Gran Canaria ground out an 83-76 win at Veolia Towers Hamburg after four of its players chipped in with double digits in scoring,

Balanced attack was pivotal for Gran Canaria to win in Hamburg

Gran Canaria ground out an 83-76 win at Veolia Towers Hamburg after four of its players chipped in with double digits in scoring, paced by the imposing Khalifa Diop who led all performers with 16 points and 5 rebounds. The talented 20-year old center was a menace at both ends of the court, hurting Hamburg in the paint and doing a great job protecting his own at pivotal moments.

Diop enjoyed a rock-solid support cast in Nicolas Brussino (15 points), Vitor Benite (12) and Miquel Salvo (8), the latter hitting a pair of clutch three-pointers although he nailed just 2 of 7 shots from downtown.

Hamburg did a good job limiting the visitors to just 7-of-21 three-point accuracy but were overpowered inside the arc as Gran Canaria grabbed 32 rebounds to the home side's 28. Crucially, the Spanish outfit shot 72.4% on two-pointers (21-for-29) and contained Hamburg to just 53.7% (22-of-41), as the visitors carved out an insurmountable 22-point lead in the third quarter.

Hamburg's late fightback fell short with Kendale McCullum and Jonas Wohlffarth-Bottermann, who scored 15 points apiece, being left with too much work to do against a more resourceful visiting team.

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Veolia Towers Hamburg v Gran Canaria (2022-12-21T18:45:00.000Z)

Slask Wroclaw has been underperforming in the 7DAYS EuroCup so far this season, but that has definitely not been the case for the Polish team’s guard Jeremiah Martin, who has produced a string of consistently high-level performances. And so it was no surprise at all that Martin was the star performer as Slask finally grabbed its first win of the season by thrashing Dolomiti Energia Trento, 80-57, on Wednesday night.

Martin came into the game with very solid season averages of 14.1 points, 4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.6 steals, scoring in double digits on seven of his eight appearances to present a very strong case that he should be considered the EuroCup’s top rookie this season following his summer move from German team Goettingen.

And the 26-year-old excelled again by leading the way to down Trento with a season-high 21 points, making 9 of his 14 two-point attempts, and also adding 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 6 steals for a PIR of 25. Importantly, the majority of his contribution came during the key phase of the game in the first half as he reached 15 points by the interval, allowing Slask to establish a 19-point lead that never came close to being threatened after the break.

Those 6 steals allowed Martin to move clear at the top of the competition’s chart in that category. He now averages 3.0 steals per game, just ahead of Prometey Slobozhanske’s DJ Kennedy with 2.9 per night. And that commitment to defensive effort, in addition to his scoring exploits at the other end, gives hope to Slask Wroclaw that Martin will lead his team to a lot more wins in the New Year.

Martin continued to shine for Slask

Slask Wroclaw v Dolomiti Energia Trento (2022-12-21T19:00:00.000Z)

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana had to wait for 9 rounds in the 7DAYS EuroCup to grab its first road win of the season, but it managed to get it in one of the toughest courts, as it defeated Group A leader Mincidelice Bourg en Bresse 90-91 on Wednesday night. 

Even though Cedevita was in front for most of the game, the home team never surrendered and reached the last period trailing 60-64. It was a one-possession game when Pierre Pelos scored a bucket early in the quarter. 

That is when Yogi Ferrell and Josh Adams decided to take over and lead their team. The former drilled a couple of threes and the latter added another to keep Cedevita calm and continued rocking all over the place to push the visitors to a prestigious road win.

The duo combined for 20 fourth-quarter points - including 6 free throws in the last minute that became crucial to avoid Bourg’s late rally. Adams also contributed 2 assists - 1 to Alen Omic and another to Amar Alibegovic - that turned into 5 points for the winners. Overall, 25 out of 27 last-quarter points of Cedevita came from the hands of the Adams-Ferrell duo. 

“\[A road win\] is what we all hoped, we got a little break coming up between EuroCup games so we are looking to rest, recover and keep this momentum going forward in the second half of the EuroCup," said Adams after finishing with a season-high 26 points and a PIR of 24.

His backcourt mate Ferrell was also happy for the outcome: “It was a tough game, coming in here, but we played great, whatever it came down the stretch, and pulled out the win, so it’s a great credit to the whole team."

Magic backcourt duo lifted Cedevita against the leader

Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2022-12-21T18:30:00.000Z)

Prometey Slobozhanske rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat Umana Reyer Venice 71-75 on the road in Group A. Its fighting spirit and physicality arguably were the decisive factors in the victory.

 Prometey's hustle paid off 

Prometey Slobozhanske rallied from a double-digit deficit to beat Umana Reyer Venice 71-75 on the road in Group A. Its fighting spirit and physicality arguably were the decisive factors in the victory.

