Round 18 roll call

Tkachenko shined on first start

Prometey Slobozhanske finished the regular season top of Group A after extending its winning streak to 11 games with a 93-76 win over Umana Reyer Venice. During the victory, forward Ivan Tkachenko gave his team an unexpected boost. Tkachenko had never scored more than 6 points in a game before, and he had amassed a total of 27 points across 14 appearances this season, playing fewer than 10 minutes per night. But Tkachenko shined against Reyer with 13 points, hitting both of his two-point shots and all 3 of his three-point attempts. He also had a pair of rebounds in 24 minutes on the floor, while he also had a team-high +23 in the plus/minus column.

Flaccadori flirted with triple-double

Dolomiti Energia Trento may have missed out on the 7DAYS EuroCup Playoffs, but the team was able to finish the regular season on a high note by beating Slask Wroclaw 72-61. Diego Flaccadori was everywhere on the night, coming ever so close to a triple-double with 10 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds. Prior to Round 18, Flaccadori had never recorded more than 7 rebounds or assists in a single EuroCup game, but on Wednesday night, he was on verge of making history. He had 9 rebounds with 6:50 to go in the game, at which point he was also sitting on 7 assists. He then went on to fuel Trento's key 11-0 fourth-quarter run, dishing 4 assists in the process, but he failed to pull down 1 more rebound. He may have missed out on a triple-double, but seven days shy of his 27th birthday, Flaccadori enjoyed the best all-round performance of his career to date.

Lazic had a career night in Ankara

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica knew that it was going to finish sixth in Group B, regardless of its result on the road at Turk Telekom Ankara in Round 18, yet the visitors still gave the hosts a run for their money en route to a narrow 77-72 defeat. Forward Aleksandar Lazic was Buducnost's best player on the night. In 20 minutes on the floor, he scored in double figures for the first time in his career, finishing with 16 points, in addition to recording 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Lazic made 4-of-5 two-point shots and went 2-of-3 on threes. His PIR of 17 was also his career high, however it was not enough for Buducnost to cause an upset in the Turkish capital.

Zubcic turned back the clock in Paris

The London Lions ended the regular season on a high note by beating Paris Basketball 85-96 on the road, and one player who was key in the victory was Tomislav Zubcic. The 33-year-old big man scored 24 points, his joint highest output in 2022-23, after hitting a season-high 5 three-pointers and finishing with a PIR of 26, which matched his season-best mark. With Sam Dekker and Kosta Koufos unavailable, Zubcic rolled back the years and stepped up to give London a welcome boost heading into the playoffs.

Ginat enjoyed an almost perfect night

Tomer Ginat may not have earned the same number of headlines as his Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv teammates, but the power forward put in an almost perfect display in his side's dominant 108-69 triumph against Promitheas Patras. In addition to scoring 18 points, having gone 8-of-9 on two-pointers, he also brought down 6 rebounds, made 2 steals and had 0 turnovers. His teammate, Jaylen Hoard, earned Round 18 MVP honors after shining off the bench, but Ginat's performance was an important factor behind such a comfortable win for Hapoel.

Auguste worked his magic in the shadows

In Frutti Extra Bursaspor's 86-76 win against Germani Brescia, one player who may have gone under the radar on the stats sheet - Zach Auguste. Despite finishing scoreless, missing all 5 of his field goal attempts and both free throws, Auguste made his impact felt in other ways, grabbing 11 rebounds, dishing a new career-high 5 assists, making 1 steal and blocking 2 shots. And Auguste has done so by playing a career-high 34:29 minutes. It was one of the more curious stat lines from this season, but the Bursaspor big man won't mind too much as his team closed the regular season on a high.