Nine games are already in the books from Tuesday and Wednesday night
Game Center: Cedevita routs Hamburg in Round 17 finale
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Thursday, February 5
Veolia Towers Hamburg 74-88 Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
In a one-sided contest, Cedevita Olimpija easily downed Hamburg, 74-88, to move to 11-6 on the season and continue to fight for second place in Group A. Last placed Hamburg’s two-game winning came to an end as it fell to 2-14 for the season. Cedevita took control early and Hamburg struggled to react. The visitors remained in control throughout, tightening their grip down the stretch and eventually securing the 14-point win.
Matthew Hurt was the headline act for the hosts with 15 points and 6 rebounds, inspiring his team to the convincing victory. Umoja Gibson recorded 13 points and 4 dimes and Aleksej Nikolic and Luka Brajkovic both netted 10. Most notably though, Jaka Blazic scored 6 points to become the third highest scorer in EuroCup history with 1,493 career points.
Wednesday, February 4
Lietkabelis Panevezys 89-62 Panionios Cosmorama Travel Athens
Lietkabelis secured a comfortable 89-62 home win over Panionios, ending a four-game losing streak and improving to 4-13 in Group B. The result dropped Panionios to 3-14. Lietkabelis started the game with strong defense and controlled the paint on offense, opening with a 6-0 run and finishing the first quarter 10 points ahead. The hosts continued to dominate inside in the second quarter, extending the lead to 46-27 by halftime. In the second half, Lietkabelis pushed the advantage to as many as 29 points and maintained control the rest of the way.
Fardaws Aimaq led Lietkabelis with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while Kristian Kullamae also scored 19 points. Jamel Morris added 16 points, Michael Flowers contributed 12 points and 4 assists, and Paulius Danusevicius finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. For Panionios, Joe Thomasson led the way with 16 points and 4 rebounds, Nate Watson added 10 points and 9 rebounds, and Andreas Patrikis chipped 9 points and 10 boards.
Besiktas GAIN Istanbul 91-81 Turk Telekom Ankara
Besiktas did its part to secure a top-two spot in Group B by beating Turk Telekom 91-81 to remain undefeated at home this season. Besiktas saw an 11-point lead early in the fourth quarter cut to 1 point, but pulled away in the closing minutes to move to 12-5 and 9-0 at the BJK Gain Sports Complex. Besiktas learned after the game that Trento had lost, which meant that with the win Besiktas had secured a direct berth in the quarterfinals.
Devon Dotson scored 12 of his 22 points in the final 5 minutes and dished 4 assists, Ante Zizic collected 12 points and 11 rebounds and Brynton Lemar and Jonah Mathews both added 12 points in the win. Turk Telekom saw its four-game winning streak snapped in falling to 11-6. Jaleen Smith tallied 19 points, Kyle Alexander had 16 points and 6 rebounds and Kyle Allman scored 12 points.
Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem 114-104 U-BT Cluj-Napoca
Jerusalem clinched the top spot in Group A by beating Cluj-114-104 after overtime at Pais Arena. An entertaining back-and-forth affair in the first quarter saw Jerusalem grab a 22-19 lead after 10 minutes. What followed was a dominant second period by the hosts, who increased the intensity on defense to shut down Cluj, which scored just 14 points as the Israeli side took a 48-33 lead at halftime.
Cluj ended the third quarter with a 2-14 surge that cut the difference to 71-60 before a 2-9 run brought the visitors within 83-82 with 3 minutes left on the clock in the fourth. The game turned into an exchange of blows, with Trey Woodbury hitting a couple of free throws that sent it to overtime. Then, Jared Harper took over with 9 points and 2 assists to seal the outcome for the hosts.
Jerusalem improved its record to 13-4, while U-BT Cluj-Napoca is still in the race for a playoff spot despite dropping to 8-9. Harper led all scorers with 30 points, having gone 14-for-16 from the free-throw line. Khadeen Carrington netted 20 points, including 2 big triples in overtime, and Austin Wiley grabbed 17 rebounds to tie the club record. Woodbury bagged a career-high 28 points – 16 of which were scored in the fourth quarter. Patrick Richard had 19 points and Dusan Miletic added 17 in a losing effort.
NINERS Chemnitz 81-67 Dolomiti Energia Trento
NINERS defeated Trento 81-67 to clinch a playoff spot. With the Messe Chemnitz crowd abuzz, the teams fought through a cagey first half, in which neither side could find any sort of rhythm. They went blow-for-blow through most of the third quarter, before Chemnitz created the first notable advantage of the game when it mattered, taking control down the stretch to earn the 14-point victory.
Nike Sibande played the starring role for NINERS, recording 25 points, 5 boards and an assist to help his team progress. Roman Bedime also impressed, logging 16 points and 6 rebounds. Stuffing the stat sheet elsewhere, Aher Uguak and Jordan Schakel also finished on double digit scoring. In defeat, DJ Steward grabbed 26 points for Trento, which was without star guard Devonte' Jones.
