His season highs of 26 points and a 37 PIR came in just 22 minutes and 26 seconds on the court. Shorts made 11-of-13 field goals and hit all 4 of his free-throw attempts. What’s more, the Paris playmaker dished 7 assists, had 3 rebounds and made 2 steals, as the French side’s point total was the EuroCup's second-highest total of all-time in regulation. Shorts now has three MVP honors in 12 games in his first EuroCup season.

Round 12 MVP: TJ Shorts, Paris Basketball

His season highs of 26 points and a 37 PIR came in just 22 minutes and 26 seconds on the court. [TJ Shorts](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/tj-shorts/012608/) made 11-of-13 field goals and hit all 4 of his free-throw attempts. What’s more, the Paris playmaker dished 7 assists, had 3 rebounds and made 2 steals, as the French side’s point total was the EuroCup's second-highest total of all-time in regulation. Shorts now has three MVP honors in 12 games in his first EuroCup season.

TJ Shorts fueled one of the best offensive performance in BKT EuroCup history on Wednesday night, leading Paris Basketball to a playoff-clinching 120-91 home win over Veolia Towers Hamburg, and in the process earned MVP of the Round honors. His season highs of 26 points and 37 PIR came in just 22 minutes and 26 seconds on the court.

TJ Shorts | Round 12 MVP | 2023-24 BKT EuroCup

The next two best performances in this round belong to players on losing teams. [Ondrej Balvin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/ondrej-balvin/002644/) of Prometey Slobozhanske had PIR of 35 in a heartbreaking 89-88 loss at the London Lions, amassing 14 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. [Tyrone Wallace](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/tyrone-wallace/011925/) of Turk Telekom Anakara collected 30 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for a 33 PIR in an 85-95 loss against Aris Midea Thessaloniki. Rounding out the list of top performers in Round 12 are four players with a PIR of 31. [Isiaha Mike](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/isiaha-mike/011836/) of Mincidelice Bourg en Bresse had 28 points and 8 rebounds in an 89-98 win at U-BT Cluj-Napoca. [Xavier Munford](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/xavier-munford/007759/) of Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv recorded 25 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in a 100-81 victory over Umana Reyer Venice. [Paulius Valinskas](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/paulius-valinskas/004664/) of 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys had 24 points and 10 assists in a 94-90 triumph over ratiopharm Ulm. [Dusan Miletic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/dusan-miletic/009896/) of Slask Wroclaw finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals in a 79-80 loss against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica.

TJ Shorts fueled one of the best offensive performances in BKT EuroCup history on Wednesday night, leading Paris Basketball to a playoff-clinching 120-91 home win over Veolia Towers Hamburg and in the process earning MVP of the Round honors for Round 12.

Paris Basketball v Veolia Towers Hamburg (2023-12-20T19:30:00.000Z)

John Holland displayed again an outstanding performance in the same court where he silenced 20,000 fans a year-and-a-half ago.

Hapoel's Holland felt sweet again in Belgrade

Facing two important absences in Tomer Ginat and J'Covan Brown for [their Round 12 game against Umana Reyer Venice](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2023-24/hapoel-shlomo-tel-aviv-umana-reyer-venice/U2023/113/) on Wednesday, the rest of Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv's players knew they needed to give extra to hold onto second place in Group A.

Among those who aced that mission was forward John Holland, who had an amazing performance in limited playing time, scoring 20 points in less than 18 minutes without missing a single shot.

Holland went for 3-for-3 on two-pointers, 4-for-4 from beyond the arc and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. He also added 8 rebounds, good for a PIR of 26 that helped his team take a solid 100-81 victory against its Italian opponent.

John Holland (20 points) Highlights vs. Umana Reyer Venice, 12/20/2023

Holland was especially important in the second quarter, which started with Hapoel trailing 17-22. He took the reins and scored an eye-popping 14 points in just 6 minutes and 14 seconds, helping Hapoel regain a 39-36 lead before committing his third foul and leaving the floor. Nonetheless, he had boosted Hapoel toward big leads the rest of the game. He was not needed so much in the second half, but showed up to convert the last bucket of the game, hitting a triple put Hapoel into triple digits.

