Things did not look good for Buducnost VOLI Podgorica at the end of the third quarter in its Round 9 showdown against Frutti Extra Bursaspor. Bursaspor was dominating almost all aspects of the game and held a 15-point lead, 58-73, after 30 minutes. Buducnost was without star guard Justin Cobbs, who was called for two technical fouls soon after halftime and was now sitting in the locker room.

Reed powers Buducnost to comeback win

It looks like it was a matter of time before Bursaspor sealed the outcome, but Buducnost decided to fight back and its hard effort paid off in one of the most exciting finishes in the 7DAYS EuroCup this season.

Buducnost needed a go-to guy and found one in Vladimir Micov, who caught fire early in the fourth quarter. Micov scored 3 inside baskets and hit 3 of 3 free throws for 9 points in an 11-0 run that brought his team back to life, 69-75. Even so, David Dudzinski stepped up big for the guests, who kept a 75-80 margin with under 3 minutes remaining.

With Cobbs out of the game, the Montenegrin powerhouse needed a little extra help from its guards. Petar Popovic, one of the youngest team captains in competition history, provided the spark Buducnost needed. He banked in a running shot and soon added a critical three-pointer from the left wing to tie the game, 80-80, with more than a minute still remaining.

Bursaspor was not done and Allerik Freeman took over with a wild driving layup that gave his team an 80-82 lead with 11.1 seconds left. Buducnost called timeout and looked for D.J. Seeley who attacked the basket and hit a big shot off a spin move. He was fouled and calmly made his free throw attempt, giving Buducnost its first lead of the game since 6-3.

Down 83-82, Bursaspor called timeout to prepare its final offense with 4.2 seconds left. It was a well-executed play but Willie Reed took Freeman one-on-one and blocked his mid-range shot from the baseline at the buzzer to let Buducnost celebrate an outstanding comeback win. Reed finished the game with 18 points on 7-for-12 two-point and 4-for-4 free-throw shooting plus 12 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season.

"We put ourselves in a hole coming out in the third quarter but we found a way to will ourselves to a W with some defensive stops late in the fourth quarter and we played Buducnost basketball," Reed said after the game. "We always believe, every game we step on the floor, that we can win no matter how many points we are down. We just have that much trust in each other to be able to win games."

Resilience, determination and intensity allowed Buducnost to win the game. The Montenegrin powerhouse outrebounded Bursaspor 44-25. Buducnost pulled down 17 offensive rebounds and to just 5 for Bursaspor. At the end of the game, head coach Aleksandar Dzikic pointed out the importance of this win and how it happened.

"We were deep down, deep down. We came back and, on top of everything, without Cobbs in the end. Congrats to the guys, they did a great job," Dzikic said. "This is very important for us. If Bursaspor had beat us, they would have deserved it, obviously, but we found a way to win. This is so big for us I can't explain."

Buducnost reached the Regular Season's halfway mark with a 7-2 record in Group B. Four of those wins came by 4 points or less, which could be an important factor when more important showdowns take place.

Willie Reed - Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (photo Jacques Cormareche - Bourg) - EC21

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica v Frutti Extra Bursaspor (2022-01-12T18:00:00.000Z)

Lietkabelis Panevezys found a different way to win on Wednesday as it set a club record for three-pointers while also getting drastically out-rebounded - going against how the Lithuanian club has played thus far this season.



Lietkabelis went away from bread and butter for shootout win

Lietkabelis knocked down a club record 19 three-pointers in prevailing 96-89 in a shootout at home over Boulogne Metropolitans 92. Lietkabelis’s previous best from long range was 14 triples against Partizan NIS Belgrade in Round 5 earlier this season. It was also the seventh time in EuroCup history that a team has made 19 three-pointers - just 1 triple off the all-time competition record accomplished twice. Lietkabelis connected on 52.8% of its attempts for a new team record as well, besting the 52.0% from the Top 16 against ratiopharm Ulm in February 2017.

Dovydas Giedraitis hit 5 three-pointers in scoring 25 points while Kaspars Berzins also drained 5 triples for 19 points and Kristupas Zemaitis connected four times from deep in picking up 18 points. Giedraitis had scored just 14 points and made 2 three-pointers this season coming into the game and Berzins’s 5 triples matched his season output from long range thus far.

“We’re a shooting team. Sometimes we miss, sometimes we make them. When we make them we are so dangerous. The three-pointers led us to the win tonight,” Zemaitis said. “With some lucky shots, we survived this game.”

Lietkabelis head coach Nenad Canak knew why his team had grabbed the victory: “It’s obvious we won tonight because we shot incredibly … In a normal game, with normal percentage of shots, we wouldn’t win,” he said.

This was anything but a normal game for Lietkabelis.

Not only did the team shoot 19.9% better than its season average of 32.9% on three-pointers coming into the contest - ranking 15th in the EuroCup - but it also uncommonly struggled to rebound the ball.