Prometey outrebounded Reyer by 38-43, grabbing as many as 15 offensive rebounds. D.J. Stephens finished the game with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, Caleb Agada pulled down 9 boards and Ondrej Balvin grabbed 8. The guests took a much better care of the ball, getting 16 assists and 12 turnovers. Reyer had 13 turnovers and just 8 assists: its lowest mark in the club's 7DAYS EuroCup history.

Prometey had 10 steals in this game. DJ Kennedy had half of those, also getting 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. He is just the 23rd player in EuroCup history to get a 15-5-5-5 line, and the first to do it since Gary Browne of Dolimiti Energia Trento had 27 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals against Nanterre 92 on November 18, 2020. On the other hand, Reyer finished the game with just 4 steals.

Prometey's hustle paid off

Umana Reyer Venice v Prometey Slobozhanske (2022-12-21T19:00:00.000Z)


Gran Canaria stayed tied atop Group B alongside Turk Telekom after an 83-76 win at Veolia Towers Hamburg lifted the Spanish side to a 7-2 record, while its German rival dropped to 3-6 and remained eighth in the standings, just inside the playoff picture.

Man of the match Khalifa Diop led Gran Canaria's charge with 16 points and 5 rebounds. Nicolas Brussino added 15 points and Vitor Benite chipped in with 12. At the other end, Kendale McCullum and Jonas Wohlfarth-Botterman netted 15 points each, while Lukas Meisner scored 11 for the hosts.

Hamburg turned an early 2-6 deficit into a 13-8 lead but the hosts were on the back foot for the rest of the first half as Gran Canaria hit back quickly with an 11-2 run and went on to take a 25-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. Hamburg replied with 6 unanswered points but played in fits and starts, allowing Gran Canara to pull away again on the back of another 11-2 streak. AJ Slaughter and Nicolas Brussino paced the visitors while Kendale McCullum cut a lonesome figure for Hamburg, who trailed 29-43 late in the second quarter. With Gran Canaria leading 48-37 at the interval, their smooth offense and domination in the paint also produced a balanced offensive workload as Diop poured 10 points in the opening half, while Slaughter, Brussino and Benite chipped in 8 each. McCullum had 11 for Hamburg but with preciously little support from his teammates, the home side was on the receiving end. 

Hamburg looked out for the count when a rampant Gran Canaria opened up a 65-44 lead midway through the third quarter, but the hosts then tightened their defense and hit some tough shots at the end to engineer a 17-5 run which saw them cut the gap to 61-70. However, a resilient Gran Canaria fended off the comeback with 6 straight points and although a battling Hamburg slashed the visiting team's lead to nine points again (70-79) in the closing stages, it was too little too late to salvage the game.

Gran Canaria rolls on with 83-76 win at Hamburg

### Gran Canaria head coach Jaka Lakovic:

"The first half and the third quarters were good, defensively we were solid. We didn’t give up fastbreak points and we protected the offensive rebound... 

With a 22-point lead we somehow stopped playing, our young guys made some mistakes which is normal. They \[Hamburg\] tried to get back into the game with a lot of contact and they managed to get back but we controlled the game. Every day somebody can step up and today our big guys were present and protected the rim. In offense, they had good finishing around the basket and gave us big help."

 

### Veolia Towers Hamburg head coach Raoul Korner:

"They are a very high-quality team and they proved that tonight. In the first half, we played a little too shy, we could have stepped on their toes a little more. We did that towards the end of the third quarter and in the fourth, we were right up there with them, but we needed more than a solid game.

"We played a solid game but not more and that was not enough. We couldn’t protect the paint and overall we should have been more aggressive. If we are not allowed to run, we have problems to score, that’s not a secret anymore. Our offense looked pretty good today but you have to be very precise against a team like this as they don’t make many mistakes.

"We got a couple of good looks that we didn’t convert into baskets and they don’t give you too many of those. You have to be at a very high percentage and we didn’t execute sharp enough to get enough chances."

### Gran Canaria center Khalifa Diop:

"We played good pick-and-roll defense and also did a good job with defensive and offensive rebounds. I stayed focused on the little details, helping everybody protect the paint and mostly rebounds."

Coach Lakovic, Gran Canaria: 'We controlled the game'

Joventut Badalona grabbed its sixth win in Group A by downing 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys 76-90 at Cido Arena. A much better shooting percentage after the break made the difference in the game. 

 

Joventut trailed 39-37 at halftime and had underwhelming numbers overall, having made just 2 of 9 three-pointers (22.2% 3FG), getting just 6 assists and committing 6 turnovers. Lietkabelis did better in these three aspects of the game, burying 4 of 11 shots from beyond the arc (36.4% 3FG), making only 4 turnovers and dishing 10 assists. Once Joventut found its scoring rhythm, it was a completely different game. 

 

Joventut made 6 three-point shots in the third quarter as it outscored Lietkabelis 19-32. Andres Feliz nailed 3 triples in crunch time to make sure Joventut walked away with a win. Joventut made 10 of 13 three-pointers (76.9% 3FG) after the break, dished 15 assists and made 7 turnovers. Lietkabelis downed 3 of 13 shots from downtown (23.1% 3FG) in the second half with 9 assists and 6 turnovers.