The already-qualified Trento moves to 10-7 with the loss, missing out on the chance for a top-two finish in the group. Coach Rodrigo Pastore’s team now holds a winning record, improving to 9-8 and securing postseason action.
Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse 86-85 London Lions
Bourg clawed out a huge win from the jaws of defeat and sealed an automatic quarterfinal berth with a game to spare as it produced a 13-2 run in the final 77 seconds of a dramatic contest to edge out the London Lions and improve to 13-4. The game seemed lost for Bourg after the Lions dominated the third quarter 10-26 and romped ahead 73-83 in the home straight, only to see victory slip through their fingers as the British side dropped to 5-12 in Group B.
Both Gach paced Bourg on 19 points while Moulare and Darius McGhee chipped in with 17 apiece, having combined for the home side’s last 9 points. Anthony Labanca and Vincent Mitchell netted 10 each for the French outfit, which shot 11-of-29 from deep. Ethan Price led London on a game-high 21 points, while Tarik Phillip netted 17 and Shavar Reynolds scored 14 for the visitors.
Aris Thessaloniki Betsson 83-64 Neptunas Kleipeda
Aris took significant progress toward securing a postseason spot with an 83-62 victory over Neptunas at the Palais de Sports. Although Aris was unable to assert dominance early on, as Neptunas benefited from an impressive performance by Rihards Lomasz — who scored 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting — the hosts led 40-34 at halftime. Following the intermission, Aris enhanced its defensive efforts and, with Bryce Jones leading the offense, established a solid double-digit advantage, 52-36, midway through the third quarter. This margin proved insurmountable for Neptunas for the remainder of the contest.
Aris improved to 8-9 and will fight for a playoff spot next week against U-BT Cluj-Napoca, while Neptunas dropped to 7-10 and lost all hope to make it to the next stage. Bryce Jones and Amine Noua led Aris with 16 points apiece, while Danilo Andjusic scored 14 and Elijah Mitrou Long added 10 for the winners. Neptunas got 19 points from Lomasz, all of them in the first half. He was accompanied by Zane Waterman and Karlis Silins, who provided 12 and 10 respectively in the losing effort.
BAXI Manresa 75-91 Umana Reyer Venice
Reyer booked a spot in the playoffs by beating Manresa 75-91 on the road to snap the home side’s four-game winning streak. Reyer actually had secured a postseason berth during the game when U-BT Cluj-Napoca lost earlier in the evening. Reyer was down by 10 points late in the first half but pulled ahead in the third quarter and then put the game away with a 0-15 fourth quarter run.
Reyer improved to 10-7 with a 3-6 road record and six wins in the last seven games. RJ Cole scored a career high 25 points with 5 assists, Kyle Wiltjer had 15 points and Amedeo Tessitori chipped in 11 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals. Manresa saw its four game winning streak end for a 10-7 record despite Retin Obasohan scoring 17 points.
Tuesday, February 3
Bahcesehir College Istanbul 80-82 Slask Wroclaw
Slask pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season by knocking off Bahcesehir 80-82 on the road. That snapped Slask’s eight-game losing streak dating back to November when it beat Bahcesehir and kept the Turkish side - at least temporarily - from locking up a top-two spot in the group. Slask wasted an 11-point lead in the third quarter and fell behind early in the fourth quarter. The Polish team punched back to go ahead by 8 points with 46 seconds to go and only narrowly avoided a heart-breaking loss.
Kadre Gray collected 19 points and 10 assists, Stefan Dordevic had 17 points and Noah Kirkwood added 13 points as Slask improved to 5-12 - including 1-8 on the road. Malachi Flynn’s 16 points were not enough as Bahcesehir dropped to 11-6. Trevion Williams chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
ratiopharm ulm 90-103 Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
Buducnost claimed a 90-103 road win at Ulm as it looked to strengthen its position in the Group B playoff standings. Ending a four-game skid away from home, Buducnost improved to 11-6, while Ulm fell to 7-10. Buducnost opened the game by building a 10-point lead in the first quarter, but Ulm cut the deficit to 4 by the end of the period behind strong three-point shooting. In the second quarter, Ulm erased the gap as Chris Sengfelder scored 7 points in the opening 3 minutes. The first half ended with the score tied 45-45.
Returning from the break with better shooting efficiency and improved defense, Ulm stretched the lead to 11 in the third quarter. Buducnost responded with a strong push in the fourth quarter, opening on an 8-0 run led by Rasheed Sulaimon. Juwan Morgan recorded 4 steals, while Yogi Ferrell scored 14 of his points in the final 6 minutes to seal the win.
Ferrell led the way for his team with 23 points and 5 assists, while Rasheed Sulaimon added 22 points and 4 assists. Nikola Tanaskovic finished with 13 points and 6 rebounds, Juwan Morgan recorded 14 points, and Dordije Jovanovic chipped in with 11 points. For Ulm, Chris Ledlum delivered 27 points and 5 rebounds. Mark Smith scored 18, Christian Sengfelder posted 12 points and 9 rebounds, Nelson Weidemann had 11 points, and Justin Simon added 10.