This is the final round before the mid-season break
Game Center: Valencia, Wolves, Hapoel, Hamburg open Round 8 with wins
Article
8 Mins read
Tuesday, November 12
Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius 88-83 Dolomiti Energia Trento
Wolves registered their fifth consecutive victory by beating visiting Trento on Tuesday night. The win improved Wolves' record to 5-3 in Group A, while Trento dropped to 3-5, remaining winless in our road games. Andrew Andrews scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half, including making 6 three-point shots. Four of his triples came in a 19-5 run bridging the third and fourth quarters, which turned a 53-59 deficit into a 72-64 lead, and the hosts never trailed again. Eigirdas Zukauskas scored 21 for Trento.
Trefl Sopot 64-93 Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv
Hapoel avoided a slip-up in its fight to keep pace with the top teams of Group A with a comfortable victory at winless Trefl Sopot. The visitors pulled away for the first time in earnest in the second quarter and never let Trefl challenge. That moved Hapoel to 5-3 after having lost two of its last three games. Marcus Foster led the way with 21 points and 8 rebounds while Tomer Ginat scored 14 points. Trefl continues to wait for its first victory at 0-8 despite Jakub Schenk scoring 17 points.
Veolia Towers Hamburg 93-69 Aris Midea Thessaloniki
Hamburg led from start to finish en route to registering its second win of the season, downing Aris. Both teams now hold 2-6 records in Group B. Hamburg had a 10-point lead already in the first quarter and extended it to 47-26 in the second. Aris never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way. Brae Ivey paced Hamburg with 15 points and Keondre Kennedy netted 14 and Kur Kuath had 6 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks in the winning effort. Vassilis Toliopoulos netted 31 points on 6-for-18 three-point shooting in the loss.
Valencia Basket 109-80 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
Valencia used a strong second half to run past Cedevita in the team's first home game since the horrific floods that hit the area two weeks ago. Valencia improved to 7-0 record atop Group B, while Cedevita lost its third straight, dropping to 4-4 on the season. The key in the victory was the third quarter in which Valencia outscored Cedevita 31-10. Valencia had seven scorers in double figures, with Josep Puerto leading the way with 15 and Xabi Lopez-Arostegui adding 14. Devin Robinson netted 16 points for the visitors.
Wednesday, November 13
U-BT Cluj-Napoca vs. 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys (18:00 CET)
Cluj (3-4) will attempt to get back in the winning groove as it hosts a Lietkabelis team (2-4) which has the motivation of attempting to climb into the all-important top six as it seeks a first road win. The Lithuanian team leaned on a personal-best 22 points from young guard Mantas Rubstavicius to easily beat Hamburg last week, but must improve its three-point shooting accuracy after only making 26.1% so far – worst in the competition. Cluj, conversely, is the second-most effective two-point shooting team (60.6%), so will keep on feeding big man Zach Hankins (11.1 points per game on 66.7% two-pointers) inside.
Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul vs. Dreamland Gran Canaria (18:00 CET)
A big battle in Group A will see Besiktas (4-3) attempt to wrestle second place away from Gran Canaria (5-2). The Spanish team will look to recover its offensive fluency after being held to just 66 points in last week’s home loss to Wolves, and needs offensive leader Nico Brussino (10.3 points per game) to rediscover his range after making just 1-of-7 field-goal attempts in that game. Besiktas, which has won three of the last four, had no such problems as it piled on 100 points against Trefl last week, and shooting star Yigit Arslan will look to stay hot after averaging 3.5 three-pointers over the last four games.
ratiopharm Ulm vs. Bahcesehir College Istanbul (19:00 CET)
Group A leader Bahcesehir (6-1) will look to keep on rolling as it travels to a dangerous but inconsistent Ulm (4-3). The Turkish team’s latest triumph, against Hapoel last week, saw 15 assists from offensive leader Jaleen Smith as he orchestrated an all-round team effort that included a personal-best 23 points from Sehmus Hazer, whose dynamic play epitomizes Bahcesehir’s success so far. Ulm’s recent defensive problems continued in on overtime loss at Buducnost, when 25 points from Justinian Jessup weren’t enough to prevent defeat as the German team allowed its opponent to convert 66.6% of two-point attempts – a clear point of emphasis this week against Bahcesehir’s fast-paced offense.
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem vs. Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse (19:00 CET)
The tie for second place in Group B will be broken as Jerusalem (5-2) meets Bourg (5-2) for a game which could go a long way towards deciding seeded status in the playoffs. Jerusalem will be feeling confident after sinking 94 points to easily overcome Reyer last week, partly thanks to a huge 45 rebounds led by 7 from Jeremy Morgan – who will be playing against his former club after helping take Bourg to last season’s title game. And this could be a high-scoring shootout because Bourg is also firing on all cylinders offensively, netting 90 points to overcome Cedevita last week led by 16 from all-round threat Xavier Castaneda.
Umana Reyer Venice vs. Turk Telekom Ankara (20:00 CET)
Turk Telekom (4-3) will look to consolidate its position in the top six with a trip to a Reyer team in search of consistency (2-5). The visitors could give a debut to new backcourt signing Speedy Smith, who averaged 7.8 points and 5.2 assists during his six games with previous team Hapoel Jerusalem. He should form a dangerous combination with Round 7 MVP Anthony Brown, whose confidence could not be higher after he drained a career-high 39 points – the most of any player this season – to down Cluj last week. Reyer needs to boost its own morale after being thrashed by 28 points against Jerusalem in Round 7, and hopes to follow the hustling example set by Carl Wheatle, with multiple steals in four straight games.
Joventut Badalona vs. Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (20:30 CET)
Struggling Joventut (2-5) will aim to emerge from its four-game losing slump with a visit from direct rival Buducnost (3-4) in a key matchup on the fringes of the playoffs places. The Spanish side, which has lost Kaiser Gates to injury, needs to take better case of the basketball after committing 16 turnovers in last week’s morale-damaging late collapse at Trento. Conversely, Buducnost’s game-winner from Round 7, Yogi Ferrell, who had 17 points in that game, is just one of the offensive weapons available for the Montenegrin team, and Joventut will try to slow down the rhythm of offensive leader McKinley Wright IV, who averages 10.1 points per night.