Name: Ngouama with the chasedown block! Magic Moment of the Night
Channel: Euroleague Basketball

Valencia Basket bounced back in style from its two last defeats and rolled over visiting Turk Telekom Ankara, 116-78, at La Fontenta on Tuesday night

Valencia demolishes Turk Telekom, 116-78, in record effort

Valencia Basket bounced back in style from its two last defeats and rolled over visiting Turk Telekom Ankara, 116-78, at La Fontenta on Tuesday night. The hosts trailed 4-8 early in the first period, but after the first triple went in, Valencia displayed an unstoppable offensive machinery that totally obliterated its opponent. With this victory, the home team improved to 12-2 to remain atop Group B, while Turk Telekom saw its four-game winning streak come to an end and slipped to 8-6.

Xabi Lopez-Arostegui led six Valencia scorers in double digits with 20 points and also added 6 boards and 5 assists. Brancou Badio, Jaime Pradilla, Chris Jones and Semi Ojeleye followed with 12 points apiece, while Nate Sestina poured in 10 against his former club. Sergio De Larrea stood close to a double-double with 9 points and a career-high 9 assists for a PIR of 21, also a career-high. Berkan Durmaz paced Turk Telekom with 16 points and 6 boards, Yoan Makoundou also scored 16, while Anthony Brown contributed 14 points in the losing effort.

Game Videos

Durmaz became the main offensive weapon for Turk Telekom in the early going, scoring 6 of the visitors’ first 10. Valencia needed some time to adjust, especially from the outside, but when the rotations started, the hosts seemed much more comfortable. Ojeleye was the first one to hit from downtown and Lopez-Arostegui followed with another of his own to tie it at 10-10. The latter scored two more baskets and later fed Pradilla for a triple to boost a 12-0 run that made it 22-12 after 7 minutes. Turk Telekom didn’t panic, though, and used its two first triples of the game to reach the end of the first period trailing 26-21, after Speedy Smith beat the buzzer from downtown.

Sestina and Jones avoided further problems with timely triples early in the second quarter, as Pradilla restored a double-digit lead for the hosts, 38-25 after a nice move inside and a strong dunk off a Chris Jones assist. The run didn’t stop there, as Jones scored on the fastbreak, and Josep Puerto converted an offensive rebound to cap a 10-0 run and build a 41-25 advantage. Turk Telekom found some energy coming from Melih Tunca, but Lopez-Arostegui quickly aborted the rally with 5 points in a row that recovered a safe margin, 48-32. The visitors’ timeout didn’t work as expected, as the difference grew to 52-34 at halftime.

Game News

Brown’s first field goal of the night seemed to give some hope to Turk Telekom, which also found Tunca and Makoundou on offense to reduce the gap to 59-46 right after the game resumed. Jones decided to take over to avoid further problems and nailed a three and a short jumper to cool it down, 67-51, right before a TV timeout. Lopez-Arostegui dug deeper from the line soon after, and a long three-pointer by De Larrea made it 73-51. The three-point rain didn’t stop here, as Matt Costello and Badio followed with one each. The punishment was paused at 87-58 when the third-quarter buzzer sounded.

Little changed in the last quarter as the hosts didn’t gear down and kept scoring on almost every possession. Ojeleye helped his team to move past the 30-point margin with a circus shot that turned into a three-point play, 90-58, and Brimah got it to 40 points, 100-60, from the line with 7 minutes remaining. With the outcome in no doubt, the last questions to be answered were which records Valencia was going to break. Reuvers scored the 110th point to make it the best scoring night in club history and the final difference (38 points) became the second-biggest in Valencia’s history as well.

The hosts bettered their previous scoring record of 109 points

Valencia Basket v Turk Telekom Ankara (2025-01-07T19:30:00.000Z)

Alfonso Plummer gets the steal and races ahead for a layup but Mehdy Ngouama comes back for the chasedown block.

Ngouama with the chasedown block! Magic Moment of the Night

 Alfonso Plummer gets the steal and races ahead for a layup but Mehdy Ngouama comes back for the chasedown block.

ratiopharm Ulm v Dreamland Gran Canaria (2025-01-07T18:00:00.000Z)

Dreamland Gran Canaria was in a dogfight with ratiopharm Ulm for the first three quarters of their EuroCup Round 14 game before finally pulling away thanks to a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter. 

Fourth quarter made the difference for Gran Canaria in Ulm

[Dreamland Gran Canaria](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/teams/dreamland-gran-canaria/roster/can/?season=2024-25) was in a dogfight with [ratiopharm Ulm](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/teams/ratiopharm-ulm/roster/ulm/?season=2024-25) for the first three quarters before finally pulling away thanks to a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter. 

