Lietkabelis won through rebounds, threes

7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys took a massive step towards qualifying for the 7DAYS EuroCup Playoffs from Group A by downing Umana Reyer Venice 87-84 in Round 14 at Kalnapilio Arena. Rebounds and three-point shots made the difference.

Lietkabelis had another solid night from beyond the arc, burying 10 of 23 three-pointers (43.5%). No one was better than Jamel Morris, who sank 6 of 7 shots from downtown, including a long go-ahead shot that fixed the final score with 1.3 seconds remaining. Reyer only made 4 of 19 three-pointers. It was its lowest percentage (19.0%) this season. 

The hosts also dominated the boards in the second half, and that allowed Coach Nenad Canak's team a better chance to win. Reyer outrebounded Lietkabelis 11-17 in the first half. Everything changed after the break, as Lietkabelis won the battle of the boards 19-5. Those 22 rebounds were the second-lowest mark in the EuroCup this season: Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse pulled down 20 boards in a 110-98 road loss against ratiopharm Ulm in Round 8. It also matched Reyer's lowest rebounding mark in the competition.

Game News

Game Videos

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

Paris blows past Buducnost, 103-87

Paris Basketball boosted its hopes of finishing in the top four of Group B after a sublime performance, led by the unstoppable Juhann Begarin, saw it brush aside Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 103-87 to improve its record to 9-5 with four rounds remaining in the regular season. The result means that Paris, which had already qualified for the playoffs with games to spare, swept Buducnost after winning the reverse fixture 77-74 and is now in a good position to gain home-court advantage in the first knockout stage of the EuroCup. Buducnost, which dropped to 8-6, is also assured of reaching the playoffs but has left itself work to do if the Montenegrin side is to finish in the group’s top half.

Begarin lit up the contest with 22 points and an array of spectacular slam-dunks, with six of his teammates also scoring in double figures. Aamir Simms had 15 points, Ismael Kamagate and Tyrone Wallace posted 13 each, Jeremy Evans and Denis Gauthier scored 11 apiece and Amar Gegic netted 10. Kamagate also collected 13 rebounds. Erick Green paced Buducnost with 26 points, of which he sank 21 in the first half, JJ O’Brien added 14, Trae Bell-Haynes 13, Petar Popovic netted 12 and Marko Jagodic-Kuridza had 11.

The home team raced into a 9-2 lead and never looked back, with Begarin taking the game by the scruff of the neck offensively as he pierced through Buducnost’s defense almost at will. Kamagate also played a big part in the rampant start with his size and spring, with Buducnost struggling to find open shots or make any impact in the paint.

Green kept the visitors in touch single-handedly in the first half, having nailed his opening seven shots and all of them were contested. However, he had preciously little support from his teammates and although Buducnost was able to slash the deficit to 27-23 early in the second quarter, the visitors were lucky to be 54-42 down at halftime as Paris seemed to be two gears ahead in terms of pace and aggression.

Green ran out of steam and space in the second half as he was closely guarded by his markers while Begarin carried on where he left off, with Paris soon opening up a 20-point lead (62-42) thanks to some impeccable teamwork. Begarin’s supporting cast stepped up and the home team’s advantage soared to 84-62 late in the third quarter, leaving Buducnost a mountain to climb.

The visitors found some energy in the fourth quarter, cutting the gap to 95-81 with 3:41 left on the clock, but hard-working Paris was not about to spill its advantage and the hosts closed out the contest comfortably for an impressive victory.

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

Brescia beats Cluj, ushers others into playoffs 

Germani Brescia remained in the fight for home-court advantage in the playoffs by fending off U-BT Cluj-Napoca 103-84 in a back-and-forth battle in Group A. The victory also meant that Joventut Badalona and Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse both qualified for the playoffs. Brescia reeled off 10 straight points in the fourth quarter to win its second straight game and improve to 7-7 on the season.

Amedeo Della Valle hit 4 three-pointers in scoring 22 points, Kenny Gabriel added 5 triples and 20 points and David Cournooh chipped in 15 points in the win. Cluj suffered another setback in its hopes to make the playoffs, falling to 4-10, including 1-6 on the road. Kasey Shepherd paced Cluj with 17 points and 6 assists and Jalen Jones contributed 14 points.

The teams swapped three-pointers early on as the lead went back and forth. Brescia held Cluj to just 2 free throws in a 10-2 run over nearly 4 minutes for a 20-12 lead. Leonardo Meindl scored 5 quick points to help Cluj pull within 1 point and it was 22-19 after 10 minutes.

