Here we salute five players who stepped their games up a notch in Round 10 of the BKT EuroCup.
Roll call: Plenty of key Round 10 contributors
Stats
4 Mins read
Figueroa was key for Ulm
ratiopharm Ulm held on for an 83-85 win over Dolomiti Energia Trento to take another step towards a playoff berth and LJ Figueroa was one of the key contributors in a tight victory. He was the team's top scorer with 20 points - including 6 points in the final 5 minutes of the game, among them the basket that made it 76-81 with 70 seconds to go in the game. Figueroa finished with 7-of-8 two-point shooting and made all 6 of his free throws, while also collecting 5 rebounds and delivering 2 blocked shots for his best performances in his first year in the competition.
21-year old Prkacin paced defending champs
This was not the first time that Dreamland Gran Canaria's versatile big men Roko Prkacin has deserved a roll call, but this time he was the best player in his team's 28-point win that improved Gran Canaria's record to 10-0. Prkacin did just about everything, scoring, rebounding, creating for others, stealing balls and also getting to the foul line. He was Gran Canaria's top scorer (13) and rebounder (8), and also had 3 assists, 2 steals and drew 6 fouls without committing a single one. In his 28:43 minutes on the floor, Gran Canaria was +21, a team best mark in this game. A couple weeks removed from turning 21 years of age, Prkacin has been making more and more impact for the defending champions.
Slask's Miletic produced, again, in a loss
Dusan Miletic has been one of the EuroCup's most productive players this season and the Slask Wroclaw big man produced once again this week. Miletic's performance was not enough for Slask to pull out a win, as the team fell to a 63-72 defeat against Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse, but Miletic did his best to keep Slask competitive. He finished with 20 points, making 8-of-9 two-pointers and 1-of-2 threes. Interestingly, this is the third time this season Miletic has made 8 two-point shots on 9 attempts. In this game he also pulled down 5 rebounds, and during Miletic's 23 minutes on the floor Slask outscored Bourg by 2 points, giving even more meaning to his performance.
Zalmanson boosted Hapoel off the bench
Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv was clicking on offense as it beat Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 80-95, but among Hapoel's usual suspects who led the team to a victory was big man Idan Zalmanson who also stood out on Wednesday night. Zalmanson played less than 14 minutes on the floor, to give the starting center Kyle Alexander a breather under the rims, but Zalmanson used it to significantly contribute to a win. He had a career-high 13 points, making a career-best 6 two-pointers on 7 attempts. Zalmanson also grabbed 4 rebounds, finishing with a PIR of 16, just one shy of a career-best.
Mathews flirted with Besiktas record
Some potent scorers have worn Besiktas Istanbul jerseys in the EuroCup over the years, including Mire Chatman, Chris Lofton, Ryan Broekhoff and, yes, Allen Iverson, and on Wednesday night Jonah Mathews entered the conversation after one of the best shooting performances in club history in the competition. Mathews scored 28 points, a team season-high and more than any other player in Round 10, with 11 of those coming in the final 8 minutes of the fourth quarter as Besiktas nearly erased a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit. Mathews was 6-of-13 from three-point range, becoming just the third man to hit that many triples in 107 games that club has played in the EuroCup. Mathews was one three-pointer shy of the club-record, set by Lofton in October 2014.