Gran Canaria held the [number two offense in the league](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/stats/key-stats-teams/?size=1000&misc=&seasonCode=U2024&category=Score&seasonMode=Single&sortDirection=descending&aggregate=perGame) scoreless for 7:30 minutes in the final frame in putting together a 0-16 run to produce [a 76-83 win over Ulm](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/news/strong-fourth-quarter-carries-gran-canaria-past-ulm-76-83/), which entered the game on a five-game winning streak. 

“The last quarter we stepped up and made some good defensive plays. But at the same time, we made some important shots. That gave us the confidence to play and defend well. I think we did a good job in the fourth quarter defending the three-point line,” said [Gran Canaria head coach Jaka Lakovic](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/teams/dreamland-gran-canaria/can/lakovic-jaka/?season=U2024), whose team had lost its previous two games, [scoring 65](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/news/bahcesehir-beats-gran-canaria-73-65-to-take-control-in-group-a/) and [64 points](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/news/hapoel-cruises-past-gran-canaria-64-87-thanks-to-big-first-half/). 

Ulm was averaging 90.0 points per game and had scored 100+ points in its last three wins - 102, 114 and 104 points. 

“We were not comfortable at all. But they found a way and I am proud of them,” Lakovic added.

Gran Canaria also kept Ulm to just 9-of-35 shooting on three-pointers (25.7%), which was 13.5% below the German side’s three-point shooting percentage coming into the game, the best team in the EuroCup. 

The victory gives Gran Canaria the inside track for a top-two spot in Group A at 10-4 to Ulm’s 9-5 record - not to mention the tiebreaker advantage after its record-breaking 125-78 home win over Ulm in Round 5. Still Lakovic was quick to say there is a long road still to go with four rounds of games left.

“We deserved to win, it was an important win, but nothing is over. This is not the decisive game but it gives us confidence moving forward,” he said.

Gran Canaria was once again playing without two veteran leaders as [John Shurna](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/john-shurna/006588/) and [Andrew Albicy](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/andrew-albicy/003425/) both missed a second straight game. But it was the first EuroCup game for Gran Canaria for new acquisition [Mehdy Ngouama](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/mehdy-ngouama/009556/). And the guard produced a strong game with 8 points including the dagger three-pointer with 105 seconds left to go with 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal and a big chasedown block.

“Mehdy came in with two practices and really had a great effort trying to adjust to the team, trying to understand what we want to do defensively and offensively. And at the same time, he gave us athleticism and verticality to the basket, being able to beat the first line of the defense. We are very happy about his effort,” Lakovic said of Ngouama, who won the EuroCup in 2024 with Paris Basketball and then played six games earlier this season with Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse.

Gran Canaria’s defense stepped up when it was needed most 

Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse-7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys | Round 14 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup   

Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse v 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys (2025-01-07T18:30:00.000Z)

Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse improved to 7-7 in Group B of the BKT EuroCup and snapped a three-game skid after a thoroughly deserved 79-66 home win over 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys, which dropped to 4-9 and dented its slim hopes of reaching the postseason.

Bourg dismantles Lietkabelis 79-66 to remain in postseason picture

Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse improved to 7-7 in Group B of the BKT EuroCup and snapped a three-game skid after a thoroughly deserved 79-66 home win over 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys, which dropped to 4-9 and dented its slim hopes of reaching the postseason.

Jordan Usher paced Bourg with 17 points and 9 boards while Brandon Jefferson and Xavier Castaneda chipped in with 11 points each for the French team, which stifled the visitors with ironclad defense to wipe out a 34-36 halftime deficit.

Oleksandr Kovliar netted 16 points for Lietkabelis and Georgios Kalaitzakis added 12 for the Lithuanian team, which was undone by woeful shooting from downtown (2 of 18) as well as 16 offensive rebounds from Bourg – twice as many as the visitors managed.  

The first half produced a low-scoring rollercoaster as Lietkabelis carved out an early 3-6 lead before Bourg turned the tables to nose ahead 17-14 at the end of the first quarter. The home team then surged ahead 26-19, only for the Lietkabelis to hit back and take a slender lead at halftime, courtesy of 9 Bourg turnovers.

Despite its poor shooting, Lietkabelis was still ahead late in the third quarter, 49-50, before an 8-2 Bourg streak turned the tide for good.

Having held on for a 60-55 advantage early in the fourth, the hosts went on a 12-2 run to put the game beyond Lietkabelis, as Bourg profited from a barrage of offensive boards in down stretch.

The home side also poured an array of crunch triples while Lietkabelis was denied open looks at the other end, with Kovliar featuring as the only visiting player to hit anything from deep. Lietkabelis also struggled to take care of the ball, dishing out a mere 14 assists while committing 15 turnovers against Bourg’s aggressive defense.

