After a first half at Palau Olimpic de Badalona in which Joventut Badalona and Prometey Slobozhanske went into the break with the score at 40-40, a disappointing third quarter for the visitors seemed to all but confirm that it would suffer its second road defeat of the season.

In the opening 6:20 of the third quarter, Joventut managed to go on a 25-3 run that saw the hosts open a 65-43 lead. Prometey responded in the final part of the quarter, scoring 5 straight points in the remaining 3:40, but a mixture of Joel Parra, Henry Ellenson and Pau Ribas had all stepped up at various points to all but secure the victory for Joventut.

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Joventut appeared to think that the game had already been won and allowed Prometey to come back into it in the fourth quarter, with the visitors getting to within two points, 79-77, but ultimately there was not enough time left on the clock for it to come away with the win. If the 25-8 quarter had not been quite so devastating, Prometey might have come away with a statement road win on Wednesday night. Instead, it fell to an 82-77 defeat.

Joventut's dominant third quarter all but condemned Prometey to defeat

Joventut Badalona v Prometey Slobozhanske (2022-11-02T19:15:00.000Z)

In an exciting game in the French capital that came down to the final minute, Gran Canaria knocked down 10 second-half triples and overcame a huge night by Kyle Allman to pull out an 81-89 win over Paris Basketball on Wednesday night. Gran Canaria, which finished with 13 three-pointers, improved to 3-1, while shorthanded newcomer Paris, missing half-a-dozen players due to injuries and illness, dropped to 2-2.

AJ Slaughter scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half, shooting 6-for-11 from long range. John Shurna had 14 points plus 7 rebounds and Damien Inglis scored 12 in the victory. Allman finished with 30 points. 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks for Paris. Axel Toupane scored 18, while Dustin Sleva and Juhann Begarin scored 12 apiece in a losing effort.

Both teams played with pace from the start. Allman had his way early, scoring the first 9 points for the hosts, and his alley-oop connection with Begarin made it 11-7. But Gran Canaria pulled down 8 offensive rebounds in the first quarter to stay close then used triples from Ferran Bassas and John Shurna early in the second to go up 19-24.  Toupane had a pair of fastbreak baskets before Begarin and Denis nailed a three apiece, but Gran Canaria stayed in front thanks to Inglis and Shurna. A triple from Slaughter helped make it 31-38 at halftime. 

The visitors increased it to double digits in the third quarter with a help of transition triples from Andrew Albicy and Shurna, 39-49. But Toupane and Allman ignited Paris again with a triple apiece before Begarin had a fastbreak dunk and a triple to give Paris a 54-53 edge. Slaughter finished the third quarter with back-to-back threes to make it 56-59. The fourth quarter was a high-scoring affair where the teams kept trading blows. Allman hit a pair of triples, but Ferran Bassas helped Gran Canaria stay close. After Salvo and Toupane traded threes to make it 75-75, Bassas and Slaughter hit back-to-back from downtown to give Gran Canaria a 6-point cushion with 3 minutes left, an advantage they did not relinquish.

Gran Canaria holds off Allman and Paris, 81-89

Paris Basketball v Gran Canaria (2022-11-02T19:30:00.000Z)

### Gran Canaria head coach Jaka Lakovic:

"AJ Slaughter was good for us today. We made the shots when we needed to make them. But I thought we were not strong enough defensively. We were playing in the second half who will score more points and I don't think this is the objective of the game for us. I go home happy to win, but we have to do better. I am happy because, honestly, I was pretty worried because the game Paris plays is totally different than what we are used to seeing in games in Europe. A lot of one-on-one, a lot of individual quality, so we had to change the mindset and defend one-on-one. At some point, we did that good, but there were parts of the game we did not do the job well. Before the next game, we have FIBA windows, but we want to go game by game. The EuroCup regular season is important, but not crucial because the playoffs are a do-or-die. You have to get there in great shape for the eighthfinals."

### Paris Basketball head coach Will Weaver

"It is not particularly sweet. I am proud of how the guys competed. Any number of plays called in the second half, an offensive foul that’s called a defensive foul, it just turned into a mountain that was too high for us to climb today. Thankfully, we got some time to the next EuroCup game, so I hope we will be healthy and fit by then. But there is a lot to learn from this game. This is an incredible team we played against and I am really proud how our guys approached it.

"The second half was an impressive effort to take care of the ball. The biggest self-inflicted issue we had was the first-half turnovers. Our players are improving. Improving at reading those situations, improving at spacing, improving at reacting to what to their teammates are doing. The important is that we continue to improve. Improve as players, improve as coaches and improve as a club. And I think it is obvious we are doing that."

