Eurocup: Alba Berlin knocks off Gravelines

Coming into Week 4 of Eurocup competition there were six clubs holding perfect records. After the short first day that only saw four of 20 matches for the week contested, one of those six was knocked off, and one became the first four-game winner. Alba Berlin hosted undefeated Gravelines-Dunkerque on Tuesday and handed the French club their first defeat, while the Spanish club Bilbao Baskets improved to 4-0 with a solid home win over French club Elan Chalon. In the other two contests Paris Levallois picked up their first ever Eurocup win over fellow French club Asvel Villeurbanne Lyon at home, and Le Mans Sarthe Basket improved to 3-1 with a road win over German club Artland Dragons.

On Wednesday the bulk of the Eurocup will lace up their sneakers and hit the hardwood as there are 20 games on the schedule across the continent. Four more undefeated teams, Foxtown Cantu, Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir, Khimk Yuzhne, and Unics Kazan will look to keep pace with Bilbao Baskets and pick up their fourth win in as many attempts.

Group A
Artland Dragons – Le Mans Sarthe Basket, 67:79
The visiting Le Mans Sarthe Basket contingent used an 18-point advantage in the first quarter to put their contest against the Artland Dragons away early then cruise to their third win on the season, 67:79. Artland falls to 1-3 with the loss.

Le Mans jumped to their huge lead in the first off a 3:18 run to get up 14:32 after the first 10. Artland got three back in the second to head into the intermission down 35:50. The second half opened with a low-scoring third frame with both teams only managing to put up 23 points between them. As the fourth quarter began with Artland down 16, the hosts started chipping away at the lead until they were down seven, 61:68, with three minutes to play. Shortly after they got to within six, but that was as close as they’d get with Le Mans dropping in the last six of the contest.

Dashaun Wood was game-high for Le Mans with 19 points, 6 assists and a 25 PIR, Vaughn Duggins added 13, Reyshawn Terry scored 12 and added 8 rebounds, and Joao Paulo Batista tallied 10.

Guido Grunheid lead Artland with 11, and Michael Wenzl scored 10 while grabbing 6 rebounds.

Group B
Bilbao Basket – Elan Chalon sur Saone, 77:67
Bilbao became the first four game winner in the Eurocup with a 77:67 home win over Elan Chalon and their new head coach Jean-Denys Choulet. The win keeps Bilbao undefeated at 4-0, and drops Elan to 1-3.

The locals found themselves at the free throw line, a lot, in the first part of this contest and took full advantage by connecting on 8 of 9 in opening four minutes. By the end of the first frame they found themselves with a 27:14 advantage. Six from Clint Capela for Elan to open the second helped cut the margin, but Bilbao scored seven unanswered to pull away again. Their lead peaked at 18, but was at 14 as the mid-game break got underway. In the third the lead again grew, this time to 19 before Elan went on a 10-point run and cut the gap to eight. They headed into the fourth with Bilbao up 11, 61:50. The guests pulled to within seven early in the fourth, but Bilbao pulled away again and put their fourth win in the books.

German Gabriel scored 16 for Bilbao, and Antanas Kavaliauskas contributed 12 points and 8 rebounds.

AJ Slaughter was game-high with 19 points and 7 assists for Elan, Josh Bostic added 13, and Jon Brockman scored 10.

Group C
Paris Levallois – Asvel Villeurbanne Lyons, 83:65
Paris Levallois earned their first ever Eurocup victory with an 83:65 win over rival French club Asvel Villeurbanne Lyons. The win gives Paris a 1-3 record on the season, while dropping Asvel to 2-2.

The difference in the contest was the 12 for 23 (52.2%) performance behind the arc by Paris, compared to only 3 of 17 (17.6%) by Asvel. The guests did make up a much of that difference by hitting 24 of 31 at the charity stripe as compared to 7 of 14 for Paris. The hosts also held a substantial advantage on the glass, out-rebounding Asvel 38:29.

Paris got much of the lead they needed in the first half, getting out to a 22:14 lead after the first 10 and bringing a 46:34 lead into the locker room at the break. Asvel kept pace in third and earned a point back, but the hosts added another seven on a 20:13 final frame, to wrap up their win.

Nicolas Lang and Landing Sane were game-high for Paris with 16 points, Maleye Ndoye added 12, and Elton Brown dropped in 10.

Chris Wright led the way for Asvel with 13, Edwin Jackson scored 11, and Amara Sy tallied 10.

Group D
Alba Berlin – BCM Gravelines Dunkerque, 70:59
BCM Gravelines entered Week 4 perfect at 3-0, but left Berlin 3-1 after a 70:59 lost to Alba Berin, who is also 3-1.

The quarter scores throughout were tight, but Alba did manage to win all four quarters, but with slim margins. The locals got rolling in the first behind a 12:2 run, but that came after a 2:10 run by the guests had opened a 13:20 lead. As the horn sounded on the first Alba lead 25:24. The German club opened a small lead with a 17:14 second quarter, giving them a 42:38 lead at the half. Neither team could find the basket in the third with Gravelines going scoreless for over 10 minutes. Alba’s own scoring drought prevented them from taking full advantage of the Gravelines cold-streak, but the hosts were able to open the lead to 12 points, 56:44. Gravelines made an effort to come back, but Alba countered everything the guests would throw at them and closed out the night with their third win in four attempts.

Alba’s sole player in double figures was David Logan who was game-high with 17 on the night. Levon Kendall contributed 8 points and 8 rebounds to the Alba win.

John Holland led Gravelines with 16 points, Marcus Lewis added 14 points and 9 rebounds, and D.J. Kennedy scored 12.