7Days EuroCup: Bologna and Monaco rule Group A
Wednesday, October 9th saw the completion of Round 2 of the 2019-20 regular season in the 7Days EuroCup. Out of the 24 teams competing in the tournament, only six can claim to be still undefeated. They are Virtus Bologna and AS Monaco from Group A, BC Partizan from Group B, Darussafaka Istanbul from Group C and finally Galatasaray and Unicaja Malaga from Group D.
Frank Gaines powered Bologna to a 96-77 homecourt blowout win over a visiting Maccabi Rishon Le-Zion. He put up a game-high 21 points, thanks in part to his 4-of-10 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc. Stefan Markovic chipped 15 points of his own and Giampaolo Ricci posted an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double as the Italian club dominated the action in the paint. Alex Hamilton led the way for Rishon with a well-rounded line of 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
AS Monaco was able to steal a game on the road, besting AS Promitheas Patras in a close 74-77 win. Dylan Ennis accounted for half of Monaco’s 3-point shots with three, en route to his 19-point performance on the night. Eric Buckner produced a perfect shooting night from the field, going 8-for-8 to finish with 16 points. Monaco produced an early lead, commanding the game in the first half, Promitheas answered in the second half, but they fell short in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
In Group B action, Partizan faced off against Turkish club Tofas Bursa on October 8th. They handily defended their homecourt 93-80 to stay undefeated in the 7Days EuroCup. Rade Zagorac went bonkers as he proved unstoppable on his way to a 26-point explosion for the night. He shot very well from all over the floor, going 8-for-15 from the field and went a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. He also added four 3-pointers, five rebounds and two steals to his line for the night. On the other side of the floor, Tarik Phillip flirted with a double-double as he put up 16 points and dished out eight dimes for Tofas, who now sit in second place in the group with a 1-1 record.
Group C has a single team atop its standings with a 2-0 record after Darussafaka Istanbul defeated JSF Nanterre 72-65. Nanterre held the advantage in 3-point shooting making 11 shots compared to three by Darussafaka. But the Turkish club made up for that disparity by pounding the rock in the low-post where they held the advantage, making 24-of-35 shots from 2-point range. Jarrod Jones and Johnny Hamilton paced Darussafaka with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
In Group D, Unicaja Malaga and Galatasaray both registered easy wins over their respective opponents on October 9th. Malaga got an easy road win over Asseco Arka Gdynia 59-66. Deon Thompson helped spearhead a second-half assault to claim the lead in the game and eventually the full victory for Malaga. He hard-carried his team as the only player to score in double figures for the Spanish team.
Galatasaray sent a visiting EWE Baskets Oldenburg reeling and off to a 0-2 start thanks to a convincing 92-79 win at home. The host’s offense was unrelenting as their constant attack proved too much for EWE to handle. Zach Auguste led four other Galatasaray players to score in double figures with 18 points and six rebounds. EWE was dominated in the paint but held its own from distance. Rickey Paulding paced the German guests with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field which included three treys.
Just two games into the 2019-20 season and already the 7Days EuroCup has not failed to impress and entertain fans. Let’s see what happens in Round 3 on October 15th and 16th.