 for 25th place. However, Hannah did fall a few spots on the all-time free-throw charts due to a missed foul shot, tumbling to 13th all-time with 89.1.

Clevin Hannah - MoraBanc Andorra (photo Wojciech Cebula - Slask) - EC21-RS18

Slask Wroclaw v MoraBanc Andorra (2022-04-06T16:45:00.000Z)

Joventut Badalona and team captain Albert Ventura signed a contract extension through the end of the 2023-24 campaign, which will make 14 seasons together. 

Joventut, team captain Ventura pen extension

Ventura (1.91 meters, 30 years old) signed the contract on his 30th birthday. The shooting guard has averaged 3.7 points in 14 games for the club this season. He scored a career-high 16 points last week in Round 17 to lead Joventut to victory over Slask Wroclaw. Joventut finished the regular season with the best record in the competition, 12-4, and will face ratiopharm Ulm in the eighthfinals.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ca" dir="ltr">🤩 Tenim capità per dues temporades més<br><br>✍️ Albert Ventura renova fins el 30 de juny del 2024<br><br>📰 Notícia a la web: <a href="https://t.co/0Fr71Xmto5">https://t.co/0Fr71Xmto5</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Badalona%C3%89sFutur?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BadalonaÉsFutur</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/For%C3%A7aPenya?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ForçaPenya</a> <a href="https://t.co/ilM9E8LcpI">pic.twitter.com/ilM9E8LcpI</a></p>&mdash; Club Joventut Badalona (@Penya1930) <a href="https://twitter.com/Penya1930/status/1512007495534972933?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"I am very happy that I get to stay home," Ventura said. "I will keep fighting for these colors and I want to finish the year accomplishing something big. When I got here, I was just a kid who wanted to play basketball, but a lot of time has passed and I achieved things I never imagined. Today is a happy day and I want to thank the fans for their support during all these years."

Boulogne Metropolitans 92 defeated Lietkabelis Panevezys 76-69 to finish third in Group A thanks to Vince Hunter and Tomer Ginat, who stepped up in the most critical moments.

Hunter and Ginat were Metropolitans' fourth-quarter heroes

Lietkabelis Panevezys seemed to have everything under control midway through the fourth quarter. One of Metropolitans' best players, Jordan McRae, had been ejected due to a couple of technical fouls in the third quarter. Metropolitans had 2 more technical fouls called early in the fourth quarter, one on head coach Vincent Collet and the other on Lahaou Konate, which allowed Vytenis Lipkevicius to give Lietkabelis a 57-58 lead. Metropolitans talked things over in a timeout and found a go-to guy in Hunter, who stepped up with a dunking exhibition. 

Hunter picked up a good pass from Lahaou Konate to throw it down with authority. Next, Will Cummings collected a steal and fed Hunter for a one-handed fastbreak slam. On the next play, Ginat collected a steal and Hunter dribbled all the way to detonate the dunk.

Hunter Ginat are Metropolitans' clutch players

The momentum remained with the hosts as Will Cummings sank a floater and Hunter got a steal and dunked at the other end. Another steal by Ginat helped Konate to another easy basket. All of a sudden, Metropolitans led 69-61. Lietkabelis got within 69-64, however, and Ginat took over with an off-balance put-back basket and a tough, one-handed fallaway jumper off the dribble. 

Hunter finished the game with 18 points and Ginat had 10. The twosome did their best work when it mattered most, combining for 16 of Metropolitans' 19 fourth-quarter points. 

Tomer Ginat - Boulogne Metropolitans 92 (photo Dragana Stjepanovic - Partizan) - EC21-RS21

Boulogne Metropolitans 92 v Lietkabelis Panevezys (2022-04-06T18:30:00.000Z)

Umana Reyer Venice finished the regular just like it hoped it would, going on the road to beat Group B winner Gran Canaria 69-76 on Wednesday night.

Reyer shows 'next-man-up' mentality

Reyer spent the majority of the game in front and even led by 10 points in the third quarter only to see Gran Canaria rally. Once the hosts took a 60-59 lead early in the fourth quarter, Reyer went on a 3-13 run capped by a triple from Valerio Mazzola.

Mazzola, who averaged just 3.7 points and 1.1 triples per game made that important shot, just like Andrea De Nicolao hit a pair of first-half triples and Bruno Cerella scored 5 points and made his defensive presence felt in the second half. There was no other way around for Reyer, since the team was missing Austin Daye, Michele Vitali and Victor Sanders; and Stefano Tonut was not ready to play.

Reyer's reserves came up big in Gran Canaria 

Reyer s reserves came up big in Gran Canaria

The biggest load was carried by point guard Jordan Theodore, who shined playing a game-high 34 minutes and collecting 16 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. Jeff Brooks led the team with a season-high 17 points.

"Today we had this mentality, next-man-up", Theodore said after the win. "And today the guys brought it."

Such a mentality and also getting a few guys back will make Reyer a dangerous playoff opponent, especially since it knows how to play away from home. Reyer has four road wins this season, including against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica and now Gran Canaria. 

Michael Bramos - Umana Reyer Venice (photo Gran Canaria) - EC21-RS18

Gran Canaria v Umana Reyer Venice (2022-04-06T19:00:00.000Z)

Turk Telekom Ankara beat Hamburg Towers 95-70 in the regular-season finale for both teams on Wednesday night.

Turk Telekom made its twos in a big win

It was the third consecutive win for Turk Telekom, which has caught nice momentum it hopes it can carry into the playoffs where it will face Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana. During the last three games, Turk Telekom allowed 73.3 points, which is down from 79.8 up to that point in the season. But where Turk Telekom really excelled in its last regular-season game was close to the rim.