Bourg’s dominance was illustrated by an impressive total of 43 rebounds as well as 11 three-pointers, compensating for 16 turnovers in a rugged contest whose outcome will have pleased the home fans.

Majestic second-half defense propelled the French side to an emphatic home win 

Badio heads the basket after a great dribbling but gets stopped by Makoundou, who sends the ball to the stand with a monster block!

Makoundou denies Badio!! Magic Moment

Pradilla spots Costello's cut to the basket and sends him a behind-the-back pass to let him score under the basket

Pradilla's magic pass to Costello!! Magic Moment

 Pradilla spots Costello's cut to the basket and sends him a behind-the-back pass to let him score under the basket

ratiopharm Ulm-Dreamland Gran Canaria | Round 14 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup   

De Larrea makes his way to make himself space to score beating the shot-clock!

De Larrea makes magic to beat the clock! Magic Moment

 De Larrea makes his way to make himself space to score beating the shot-clock!

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv-Dolomiti Eneriga Trento | Round 14 Highlights | 2024-25 BKT EuroCup   

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv v Dolomiti Energia Trento (2025-01-07T18:00:00.000Z)

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv extended its winning streak to three games by crushing Dolomiti Energia Trento 89-68 on Tuesday evening at Samokov Arena in Bulgaria

Hapoel cruises past Trento, 89-68

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv extended its winning streak to three games by crushing Dolomiti Energia Trento 89-68 on Tuesday evening at Samokov Arena in Bulgaria. The hosts led by double digits for the majority of the game to grab a comfortable home victory. Hapoel improved its record to 9-5, with Trento, whose head coach Paolo Galbiati missed the game due to illness, dropping to 4-10.

Bruno Caboclo led all scorers with 19 points, which he paired with 8 rebounds. Antonio Blakeney netted 13, with Marcus Foster and Yam Madar scoring 11 each. Jordan Ford paced Trento with 17 points, with Anthony Lamb and Saliou Niang recording 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Madar got Hapoel going with a layup before a triple from Foster and a bucket by Tomer Ginat gave the hosts a 7-2 lead. Selom Mawugbe and Johnathan Motley traded scores inside, with Lamb netting a midrange jumper that cut the difference to 11-10. But Ginat and Foster drilled a three each before a Madar layup in transition opened a 19-10 lead. After Jordan Bayehe and Myles Cale netted inside, Toto Forray and Blakeney exchanged triples, with Hapoel leading 26-17 after 10 minutes.

Hapoel started strong from beyond the rainbow in the second quarter, with Caboclo drilling a couple of triples and Madar scoring one of his own for a 37-21 cushion. Buckets from Oz Blayzer, Joe Ragland and Patrick Beverley were followed by a three-pointer from the latter, but Trento didn’t allow Hapoel to pull away, with Ford and Denis Badalau sinking a triple apiece to trim the deficit to 48-32 at halftime.

Foster, Madar and Motley scored inside for a 20-point advantage, 54-34. Trento replied with 6 unanswered points by Ford, but Foster nailed one from deep before setting up Motley on the break for a 59-40 lead. Yet, the visitors responded with a 4-10 run fueled by Bayehe, who scored Trento’s last 5 points of the third quarter to trim the deficit to 65-50.

Hapoel opened the fourth quarter with a 7-2 surge capped off by Caboclo’s third triple of the game. Blakeney netted a tough midrange bucket that took his tally to 10 points, maintaining a 74-54 lead for the hosts. Lamb and Blakeney exchanged triples before 4 unanswered points from Caboclo restored an 83-61 cushion to all but put the game on ice.

The hosts led from start to finish to clinch a comfortable home win

Dreamland Gran Canaria took a giant step towards a top-two spot in Group A after knocking off ratiopharm Ulm 76-83 on the road to snap a two-game losing streak

Strong fourth quarter carries Gran Canaria past Ulm 76-83

Dreamland Gran Canaria took a giant step towards a top-two spot in Group A after knocking off ratiopharm Ulm 76-83 on the road to snap a two-game losing streak. Gran Canaria blew a tight game wide open with a 0-16 fourth-quarter run to improve to 10-4 on the season. The Spanish side won both games against Ulm this season - including a 125-78 blowout in Round 5.

Carlos Alocen collected 14 points and 5 assists, Miquel Salvo had 11 points, Mike Tobey tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks and Nicolas Brussino picked up 10 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists for the winners. Ulm saw its five-game winning streak snapped to fall to 9-5. Ben Saraf poured in a career-high 19 points, Alfonso Plummer scored 13 points and Marcio Santos chipped in 10 points in the loss. 