Back-to-back triples from Shepherd and Stefan Bircevic put the visitors ahead 22-25. CJ Massinburg answered with 7 points to put the hosts up 29-27. Six lead changes followed, including Della Valle draining 2 three-pointers for Brescia, and a Gabriel triple made it 42-38 at the break.

Jones opened the second half with the first 7 points with 2 three-pointers to push Cluj ahead 42-45. The back-and-forth continued and the guests led 53-55. Christian Burns hit a three-pointer in a 9-0 run and Brescia was up 62-55 and led 64-60 after three quarters.

Bircevic and Karel Guzman landed triples and the deficit was down to 70-68. Brescia’s defense held strong for more than 2 minutes and Tai Odiase scored 3 points to make it 75-68. It was 82-77 when Gabriel added another triple to start a push of 10 straight points to end any comeback hopes at 92-77 with 89 seconds left.

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

Alessandro Magro, Brescia: 'This win shows the team is alive'

### Germani Brescia head coach Alessandro Magro:

"It was a great night, a very important win for the standings. It’s a very important win to show the team is alive. It's fighting and trying to find a way to live a good moment, even in the domestic league. It’s a great night for everybody, also because John Petrucelli finally came back and played. We sacrificed and shared the ball and those are the easiest things to do to get a home win.

"For sure it was a very important game for us. It was a very important game for the EuroCup standings. It was not an easy game and we knew it beforehand. Despite the standings, Cluj is really, really physical. They are one of the best teams in the EuroCup on offensive rebounds and we saw it tonight. They had 14 offensive rebounds. And they are by far the best EuroCup team in two-point shooting. I think we did a pretty good job. I saw a very good effort. I saw that the team is alive. We saw that winning against Bourg and also in the domestic league against Virtus Segafredo Bologna. So I am pretty happy about the standings. It is also really important for us to give this win to the owner and the fans who came here to support us. We are trying our best to let them have fun and have more wins. No win is taken for granted. We need to celebrate every win, rest and be ready for the next game."

### U-BT Cluj-Napoca head coach Mihai Silvasan:

"Congratulations to Brescia for the win. I think it was a close game for 35 minutes. I think we played good basketball for 35 minutes but then we broke down. I don’t think the final point difference at the end was real. We played better than that and we gave a good contest against the home team. But unfortunately, we broke down, made some mistakes and tried to come back in the end but that didn’t work. We tried to come here to fight for the win, we did that for the most part. But unfortunately we didn’t manage to do it for 40 minutes. For us the chances of advancing are way lower right now. But we need to respect ourselves first, respect the competition and play as hard as possible in the next games. Who knows, maybe by a miracle we will still have a chance to advance."

### Germani Brescia guard Amedeo Della Valle:

"We are happy because this victory gives us a good opportunity to reach the playoffs. It’s an important win because it gives us a little continuity after the win in Bourg and we hope to keep going."

History was made at Copperbox Arena where the London Lions clinched a spot in the 7DAYS EuroCup Playoffs from Group B by downing Veolia Towers Hamburg 83-66 on Wednesday. London snapped a three-game home losing streak and improved to 6-8 in the standings. It was its second win against Hamburg and therefore earned it the head-to-head tiebreaker between them. Hamburg dropped to 4-10 and eighth place in Group B.

Kostas Koufos paced the winners with 17 points on 8-of-10 two-point shooting plus 11 rebounds. Sam Dekker added 15 points while Luke Nelson and Meye Oni each had 14 for London, which dominated the glass 44-32. Yoeli Childs led Hamburg with 14 points and James Woodard and Kendale McCullum each added 10 for the visitors.

Dekker and Koufos had 4 points each to give London an early 10-6 lead. Christoph Phillips struck from downtown and McCullum's layup gave Hamburg a 10-11 edge. Nelson and an unstoppable Dekker helped London take charge, 19-16, after 10 minutes. 

Koufos scored twice in the paint and Dekker added a fastbreak basket in a 10-0 run that Oni capped with an alley-oop layup for a 29-19 London lead. Seth Heinrich brought Hamburg within 31-28 but Dekker and Vojtech Hurban fueled a 10-0 run that helped London to a 42-30 lead at halftime.

Koufos scored twice around the basket and Dekker buried a three-pointer to boost the hosts' lead to 50-36 soon after the break. McCullum and Woodard tried to change things for Hamburg and Heinrichs made a triple for a 54-44 deficit. Tomislav Zubcic answered from downtown and got help from Hruban to keep London out of trouble, 62-51, after 30 minutes. 

Nelson buried back-to-back three-pointers to break the game open, 68-51, early in the fourth quarter. Litte changed after that, as London boosted its margin to 76-56 and cruised to a well-deserved and historic victory.

