Partizan NIS Belgrade led by as many as 27 points in the fourth quarter before settling for an 87-72 win over visiting Boulogne Metropolitans 92 on Wednesday night.

LeDay, Koprivica, paced Partizan in runaway win

The visitors had a good start to the game and led 14-17 after the first quarter, which is when Zach LeDay gave the hosts a boost they needed.

LeDay opened the second with a corner triple and then added a second-chance three-pointer to put Partizan in front, 25-24. When Metropolitan pulled even, his driving dunk and another triple fueled a quarter-ending 16-4 spurt that opened a 43-31 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, it was Balsa Koprivica's time to shine. The 21-year old center already had 6 points, 3 offensive boards and 2 blocks in the first quarter, but he did not waste any time getting in on the action in the second half, too. 

He strung together 6 points midway through the third quarter, capping an 11-0 run that opened a 61-38 lead and Partizan never looked back. Koprivica had 6 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block in the third quarter alone, and finished the night with 14 points and 13 rebounds, both personal highs, as well as 3 blocks.

As for LeDay, after scoring 13 points in the second quarter, he finished with 15 points in 16 minutes on the floor, having made 2 of 4 two-pointers and 3 of 4 triples as Partizan celebrated a big win.

Balsa Koprivica 2- Partizan NIS Belgrade (photo Dragana Stjepanovic - Partizan) - EC21-RS21

Partizan NIS Belgrade v Boulogne Metropolitans 92 (2022-03-16T19:30:00.000Z)

Six Valencia players tried a total of 8 three-pointers in the first quarter, but only Xavi Lopez-Arostegui found the bottom of the net as Reyer staked an 11-22 lead that the hosts had to fight to recover all night.

Klemen Prepelic found his rhythm with 3 triples in the second quarter, helping trim the difference to 30-33, but he would not hit from downtown after that while Reyer reclaimed a double-digit lead, 43-53, in the third quarter. Valencia was still stuck on 5 triples made with 14 minutes left to play before Martin Hermannsson hit his first in 4 tries, which proved to be the icebreaker, as he didn’t miss again.

Lopez-Arostegui followed suit and Mike Tobey copied them on the first shot of the fourth quarter for Valencia's first lead all game, 67-64. When Reyer went up again by 70-75 with 6 minutes left, young Guillem Ferrando was left open on the arc and made the visitors pay. Hermannsson did the same twice more in the last 3 minutes, with his third triple of the night coming with 1:27 left and giving Valencia an 81-80 lead that stood up until the finish. 

In the end, six Valencia players shared in 11-of-35 shooting from the arc, which at 31.4% wasn't stellar accuracy, but came with the right timing to get a tough job done.

Valencia Basket's slow start against Umana Reyer Venice on Wednesday included very cold outside shooting on its home rims at La Fonteta. But at game's end, key three-pointers pushed the hosts over the top to an 86-80 victory.

Valencia's shooters found rhythm just in time

Martin Hermannsson - Valencia Basket (photo Miguel Angel Polo - Valencia) - EC21-RS21

Valencia Basket v Umana Reyer Venice (2022-03-16T19:30:00.000Z)

Emanuel Andrea Apicella beat everyone else in Round 15 with his team Chacholandia. He had a Fantasy Challenge score of 196.15.

Emanuel had the following lineup: team captain Jaron Blossomgame of ratiopharm Ulm, Ante Tomic of Joventut Badalona, Zach LeDay of Partizan NIS Belgrade, Travis Trice of Slask Wroclaw and Andrew Andrews of Frutti Extra Bursaspor as starters, Caleb Homesley of Hamburg Towers as sixth man and Nikos Rogkavopoulos of Promitheas Patras, Artem Pustovyi of Gran Canaria, Gediminas Orelik of Lietkabelis Panevezys and Petar Popovic of Buducnost VOLI Podgorica as bench players, as well as Aleksandar Dzikic of Buducnost as head coach. As his prize for finishing first in Round 15, Emanuel wins a free subscription to Euroleague TV for the 2022-23 season!

The leader of the [EuroCup Fantasy Challenge](https://eurocupfantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/es/home) overall standings stands strong, as Daniel Gomes stays at the top with his team Lisboa Tugas which has 2744.47 points.

Trades are now open for Round 16. Remember, three trades are allowed before each round until the end of the regular season, and you can also trade your head coach.

