Buducnost VOLI Podgorica remained atop the Group B standings by downing Frutti Extra Bursaspor 83-82 in the Montenegrin capital on Wednesday. Buducnost improved to 7-2, while Bursaspor dropped to 3-6 at the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season's halfway mark.

Buducnost rallies past Bursaspor, 83-82

Vladimir Micov led the winners with 20 points and Willie Reed added 18 points, 12 rebounds and a game-saving block at the buzzer. D.J. Seeley scored 14 points and Justin Cobbs 12 for Buducnost. Allerik Freeman led Bursaspor with 22 points, David Dudzinski and Derek Needham each scored 17 and Onuralp Bitim had 15 for the visitors. Bursaspor buried its first 6 attempts from downtown, as Needham, Bitim and Kevarrius Hayes gave the visitors an 18-29 margin after 10 minutes. Reed and Micov got Buducnost within 27-29, but Dudzinski and an outstanding Freeman helped Bursaspor restore a 42-52 lead at halftime. Freeman and Needham kept pushing the guests after the break, getting help from Andrew Andrews to boost Bursaspor's margin to 58-73 after 30 minutes. Micov had 9 points in an 11-0 run that brought Buducnost back to life. Seeley nailed the go-ahead three-point play with 4.2 seconds left. Freeman had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but Reed blocked his shot. 

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Bitim got Bursaspor going with a three-pointer, but Justin Cobbs and Marko Jagodic-Kuridza gave Buducnost a 4-3 lead. Reed's stepped up with a tip-in before Needham buried back-to-back triples and Freeman also struck from downtown in a 0-11 run that boosted the visitors' lead to 6-14. Bitim insisted from beyond the arc and Needham added a put-back layup for a double-digit Bursaspor lead, 8-19. Afte Needham sank his third three-pointer, Cobbs and Seeley carried the hosts to within 12-22. Hayes followed an alley-oop layup with a three-point play and Andrews added a buzzer-beating basket, keeping Bursaspor comfortably ahead, 18-29, after 10 minutes.

Seeley hit a jumper early in the second quarter and Micov followed a running hook with a three-pointer to give Buducnost hope at 25-29. Reed scored in the low post to cap a 9-0 run. Dudzinski made a corner triple and Freeman added a layup in transition for a 27-34 Bursaspor margin. Seeley and Micov kept pushing the hosts but Freeman and Needham each struck from downtown for a 32-40 score. Freeman added to the lead with a wild four-point play. Reed rescued his team with consecutive dunks and Seeley added a driving layup, but Freeman and Dudzinski restored a 42-50 Bursaspor lead. Bitim dunked to fix the halftime score at 42-52. 

Reed scored again right after the break and Cobbs hit a turnaround jumper, but Bitim and Dudzinski each struck from beyond the arc for a 46-58 Bursaspor lead. Bitim dunked and Freeman buried a three-pointer in transition that broke the game open, 48-64. Donatas Tarolis followed a put-back basket with a triple in a 7-0 run that brought the hosts within 55-64. Andrews joined the three-point shootout, getting help from Freeman and Needham to set a 58-73 Bursaspor lead at the end of the third quarter.

Dudzinski hit a close jumper early in the fourth quarter, but Buducnost found a go-to guy in Micov, who scored 9 points in an 11-0 run that brought the hosts as close as 69-75. Dudzinski and Seeley traded floaters and then Reed buried a jumper to make it 73-77 with less than 4 minutes remaining. Jagodic-Kuridza took over with a put-back basket, but Dudzinski gave Bursaspor fresh air at 75-80. Petar Popovic answered with a driving layup and struck from downtown to tie it, 80-80, with 1:25 to go. Bitim and Seeley traded missed shots, but Freeman scored in penetration for an 80-82 Bursaspor lead with 11.1 seconds left. Seeley answered with a critical three-point play that completed Buducnost's comeback, 83-82, with 4.2 seconds remaining. Bursaspor had a final chance to win the game but Reed blocked Freeman's baseline jumper at the buzzer. 

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

Dennis Seeley - Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (photo Buducnost) - EC21

Three-pointers were clearly the story of the game - and actually at both ends. Lietkabelis drained a club record 19 three-pointers at 52.8% accuracy. The team attempted 36 shots from long range. Lietkabelis’s previous best was 14 triples against Partizan NIS Belgrade in Round 5 earlier this season. 