London locks up playoff spot by beating Hamburg

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

Will Weaver, Paris: 'Satisfied and really proud' 

### Paris Basketball head coach Will Weaver:

"Satisfied and really proud. I thought Juhann Begarin and Ismael Kamagate absolutely just strangled the game defensively. You felt them every minute they were out there on the court. Those two young guys, to play so well against grown men, a physical team like Buducnost, it’s impressive... We were super-injured, we were missing multiple starters, so we’ll take the break to get healthy and come back to try to make a push down the stretch."

 

### Buducnost VOLI POdgorica head coach Vlada Jovanovic:

"We didn’t start well, we tried to find our rhythm almost throughout the game and we didn’t. Defense was the biggest problem. We found the open shots in the second half, but defense was the biggest problem."

 

### Paris Basketball forward Juhann Begarin:

"We tried to control the pace, stay focused and be physical. We know we are a young team, so we just tried to execute the coach’s game plan."

### [**7Bet-Lietkabelis Paneveyzs 87-84 Umana Reyer Venice**](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/7bet-lietkabelis-panevezys-umana-reyer-venice/U2022/135/)

In a thriller that went down to the final shot, Lietkabelis grabbed its third consecutive win in Group A by topping Reyer 87-84 at Kalnapilio Arena on Wednesday. Lietkabelis improved to 7-7 in the standings, the same as Reyer, which won their first game 74-71 in Round 5. Jamel Morris led the winners with 28 points on 6-for-7 three-point shooting, firing in his sixth and final one from the EuroCup logo with 1.3 seconds remaining. Mitchell Watt led Reyer with 19 points.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jamel Morris fires from 8 meters and WINS IT for <a href="https://twitter.com/BCLietkabelis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BCLietkabelis</a> 🎯🔥 <a href="https://t.co/C5pxP1JF5k">pic.twitter.com/C5pxP1JF5k</a></p>&mdash; 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup/status/1623397127081824256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### [**Prometey Slobozhanske 94-68 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana**](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/prometey-slobozhanske-cedevita-olimpija-ljubljana/U2022/131/)

Prometey remained atop Group A with a comfortable 94-68 home win over Cedevita. The Ukrainian side took over the game in the third quarter to extend its winning streak to seven games for a 10-4 record. DJ Stephens paced the winners with 28 points including 6 three-pointers and Caleb Agada chipped in 16 points. Cedevita’s chances of reaching the playoffs are slowly fading away with a fourth loss in the last five games for a 3-11 record. Alen Omic scored 16 points in defeat.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A dominant performance from <a href="https://twitter.com/BcPrometey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BcPrometey</a> in R14!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToGreatness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToGreatness</a> <a href="https://t.co/PRAVoZUUbQ">pic.twitter.com/PRAVoZUUbQ</a></p>&mdash; 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup/status/1623399197742358530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### [**Promitheas Patras 90-66 Slask Wroclaw**](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/promitheas-patras-slask-wroclaw/U2022/140/)

Promitheas dug itself out of an early hole before dominating the second half to defeat Slask 90-66 at Dimitris Tofalos Arena. After falling behind by 16 in the first quarter, the hosts fought back to lead by 2 at halftime and then outclassed the visitors 47-25 in the second half. The winners improved to 9-5 and a share of fourth place in the standings, while Slask's fading playoff hopes suffered another blow as it fell to 1-13. Joe Thomasson scored all of his 20 points in the first half to lead Promitheas. Aleksander Dziewa paced Slask with 19 points.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">⏳ Final Score <br>🇭 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/promitheaspatras?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#promitheaspatras</a> 90<br>🇦 <a href="https://twitter.com/WKS_SlaskBasket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WKS_SlaskBasket</a> 66<br>🤝 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/medfrigo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#medfrigo</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/promitheasbc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#promitheasbc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/proudtobeorange?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#proudtobeorange</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToGreatness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToGreatness</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7DAYSEuroCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7DAYSEuroCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EuroCup</a> <a href="https://t.co/S42sfA5Ixf">pic.twitter.com/S42sfA5Ixf</a></p>&mdash; Promitheas Patras BC (@promitheasbc) <a href="https://twitter.com/promitheasbc/status/1623401911033397251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### [**Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv 92-70 Gran Canaria**](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/hapoel-vegan-friendly-tel-aviv-gran-canaria/U2022/137/)

