Name: Monster block from Lessort! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night
Channel: Euroleague Basketball

Marko Guduric has a layup on a fastbreak emphatically rejected by Lessort!

Monster block from Lessort! Motorola Magic Moment of the Night 

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul v Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens (2024-10-25T17:45:00.000Z)

FC Barcelona improved to a joint league-best 4-1 record after beating LDLC ASVEL 90-83, which saw the French side drop to 2-3.

Barcelona edges ASVEL 90-83 to notch fourth straight win

FC Barcelona had to battle hard as it downed the visiting LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 90-83 on Friday night at Palau Blaugrana. This victory is Barcelona's fourth consecutive win, giving the *Azulgrana* a joint league-best 4-1 record, while ASVEL dropped to 2-3.

ASVEL was in front for almost the entire first half, and the team traded leads throughout the third quarter before the visitors went up early in the fourth. But Tomas Satoransky, Kevin Punter and Jan Vesely hit key baskets down the stretch as Barcelona took over the lead and prevailed in the final minute. 

Kevin Punter led the winners with 20 points. Jan Vesely was also key, posting 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Jabari Parker scored 12, and Alex Abrines had 11 points for Barcelona. Theo Maledon paced ASVEL with 21 points, Neal Sako collected 17 points and 9 rebounds, while Nando De Colo and Charles Kahudi scored 14 points apiece in defeat.

Game Videos

Maledon scored seven points early as ASVEL opened the game with a 2-9 lead. Maledon also connected with Sako for an alley-oop dunk, before a triple from Admiral Schofield opened an 8-15 advantage. But two triples from Abrines, sandwiching one three-pointer from Tomas Satoransky, tied it at 17-17, before De Colo's logo three-pointer made it 17-20 after 10 minutes.

Dario Brizuela's three, Barcelona's fourth in a row, tied it at 20-20, but Kahudi led ASVEL's 0-6 run to keep the visitors ahead. After Abrines and Schofield traded triples, Barcelona started to get to the foul line more often, then Punter's triple tied it at 33-33. More baskets from Punter gave Barcelona the lead, and after Melvin Ajinca and Parker traded triples, Maledon and Sako helped the visitors take a 43-44 margin into halftime.

Game News

Both teams were getting buckets with ease in the third quarter. Edwin Jackson started things with a three-pointer for ASVEL, but Vesely answered with a rare triple before Punter and Abrines capped a 9-0 run to make it 52-47. But Sako and Kahudi got the margin back to a single point, and Kahudi put ASVEL back into the lead, 55-56. Vesely had a three-point play for the hosts, but Maledon did the same at the other end. Juan Nunez answered with a triple to make it 63-62, but De Colo scored four quick points and Kahudi made a runner, only for a Dario Brizuela to Chimezie Metu to combine for alley-oop dunk that tied it at 69-69 at the end of the third quarter.

ASVEL jumped ahead again, and Maledon's triple opened a 71-76 margin. But Dame Sarr answered with a corner three, and a triple from Satoransky made it 79-79 midway through the fourth. Vesely grabbed an important offensive rebounds and scored, before Satoransky's triple opened 86-81. Sako scored a layup with two minutes left after the hosts had made a couple of defensive stands. Maledon attempted a quick triple, which would have tied the game, but instead, Punter's jumper with 27 seconds to go made it 88-83, sealing the deal.

Kevin Punter and Jan Vesely helped the hosts fight off the efforts of Theo Maledon and Neal Sako

FC Barcelona v LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne (2024-10-25T18:30:00.000Z)

FC Barcelona center Jan Vesely spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat LDLC ASVEL in Round 5 of the 2024-25 EuroLeague season.

Jan Vesely: 'Shout-out to Dame Sarr, he brought the energy'

FC Barcelona center Jan Vesely spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne in Round 5 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

FC Bayern Basketball big man Devin Booker spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat Olympiacos BC in Round 5 of the 2024-25 EuroLeague season.

Devin Booker: 'Proud of my guys'

FC Bayern Munich big man Devin Booker spoke to EuroLeague TV after his team beat Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 5 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

FC Bayern Munich v Olympiacos Piraeus (2024-10-25T18:45:00.000Z)

FC Barcelona-LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne | RS Round 5 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Carsen Edwards and Devin Booker combined for 50 points as FC Bayern Basketball beat Olympiacos BC 84-80 in Round 5 of the 2024-25 EuroLeague season.