Three-pointers tell the story - at both ends

The shooting percentage was also a team best, up from 52.0% in a Top 16 game against ratiopharm Ulm in February 2017. Metropolitans made just 3 of 14 three-pointers, for a nightmarish 21.4%. The French team’s fewest three-pointers made was 2 in Round 7 this season against Joventut Badalona. Metropolitans’ shooting woes took away its biggest advantage in the game as the guests out-rebounded Lietkabelis 38-23, including 18 offensive rebounds. But the three-point shooting decided the game.

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

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

Lietkabelis went into the game missing a lot of firepower with the absences of Gediminas Orelik and Djordje Gagic, who ranked first and third respectively 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.

Giedraitis makes up for missing leaders

They made up 31.1% of Lietkabelis’ scoring so far and 25.1% of rebounding. One of the main players to make up for that was Dovydas Giedraitis, who shined for the first time since making his season debut in Round 6. He had totaled 14 points with 2 three-pointers in his first three EuroCup games and then exploded for 25 points with 5 three-pointers against Metropolitans.

Dovydas Giedraitis - Lietkabelis Panevezys (photo Karolio Kavolelio - Lietkabelis) - EC21

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

Post-Game Quotes: Lietkabelis 96-89 Metropolitans


### Nenad Canak, Lietkabelis Panevezys
“It’s obvious we won tonight because we shot incredibly. 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. In a normal game, with a normal percentage of shots, we wouldn’t win. Now I am happy, I am proud of my players. We played without two important guys and we won a very important game for us. This is not how I want to win the games. It’s not possible to make them continually.”



### Vincent Collet, Boulogne Metropolitans 92
“We are disappointed. Congratulations to Lietkabelis. They had a good game despite having two main players missing. They played very hard, very smart. In the second half, we were better. In the first half, we were very slow, no aggressiveness on defense. We had a good third quarter but unfortunately, they came back in the end. After that, they made very, very big shots in the fourth quarter. We couldn’t stop them and they won the game.”



### Kristupas Zemaitis, Lietkabelis Panevezys
“We’re a shooting team. Some times we miss, some times we make them. When we make them we are so dangerous. The three-pointers led us to the win tonight because we didn’t box out well - in the second half too. With some lucky shots, we survived this game.”


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

It was a career night for Metropolitans’ big man Miralem Halilovic, who poured in 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go with 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal for an index rating of 28. The 30-year-old big man set career bests in points, rebounds and PIR - all while playing just 21:42 minutes. 

Career night for Halilovic

The Bosnia and Herzegovina center has produced some good games this season, hitting in double figures three times previously and five games grabbing at least 6 rebounds in his second season in the EuroCup.

Miralem Halilovic - Boulogne Metropolitans 92 (photo Karolio Kavolelio - Lietkabelis) - EC21

Lietkabelis Panevezys made a club record 19 three-pointers and managed to hold on for a 96-89 victory over Boulogne Metropolitans 92 in Group A. Lietkabelis opened a 10-point lead in the first quarter but lost the advantage immediately thereafter. Metropolitans built a 9-point cushion in the third quarter but the game was even after 30 minutes. Lietkabelis used the long ball to build an 8-point gap down the stretch and prevailed to improve to 4-5. 

Lietkabelis uses three-point attack to beat Metropolitans, 96-89

Dovydas Giedraitis drained 5 three-pointers in scoring 25 points while Kaspars Berzins had 5 triples and 19 points, Kristupas Zemaitis scored 18 points and Panagiotis Kalaitzakis added 12 points. Lietkabelis, which was missing leaders Djordje Gagic and Gediminas Orelik, had lost its last two games and four of the last five. Metropolitans fell to 4-6, including a 1-5 mark away from home. Miralem Halilovic paced the French club with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Will Cummings had 16 points and 5 assists, Tomer Ginat scored 12, Tony Crocker 11 and Vince Hunter chipped in 10 points in the loss. 

Berzins opened the scoring for the hosts and Ginat had two scores at the other end to keep Metropolitans close at 6-4. Berzins and Giedraitis both hit three-pointers in a 12-4 spurt as Lietkabelis opened a double-digit lead, 18-8. Crocker answered from deep and Cummings had 4 points in a 0-11 run over nearly 4 minutes to pull ahead 18-19. Nikola Radicevic beat the quarter buzzer with a triple and the hosts led 23-21 after 10 minutes.