Hapoel extended its winning streak to seven games by defeating visiting Group B leader Gran Canaria 92-70 at Shlomo Group Arena. The hosts dominated from the very beginning, amassing a 26-7 lead in the first 9 minutes that the visitors could never threaten. Hapoel improved to 10-4 to get closer to Gran Canaria’s 11-3 while also earning the head-to-head tiebreaker. Hapoel's Jordan McRae led all scorers with 25 points, to which he added 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals for a PIR of 31. and J’Covan Brown tallied a double-double of 11 points and 14 assists. John Shurna scored 16 points in defeat.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A statement home win for <a href="https://twitter.com/HapoelTLVBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HapoelTLVBC</a>!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToGreatness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToGreatness</a> <a href="https://t.co/hPX8BFkaXY">pic.twitter.com/hPX8BFkaXY</a></p>&mdash; 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup/status/1623414413146349568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### [**London Lions 83-66 Veolia Towers Hamburg**](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/london-lions-veolia-towers-hamburg/U2022/139/)

History was made at Copperbox Arena where London clinched a spot in the playoffs by downing Hamburg 83-66. London snapped a three-game home losing streak and improved to 6-8 in the standings. It was its second win against Hamburg and therefore earned it the head-to-head tiebreaker between them. Hamburg dropped to 4-10 and eighth place in Group B. Kostas Koufos paced the winners with 17 points on 8-of-10 two-point shooting plus 11 rebounds. Sam Dekker added 15 points. Yoeli Childs led Hamburg with 14 points.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="nl" dir="ltr">Dekker and Koufos lead <a href="https://twitter.com/LondonLions?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LondonLions</a> in Round 14!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToGreatness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToGreatness</a> <a href="https://t.co/znGa4ITvuX">pic.twitter.com/znGa4ITvuX</a></p>&mdash; 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroCup/status/1623433610928787456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### [**Paris Basketball 103-87 Buducnost VOLI Podgorica**](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/paris-basketball-buducnost-voli-podgorica/U2022/138/)

Led by the unstoppable Juhann Begarin, Paris brushed aside Buducnost 103-87 to improve its record to 9-5. Buducnost dropped to 8-6. Begarin lit up the contest with 22 points and an array of spectacular slam-dunks, with six of his teammates also scoring in double figures. Ismael Kamagate posted 13 and 13 rebounds. Erick Green paced Buducnost with 26 points, of which he sank 21 in the first half.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="fr" dir="ltr">Carpentier reste imprenable 🔐🏠💥<br><br>Une victoire quit fait du bien après une série négative ! On se retrouve dimanche à la maison pour enchaîner 🖤❤️💙 <a href="https://t.co/tijnps69IH">pic.twitter.com/tijnps69IH</a></p>&mdash; Paris Basketball (@ParisBasketball) <a href="https://twitter.com/ParisBasketball/status/1623435373425881090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

### [**Germani Brescia 103-84 U-BT Cluj-Napoca**](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/game-center/2022-23/germani-brescia-u-bt-cluj-napoca/U2022/134/)

Brescia remained in the fight for home-court advantage in the playoffs by fending off Cluj 103-84 in a back-and-forth battle in Group A. The victory also meant that Joventut Badalona and Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse both qualified for the playoffs. Brescia reeled off 10 straight points in the fourth quarter to win its second straight game and improve to 7-7 on the season. Amedeo Della Valle hit 4 three-pointers in scoring 22 points and Kenny Gabriel added 5 triples and 20 points in the win. Cluj suffered another setback in its hopes to make the playoffs, falling to 4-10, including 1-6 on the road. Kasey Shepherd paced Cluj with 17 points and 6 assists.

<center>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="it" dir="ltr">A BIG TEAM WIN 💪💪💪<br><br>Kenny Gabriel ed Amedeo guidano la Germani alla vittoria!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DreamBig?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DreamBig</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Brescia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Brescia</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/7DAYSEuroCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#7DAYSEuroCup</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoadToGreatness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RoadToGreatness</a> <a href="https://t.co/tFag6YSqE8">pic.twitter.com/tFag6YSqE8</a></p>&mdash; Pallacanestro Brescia (@LeonessaBrescia) <a href="https://twitter.com/LeonessaBrescia/status/1623435465746694149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Game Center: Perfect night for home teams sends London, Bourg, Joventut to playoffs

Coach Schmidt, London: 'I am proud of our guys'

### London Lions head coach Ryan Schmidt:

"It always feels good to win, especially here at home. It was a good turnout for us, another good crowd for EuroCup. I am proud of our guys. I thought the effort was really good. Sloppy first half offensively, but again, we showed some resilience, some poise in the second half and did what we needed to do to get a win. They say we clinched \[a playoffs spot\] tonight but we know we still have some games to go. Our goal, obviously, was to get to the playoffs but like I said earlier, we want to be trending on playing our best basketball when we get to March. Again, this is a step in the right direction and we still got some time until playoff basketball starts, so we have to keep improving.

