Coach Dani Miret's team dominated from start to finish
Joventut thrashes Besiktas, 93-70
Joventut Badalona returned to winning ways in Group A by thrashing Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul 93-70 at home in Round 14 on Wednesday. Joventut improved to 5-9 in the standings and earned the potential head-to-head tie-break advantage against Besiktas, which dropped to 7-7.
Kassius Robertson paced the winners with 17 points. Devon Dotson added 16, Artem Pustovyi had 12 while Adam Hanga got 11 for Joventut. Jonah Mathews led Besiktas with 18 points.
Game Videos
Yannick Kraag got Joventut going with a layup and Pustovyi added a jump hook for a 4-1 lead. Dotson took over with a follow-up layup before Hanga struck twice from beyond the arc to cap a 12-1 opening run. Kyle Allman rescued Besiktas with a jumper and Conor Morgan added a triple to bring the visitors within 12-6. Dotson buried a close jumper and Robertson followed a driving layup with a bomb from downtown to boost Joventut's lead to 19-8. Yigit Arslan hit a triple and Robertson insisted from beyond the arc to fix the score at 22-11 after 10 minutes.
Berk Ugurlu joined the three-point shootout early in the second quarter. Pustovyi followed a five-meter jumper with a reverse layup to keep Joventut out of trouble, 26-14. After Dustin Sleva found his first points, Kaiser Gates answered with a backdoor layup. Robertson scored again to make it 30-16. Mathews downed a floater, then Ante Tomic sent a wild behind-the-back assist to Gates for a layup. Pau Ribas improved on Sleva's dunk with a triple. Mathews buried a long two-pointer and Tomic set a 38-22 Joventut lead. Hanga hit a jump hook, Ribas insisted from downtown and Dotson's driving layup broke the game open, 46-24. Derek Needham and Dotson traded three-pointers for a 49-27 score at the break.
Uros Plavsic and Mathews brought the visitors within 50-31 soon after the break. Pustovyi stepped up for Joventut and Hanga's tip-in restored a 22-point Joventut lead. Sleva made free throws, Plavsic sank a jump hook and Arslan's turnaround jumper caused the hosts to call timeout at 54-38. Miye Oni buried a three-pointer and Tomic found space for a wide-open layup that forced Besiktas to stop the game at 59-38. Emanuel Terry scored in the paint and Mathews matched Kraag's dunk with a jumper. Allman and Mathews soon gave Besiktas hope at 61-46. Kraag scored again, Arslan answered with a tip-in and Robertson's fallaway jumper gave the hosts a 68-48 margin. Kelan Martin bettered Kraag's dunk with a triple that got Besiktas within 71-51 after 30 minutes.
Allman struck from downtown early in the fourth quarter and Derek Needham added a driving layup for a 73-56 score. Dotson took over with a three-point play that Martin erased with a corner triple. Ribas downed his third three-pointer and Pustovyi added a layup in transition that all but sealed the outcome, 81-59, with over 6 minutes left. Pustovyi and Dotson kept pacing Joventut and by the time Gates buried a three-pointer, everything was said and done. Joventut had plenty of time to celebrate its first EuroCup win in 2025, while improving its playoff chances in the process.