Round 14 roll call: Juhann Begarin stepped up for Paris

### Koufos ruled around the rims

London Lions celebrated an [83-66](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/london-lions-veolia-towers-hamburg/U2022/139/) playoff-clinching win over Veolia Hamburg Towers, with veteran big man [Kosta Koufos](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/kosta-koufos/009766/) enjoying a dominant performance under the rims for the 7DAYS EuroCup debutants. Koufos secured his fourth double-double in his last six games, pairing 17 points with 11 rebounds, while he also blocked 3 shots. His rebounding and blocking tallies matched his personal high, and his 17 points came from 8 two-pointers made on 10 attempts, one shy of his career mark in both categories. 

Kosta Koufos (17 points) highlights vs. Hamburg Towers

Koufos ruled around the rims

### Gabriel fueled Brescia's offense

Germani Brescia hit triple digits in scoring for the third time this season, as it leaned on 13 made three-pointers in its [103-84](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/germani-brescia-u-bt-cluj-napoca/U2022/134/) win over U-BT Cluj-Napoca. Veteran forward [Kenny Gabriel](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/kenny-gabriel/005881/) was on fire, hitting a new career-high 5 threes on 9 attempts. He finished the game with a season-best 20 points, scoring 18 in the first three quarters and fueling Brescia's offense, as it went on to score 39 in the final 10 minutes. Gabriel also pulled down 8 rebounds and finished with a PIR of 26, which is just one short of his personal high across 71 games in the EuroCup.

Gabriel fueled Brescia's offense vs. U-BT Cluj-Napoca

Gabriel fueled Brescia's offense

### Impressive Brown enters record books

[J'Covan Brown](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/j-covan-brown/011991/) paced Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv in a resounding [92-70](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/hapoel-vegan-friendly-tel-aviv-gran-canaria/U2022/137/) win over first-place Gran Canaria with an impressive 14 assists. It is the second-most assists recorded in a game this season and more than any other player not named, well, J'Covan Brown. He already tied a EuroCup all-time single-game assist record earlier this season with 16 in Round 11, and he also dished 12 in Round 2. Those stand as the three best assist outputs this season. With this performance, however, Brown became the first player in the competition's history to have two games with 14 or more assists. To make it even more impressive, he has achieved in his first 12 games in the EuroCup what no other player was able to do over the previous 20 years.

Impressive Brown enters assist record books

### Begarin led Paris to a vital win

Paris Basketball improved its chances of securing home-court advantage in the playoffs with a [103-87](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/paris-basketball-buducnost-voli-podgorica/U2022/138/) win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica. A balanced offense with six scorers in double figures was paced by the 20-year-old [Juhann Begari](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/juhann-begarin/008161/)n. The first-year guard finished with 22 points after previously not scoring more than 15 in a game this season. Begarin made 8-of-9 two-point shots and connected on 2-of-4 threes in Wednesday's 16-point win, which saw Paris sweep Buducnost and improve to a 9-5 record, good enough for fourth place in Group B. Begarin also had 5 assists, 2 steals and no turnovers.

Juhann Begarin (22 points) highlights vs. Buducnost VOLI Podgorica

Begarin paced dangerous Paris

### Thomasson's all-round first half

Promitheas Patras kept pace with Paris and improved to a 9-5 record after rallying from an early 16-point deficit to beat Slask Wroclaw [90-66](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/promitheas-patras-slask-wroclaw/U2022/140/). [Joe Thomasson](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/joe-thomasson/012095/), the Greek team's mid-season addition, not only led Promitheas's efforts with game-high 20 points, but he scored all of them in the first half and got his team out of a big hole. When Slask went up 9-25 after less than eight minutes of play, Thomasson answered with a three-point play and a triple to cut the margin back to single digits. He then went on to score 14 more points in the second quarter as Promithes opened 39-33 lead, having gone on a 30-8 run during which Thomasson scored 18 points on 4-for-4 three-point shooting. The 29-year-old did not score in the second half, but he had all 4 of his assists in the final two quarters and also finished with 4 rebounds and 3 steals in a big victory.

Joe Thomasson (20 points) Highlights vs. Slask Wroclaw, 02/08/2023

Joe Thomasson's 20-point highlights vs. Slask Wroclaw

### Morris was prolific – and clutch

[Jamel Morris](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/jamel-morris/011931/) was the hero for 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys on Wednesday night, as his three-pointer with 1.3 seconds to go lifted Lietkabelis to a dramatic [87-84](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/7bet-lietkabelis-panevezys-umana-reyer-venice/U2022/135/) win over Umana Reyer Venice. A dramatic game-winner was the icing on the cake for Morris, who had the best offensive performance for a Liekabelis player this season. The veteran guard finished with 28 points, tied for the most in this round and the highest by a Lietkabelis player in 2022-23. His 6-of-7 three-point shooting is also the best mark that a Lietkabelis player has managed this season. This win lifted Lietkabelis to a 7-7 record, meaning that it is on the verge of qualifying for the playoffs.