His performance looked like a copycat display from a year-and-a-half ago, when Holland became a hero for Frutti Extra Bursaspor at the same place, Stark Arena, in the 2021-22 EuroCup Eighthfinals game against Partizan Belgrade. In that game, Holland also scored the last basket of the last period, finishing with 17 points, drilling 4 triples -out of five attempts- and going perfect from the line for a PIR of 21.

Holland lived a highlight moment that day when he converted an off-balance three-pointer with 7.1 seconds to force overtime at 84-84 in front of almost 20,000 Serbian fans. Bursaspor ended up winning that game 95-103, giving Holland one of his best memories in this competition.

Magic Moment Holland sends game into OT_5432715.mp4

That victory was just the prelude of an unforgettable postseason in which Bursaspor, despite never having home-cour advantage, eliminated another two contenders on its way to the EuroCup Final. In the quarterfinals, it was Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, who lost to Bursaspor 83-85. And in the semifinals it was Morabanc Andorra, who fell 68-85 on its home court. Alas, Bursaspor could not overcome Virtus Segafredo Bologna and finished as that season's EuroCup runner-up.

Looking back to those days and Holland's performance in Belgrade on Wednesday night, don't be surprised that many Hapoel fans would dream of a such successful journey in the EuroCup this season.

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv v Umana Reyer Venice (2023-12-20T17:30:00.000Z)

Congratulations to Konstantina Karapanou, the Round 12 winner in [EuroCup Fantasy Challenge](https://eurocupfantasy.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/home)! Konstantina's team Hoops\* 2 posted a score of 277.50.

The team featured the following lineup: team captain T.J. Shorts of Paris Basketball, his teammate Tyson Ward, Andrejs Grazulis of Dolomiti Energia Trento, Vassilis Toliopoulos of Aris Egalia Thessaloniki, and Dusan Miletic of Slask Wroclaw as starters; Xavier Munford of Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv as sixth man; Mo Soluade of the London Lions, Gediminas Orelik of 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys, Ondrej Balvin of Prometey Slobozhanske and Andrija Slavkovic of Buducnost VOLI Podgorica as bench players; and Danny Franco of Hapoel as head coach.

Her prize for finishing first in Round 11 is a free subscription to Euroleague TV for the 2024-25 season!

The overall leader after 12 rounds is Uros Kostic, whose GargamelFalkao team is ahead of everyone with 2,212.85 fantasy points.

Trades are now open for Round 13. Remember, three trades are allowed before each round until the end of the regular season, and you can also trade your head coach.

Make new teams now or improve your existing ones and try to become EuroCup Fantasy Challenge's next winner!

EuroCup Fantasy Challenge offers weekly prizes to the top team manager, so get in the game and go for the gold!

EuroCup Fantasy Challenge: Round 12 winner

Andres Feliz and Joventut keep learning and winning

Joventut Badalona extended its winning streak to four games with a 79-94 triumph over Wolves Vilnius. Unlike the first three victories in this streak, there was no much doubt about this one.

The last three games Joventut won by a combined 9 points, but on Wednesday night in the Lithuanian capital it used a 2-18 run late in the third and early in the fourth quarter to turn a 62-60 deficit into a 64-78 lead, before comfortably closing out the game.

Joventut had several key contributors, but none bigger than playmaker Andres Feliz. In his role off the bench, Feliz played a team-high 28:43 minutes, scored 18 points, made 4 of 5 triples and dished a career-high 10 assists, after never having more than 7 assists in a single EuroCup game. Along with his first career double-double, he also pulled down 5 rebounds and collected 3 steals.

"Andres is important because he played a lot of years with us, and understands \[our\] philosophy," Coach Carles Duran said after the game.

Andres Feliz Top Plays vs. Wolves Vilnius, 12/20/2023

Feliz had first career double-double vs Wolves Vilnius

Feliz had 11 points and 6 assists in the first half, and he was instrumental in not allowing the hosts to pull away in the second quarter in which the Wolves had a 9-point margin. Feliz had 9 points and 3 assists in the second quarter to help Joventut get in front.

Apart from Feliz orchestrating the offense, another key in this one was in the rebounding. The hosts entered the game as the top offensive rebounding team in the EuroCup, but not only did Joventut allowed only 7 offensive rebounds, but it even won the offensive rebounding battle by claiming 8.

"We closed the rebounds, that was important. And we translated it to the offensive side, sharing the ball, playing together", Feliz said.