The team made 69.7% of its two-point attempts and those numbers were 21 of 28 (75.0%) through the first three quarters. What was exceptional was that four different players did not miss a single two-point shot on Wednesday night.

Alex Perez was perfect from the field against Hamburg

Alex Perez finished the game 7-for-7 on twos, Berk Demir was 3-for-3, Anthony Clemmons made 2-of-2 and Octavius Ellis made his only attempt. 

Even though Turk Telekom ranks eighth in two-point accuracy this season (54.6%), it already had two games this season where it shot better than 70.0% on two-point shots. Repeating such shooting performances and being as efficient as the team was against Hamburg can go long a way towards succeeding in the elimination rounds.

Dorukhan Engindeniz - Turk Telekom Ankara (photo Turk Telekom) - EC21-RS18

Turk Telekom Ankara v Hamburg Towers (2022-04-06T17:00:00.000Z)

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana needed a strong start in its Round 18 showdown against Promitheas Patras. And Jacob Pullen and Yogi Ferrell provided that. 

Cedevita's great first half sealed the deal 

Ferrell got Cedevita going with a three-pointer and a driving layup that put his team ahead, 5-7. Pullen soon buried a three-pointer and then Ferrell followed a layup with a shot from downtown. By the time Pullen buried his second shot from beyond the arc, Cedevita had taken off, 11-20.

Pullen and Ferrell had already reached double digits in scoring when Cedevita broke the game open, 15-32, early in the second quarter. At halftime, Cedevita dominated all aspects of the game, with four players with a double-digit PIR: Pullen (15), Ferrell (14), Zoran Dragic (10) and Zach Auguste (10).

Jacob Pullen, Yogi Ferrell Highlights vs. Promitheas Patras, 04/06/2022

Pullen Ferrell step up for Cedevita

At the break, Cedevita had made 13 of 18 two-pointers (72.2%), 6 of 13 shots from downtown (46.1%), outrebounded Promitheas 16-22 and dished 11 first-half assists. Promitheas had made only 2 of 11 shots from beyond the arc (18.2%) and trailed 31-48 at halftime.

Cedevita ended up registering a 67-88 road victory to lock in third place in Group B. Pullen had game-highs of 19 points and 6 assists, Marko Radovanovic scored 12 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and Ferrell had 14 points. The bottom line is that Cedevita grabbed its eighth consecutive win in the EuroCup, is undefeated in the competition since late January, and has plenty of momentum heading into the most decisive games of the season.

Zach Auguste - Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (photo Konstantinos Katsiras - Patras) - EC21-RS18

Promitheas Patras v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2022-04-06T16:30:00.000Z)

Zach Leday recorded a double-double of 20 points and 13 boards in helping Partizan NIS Belgrade escape with a 63-79 victory from Trento.

LeDay’s record night boosted Partizan in Trento

Despite the 16-point difference at the end of the game, Partizan did not have an easy time against Dolomiti Energia Trento in the last round of the regular season. The hosts enjoyed slim margins in the first quarter and rallied back from a 13-point second-quarter deficit to go ahead 53-52 late in the third. It was LeDay who showed up each time Partizan was at risk.

He was the one to close the first quarter with a bucket that granted Partizan a 15-18 edge and continued rocking in the second with another 10 points that allowed his team to reach halftime comfortably in charge, 29-37. Later, when the hosts came back in the third quarter, LeDay contributed 4 points in a 0-9 run that calmed his team, 53-61, entering the fourth.

Zach Leday | Round 18 MVP | 7DAYS EuroCup

At the end of the game, LeDay finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in just 25:44 on the court for a career-high PIR of 30. He also signed off a career-best in rebounding and tied his top mark in scoring. 

“It was good to get a win, we needed to continue to win,” he said after the game. “We came together as a team today on the road, against an individually talented team. We followed the game plan and it helped us.”

Zach Leday - Partizan NIS Belgrade (photo Trento) - EC21-RS18

Dolomiti Energia Trento v Partizan NIS Belgrade (2022-04-06T18:00:00.000Z)

Lietkabelis finished the game with 25 turnovers, 9 of them in the fourth quarter. It was the most turnovers Lietkabelis had committed all season; its previous high was 20 in Round 14 against Partizan NIS Belgrade. It was also the club's second-most in a EuroCup game; Lietkabelis previously had 26 against Khimki Moscow Region on February 1, 2017. The 25 turnovers also tied for the second-most in the EuroCup this season.

Telling numbers: Metropolitans scored 33 points off turnovers

Jordan McRae - Boulogne Metropolitans 92 (photo Olivier dAlmeida - Metropolitans) - EC21-RS16

Reyer lost the rebounding battle 38-32, had fewer assists (19-16) and made just 30.6% of its shots from long range compared to Gran Canaria's 35.7%. Reyer made 8 triples from 26 attempts, compared to the hosts' 5-for-14 shooting. 

Reyer took 5 more field goals than Gran Canaria, which was a product of the visitors committing only 6 turnovers while forcing 13 by Gran Canaria. Reyer had no turnovers in the second quarter and just 1 in the fourth. Gran Canaria, on the other hand, was forced into 9 turnovers in the second half and that played a key role in the final outcome.

Umana Reyer Venice pulled out an important 69-76 road win at Gran Canaria to finish the regular season on a much-needed winning note.

Telling numbers: (No) turnovers make the difference for Reyer

AJ Slaughter - Gran Canaria (photo Gran Canaria) - EC21-RS18