Jamel Morris highlights vs. Umana Reyer Venice

Morris was prolific - and clutch

Promitheas Patras v Slask Wroclaw (2023-02-08T17:30:00.000Z)

London Lions v Veolia Towers Hamburg (2023-02-08T19:30:00.000Z)

Paris Basketball v Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (2023-02-08T19:30:00.000Z)

Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv v Gran Canaria (2023-02-08T18:00:00.000Z)

Dolomiti Energia Trento v Turk Telekom Ankara (2023-02-07T19:00:00.000Z)

7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys v Umana Reyer Venice (2023-02-08T17:00:00.000Z)

Germani Brescia v U-BT Cluj-Napoca (2023-02-08T19:30:00.000Z)

Frutti Extra Bursaspor v Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse (2023-02-08T17:00:00.000Z)

Joventut Badalona v ratiopharm Ulm (2023-02-07T19:15:00.000Z)

Prometey Slobozhanske v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2023-02-08T17:00:00.000Z)

Look back at all the action in the Regular Season Round 14 by checking out the best photos of the week!

Photos of the week, Round 14

Statement win over top contender showed Hapoel as a true force

Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv celebrated one of its biggest victories this season when it crushed visiting Gran Canaria [92-70](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/hapoel-vegan-friendly-tel-aviv-gran-canaria/U2022/137/) in front of its fans on Wednesday evening. The result not only extended the team's winning streak to seven games, but also showed the team as a true force in the competition.

Gran Canaria came to this game with the best record among all 7DAYS EuroCup teams, 11-2, which established it in a great position to earn home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Another win in Tel Aviv could have been a massive step in that direction, but Hapoel was too strong.

"They outrebounded us, they outplayed us, outran us, so the sum up is easy; from minute zero they were a better team," Gran Canaria head coach Jaka Lakovic recognized in the press conference. "We didn’t run back, we didn’t rebound and, in the end, the third thing was so obvious: we didn’t defend one on one, but all credit goes to Hapoel for a great game."

Nobody could argue against Lakovic's statements, as Hapoel ruled from the very beginning and was up by double-digits for more than 35 minutes after it took a 15-4 lead with 4:38 remaining in the first period. From then on, the difference kept increasing to a game-high of 30 points, 69-39, late in the third, turning a potentially balanced contest into a blowout.

Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv - Gran Canaria | Round 14 Highlights | 2022-23 7DAYS EuroCup

Coming to this game, the visitors were second in the EuroCup in assists (20.7 apg.) and third in scoring (85.9 ppg.), two-point shooting (58.5%) and PIR (97.2), while allowing the fewest rebounds (30.8 rpg.) and offensive rebounds (7.4 orpg.). None of those were the same against Hapoel, which limited Gran Canaria to 70 points, 13-of-29 two-point shooting (44.8%), and a PIR of 61. Also, it outrebounded the visitors 46-24, grabbing 36 defensive and 10 offensive boards.

"I would like to keep repeating \[it was the best game of the season so far\] in the future. It was a huge effort from all of our guys, outstanding game, all of them," Hapoel head coach Danny Franco said after the game. "I take off my hat to the guys, they did an unbelievable job, and to all of our fans, they are all coming to all of our games, gym sold out, amazing atmosphere."

Game News

After this convincing display, many can look at Hapoel as a serious contender in the competition, as it is now on a seven-game winning streak and it is also displaying top numbers in several categories like scoring, defensive rebounds, assists and PIR. Against Group B leader Gran Canaria, it scored 90 points (while averaging 87.6 before this game), pulled down 36 defensive rebounds (versus 29.7 average till this game), dished 29 assists (8 more than previous average) and went for a PIR of 130 (vs. previous 105.3). All those figures draw a very optimistic layout for Hapoel’s future in the competition.

Nevertheless, Coach Franco didn’t want to think too much about the future: "We are looking at this group one game at a time, we are not looking at one position or another... We want to play well, keep on proceeding, do a good job, win games, and as long as you play good basketball, then you will find yourself at the highest position you can reach."

Aside from that reasonable approach, there are many that will see Hapoel as a true force in the competition if it manages to keep displaying the kind of performance and numbers it produced against Gran Canaria on Wednesday.