The hosts had some bad news straight away as veteran point guard Thomas Klepeisz had to be carried off after just 23 seconds with an apparent foot injury and did not return. Ulm got on the break for two easy baskets and Saraf added a triple as the hosts went up 9-2. Alocen sparked the Gran Canaria attack early on with 8 points including a long triple and Brussino’s long ball knotted it 16-16. Ulm buried three-pointers at the other end and led 24-18 after 10 minutes. 

Ulm failed to score for nearly the first 4 minutes of the second quarter and Gran Canaria reeled off 12 straight points for a 24-30 lead. Two Saraf scores were equalized at the other end and Gran Canaria went up 29-35. But Ulm kept the visitors scoreless for more than 3 minutes and reclaimed the lead 36-35. Caleb Homesley’s jumper put Gran Canaria back up 36-37 at the break.

Ulm went back ahead 42-41 only to see Pierre Pelos make a triple and convert a three-point play for a 44-50 advantage. Plummer punched back with two baskets and Ulm tied the game 52-52. A Philipp Herkenhoff tip-in and 2 free throws had the home side up 59-55 after 30 minutes.

Karim Jallow started the fourth quarter with a score for a 61-55 lead for Ulm. Gran Canaria’s defense stepped up, not giving up a point for the next 7:30 minutes and the Spanish side surged ahead with a 0-16 run thanks to a \`pair of Alocen triples. A Mehdy Ngouama three finished off Ulm for a 63-75 cushion with 105 seconds to play.

Gran Canaria takes inside track for second place with season sweep of Ulm

De Larrea steals and launches a perfect pass to allow Badio to finish the fastbreak with a dunk!

 Badio dunks on a lightning fastbreak Magic Moment

 De Larrea steals and launches a perfect pass to allow Badio to finish the fastbreak with a dunk!

Maldunas bends the rim with a huge two-handed slam!

Maldunas throws it down big time! Motorola Magic Moment

Anadolu Efes Istanbul has appointed Luca Banchi as its new head coach. The sides agreed to a contract for the remainder of this season with an option for 2025-26

Efes appoints Luca Banchi as head coach

Anadolu Efes Istanbul has appointed Luca Banchi as its new head coach. The sides agreed to a contract for the remainder of this season with an option for 2025-26. Previous head coach Tomislav Mijatovic will remain with the club as part of Banchi's coaching staff. Banchi, 59, started the season with Virtus Segafredo Bologna, but resigned his position after a 2-10 start.

Efes will be Banchi's fifth club in the EuroLeague. He debuted with Montepaschi Siena of his native Italy in 2012 and has since spent time with EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Brose Bamberg and Virtus, which he joined just before the start of the 2023-24 season. Banchi guided Virtus to the Play-In Showdown in his lone complete season with the club.

<center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">✍️ Kariyeri boyunca pek çok başarıya imza atan ve Letonya Milli Takımı’nın da başantrenörü olan Luca Banchi ile 1+1 sezonluk sözleşme imzaladık! <br><br>15 yıldır ailemizin bir parçası olan Tomislav Mijatović ise Yardımcı Antrenörümüz olarak kulübümüzde yer almayı sürdürecek. <br><br>👉… <a href="https://t.co/r6aS4hrB2o">pic.twitter.com/r6aS4hrB2o</a></p>&mdash; Anadolu Efes SK (@AnadoluEfesSK) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnadoluEfesSK/status/1876700827999449557?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 7, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Banchi had started his EuroLeague career as an assistant coach with Montepaschi Siena between 2006 and 2012. He helped it reach the Final Four in both 2008 in Madrid and 2011 in Barcelona. He later led Milan to the club's first EuroLeague Playoff appearance this century in 2014. Banchi also coached two seasons in the EuroCup, first with Turin of Italy in 2017-18 and then with Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar of Russia in 2019-20, with an 8-11 overall record between those two seasons.

His trophy case includes winning the FIBA Intercontinental Cup with Lokomotiv in 2019, Italian League championships with Milan in 2013 and 2014 as well as the Italian Cup in the first of those seasons. Banchi, who has also coached clubs in Greece and France and spent a seasons as an assistant coach in the G League, is the head coach of the Latvian national team. He was named the Best Coach of the 2023 Basketball World Cup after leading Latvia to an unexpected fifth-place finish.

Latest Efes news

Previous bench boss Tomislav Mijatovic will remain with the club as part of Banchi's staff

Badalau pulled up from way downtown to beat the second-quarter buzzer!

Badalau nails it from distance! Magic Moment

 Badalau pulled up from way downtown to beat the second-quarter buzzer!

Varnas rocks the rim with a two-hander on a fastbreak!

Big dunk from Varnas! Motorola Magic Moment

 Varnas rocks the rim with a two-hander on a fastbreak!

 Niang throws down a monster one-handed slam in front of Bar Timor!

Niang posterizes Timor! Magic Moment

  Niang throws down a monster one-handed slam in front of Bar Timor!