Lietkabelis has been one of the premier rebounding teams in the competition, grabbing 6.7 boards more than its opponents per game while also being tied for the EuroCup lead with 12.6 offensive rebounds. Metropolitans, however, corralled 38 rebounds to just 23 for Lietkabelis, which also picked up only 8 offensive rebounds. And Metropolitans turned its 18 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points to just 7 for Lietkabelis.

“This is not my philosophy. Tonight we made all the shots but we must do a better job in other areas - we lost the rebounds by 15,” Canak said. “This is not how I want to win the games. It’s not possible to make [the three-pointers] continually.”

One other major fact to note is that Lietkabelis was playing without two key players, leading scorer Gediminas Orelik and Djordje Gagic, who ranks third in scoring for the team. In the first eight games the duo combined for 24.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 22.8 in performance index rating. Orelik also was Lietkabelis’s top three-point shooting threat, having hit 26 of the team’s 73 made three-pointers - or 35.6%.

But all of the team’s tendencies went out the window for this one for Canak. And lucky for him and Lietkabelis supporters, the team ended up getting the win.



Vytenis Lipkevicius 2- Lietkabelis Panevezys (photo Karolio Kavolelio - Lietkabelis) - EC21

Lietkabelis Panevezys v Boulogne Metropolitans 92 (2022-01-12T17:00:00.000Z)

In just his ninth 7DAYS EuroCup game ever, Hamburg Towers swingman Caleb Homesley accomplished what just 25 players in competition history had done previously by posting a performance index rating of 45 to become the MVP for Round 9.

Round 9 MVP: Caleb Homesley, Hamburg Towers

Homesley's PIR topped all players this week and matched the highest single-game total in the last five years of EuroCup play. He also tied the season's highest three-point total by hitting 7 of 10 shots from downtown on the way to 29 points while adding 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and a blocked shot. He is also the first Hamburg player ever to win the MVP honor. Round 9's next-best performers came from the same game. Vladimir Brodziansky was everywhere in Joventut Badalona's 100-77 win over Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, finishing with 31 points for a career-high PIR of 36. Lokomotiv's Errick McCollum came next with 23 points for a 29 PIR and was tied by two other performers coming from a single game. Willie Reed led Buducnost VOLI Podgorica at home with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds, victimizing Frutti Extra Bursaspor in an 83-82 thriller despite Derrick Needham's 17 points, 7 assists and 3 steals for the visitors. Their shared 29 PIR was a career high for Needham.

### Individual highs: Vladimir Brodziansky, Joventut, 31 points

Brodziansky's career-high 31 points for Joventut topped all Round 9 scorers while McCollum of Lokomotiv has the highest average for the season, 22.8 points. The top rebounder of the week was Buducnost's Reed with 12 boards. Jordan Caroline of Dolomiti Energia Trento leads the rebounding charts with 7.9 per game. Alessandro Pajola of Virtus Segafredo Bologna dished a career-high 9 assists. His injured teammate, Milos Teodosic, is the season leader at 8.1 per game. Anthony Clemmons of Turk Telekom Ankara had 5 steals, the most in Round 9. Bursaspor's Needham averages a league-best 2.2 steals. Round 9's best shot blocker was Balsa Koprivica with 4 while Octavius Ellis of Turk Telekom is the best of the season so far with 2.0 per game.

Caleb Homesley - Hamburg Towers (Photo Marvin Contessi) - EC21

Hamburg Towers v Turk Telekom Ankara (2022-01-11T18:30:00.000Z)

Joventut Badalona grabbed its third consecutive victory in Group A by topping Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 100-77 at Palau Olimpic de Badalona on Wednesday. Joventut improved to 7-2 in the standings while Lokomotiv dropped to 6-3.

Brodziansky leads Joventut in rout of Lokomotiv, 100-77

Vladimir Brodziansky led the winners with a career-high 31 points, Pau Ribas added 18, Ferran Bassas 12, Joel Parra 11 and Guillem Vives 10 for Joventut. Errick McCollum led Lokomotiv with 23 points, Stanislav Ilnitskiy added 14, Johnathan Motley 13 and Darius Thompson 10 scored for the visitors. Joventut led 50-46 at halftime before the hosts found a go-to guy in Brodziansky, who scored 12 third-quarter points. Parra and Ribas also stepped up to break the game open, 80-58, at the end of the quarter as Lokomotiv never recovered. 

Lokomotiv's Ilnitskiy reaches 100 EuroCup games

He made his EuroCup debut with Khimki Moscow Region in the 2013-14 campaign and helped it win the competition in 2015. Ilnitskiy played 61 of his 100 EuroCup games with Lokomotiv and has a 73-27 record in the competition with 327 points and 203 rebounds until now. Two other former Lokomotiv players reached 100 EuroCup games: Dmitry Khvostov, who ranks third overall with 133 appearances, and Vladimir Ivlev (102). 