The first games in Round 16, Turk Telekom Ankara vs. Dolomiti Energia Trento and Lietkabelis Panevezys vs. MoraBanc Andorra, are scheduled to tip off on Tuesday, March 22 at 18:00 CET, and thus mark next round's deadline.

Make new teams now or improve your existing ones and try to become our next round winner!

7DAYS EuroCup fans, we have a new winner in the EuroCup Fantasy Challenge!


EuroCup Fantasy Challenge Round 15 winner

Partizan NIS Belgrade registered an 87-72 win over visiting Boulogne Metropolitans 92 with one stat clearly standing out.

Telling numbers: Partizan dominated the boards

Partizan and Metropolitans had similar shooting percentages on Wednesday night at the legendary Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. Partizan made 53.9% of its two-pointers compared to the visitors' 51.4%, but Metropolitans did a little better from long range (40.9%) to Partizan's 39.3%.

Telling numbers: Cedevita protected the paint 

The game had a fast rhythm and many missed shots. Both teams pulled down 48 rebounds in the game and neither Cedevita nor Virtus shot the ball well. Cedevita did a little bit better, however, and that made the difference. It limited Virtus to just 19-of-49 two-point shooting. That was Virtus's lowest two-point shooting percentage this season (38.8%) and its second-lowest in competition history. It previously made 35.4% inside the arc in an 85-79 home victory against Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar early in the 2020-21 campaign.

Cedevita made 44.7% of its two-point shots (17 of 38) and buried 15 of 37 three-pointers (35.1%). Virtus had a similar percentage, 34.6%, but took fewer shots from downtown (26). Cedevita committed only 7 turnovers in what was another big key to this game. It was a new season-low and tied the club record in the competition - it also had 7 turnovers against JL Bourg en Bresse last season. Virtus finished the game with 21 assists and 4 blocks, but Cedevita protected its paint very well and that led to an important win.

Virtus Segafredo Bologna v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2022-03-16T19:30:00.000Z)

Alen Omic - Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (photo Matteo Marchi - Virtus) - EC21-RS21

Hamburg Towers regained its identity of being aggressive and carried it to a big victory over Slask Wroclaw, dominating the offensive glass and setting a club record in steals in a 92-86 win at home.

Telling numbers: Hamburg dominated on the offensive glass

Hamburg took the rebounding battle 48-38 while grabbing a club-record 22 offensive boards and turning them into a 24-13 advantage on second-chance points. Maik Kotsar grabbed 5 offensive rebounds while Lukas Meisner ripped down 4 boards at that end to lead the way.

The hosts came into the game as the second-best offensive rebounding team in the competition and the 22 number was 9.8 more than the team’s average. The Hamburg strength was also a Slask weakness as the visitors allowed 11.3 offensive rebounds a game - the fifth-most in the competition.

 

Hamburg’s aggressiveness also showed with a club record 14 steals, forcing Slask into 19 turnovers leading to 19 points, while Slask only had 6 points off Hamburg’s 13 turnovers.

Hamburg Towers v Slask Wroclaw (2022-03-16T18:30:00.000Z)

Maik Kotsar - Hamburg Towers (Photo Marvin Contessi) - EC21-RS15

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica scored a 90-77 home win against Promitheas Patras in Round 15 which allowed it to punch its ticket to the knock-out rounds. 

Telling numbers: Buducnost dominated the boards 

Buducnost used its size and power in the paint to make the difference in the game. It outrebounded Promitheas 41-25, including 15 offensive boards. Promitheas only grabbed 18 defensive boards, which means Buducnost collected 45.5% of the rebounds under the guests' basket, leading to a lot of second-chance opportunities. That allowed Buducnost to make 63.0% of its two-point shots, which was one of the biggest keys to this game. Promitheas only made 24 of 46 two-point shots (52.2%).

Buducnost sank 29 shots inside the arc, a new season-high. It had previously made 28 two-pointers against Virtus Segafredo Bologna in an 86-82 home win in Round 3. Buducnost also managed its fouls really well: Promitheas only went to the foul line 6 times, its lowest mark this season. Buducnost made 14 of 16 free throws (87.5%). A balanced offense allowed Buducnost to make the difference; six players scored in double digits, led by guard Petar Popovic, who had 15 points.