The win improved Joventut's record to 7-5, tied for fourth best in Group A, and aiming for more with six games left in the regular season.

"We are learning from a slow start that we had beginning of the season", Feliz concluded.

Game Videos

Game News

The visitors rallied in the second half for a fourth straight victory while the hosts lost their fourth in a row.

Wolves Vilnius v Joventut Badalona (2023-12-20T17:00:00.000Z)

Paris became the first team to cement a spot in the EuroCup Playoffs with a 120-91 drubbing of visiting Veolia Towers Hamburg. The hosts upped their Group A-leading record to 11-1 while Hamburg fell 2-10. TJ Shorts paced Paris with a game-high 26 points.

Paris thrived on winning matchups against Hamburg

Paris Basketball celebrated a spectacular 120-91 home win over Veolia Towers Hamburg after a top performance garnished by displays of individual skill from a number of players.

“So many layups, guys,” Hamburg coach Benka Barloschky bemoaned to his players straight after the final buzzer, with the visitors unable to contain live-wire guard TJ Shorts, who poured in a game-high 26 points, most on dazzling drives to the basket.

### Guards and big men dominated for Paris

Tyson Ward also gave Hamburg a first-half roasting, downing all his 15 points in the opening two quarters, while big men Mehdy Ngouama and Bandja Sy dominated the boards at both ends.

Hence it was scant consolation to Hamburg that it actually had more assists than Paris (20-23), as the hosts grabbed more rebounds (35-25) and shot the lights out against the visitors.

Paris nailed 36 of 48 two-point shots and 12 of 24 from beyond the arc, with its 120 points comprising the second biggest tally in regulation time in EuroCup history. It’s surpassed only by the 121 points that Estudiantes recorded in the early stages of the EuroCup’s inaugural season.


### Shorts was the Paris catalyst

"It was a great team effort," a delighted Shorts said after the game. "We try to play fast every time, and today I think we did that. We scored 120 points. It’s crazy and I hope we can keep this going for the rest of the season."

He elaborated on how he trampled his defenders without taking a single shot from downtown:

"I'll take what the defense gives me. Credit to my teammates for getting me into positions and my coaches for trusting me., I just felt good out there."

Paris coach Thomas Iisalo added: "It was a team victory again as we were able to play our guys very evenly. I like the way we transitioned from defense to offense whenever we got the stops. The score was very lop-sided and it didn’t fully reflect the proceedings on the court. Credit to Hamburg because they are a very well-coached team."

Barloschky lauded both teams after the contest.

"Hats off to Paris, they're a great team, but I am still proud of my guys," he said. "I was OK with the first half but in the third quarter we kept turning the ball over. We tried to compete but weren't good enough today."

 The visitors had more assists but were pretty powerless in one-on-one situations

London Lions seemed to be on its way to collect its second consecutive loss, down 83-88 with 25.5 seconds remaining. Still, it found a way to win the game, edging Prometey Slobozhanske 89-88 in the British capital. 


London's resilience paid off 

The London Lions were coming off an 81-83 home loss against Veolia Hamburg Towers on a game-winning shot by Mark Hughes with 1.3 seconds left. This time, London led most of the way and built a double-digit margin against Prometey Slobozhanske. The visitors regrouped in the fourth quarter and a rain of three-pointers, added to Ondrej Balvin's monster game (14 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks), put Prometey in good position to win the game.

When Rob Gray split free throws, Prometey led 83-88 with 25.5 seconds left. In need for quick points, Tarik Phillip attacked the rim, drew a foul from Balvin and scored to get a three-point play opportunity. He made the additional free throw for an 86-88 score with 19.3 seconds left.

Prometey put the ball in Caleb Agada's hands but he was immediately double-teamed. Jordan Taylor got an acrobatic steal and found Luke Nelson, who missed an uncontested shot around the basket. Sam Dekker missed the tip-in and a long rebound went straight to Phillip's hands, who found Dekker wide open beyond the three-point line. Dekker downed the three-point shot for a 89-88 lead with 6.7 seconds remaining.