"I thought I am pleased with our overall effort. And to me, the thing that stands out is the contributions from the entire team. That's something that I think we have been struggling with in this competition, especially as of late, so we made some adjustments to our rotation. It wasn't that anyone did anything wrong but I just feel that we needed some more balance with that second unit. There were games that we started really well, the second unit came in, we had a drop-off and vice versa. We would start slow and get a lift from that second unit. Moving Luke \[Nelson\] and 'Zuba' \[Tomislav Zubcic\] to that second unit, I was hoping that would kind of give us some balance, where we would get some consistency, and we did. If you look at the stats sheet, and you got 15 points, 14 points, 14, 17... it is just the balance, I thought it was really good. And I thought it helped us with our consistency on the defensive end as well. We sustained that effort but again, anytime you get a win in this competition, it is satisfying, and being able to do it at home was really cool. We just have to continue to build on it. Again, we have a few games left before playoffs but there are conversations internally, as a team, if we can be training in the right direction come March and again, this is a step in the right direction."

### Veolia Hamburg Towers head coach Benka Barloschky:

"First of all, congratulations to the London Lions. Deserved win. We knew it was going to be a physical battle. London has a very big team in every position, very physical, very athletic. That is what we tried to prepare for. Obviously, our percentage from two-point range wasn't high enough tonight. We tried to find the one run that would get us a little bit going. We didn't find it and had plenty of opportunities. I like the fight in the team. I like the way we competed, especially on the defensive end. We created enough opportunities but tonight, we couldn't find the one run that could have got us a little closer in the end. For us, it's, first of all, back to domestic competitions in the BBL, and we have to make sure that we protect our own energy. That is what we tried tonight, I am very happy with that, always try to find a way, and we did, to stop runs, to create runs ourselves, and that's what we did tonight, and that is what we have to keep for the next game in the BBL. I love it \[the atmosphere\], it's a great arena and everybody is crazy well-dressed, I recognized. So that's nice to look at, and you guys are doing a good job, it is a good atmosphere to play, I liked it."

### London Lions center Kosta Koufos:

"We came out and played hard tonight. Fortunately tonight, we picked it up on defense until the end. We all played well together and we needed this win. It was a must-win for us. We have to turn the page and move on to just keep improving to the playoffs. They have great bigs, great players and are well-coached. I got a lot of respect for their teams that are in the EuroCup. There are a lot of great players in the EuroCup but whatever chance I have, \[I will\] play what I can whenever coach gives me minutes and fortunately tonight we came out with a win."

Promitheas used new recipe against Slask

Promitheas Patras dominated the second half to beat Slask Wroclaw 90-66 and it did so with marginal contributions from some of its key players. Star forward Arnoldas Kulboka had his worst game of the season with 0 points in 25 minutes and starting center played only 10 and a half minutes due to foul trouble.

However, Coach Ioannis Christopoulos stressed the positive aspects of how his team played on such a night.

"I think this is a sign of what kind of team we are," Christopoulos said after the game. "There are always poor days for very good players, but that doesn’t affect the team. I think that’s the right way. We know who Kulboka is. Still I think it’s important for me the maturity he demonstrated. He didn’t force anything, he stayed calm. That’s how the game is."

With those two big guns quieted, Promitheas enjoyed a magical first half from Joe Thomasson and strong play in the second from rookie center George Conditt. Thomasson helped Promitheas rally from an early 16-point deficit with 20 first-half points. He made 2 of 3 two-pointers, 4 of 4 threes and 4 of 4 free throws in reaching that number. Even though he did not score in the second half, Thomasson set a personal best in scoring and showed that when he’s on a roll, he will be tough to stop.

Conditt scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and also contributed 7 rebounds.  

On this night, when Promitheas moved into a tie for fourth-place – which would mean a home game in the first stage of the playoffs, it was led by a rookie as well as a head coach and a shooting guard who did not start the season with the team. And the way the team is finding new ways to win is something to keep an eye on, as Thomasson alluded to:

"Two months ago we weren’t a serious basketball team. No one was talking about us. People didn’t believe," Thomasson said after the game. "Now we’re stringing some wins together. Now, mind you, we have a lot of work to do. But I love our energy right now, the comradery in the locker room. We are coming together from our coaches down to the last player on the bench, we’re finally believing in something and that’s what matters."

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