Carsen Edwards leads Bayern past Olympiacos, 84-80

FC Bayern Munich is now a perfect 3-0 at SAP Garden, its brand-new arena, after edging Olympiacos Piraeus 84-80 in Round 5 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season on Friday night.

Bayern improved to 3-2 in the standings while Olympiacos dropped to 2-3. Carsen Edwards led the winners with 30 points on 10-of-14 two-pointers. Devin Booker added 20 while Nick Weiler-Babb and Shabazz Napier each had 10 for Bayern. Sasha Vezenkov was Olympiacos' leading scorer with 16 points. Tyler Dorsey added 12 and Moses Wright had 10 for the guests.

Moustapha Fall got Olympiacos going with a dunk and a layup. Edwards and Vezenkov traded layups, then Andreas Obst struck from downtown for a 5-6 Bayern deficit. Johannes Voigtmann hit a floater and followed Edwards' layup with a turnaround jumper that capped a 9-0 run. Fall hit a jump hook, Booker answered with a mid-range jumper and Vezenkov got the Reds within 13-12. Edwards sank a step-back jumper, Kostas Papanikolaou and Booker exchanged three-pointers, then Vezenkov's layup made it a one-point game, 18-17. Papanikolaou scored down low and Booker restored a 20-19 Bayern lead after 10 minutes.

 

Napier swished a mid-range jumper early in the second quarter, then Oscar da Silva erased Luca Vildoza's floater with a reverse layup. Vildoza struck from beyond the arc and fed Wright for a backdoor layup, good for a 24-26 Olympiacos lead. Napier sank a stop-and-pop triple, Weiler-Babb added a backdoor layup and Booker ignited the crowd with an alley-oop dunk that gave Bayern a 32-28 advantage. Alec Peters, Dorsey and Vildoza each struck from downtown and Wright dunked twice in a 0-15 run that made it a double-digit ballgame, 32-43, at halftime.  

 

Weiler-Babb scored in penetration soon after the break and erased Vezenkov's triple with his own shot from beyond the arc. Papanikolaou answered from downtown, Edwards hit a mid-range jumper and a red-hot Weiler-babb made Olympiacos call a timeout at 42-49. Edwards followed three-point play with a rainbow jumper. Thomas Walkup stepped up with a triple and Evan Fournier added a layup, but an unstoppable Booker dunked twice and buried a three-pointer to complete Bayern's comeback, 55-54. Vezenkov and Fournier rescued Olympiacos, Napier answered with a driving layup and Edwards' reverse layup tied it at 59-59. Vezenkov made the Reds regain a 59-61 edge after 30 minutes.

Wright dunked again early in the fourth quarter. Danko Brankovic scored down low and Edwards added a three-pointer and a baseline jumper that gave Bayern a 66-65 edge with over seven minutes left. Dorsey and Shaq McKissic each struck from beyond the arc to give Olympiacos fresh air at 66-71. Booker scored around the basket and Edwards added consecutive layups to ignite the crowd at 72-71. Voigtmann soon capped a 9-0 Bayern run with a dunk that made Olympiacos call a timeout at 75-71. Dorsey split free throws, Booker hit two attempts and Edwards's three-pointer boosted Bayern's lead to 79-72 with three minutes to go. Walkup and Dorsey sank a corner triple for a 79-78 score in the penultimate minute. Napier downed a three-pointer, then Fall dunked but Vezenkov missed twice from beyond the arc. Edwards sealed the outcome from the foul line, making it 84-80 with 11.2 seconds remaining.

The Bayern guard and big man Devin Booker combined for 50 points on the night

FC Bayern Munich-Olympiacos Piraeus | RS Round 5 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul-Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens | RS Round 5 Highlights | 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Panathinaikos BC bounced back from its back-to-back EuroLeague losses by beating Fenerbahçe Beko 76-81 on the road in Round 5 of the 2024-25 season.

Panathinaikos roars back for a thrilling 76-81 win at Fenerbahce 

Reigning champion Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens forced the final twist in a 76-81 road win at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul and improved to 3-2 in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, snapping a two-game skid with a resilient performance.

Having beaten the Turkish side 73-57 in last season’s semifinal, Panathinaikos continued to haunt Fenerbahce as player of the game Kostas Sloukas sank 13 points, including a clutch fadeaway three-pointer which gave the visitors the lead for good in a dramatic finish.