<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WHAT AN ENDING 😳<br><br>Crazy play for <a href="https://twitter.com/LondonLions?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LondonLions</a> as they steal the ball and the game for the win 🥷<a href="https://twitter.com/dekker?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dekker</a> is different! FTW 😤🏀<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MagicMoment?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MagicMoment</a> <a href="https://t.co/GY21Yq1Yp4">pic.twitter.com/GY21Yq1Yp4</a></p>&mdash; BKT EuroCup (@EuroCup) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup/status/1737589445967167681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 20, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></center>

London needed not one, but two defensive stops to win the game. First, Philipp blocked Agada's shot and then Taylor contested March's last shot, which hit the back of the rim.

"I am extremely proud. This is a huge win for us, especially in a situation in which he caught up at the end of the game, something that wasn't easy," London coach Petar Bozic said after the game. 

Asked about his final timeout, called with a 77-84 score with less than 3 minutes left, Bozic said his team had to take one play at a time: "Step by step on the defensive end, which we were successful in a few good possessions and then after that, run in transition. Again, aggressiveness in that very important possession in which we had a steal."

Gabe Olaseni led the winners with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Dekker and Conor Morgen each added 16 points as London grabbed its sixth win in seven games to go up to 9-3 in the standings. Up next, a road game against top-ranked Paris Basketball. Both teams were EuroCup newcomers last season and are now facing each other for the fourth time in the upper part of the standings.

Down 83-88 with 25.5 seconds remaining, the Lions' backs were to the wall, but still London found a way to win.

London Lions v Prometey Slobozhanske (2023-12-20T19:30:00.000Z)

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica rallied from an early deficit and then survived a Slask Wroclaw comeback to grab a 79-80 road victory and stay in the fight for the playoffs as Yogi Ferrell led the way with 17 points.

Buducnost capitalized turnovers, second chances

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica avoided a major setback in its fight to stay in the playoffs race as it knocked off Slask Wroclaw 79-80 on the road thanks to capitalizing on Slask's turnovers and crashing the offensive glass.

Buducnost ended up nervously holding on for the second straight road victory as it converted just 2 of 4 free throws in the final 13 seconds.

“The key was our second-half approach," said Yogi Ferrell, who led Buducnost with 17 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists.

"We came out of the locker room saying we didn’t play our best offense in the first half. In the second half we just wanted to push the tempo, hit guys with open shots, and we accomplished what we needed to do."

Ferrell had just 1 of Buducnost’s 12 turnovers while Slask lost the ball only 10 times. The Polish side had been the EuroCup's worst team in turnovers committed coming into the game at 18.1 per game.

Still, Buducnost did a much better job using those Slask miscues, scoring 21 points off the turnovers compared to just 12 for Slask.

Offensive rebounds also played a big role. The guests won the battle of the boards 35-27 and grabbed 11 on the offensive glass. Buducnost had been ranked 17th in offensive rebounds at 9.3, but it was going against a Slask side that conceded the second most offensive boards per game at 13.1.

Buducnost also was much better than usual shooting two-pointers, converting 62.5% for the game after hitting just 53.1% on those shots before the game. Slask had been middle of the pack in stopping opponents’ two-point shooting at 53.2%.


All those numbers helped Buducnost come back from a 12-point first quarter deficit and build a 17-point lead midway through the third quarter. The Montenegro side nearly wasted a 13-point lead with 7 minutes to go, watching Slask trim it to a one-possession game in the final minute.

Buducnost has seen in its fair share of close games, going 2-2 in contests decided by one basket or less. But Andrej Zakelj’s side had won the previous two such games, in Round 8 at home versus Dolomiti Energia Trento and in Round 10 at 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys.

Buducnost held on again for a third straight win by two points.

“In the end we were not focused and started to make mistakes, especially on defense,” Zakelj said. "This happens to us almost every game. We have a good game and then we have this kind of situation. In the end, the most important thing was we needed was a win."

The visitors hung on to stay in the hunt for a playoffs spot as part of a four-way Group B tie.

Slask Wroclaw v Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (2023-12-20T19:00:00.000Z)

Xavier Munford got 14 of his total 25 points in the last period, in which Hapoel outscored Venice 32-16 to clinch its fifth win in a row.

 Munford led Hapoel’s strong finish 

Anyone who would have just seen the final score of the game that Hapoel Schlomo Tel Aviv and Umana Reyer Venice played at the Stark Arena on Wednesday could think I was an easy and peaceful evening for the winners, as the hosts registered a 100-81 victory.