Halilovic scored the first two baskets of the second quarter to put Metropolitans back ahead. Kalaitzakis and Steeve Ho-You-Fat swapped triples and Crocker made it 26-30. Four David Michineau points extended the gap to 29-34. Giedraits and Zemaitis drained back-to-back three-pointers as Lietkabelis nosed back ahead and Zemaitis hit another triple for a 42-40 lead. And Vytenis Lipkevicius beat the halftime buzzer with a halfcourt heave and the hosts led 47-44 at the break. 

Metropolitans had the better start to the second half with the first 9 points - including 5 points from Halilovic. Lietkabelis needed nearly 4 minutes to finally score and a Michineau three-point play had the visitors up 49-58. Berzins and Giedraits punched back with back-to-back three-pointers and Lietkabelis came within 55-58. The hosts once again saw got triples with Berzins and Lipkevicius hitting from deep and the game was knotted 64-64 after 30 minutes.

Berzins drained back-to-back triples to start the final stanza and Zemaitis and Giedraitis hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions as the lead grew to 79-72, prompting a Metropolitan timeout. Giedraitis added another triple after the break and Lietkabelis led 82-74. Halilovic powered Metropolitans to within 86-82. Zemaitis punched back with a triple, but Bandja Sy hit a three-pointer and the guests came within 89-87 with 78 seconds left. Kalaitzakis would not let Lietkabelis lose as he made a crucial three-pointer at the end of the shot clock with 46 seconds and Giedraitis locked up the win for good with 2 free throws with 5.3 seconds remaining. 

Kristupas Zemaitis - Lietkabelis Panevezys (photo Karolio Kavolelio - Lietkabelis) EC21

Joventut Badalona leads the 2021-22 7DAYS EuroCup in two-point shooting percentage (58.8%) and needs to keep that effectiveness against a high-rhythm squad like Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar. Joventut also ranks second in assists (21.1 apg.) and sharing the ball and connecting with its big men - Vladimir Brodziansky, Ante Tomic and Simon Birgander - is critical to balance its offense. Stopping Errick McCollum should be important and Joventut relies on Pau Ribas and Guillem Vives to do so.

Keys to victory: Joventut vs. Lokomotiv

Lokomotiv should keep running its offense through McCollum and Johnathan Motley, the two top scorers in the EuroCup this season, who combine for 45.1 points per night. Lokomotiv has committed 12.6 turnovers per night, which is a low number considering it plays transition offense most of the game, attempting 42.4 two-point shots and 24.0 shots from downtown per night. Preventing Tomic from sharing the ball from the high post could also be one of the biggest keys to this game to force Joventut into more one-on-one situations.

Joventut Badalona v Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (2022-01-12T20:00:00.000Z)

Pau Ribas - Joventut Badalona - (photo David Grau - Joventut) EC21

The competition's top scorer faces one of the best on-the-ball defenders in the EuroCup when Joventut Badalona welcomes Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in Round 9.

Marquee matchup: Joventut's Ribas vs. Lokomotiv's McCollum

Lokomotiv's Errick McCollum has been simply unstoppable over the last three games, averaging 29.7 points on very good shooting percentages (60.0% 2FG, 56.3% 3FG, 89.7% FT), 6.7 assists and a PIR of 35.7. He must use his aggressiveness and quickness against Pau Ribas, a two-time EuroCup champion. Ribas is an elite defender but also helps Joventut in many ways, averaging 11.2 points and 5.2 assists in less than 22 minutes per night.

In a battle of powerhouses in Group A, Joventut Badalona (6-2) hosts Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar (6-2) on Wednesday.

Joventut, Lokomotiv fight for first place

These teams face each other for the first time since 2006 when Lokomotiv was still in Rostov. Joventut has won four of its last five games, led by Vladimir Brodziansky (12.5 ppg.), Joel Parra (11.9 ppg.) and Ante Tomic (11.1 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 4.1 apg.). Lokomotiv has lost its last two road games and is looking to bounce back. Errick McCollum (22.8 ppg.) has been its top scorer until now, followed by Johnathan Motley (22.3 ppg.) and Darius Thompson (11.6 ppg.). It will be a top-class showdown at Palau Olimpic de Badalona with the winner assured at least a share of first place in Group A midway through the regular season.

Derek Willis - Joventut Badalona - (photo David Grau - Joventut) EC21