Lorenzo Brown paced Panathinaikos with 15 points. Mathias Lessort scored 14 while Omer Yurtseven and Lorenzo Brown chipped in with 12 each. At the other end, Tarik Biberovic netted a game-high 16 points for Fenerbahce, Wade Baldwin amassed 14 and Bonzie Colson poured 11 for the hosts, who slipped to 3-2 after a second successive home defeat.

Panathinaikos dominated proceedings throughout the opening three quarters on the back of ironclad defense which forced 10 turnovers from Fenerbahce in the opening half, while the visitors only had 2 as they also managed 9 assists and 5 steals.

That, in turn, generated smooth offense with Nunn shooting the lights out in the opening two quarters, draining 12 points while Lessort added 9 thanks to his trademark hard-working approach in the paint at both ends. Panathinaikos led 35-46 at halftime and built on its advantage in the third quarter to open up a 47-60 lead, subduing a normally fervent home crowd in Istanbul.

Fenerbahce then staged a rip-roaring fightback as the hosts came up with a 23-5 run which turned the game on its head and propelled them into a 70-65 lead in the home straight, with a galvanized Biberovic sinking a pair of deep threes in the process.

The home fans were in full swing as Panathinaikos suddenly looked like a fish out of water and victory seemed within reach for Fenerbahce, but Sloukas again stepped up to pile more misery on his former club.

With the home side 73-72 ahead, the livewire guard buried a deep three in his defender’s face with 67 seconds left on the clock to turn the tide for good. He did it from the exact same spot where he drained a game-winning shot for Olympiacos Piraeus in a 2023 playoff game against Fenerbahce, with the Greek side eventually winning the series 3-2 and advancing to the Final Four.

The writing was on the wall for the home team after Lessort followed up with a layup and a free throw, before scoring a late tip-in which finally forced Fenerbahce into submission while it gave visiting head coach Ergin Ataman another sweet victory against a longtime rival club.

Having led for most of a pulsating clash, the Greek side fought back from adversity to prevail in a thrilling climax 

Alec Peters rises to block Devin Booker's shot with great authority!

Peters stops Booker! Motorola Magic Moment

Dario Brizuela finds Chimezie Metu with a long alley-oop pass for a big dunk.

Brizuela to Metu long alley-oop! Motorola Magic Moment

Panathinaikos BC guard Kostas Sloukas spoke to EuroLeague TV after his won against Fenerbahçe Beko in Round 5 of the 2024-25 EuroLeague season.


Kostas Sloukas: 'Ergin Ataman is the best coach in Europe'

Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens guard Kostas Sloukas spoke to EuroLeague TV after his won against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in Round 5 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Nick Weiler-Babb finds Devin Booker for a huge alley-oop slam! AGAIN!


Booker throws it down! Motorola Magic Moment

Nick Weiler-Babb finds Devin Booker for a huge alley-oop slam! AGAIN!

Neal Sako makes a strong move inside but Chimezie Metu goes up high to deny him.


Metu denies Sako! Motorola Magic Moment

Neal Sako makes a strong move inside but Chimezie Metu goes up high to deny him.

Marko Guduric has a layup on a fast break emphatically rejected by Mathias Lessort!


Monster block from Lessort! Motorola Magic Moment

Marko Guduric has a layup on a fast break emphatically rejected by Mathias Lessort!

Theo Maledon and Neal Sako connect for an alley-oop.


Maledon to Sako unstoppable alley-oop! Motorola Magic Moment

Theo Maledon and Neal Sako connect for an alley-oop.

Kostas Sloukas throws up an inch-perfect pass for Omer Yurtseven to hammer home!

Great alley-oop dunk by Yurtseven! Motorola Magic Moment

Cluj’s animal-loving big man Zach Hankins dreams of own safari park

Many players in the BKT EuroCup own a pet – maybe a dog or a cat they go back to after a game. And while [Zach Hankins](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/players/zach-hankins/013304/) is one of those players as well, living with his wife and dog, the [U-BT Cluj-Napoca](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/en/eurocup/news/carousels/u-bt-cluj-napoca/?q=%7B%22articleId%22%3A%22%22%2C%22categoryId%22%3A%22%22%2C%22linkedId%22%3A%7B%22sourceSystem%22%3A%22FS_BASKETBALL_TEAM%22%2C%22sourceSystemId%22%3A%22clu%22%2C%22text%22%3A%22%22%7D%7D&carouselTitle=U-BT%20Cluj-Napoca) big man’s love of animals goes much, much deeper than most. In fact, Hankins’ post-playing career dream is to own a safari park.