But the truth was quite the opposite, as Venice was in front for several minutes in the first half and stayed ahead, 56-63, midway through the third period. A 12-2 run to finish the quarter paved the way for Hapoel, which entered the last stanza ahead by 68-65 and displayed an amazing offensive performance in the last 10 minutes.

Hapoel scored 32 points in that final quarter, making 5 two-pointers on 9 attempts, going 6-for-8 from behind the arc, and adding 4 free throws in as many trips to the line. On the other side, Venice was able to score just 16 points while shooting 5-for-14 from the field.

"I think playing without \[our two\] point guards tonight was big deal," Umana Reyer Venice head coach Neven Spahija said after. "We played a pretty good game until the end of the third quarter, but in the last quarter we lost so many balls, and the opposite side made a lot of threes, \[…\] They made some threes even contested."

One of those who punished Spahija’s team the most was [Xavier Munford,](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/xavier-munford/007759/) who finished as the game's top scorer with 25 points and an incredible shooting card. Munford collected 5 two-pointers on just 7 attempts and wen for 5-for-6 from behind the arc. In the last period he was especially lethal, nailing 4 of those without a miss on his way to a 14-point fourth-quarter performance.

"We decided to pick it up coming out for the third quarter," Munford revealed after the game. "We were down, but we decided to put in more effort on defense and rebounding. And that allowed us  to get out and run and play our style of play, so I think that really was the turning point of the game."

Munford led Hapoel’s strong finish

London Lions returned to winning ways in Group A by downing Prometey Slobozhanske 89-88 in come-from-behind fashion. London improved to 9-3 in the standings while Prometey dropped to 6-6. London trailed 83.88 with 25.5 seconds left but found way to win it on a go-ahead triple by Sam Dekker. 

London rallies past Prometey, 89-88! 

London Lions returned to winning ways in Group A by downing Prometey Slobozhanske 89-88 in come-from-behind fashion on Wednesday. London improved to 9-3 in the standings, good for third place in Group A, while Prometey dropped to 6-6. London trailed 83-88 with 25.5 seconds left but found way to win it on a go-ahead triple by Sam Dekker with 6.7 to play. Gabe Olaseni led the winners with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Dekker and Conor Morgan each added 16 points, Matt Morgan 12 andTarik Phillip 10 for London. Ronald March led Prometey with 26 points. Caleb Agada added 23 while Ondrej Balvin had 14 and 16 rebounds for the guests.

### London erased early deficit

Prometey found an early go-to guy in Agada, who scored his team's first 12 points. His second three-pointer made London call timeout at 4-12. Dekker, Conor Morgan and Matt Morgan each struck from downtown as London soon claimed a 17-15 edge. John Sharma followed a tip-in with a one-handed dunk and Phillip added a floater and a three-pointer to keep London in charge, 28-25, after 10 minutes. Agada kept pacing Prometey early in the second quarter, getting help from March to keep the guests within 32-31. Jordan Taylor and Dekker stepped up for London but Tai Odiase dunked twice to keep the visitors within 40-37. Matt Morgan had 5 quick points, including a shot from beyond the arc that made it a double-digit game, 49-39. Gian Clavell struck from downtown and Conor Morgan fixed the halftime score at 51-42.

### March kept Prometey in the game

Balvin dunked right after the break and Agada added a floater to give Prometey hope at 53-46. March scored around the basket and Rob Gray's jumper kept his team within 57-50. Olaseni hit a jumper and Luke Nelson added a corner triple, good for a 62-50 London lead. March kept pacing Prometey, following a power layup with a three-point play and soon adding a stop-and-pop triple to bring the guests closer, 65-64, after 30 minutes.

### London's late rally!

Agada scored in penetration and added a triple for a 67-69 Prometey lead early in the fourth quarter. March joined the three-point shootout and Balvin's layup-plus-foul boosted the guests' lead to 69-75. Matt Morgan and Phillip stepped up to bring London within 77-8. Balvin, Oleksandr Lypovyy and March each struck from downtown for an 80-87 Prometey margin with 2 minutes left. Olaseni scored down low, Phillip added a layup-and-one, and Dekker struck from beyond the arc after a wild play for an 89-88 London lead with 6.7 seconds left. March missed from downtown at the buzzer, leaving the victory in London.

An unbelievable finish in the British capital kept the hosts in the driver's seat for a playoff spot from Group A.