The five players who began the game netted a combined 85 points in an important win for the visitors
Reyer’s starters delivered offensively to swat aside Bourg
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In a highly entertaining duel on Wednesday night, Umana Reyer Venice saw its starters deliver when it mattered most to clinch a 99-102 road victory at Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse. This clash had simply everything – a high-scoring first quarter (33-31) was followed by a defensively dominant display from Reyer in the third, before an extraordinary 18-point comeback from Bourg was halted in crunch time by the guests.
The main protagonists were Reyer’s starting five, who netted 85 of their team’s 102 points in what was their highest-scoring game of the season. Mfiondu Kabengele recorded his seventh double-double of the campaign by combining his career-high 26 points with 10 rebounds. Starting guards Rodney McGruder and Tyler Ennis netted 16 and 13 points, respectively, with the former going 5 for 8 from deep.
Reyer forward Jordan Parks put together a double-double of his own by pairing his 13 points with 10 boards, while Kyle Wiltjer netted 17 points, 8 of which, including three huge baskets from inside, came in the last five minutes. In fact, Reyer’s starters scored all but one of their team’s 19 points in the closing quarter, sealing an important win that allowed them to get back to winning ways after a home defeat to Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana last time out.
After a frenetic first half that ended 56-56, Reyer outscored Bourg 9-27 in the third quarter to take a 65-83 lead into the fourth. But Bourg refused to give up. The hosts went on an astonishing 24-5 run to get back in front, 89-88, midway through the final frame. Despite that huge blow in morale, the Italian side showed character and fought back, with Wiltjer coming to the fore and fueling a 4-10 surge that allowed the visitors to seal the outcome.
“I believe that we have to be proud and we have to congratulate my players for how they reacted when Bourg came back and we went down by one point,” Reyer assistant coach Emanuele Molin, who was in charge as Neven Spahija is off sick, said in the post-game press conference. “Because, at that moment, if we are not a team with cohesion, maybe we give up. And there we played good defense and had patience to look for the right players on offense, we built a little bit of advantage and we ended up [winning] the game.”
Currently boasting a 6-6 record, Reyer remains in the playoff conversation in Group B. Coming up next is a tough home clash against an unbeaten Valencia Basket (10-0), but Reyer demonstrated on Wednesday night at Bourg that it has the scoring firepower to trouble any defense in the BKT EuroCup.