The American guard scored 26 points for the winners
Dotson leads Joventut past Buducnost, 78-72
Joventut Badalona snapped a four-game losing streak in Group A by beating Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 78-72 at home in Round 8 on Wednesday.
Both teams now have 3-5 records in Group A. Devon Dotson led the winners with 26 points and Adam Hanga added 13 for Joventut. McKinley Wright and Rasheed Sulaimon paced Buducnost with 12 points apiece.
Game Videos
Dotson got Joventut going with a layup and a floater. He soon followed Ante Tomic's jumper with a driving layup that caused Buducnost to call a timeout at 8-0. Kenan Kamenjas stepped up with a layup that a red-hot Dotson bettered with a bomb from downtown. Yogi Ferrell answered from beyond the arc and found Kamenjas for a layup that got Buducnost closer, 11-7. After Artem Pustovyi hit a mid-range jumper, Kamenjas and Nikola Tanaskovic got the visitors even closer, 13-12. Dotson followed a triple with a three-point play, but Sulaimon hit a floater and a bomb from downtown for a 19-18 score. Wright nailed a jumper to give Buducnost its first lead, 19-20, after 10 minutes.
Tomic scored down low early in the second quarter and Dotson added a three-pointer for a 24-21 Joventut lead. Yannick Kraag sank a floater in transition, Djordje Jovanovic answered from downtown and Pep Busquets's put-back layup kept Joventut in charge, 28-24. Pustovyi scored down low and erased Juwan Morgan's jumper with a jump hook. Wright stepped up with back-to-back three-point plays that tied it at 32-32. Kraag scored again, Hanga added a three-pointer and Tomic's jump hook gave his team a 40-34 lead. Aleksa Ilic beat the buzzer with a tip-in that fixed the halftime score at 40-36.
Hanga fired in his trademark corner triple right after the break and Dotson improved Andrija Slavkovic's put-back layup with a three-point play. Tanaskovic scored down low and Ferrell hit a jumper. Dotson hit a stop-and-pop shot, Alen Omic matched that with a layup and Ferrell downed a fadeaway jumper that brought Buducnost within 48-47. Kassius Robertson dunked off a steal and struck from beyond the arc to give Joventut fresh air at 53-47. Fletcher Magee found his first points, Guillem Vives and Sulaimon traded triples and Sam Dekker restored a 60-54 Joventut lead. Magee buried a deep three-pointer, getting help from Wright and Morgan to bring the visitors within 61-60 after 30 minutes.
Tomic buried another jump hook early in the fourth quarter. Dotson took over with a three-point play and Hanga added a reverse layup that prompted Buducnost to call timeout at 68-60. Magee sank a corner triple which Slavkovic followed with a put-back layup. Omic scored in the paint, Sulaimon downed a three-pointer and found Morgan for an alley-oop layup that put Buducnost on top, 70-72, with over 2 minutes left. Dekker buried a three-pointer and Hanga also struck from beyond the arc for a 76-72 score. Robertson sealed the outcome from the foul line.