For the third time this season, Jordan McRae of Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv has secured MVP of the Round honors in the 7DAYS EuroCup. In Round 14, McRae inspired Hapoel to a 92-70 over Group B leader Gran Canaria after scoring 25 points, having gone 5-of-7 on two-pointers, 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 on free throws. What's more, McRae grabbed 4 rebounds, dished 4 assists, recorded 4 steals and had 5 fouls drawn. He previously earned MVP of the Round honors in Rounds 9 and 10.

Round 14 MVP: Jordan McRae, Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv

For the third time this season, [Jordan McRae](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/jordan-mcrae/007996/) of Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv has secured MVP of the Round honors in the 7DAYS EuroCup. In Round 14, McRae inspired Hapoel to a [92-70](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/hapoel-vegan-friendly-tel-aviv-gran-canaria/U2022/137/) over Group B leader Gran Canaria after scoring 25 points, having gone 5-of-7 on two-pointers, 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 on free throws. What's more, McRae grabbed 4 rebounds, dished 4 assists, recorded 4 steals and had 5 fouls drawn. He previously earned MVP of the Round honors in Rounds 9 and 10.

For the third time this season, Jordan McRae of Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv has secured MVP of the Round honors in the 7DAYS EuroCup.

Jordan McRae | Round 14 MVP | 2022-23 7DAYS EuroCup

The second-best PIR mark in Round 14 belongs to two players: [Jerian Grant](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/jerian-grant/011204/) of Turk Telekom Ankara and [Amedeo Della Valle](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/amedeo-della-valle/005884/) of Germani Brescia, both of whom had a PIR of 30. During Turk Telekom's 72-80 win at Dolomiti Energia Trento, Grant posted 26 points, including going 10-of-10 from the free-throw line, while he also amassed 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 9 fouls drawn. Della Valle, meanwhile, finished with 22 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal, in addition to drawing 5 fouls. Rounding out the top five of the best performers are [DJ Stephens](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/dj-stephens/005982/) of Prometey Slobozhanske and [Juhann Begarin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/juhann-begarin/008161/) of Paris Basketball, who both had a PIR of 29. Stephens led Prometey to a 94-68 triumph against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana with 28 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, while Begarin paced Paris with 22 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists and 2 steals in its 103-87 victory against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica.

Individual highs: J'Covan Brown, Hapoel, 14 assists

[DJ Stephens](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/dj-stephens/005982/) of Prometey and [Jamel Morris](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/jamel-morris/011931/) of 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys led all scorers in Round 14 with 28 points apiece. Cedevita guard [Yogi Ferrell](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/yogi-ferrell/011281/) is this season's top scorer at 19.1 points per game. [Ismael Kamagate](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/ismael-kamagate/011926/) of Paris pulled down a round-high 13 rebounds. Buducnost big man [Alpha Kaba](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/alpha-kaba/007855/) leads the competition with 11.1 rebounds per contest. [J'Covan Brown](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/j-covan-brown/011991/) of Hapoel dished 14 assists in this round, more than any other player. He also tops the standings for assists with an average of 7.6 per night. In Round 14, [Jordan McRae](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/jordan-mcrae/007996/) of Hapoel, [Mitchell Watt](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/mitchell-watt/006332/) of Umana Reyer Venice and [Erkan Yilmaz](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/erkan-yilmaz/006372/) of Turk Telekom recorded 4 steals apiece. [Jeremiah Martin](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/jeremiah-martin/011899/) of Slask Wroclaw is the steals leader this season, averaging 2.7 steals per game. ratiopharm Ulm center [Bruno Caboclo](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/bruno-caboclo/012096/) finished with a round-leading 4 blocks against Joventut Badalona. Kamagate is leading the way for blocks with 1.7 per contest. Three players had a double-double in this round: Brown with 11 points and 14 assists; [Kosta Koufos](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/kosta-koufos/009766/) of the London Lions with 17 points and 11 rebounds; and Kamagate with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Congratulations to Gurdal Martin, who is the EuroCup Fantasy Challenge winner for Round 14! His team turkey gurdal posted a score of 237.65

The team featured the following lineup: team captain Jerian Grant of Turk Telekom Ankara, Andres Feliz of Joventut Badalona, Arnoldas Kulboka of Promitheas Patras, Sam Dekker of London Lions and his teammate Kosta Koufos as starters; Aamir Simms of Paris Basketball as the sixth man; Aleksander Balcerowski of Gran Canaria, Kenny Gabriel of Germani Brescia, his teammate David Cournooh and J'Covan Brown of Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv as bench players; and Giannis Christopoulos of Promitheas as head coach. The prize for finishing first in Round 14 is a free subscription to Euroleague TV for the 2023-24 season!