### Gran Canaria guard AJ Slaughter:

"It is always great to come back to France. I've played many years here, in many different clubs, it is always special. Paris plays a good defense, it is kind of a tricky defense we are not used to seeing. So it took us some time to get our rhythm, and I think in the second half we did a better job of offensively attacking where we wanted to. My shot felt good and it was falling for me tonight. Hapoel Tel Aviv is next, they are a tough team and they've been playing well. We will watch film and prepare and be ready for that game."

### Paris Basketball center Dustin Sleva:

"A lot of guys were missing tonight. We were 7 to play tonight and we gave our best on the court. But in front of team as deep and as talented as Gran Canaria it was not enough. We’re already focused on the next game."

Coach Lakovic: 'We made the shots when we needed to'

### Carles Duran, Joventut Badalona head coach

"It's clear, we only played one quarter \[of good basketball today\]. Today we won, but in the next game, to only play 10 minutes, it is impossible to play basketball and win. Today is not a good day for us \[despite the win\]. The problem is not the result, it is the sensations; \[to\] try to play good basketball, and today we only played for 10 minutes."

### Joel Parra, Joventut Badalona forward

"I think the first half, we didn't play good basketball, good defense… We played at the rhythm that Prometey wanted. In the second half we played very well on defense, we made our three-point shots, and it's a good win. I know here at home, with all the fans, it is very important to try to win all the games."

### Ronen Ginzburg, Prometey Slobozhanske head coach

"In the third quarter we played terribly, but I am happy that the players showed character. For us it is a lesson \[about how we should play\], and we need to focus for 40 minutes, but I am satisfied with the last quarter. In the first half, we played good, our plan was good. I think for five or six minutes in the third quarter, we made lots of mistakes on defense and on offense. But I'm very happy that the players showed character; it is important."

### Dustin Hogue, Prometey Slobozhanske forward

"They're a really good team. I think that we did a good job of matching up with them in the first half, but we lost focus at the beginning of the third quarter and from there it was a tough hill to climb. We did a good job of fighting back, but I think that when you did yourself such a hole, you kind of have to play a perfect game and we came up a little short."

Joventut's Duran: 'Today we won, but we only played well for one quarter'

Umana Reyer Venice took a big step in establishing its identity as the Italian team’s defense shined through in Wednesday's 76-68 win over Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana.

Reyer held Cedevita to just 44.4% shooting on two-pointers and 28.6% on three-pointers in the victory. The two things that kept Cedevita in the game were rebounding - dominating the glass 43-27 - and free throws - converting on 20-of-22 from the foul line compared to 17-of-25.

In addition to holding down Cedevita’s shooting percentages, Reyer also forced 19 turnovers as Mitchell Watt grabbed 3 steals and Michael Bramos swiped 2 balls.

 

And despite scoring only 76 points, Reyer really shared the ball well with 20 assists - 5 each coming from Watt, Marco Spissu and Jayson Granger.

Reyer shined through on defense

Umana Reyer Venice v Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (2022-11-02T19:15:00.000Z)

Joventut Badalona has extended its record in the 2022-23 7DAYS EuroCup to 3-1 after beating Prometey Slobozhanske at Palau Olimpic de Badalona on Wednesday night.

A 13-point, 10-rebound double-double from Henry Ellenson and an 11-point, 8-rebound game from Joel Parra helped lead Joventut to an 82-77 victory, but Prometey fought back in the last quarter and made life difficult for the hosts. Prometey's Caleb Agada finished with a game-high 18 points, 7 of which came in the last 2:00 of the game, but a 25-8 third quarter for Joventut meant that the gap proved to be a bit too big for the visitors to overturn.

Joventut got out to a fast start, leading 11-2 with 5:41 left in the first quarter thanks to 5 points from Kyle Guy, but a Prometey timeout changed the rhythm of the game. The introduction of Agada altered things, too, as he immediately made his presence felt on defense, finishing the first 10 minutes with a very impressive 3 steals. Joventut won the first quarter 23-18, but an impressive 9-point showing in the second quarter Illia Sydorov helped Prometey grow further into the game, as it went into the break with the score tied at 40-40. The third quarter was a disaster for Prometey, though, as Joventut managed to go on a 25-3 run in the first 6:20 of the quarter to take a 65-43 lead. Prometey then began to react, first through Dustin Hogue and then through Gian Clavell, closing the quarter with the score at 65-48. Things got interesting in the last period when Prometey started scoring quickly, as Denys Lukashov, DJ Stephens and Agada all stepped up on the offensive end with timely buckets. Prometey got within two points of Joventut, 79-77, after an Agada three-pointer, but that was as close as it got, with Pau Ribas draining three free throws at the end of the game to end things as a contest.