Stanislav Ilnitskiy - Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar - (photo David Grau - Joventut) EC21

Joventut Badalona send a message that echoed all around the 7DAYS EuroCup by downing Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 100-77 in Round 9 of the Regular Season. Joventut's defense made the difference in this game; Lokomotiv made only 21 of 43 two-point shots (48.8% 2FG) and 3 of 15 from downtown (20.0% 3FG). 

Defense, focus lead Joventut past Lokomotiv

Joventut had much better shooting percentages (55.9% 2FG, 41.9% 3FG) and made 23 of 27 free throws (85.2% FT) and committed just 11 turnovers in what was another big key to this game. Lokomotiv committed 17 turnovers at Palau Olimpic de Badalona. 

Pep Busquets - Joventut Badalona - (photo David Grau - Joventut) EC21

Joventut Badalona registered a 100-77 home victory against Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in Round 9 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season. No-one did better than big man Vladimir Brodziansky, who had a EuroCup career-best performance.

Brodzianskiy steps up in key moment

He finished the game with 31 points, a new career-high, on 13-of-14 free-throw shooting. Brodziansky added 5 rebounds, an assist, a block and 7 fouls drawn for a PIR of 36. He had 12 points in the third quarter, in which Ante Tomic left the game with a double technical foul, to give Joventut an 80-58 margin after 30 minutes. 

Vladimir Brodziansky 2- Joventut Badalona - (photo David Grau - Joventut) EC21

This is what the protagonists of the game had to say after such a close deal down the stretch.

Post-Game Quotes: Joventut 100-77 Lokomotiv


### Carles Duran, Joventut Badalona
"Great victory against a very good team. We had a bad start on defense in the first quarter but in the second quarter, with Ferran [Bassas] on the court, the team played better and we played incredible basketball in the third quarter, on offense and defense. We played good defense against the best offense in the EuroCup. Only in the first quarter, they scored more than 20 points. We did excellent work on defense, especially against McCollum and Motley. It is true that there was a moment in which Darius Thompson hurt us but they have 3-4 EuroLeague-level players. On offense, we were able to find out advantages and through our defense, we found very easy points and this is the way we like to play. I am happy, especially because of our defense, we managed to hold the best offense in the EuroCup to 77 points. Their lowest-scoring night until now was, I think, 85 points. We have the feeling we played tough on defense. The team did an excellent job."



### Branko Maksimovic, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
"It is a very, very bad impression because we only beat our opponent in the first quarter, and did something out of our game plan for tonight. In the second and fourth quarters, we looked so bad in some situations on defense and offense. The pause we had after the game against Partizan, 21 days without games, put us without game rhythm. Our VTB League game against Astana got canceled and that didn't help us to be ready for this game, now I can say that. We must try to figure out this situation, to look to each other, to watch video and be ready for the next EuroCup game in Andorra. It is a tough loss for us. We didn't expect this. We came here to try to take the win home or be competitive, but we only showed potential of what we have in the first quarter."



### Vladimir Brodziansky, Joventut Badalona
"We did a great job. We talked in the locker room that we had to play harder, play our defense, and we did a great job. We executed and I think we played a great game. I just try to help the team win. I played hard and my teammates found me in great positions. I just had the job to finish it. They are a great team but we played hard. We made some shots, they didn't and we played great defense."


Darius Thompson 2- Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar - (photo David Grau - Joventut) EC21

Post-Game Quotes: Partizan 97-65 Trento


### Zeljko Obradovic, Partizan NIS Belgrade
“They came here without some very important players, as we are also missing some in our team. I hope that everybody stays healthy and that’s the first thing we have in our minds. We played serious from the beginning, as we did in the previous games so congratulations to the players and thanks to all the fans that came here to support the team.”



### Emanuele Molin, Dolomiti Energia Trento
“It was a tough night for us. It was the second game we had to play without three of our foreigners, so we struggled a lot from the beginning against the intensity and the quality of the game of Partizan. During the second and the third quarter we tried to get some confidence and we raised the level of our defense and we were capable of moving the ball and making some open hosts that let us tie the score in those two quarters. I’m a little bit disappointed because at the end, I think my team, let’s say, wasted all the good things it did before. For sure they were totally empty. It’s the toughest moment of the season since its beginning. We must survive, we must try to catch some good things, like our young players and looking forward. It’s a moment in which we cannot know what is going to happen tomorrow. For us, playing in this kind of condition is difficult. Congratulations to Partizan because, anyway, they played with the focus and intensity and they deserved to get the win with this kind of big lead.”



### Kevin Punter, Partizan NIS Belgrade
“I’m very pleased [about this win]. We were able to chill the four quarters, we felt good, and took care of the business early. We did what we were supposed to do, and it was a convincing win. Now it’s about staying healthy and keep on pushing. We got to just keep playing and get better every day. [The atmosphere inside the team] is great, definitely, we got to keep it up.”


Partizan NIS Belgrade v Dolomiti Energia Trento (2022-01-12T19:30:00.000Z)

Rodions Kurucs - Partizan NIS Belgrade (photo Dragana Stjepanovic - Partizan) - EC21