Joventut's second-half accuracy led to victory  

7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys v Joventut Badalona (2022-12-21T17:00:00.000Z)

Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana earned its first road win of the season when it defeated Group A leader Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse 88-91 at the Ekinox on Wednesday night. The visitors amassed a 31-41 advantage before halftime, but couldn’t confirm the win until the last seconds when Yogi Ferrell sealed the outcome from the free throw line. Cedevita improved to 2-7, while Bourg dropped to 6-3 after its second straight loss.

Josh Adams led the winners with a season-high 26 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, good for a PIR of 24. Ferrell followed him with 18 points and 4 dimes, as Alen Omic provided 14 points and 6 boards. Jordan Floyd and Pierre Pelos chipped in 22 points apiece for Bourg, the latter also pulling down 7 rebounds. James Palmer and Isiaha Mike added 13 and 11 points, respectively, in the losing effort.

The visitors displayed a great offensive balance and accuracy early in the game, building a 5-12 edge after 3 minutes. Bourg used the three-point line to stay close, nailing 5 triples out of 6 attempts, as the first period finished 23-26 for Cedevita. 

The scoring pace slowed down in the second, which Pelos took advantage of to tie it up, 28-28. Adams came to the rescue to score 8 points in a row and Jeremic followed with a three to grant Cedevita a double-digit lead, 29-39. Bourg didn’t step back and counterattacked with Palmer and Amida Brimah inside to bring the hosts within 41-44 at halftime. 

Bourg continued the run when the game resumed, getting ahead 46-44 right after Palmer completed a three-point play. Omic and Adams combined to return the lead to Cedevita, but it became a one-possession game for a while. The visitors found Lavro Gnjidic and Karlo Matkovic late in the quarter to hold on, as Marko Jeremic buried a triple to keep Cedevita in front, 60-64, after 30 minutes. 

Ferrell and Adams punished Bourg from behind the arc to make it 69-73 and continued supporting the visitors’ offense to extend it to 78-83 entering crunch time. Floyd took over to make it 85-87 with 38 seconds to play, and even though Ferrell seemed to have closed the game from the line soon later, Palmer brought the fans to their feet with a corner three that made it 88-89 with 7 seconds to go. Nevertheless, Ferrell didn’t tremble in the following offense and scored a couple of free throws that put the game to bed.

Cedevita chops down Bourg on the road, 90-91, in France

Paris Basketball came to a sold-out Copper Box Arena on Wednesday night and beat the London Lions 80-93 in the first-ever installment of this derby between the two 7DAYS EuroCup newcomers. By coming away with the win, Paris improved to 6-3 and is now 5-0 on the road, while London dropped to 4-5.

Aamir Simms led Paris with 15 points, and Tyrone Wallace finished as the team's second top scorer with 13. Gauthier Denis and Kyle Allman contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively, too. London found scoring from Sam Dekker, who had a game-high 19 points. Tomislav Zubcic had 17 and Vojtech Hruban ended with 12, while Josh Sharma, Jordan Taylor and Kosta Koufos scored 10 points apiece. For Paris, it was a team effort when it came to scoring, with nine players scoring 6 points or more. London, meanwhile, had six of its players finish with at least 6 points.

There was plenty of noise and excitement inside Copper Box Arena for tipoff, but it was Paris that had the better start to the game, opening a 6-12 lead after Aamir Simms and Axel Toupane combined for 9 points. London kept its composure, though, as it began to find joy in the paint with Josh Sharma, who scored 6 first-quarter points and got the fans off their seats with a couple of thunderous dunks. Thanks to Jordan Taylor's made free throw, London ended the first quarter three points ahead, 19-16. 

The beginning of the second quarter was almost a mirror image of the first, as Paris started strong once again. This time, though, the visitors were able to flip their three-point deficit and make it a 12-point game, 19-31, with 6:21 minutes remaining before halftime. Dekker and Koufos, two of London's most high-profile players, helped lead a response from the hosts, who trimmed the gap to three points, 35-38, not long before the break. Heading into halftime, though, Paris was ahead by seven, 37-44. 

Paris kept its foot on the gas in the third quarter and took advantage of a poor shooting night for London from three-point range, going ahead by as many as 23 points on two occasions – 52-75 and 54-77 – before Tomislav Zubcic hit the Lions' first triple of the night to make it 57-77 going into the fourth.

Optimism was fading inside Copper Box Arena, despite attempts from the crowd to cheer on the team, and Paris showed no sign of letting up. With 2:32 left, Kyle Allman hit a two-pointer to effectively wrap up the visitors' win, 68-90. London put some more points on the board to cut the gap, but it wasn’t enough, with the final score reading 80-93.

Paris spoils London's special night, 80-93

London Lions v Paris Basketball (2022-12-21T19:30:00.000Z)