Joventut survives scare to down Prometey, 82-77

Umana Reyer Venice secured a big victory in Group A as the Italian side defeated Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana at home for a second straight win.  Reyer built a big lead in the second quarter and carried that to a 76-68 victory for a 2-2 record.

Allerik Freeman led Reyer with 15 points and Marco Spissu added 12 points and 5 assists. Cedevita still has not won this season at 0-4 despite Yogi Ferrell pouring in 27 points and Alen Omic collecting 11 points and 21 rebounds to become the EuroCup’s all-time leader in rebounds.

Neither offense started on fire with the score just 2-0 more than 3 minutes into the game. Reyer heated up with 10 straight points to lead 12-3 and it was 20-15 after 10 minutes. The hosts remained ahead the entire second quarter, extending the cushion to 33-20 with a 9-0 run and leading 38-29 at the break. Cedevita could not cut into the gap with Reyer answering every challenge and multiple times pushing the cushion to 13 before leading 58-49 after 30 minutes. The visitors trimmed the deficit to 58-52 only to have Reyer drain 3 triples within 2 minutes to lead again by 13 points with 6 minutes to play. Cedevita could not get closer than 8 points the rest of the way.

Reyer downs Cedevita, 76-68, to spoil historic Omic night

Despite finishing with a 57.1% on free-throw shooting, ratiopharm Ulm managed to pull out a valuable win on the road when it visited 7DAYS EuroCup runner-up Frutti Extra Bursaspor. Ulm amassed a 16-point advantage early in the third quarter but saw how the game went to the edge in the last moments, when Bursaspor tied it 83-83, entering the last minute.

The game turned then into a free-throw contest and then is when Ulm players showed their cool. Up to that point, Ulm had made just 5 out of 13 attempts from the line (38.4%), but converted 7 out of 8 in the last 35 seconds of the game to seal the outcome. On the other hand, Bursaspor went 3 of 7 from the line in the same period.

“We kept the cool head, and we executed our game plan and that’s why I think we deserved to get the win today”, said Ulm guard Thomas Klepeisz, who combined with Yago Dos Santos to score his team’s last 9 points. “This gives us a lot of confidence because that’s what we were lacking. We lost a couple of close ones in the German league, as well as in the EuroCup, and now we saw we can also win close games, and I hope we can build on this."

Ulm stayed calm when it mattered most

Frutti Extra Bursaspor v ratiopharm Ulm (2022-11-02T17:00:00.000Z)

Hapoel Tel Aviv never trailed in routing Dolomiti Energia Trento 93-63 on Wednesday at Shlomo Group Arena to improve to 3-1 and remain tied for the top spot in Group B. The hosts outhustled Trento, scoring 14 fastbreak points to just 1 for Trento and getting 20 points off turnovers while allowing just 7.

Jaylen Hoard started in place of the injured Chris Horton and dominated to the tune of 22 points on near-perfect shooting, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in just 21 minutes. J.P. Tokoto added 18 points for Hapoel, Xavier Munford scored 13, Jordan McRae 11 and J’Covan Brown dished 8 assists. Diego Flaccadori was Trento’s top scorer with 11 points and Matteo Spagnolo and Drew Crawford added 10 apiece. The loss kept Trento winless through four games this season.

It was a contrast of styles early with Hapoel carving up the Trento defense to get good looks at the rim, while Trento stayed even thanks to a pair of threes and some second-chance points. Six minutes passed before McRae attempted a three for Hapoel’s first outside shot. Brown heated up with 4 points and 2 assists to lead a 13-3 run to close the first quarter with a 28-18 lead. Darion Atkins snapped the Trento drought with a jumper to open the second quarter, but the Hapoel assault continued with Tokoto leading a 14-2 charge to make it 42-20. Trento showed signs of life with a 2-11 spurt capped by a Drew Crawford layup. Hoard settled the halftime score at 48-33.

Hoard scored 10 points in the first 3 minutes of the second half as Hapoel restored a double-digit advantage. Trento had no answers as the difference swelled to 76-41 on Tokoto’s shot in the lane and the margin remained the same, 79-44, at the end of the quarter. Hapoel’s control was never in question in the fourth quarter, which saw the lead peak at 37 as the hosts cruised to victory.

Hapoel routs Trento, 93-63 

Hapoel Tel Aviv v Dolomiti Energia Trento (2022-11-02T17:45:00.000Z)