Aleksandar Slabakoski stays atop the overall standings. His team Dr Fantasy is ahead of everyone else with 2,444.93 fantasy points.

Trades are now open for Round 15. Remember, three trades are allowed before each round until the end of the regular season, and you can also trade your head coach.

The first game in Round 15, Turk Telekom vs. Promitheas, is scheduled to tip off on Tuesday, March 7 at 18:00 CET, and thus marks the next round's deadline.

Try to improve your teams and challenge for more prized at the EuroCup Fantasy Challenge, powered by Ardu Prime!

EuroCup Fantasy Challenge: Round 14 winner!

Size mattered as rampant Paris trampled Buducnost 

Paris Basketball romped to a 103-87 home win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica to sweep the season series and put itself in a commanding position to finish in the top half of Group B, largely thanks to its more athletic outfit which had the upper hand in every department against Buducnost.

Notably, Paris kept the best offensive-rebounding team in the EuroCup to just 10 offensive boards while the hosts racked up 13, having out-rebounded the visitors 37-34 with Juhann Begarin and Ismael Kamagate doing most of the damage.

"I told them that even if they had scored zero points, they were the most impactful players on the court because of their defense," Paris head coach Will Weaver praised the duo at the post-game press conference. "When those guys play like that and we take care of the ball, we can also keep the turnovers down."

As it was, the outstanding Begarin paced Paris with 22 points, having given Buducnost’s big men a roasting at both ends of the court, while Kamagate posted 13 points and as many rebounds.

No less than seven home players scored double digits and Paris also shot an impressive 27 of 44 on two-pointers, while making 11 of 27 three-pointers. The hosts had 21 assists and only 8 turnovers, while Buducnost threw away possession 12 times.

The visitors struggled all evening to stay on an even keel with their more physical opponents and defeat was inevitable after Buducnosts's top scorer Erick Green (26 points) went cold in the second half as he only netted 5 points after the break.

"We struggled in defense the whole game and I think we have a problem when the other team has bigger bodies, it's a big problem for us," Buducnost coach Vlada Jovanovic succinctly summed up his team’s shortcomings. "We only played good defense for a couple of minutes in the last quarter but that was it."

Buducnost was no match for a youthful and energetic Paris team which impressed Weaver, who underscored how well his unit had adapted to being shorthanded through injuries.

"I am proud of those young guys being ready," he said. "We have many players injured and as a result, the other guys are playing big minutes two games a week. That is a part of our development, we are a team where young players can come and play and those guys deserve credit for taking advantage of those opportunities."

Game Videos

50-40-90 shooting got Brescia past Cluj

One sign of a great overall shooting performance for a player or team is 50-40-90 - at least 50% shooting on two-pointers; 40% on three-pointers; and 90% on free throws. Germani Brescia came up with a 50-40-90 shooting night in getting past U-BT Cluj-Napoca 103-84.

Alessandro Magro’s troops shot 50% on the dot from two-point range, making 15-of-30 shots. Brescia was well over the 40% clip from long range, draining 13 of 27 three-pointers (48.1%). And the home team connected on 34 of 36 free throws (94.4%).

David Cournooh made 9 of 9 free throws and both Amedeo Della Valle and CJ Massinburg were 6 of 6 from the line. The free throw shooting ended up playing a major difference as Cluj connected on just 15 of 20 foul shots.

In addition to shooting the ball at an impressive clip overall, Brescia also did an excellent job handling the ball, committing only 9 turnovers.

London dominated the paint

London Lions made history in Round 14 by downing Veolia Towers Hamburg 83-66 to clinch a spot in the 7DAYS EuroCup Playoffs. Its strong play in the paint was one of the biggest keys to the game.

London protected the paint really well, only allowing Hamburg to make 31.8% of its two-point shots (14 of 44). It was the second-lowest mark of any team in the EuroCup this season: Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana shot 31.7% inside the arc in a Round 8 home loss against Germani Brescia. It is also a new negative club record for Hamburg, which previously shot 32.2% on two-point shots against Turk Telekom Ankara last season.

The hosts did much better at the other end of the court, burying 22-of-38 two-pointers (57.9%). London's starting frontcourt of Sam Dekker and Kosta Koufos combined for 32 points on 13 of 16 two-point shooting (81.3%). London outrebounded Hamburg 44-31, grabbing 33 defensive rebounds and allowing its opponent to pull down 11 offensive bounds. London grabbed 75% of all rebounds under its rim, which was much better than Hamburg (65.6%).