The 28-year-old admits that he has put a lot of thought into his big plan, which is basically a zoo without fences.

“That's a huge motivation for me,” Hankins tells David Hein. “I have studied a lot and gotten much more knowledgeable of the different animals that I would like to have: how to get them, how to fence them, how to care for them properly, how to give them a good life and make something really, really natural and beautiful. I've done a lot of work in understanding that.”

Hankins’ hometown of Charlevoix in northern Michigan has 2,500 people and the Cluj center grew up with horses, chicken and sheep, while he would explore the woods. He went on to receive a degree in environmental biology from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, central Michigan.

While there, Hankins not only helped the Ferris State Bulldogs win the NCAA Division II title in 2018, but he also studied hawks and looked at butterflies and bear hair snare – the latter being a barbed-wire corral around trees with a bait in the center to help study bears’ behavior.

His professional basketball career took him to Czechia and Israel in 2019-20 and then after missing the 2020-21 season due to a torn ACL, he played in the NBA G League and Puerto Rico in 2021-22.

The 2022-23 season was by far Hankins’ most successful, helping Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem reach the final of the Basketball Champions League and guiding the team to the Israeli Cup, with Jerusalem beating Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in the final. He also was named the 2022-23 Israeli League’s MVP.

The best plays of U-BT Cluj-Napoca center Zach Hankins through the first five rounds of the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup season.

Zach Hankins' top plays in 2024-25

Despite all that success, maybe the thing that Hankins will remember most long term about his nearly two seasons with Jerusalem was last season, when he spent his off days volunteering at the Biblical Zoo in the city. 

“That was one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Hankins says. “I'm still in their group chat on WhatsApp. I get updates from the guys. I got to see they just got their second rhino. They brought in one rhino while I was there and I got to work with him. They just brought in their second one. So now they're figuring out how to have two rhinos together, along with having these rhinos in a mixed exhibit with giraffes and other antelope species and ostriches. And it's a really, really unique zoo.”

Since his wife had returned to the United States due to the Israel-Hamas war last season, Hankins had free time on his own. He visited the zoo and started talking to the head keeper for the grass eaters.

“I was just asking him a bunch of questions, like really, really in-depth questions about these animals,” Hankins continues. “And he's like, ‘Do you want to come and volunteer with us?’ I was like, ‘Yes, absolutely.’ So from then on, I spent almost all of my off days dressing up like a zookeeper and going there and learning how to take care of these animals and work with them and also develop some really, really great relationships with the keepers there as well.”

During his time there, Hankins was training a rhino and working with giraffes and studying zebras.

“The number one thing would be working with a rhino,” Hankins recalls. “Rhinos are like dogs. They are really like dogs. He loves getting scratched. He comes when you call him and you give him some food. He gets scared of loud noises and jogs away from you. But having an animal that large, that close to you, like just petting him on his face and his horn, it's a really surreal experience.”

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Hankins also talked about the zookeepers asking him what animal he would be and he came up with an oryx, which is a really unique antelope species – very strong body, very agile and has some deadly horns when you get too close to them.

“It's a very underestimated animal. It's a very deadly animal. They actually named one after me, which is really cool,” he says of an oryx named Zachy.

All that experience in the Biblical Zoo also helped him deal with the emotional burden of the political situation in Israel and everything involved with it.

“I definitely had to use it as a tool last year to allow myself to decompress away from the situations that were around me,” he comments. “It was a very difficult year in Israel, very difficult travel, very difficult playing. It was tough. And so to have that as a tool that I could use to separate myself from basketball was important. The guys I worked with didn't care too much about basketball. They cared more about me as a person and having great conversations. So that was great.”

That experience also gave him a lot of information and motivation to pursue his big dream.

“Some of the understanding was basically my little internship at the zoo, actually getting hands-on work with some of these animals that I want to own someday,” he adds. “And that was one of the coolest things I've gotten to do. And I really want to do that a lot more in my life. So definitely is still a number one goal for me.”

Hankins also has a location for that – in Oklahoma, where his wife is from.

“I’m now an Oklahoman. Love it there,” he says. “They got beautiful spaces, beautiful land. Yeah, it's a great place.”

Hankins’ future dream will have to be put on hold as he is trying to lead Cluj to big things in the EuroCup.

“When we play the right way, man, we're a really, really good team and we can do a lot of things later on in the season,” Hankins says.

Until then, Hankins will have more time to think about his future safari park.

The EuroCup rookie has big goals, on and off the court