7DAYS EuroCup: Round 2 underway with 4 games
Four games opened the second week of the 7DAYS EuroCup 2017/2018 season on Tuesday, with the rest of Round 2 to be played out tomorrow. It is still too early in the campaign to make lasting conclusions, but two clubs in action on Tuesday have stayed unbeaten so far.
One of the them was Italian team Fiat Turin, the team used home advantage to take out MoraBanc Andorra 92-86. However, the visitors looked good in the first quarter and carved a 20-27 lead after 10 minutes. Turin edged back into the game to make it 38-42 at the long break, before carrying the momentum into the third act with a 33-18 charge. The hosts led 71-60 through thirty minutes and eased down the straight to victory. Lamar Paterson paced the win with 19 points, while Jaka Blazic topped the scoring with 22 points for Andorra. Turin is unbeaten at 2-0 in Group A.
In Group B, Buducnost Voli Podgorica is also unblemished so far and passed a tricky away test to see off Hapoel Jerusalem 81-86 in the 7DAYS EuroCup. The Israeli home team won the first act 18-16, but Buducnost got into proceedings with an 18-23 second frame to lead 36-39 at halftime. The visitors drained 28 points in the third quarter to extend the advantage to 55-67 with the fourth to come. Hapoel Jerusalem rallied in the fourth quarter but could not get back into the contest. Nikola Ivanovic propelled the success with 19 points, although Jerusalem’s Jerome Dyson was the standout performer with 21 points and 7 assists.
Two contests were held in Group D of the 7DAYS EuroCup on Tuesday. Tofas Bursa registed its first win with an excellent 98-94 home win over Spanish club Gran Canaria. Considering Gran Canaria’s recent history in the EuroCup, this was a spot of giant-killing from Tofas Bursa and the hosts led 45-41 at the midway buzzer. The third and fourth acts were split by a single point as the teams engaged in an exciting offensive war. Ultimately, the home team emerged with more points on the board, mostly thanks to Yigit Arslan’s 21 points.
ASVEL bounced back from a defeat last week with a huge 108-77 win over Ratiopharm Ulm in France. The German club had performed well last week, but was completely undone by a rampant ASVEL performance. While the guests were solid in the first half, the French hosts poured in 52 points for an 11 points lead. From there, Ratiopharm Ulm collapsed as ASVEL ascended with a 25-13 third act and a game-sealing 31-23 run in the fourth period. John Roberson set the high-scoring tone with 21 points in the winning effort.