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica v Promitheas Patras (2022-03-16T18:00:00.000Z)

Petar Popovic - Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (photo Luka Novakovic - Buducnost) - EC21-RS15

Partizan mts Belgrade got back to its winning ways and kept its perfect home record intact with a resounding 87-72 win over Boulogne Metropolitans 92 on Wednesday night in the Serbian capital. 

Partizan completes sweep of Metropolitans, 87-72

The win gave Partizan a sweep over Metropolitans and improved its record to 10-5 record and solidified its hold of second place in Group A. Metropolitans saw its five-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 9-6 record. Partizan took control in the second quarter by opening a double-digit halftime lead and then blew the game wide open with an 11-0 third-quarter run. Partizan led by as many as 27 points, as young center Balsa Koprivica starred with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. Zach LeDay scored 13 of his 15 points in the second quarter and Kevin Punter netted 13 in a big victory. Jordan McCrae paced Metropolitans with 18 points, Miralem Halilovic scored 12 and Will Cummings 11.

Partizan had a strong start fueled by two blocks and a pair of baskets in traffic from Koprivica to lead 10-4. Tomer Ginat answered with a three-pointer before a banked jumper from Vince Hunter and a triple from Bandja Sy helped the visitors tie it at 14-14 lead. Metropolitans finished the quarter on a 0-8 run, with McCrae's baseline jumper putting the visitors up 14-17 after 10 minutes.

 

LeDay opened the second quarter with a three-pointer, but the first one from Lahaou Konate on the other end kept the visitors in front, 19-22. LeDay made another three and Mathias Lessort scored inside to give Partizan a 27-24 edge. Konate nailed another from long range, but LeDay had a dunk and a triple before a three-pointer from Yam Madar helped open a 38-29 margin with 2 minutes left in the half. Ginat snapped an 11-2 run, but Punter's three-pointer opened the first double-digit margin of the night, giving Partizan a 43-31 halftime lead.

McCrae knocked down a triple early in the third quarter only for Punter to return the favor. After the two traded baskets driving the baseline, Aleksa Avramovic and Koprivica fueled an 11-0 run during which they scored all the points for a 61-38 lead. After Halilovic ended Metropolitans' drought, Punter made it a 24-point game and Partizan led 64-41 heading into the final quarter. 

 

Sy had a dunk and Konate then Halilovic followed with fastbreak baskets to give the visitors life, before a triple from Steeve Ho-You-Fat and another close-range basket from Halilovic cut it to 70-52. But a put-back dunk from Lessort and a corner triple from Tristan Vukcevic got the margin back over a 20-point mark. A corner three from Dallas Moore and another one from Vukcevic made it 83-56 with 3 minutes to go as the hosts were well on their way to a big win. Metropolitans only managed to cut into the deficit in the final minutes.

Partizan NIS Belgrade (photo Dragana Stjepanovic - Partizan) - EC21-RS21

Valencia Basket is the 7DAYS EuroCup's top rebounding team this season, both overall and on the offensive glass, for a good reason. So when Valencia was behind in total rebounds and losing by 11 points on its home floor to Umana Reyer Venice after one quarter on Wednesday, something had to give.

Telling numbers: Record-pace rebounders vaulted Valencia to victory

That something was Reyer's ability to keep Valencia's big dogs off the boards. Valencia turned a 10-11 disadvantage after 10 minutes into a whopping 43-33 mauling of Reyer by game's end, meaning a 33-22 difference in the last 20 minutes. The hosts would end up doubling Reyer in offensive rebounds, 18-9, with 11 of those coming in the second half. With each new possession, Valencia ate away at Reyer's big leads until taking over down the stretch to win 86-80.

The reason Valencia is the league's best in rebounds is because everyone contributes to the cause. The team's top board man, Mike Tobey, ranks just seventh with 7.1 rebounds per game and had just 4 on Wednesday. But he and seven of his teammates pulled at least 1 offensive rebound each, compared to just three Reyer players who did so. Jaime Pradilla, Bojan Dubljevic and Jasiel Rivero gave Valencia 3 second chances each on the offensive glass. All told, seven Valencia players grabbed at least 3 total rebounds, with Dubljevic's 8 leading the way.

That rebounds onslaught raised the team's average to exactly 40.0 per game, which is nothing less than the highest average for a full season in EuroCup history. 

Bojan Dubljevic 2- Valencia Basket (photo Miguel Angel Polo - Valencia) - EC21-RS21