Plenty of thrills and spills are to be expected during the 2024-25 EuroCup season
Game Center: Wednesday road wins for Valencia, Ulm, Cedevita, Bahcesehir
It’s time for action! Twenty teams are gunning for glory as the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup gets underway this week, with new signings and returning stars aiming to secure opening night victories. And you can watch every game live on EuroLeagueTV. Here’s your overview of the action.
Wednesday, September 25
U-BT Cluj-Napoca 86-93 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
Cedevita made 14 three-pointers, including a pair in the final minute of the game, to beat Cluj 86-93 on Wednesday. Cedevita overcame a 12-0 fourth-quarter spurt by the home team, and after being down 78-71, used a 2-9 run to catch up, before scoring the final 8 points of the night to register a win in which it had five scorers in double figures. Devin Robinson had 20 points and Brynton Lemar scored 18 for the wnners. Zavier Simpson had 16 points, 9 assists and 7 rebounds for Cluj.
Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius 69-80 Bahcesehir College Istanbul
In the first-ever meeting between these two teams, Bahcesehir pulled out a convincing road win over Wolves on Wednesday night. Despite trailing 26-23 at the end of the first quarter, the visitors adjusted their defense to give up only 17 points in the second period and just 13 in each of the third and fourth quarters. Axel Bouteille paced the winners with 17 points - with 13 of them coming after the intermission. Anthony Cowan led all scorers with 20 points plus 4 assists in defeat.
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 64-80 Valencia Basket
Four-time BKT EuroCup winner Valencia made an impressive comeback to the competition by grabbing a 64-80 victory against Hapoel Jerusalem at Samokov Arena in Bulgaria on Wednesday. The visitors were in control of the duel from the off and imposed their game on Jerusalem, which struggled on offense due to Valencia’s defensive prowess. Matthew Costello paced Valencia with 16 points and Semi Ojeleye scored 12. Former Valencia guard Jared Harper led all scorers with 27 points in defeat.
Besitkas Fibabank Istanbul 94-76 Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
Besiktas cruised to a comprehensive 94-76 home win over Buducnost to make a perfect start in Group A after Derek Needham rolled back the years. The 33-year-old guard racked up a game-high 18 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds after he came off the bench to run the show in front of a vocal home crowd who roared on Besiktas throughout. At the other end, Rasheed Sulaimon and McKinley Wright led Buducnost with 13 points each.
Trefl Sopot 93-96 ratiopharm Ulm
Ulm fought off a valiant effort from Trefl to snatch a 93-96 overtime victory on the road as Justinian Jessup hit the game-winning three-pointer with 2.0 seconds left. Ulm rallied from 12 points down to ruin Trefl’s first EuroCup game since 2012. Jessup scored a team-high 20 points while Noa Essengue had 18 points and fellow teenager Ben Saraf collected 17 points and 10 assists. Jakub Schenk drained 5 three-pointers for 22 points and Geoffrey Groselle collected 11 points and 10 rebounds in the Group A encounter.
Umana Reyer Venice 95-75 Aris Midea Thessaloniki
Reyer enjoyed a strong start to the season by downing Aris 95-75 at Palasport Taliercio in Group B. Jordan Parks led the winners with 17 points and Tyler Ennis tallied 12 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists for Reyer. Landers Nolley led Aris with 14 points in the loss.
Tuesday, September 24
Turk Telekom Ankara 72-66 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys
Turk Telekom made a winning start to the season, scraping a 72-66 home victory over Lietkabelis. Kyle Alexander inspired Turk Telkom with 11 points and 9 rebounds and Anthony Brown also propelled the hosts with 11 points to go with as many boards. At the other end, Georgios Kalaitzakis, Oleksandr Kovliar and Vytkenis Lipkevicius netted 12 points each.
Veolia Towers Hamburg 80-100 Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse
Bourg faced little opposition in its road opener to the season with a historic 80-100 victory at Hamburg in Group B. Last season's runner-up, Bourg scored a club record 64 points in the first half while forcing Hamburg into 23 turnovers for a 24-13 advantage in points off turnovers. Adrian Nelson scored 18 points to lead Bourg while Jean-Marc Panda had 16 points. Keondre Kennedy paced the German side with 17 points.
Joventut Badalona 78-75 Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv
Joventut erased a 10-point second-quarter deficit before outlasting Hapoel in the team’s season-opener at Palau Olimpic de Badalona on Tuesday night. The hosts' big men all stood out as center Ante Tomic posted 17 points on near-perfect shooting and 12 rebounds for a personal-best PIR of 32. Kaiser Gates scored 16 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting in his EuroCup debut and Artem Pustovyi contributed 11 points and 5 boards off the bench. For Hapoel, Patrick Beverley delivered 14 points, 6 assists and 3 steals.
Dreamland Gran Canaria 84-81 Dolomiti Energia Trento
Gran Canaria started the season with a victory over Trento at Gran Canaria Arena on Tuesday. The visitors got off to a solid start and took a 45-49 lead into the second half, but the hosts tightened up their defense after the break and clinched the win. Mike Tobey led his team with 20 points and 8 rebounds and Carlos Alocen netted 11 points. Trento guard Jordan Ford led all scorers with 32 points, finishing the game shooting 11-for-11 from inside the arc and 3-for-4 on three-pointers.