Eurocup co-leaders lose
Round 11 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season featured four blowouts, with half of them seeing co-leaders in the standings go down. First Turk Telekom crushed Partizan 85-71, which opens the door for Joventut to take sole possession of the top spot in Group A if it can beet Hamburg on the road Wednesday. Metropolitans took a step forward in the group with a big win at Slask. Valencia moved atop Group B as the first with eight wins by blasting Buducnost 103-76. Gran Canaria can join it if it beats Promitheas at home on Wednesday. In Tuesday’s other game, Ulm handled Virtus.
Turk Telekom Ankara 85-71 Partizan NIS Belgrade
Turk Telekom Ankara remained undefeated at home in Group A by downing Partizan NIS Belgrade 85-71 in the Turkish capital on Tuesday. Turk Telekom improved to 6-5 in the standings and is 5-0 at home this season. Meanwhile, Partizan dropped to 8-3. Anthony Clemmons led the winners with 20 points and eight assists. JaJuan Johnson and Jared Terrell each added 15 points for Turk Telekom. Dallas Moore led Partizan with 15 points. Kevin Punter and Mathias Lessort each added 14, while Zach LeDay and Aleksa Avramovic had ten apiece for the guests. Clemmons shined early and got help from Johnson to give Turk Telekom a 21-18 edge after 10 minutes. Aubrey Dawkins and Terrell stepped up in the second quarter, joining forces with a red-hot Clemmons to boost the hosts’ lead to 43-32 at halftime. Dallas Moore and Punter stepped up for Partizan, but Johnson and Clemmons allowed Turk Telekom to extend its margin to 60-46 after 30 minutes. Samet Geyik hit a triple that made it a 19-point game, 65-46, and the hosts never looked back after that.
ratiopharm Ulm 84-68 Virtus Segafredo Bologna
ratiopharm Ulm led from start to finish in recording an 84-68 victory over Virtus Segafredo Bologna on Tuesday evening. The hosts also outscored Virtus in all four quarters for a convincing win that lifted its record to 6-5. The result saw Ulm match Virtus (6-4) on wins and take the head-to-head tiebreaker between the teams; Virtus defeated Ulm by 11 when they met in Round 2. Jaron Blossomgame starred with 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Ulm. Semaj Christon tallied 14 points, seven assists, and three steals. Thomas Klepeisz missed just one shot in accumulating 12 points. Sindarius Thornwell amassed 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and four steals, and Cristiano Felicio added 9 points and 13 rebounds. Amedeo Tessitori and Kyle Weems led Virtus with 14 points apiece, and Marco Belinelli scored 13 in defeat.
Slask Wroclaw 59-74 Boulogne Metropolitans 92
Boulogne Metropolitans 92 grabbed back-to-back wins for the first time in more than two months in knocking off Slask Wroclaw 59-74 in Group A action. Metropolitans, which won Rounds 4 and 5 back in November, improved to 6-5 with a 2-4 mark on the road. Neither team really could pull away until Metropolitans put together a 2-15 run to grab a 41-53 lead late in the third quarter. Slask would get as close as 5 points, but the guests used a 2-14 surge to put it away. Keith Hornsby paced five Metropolitans scorers in double figures with 15 points while Tony Crocker scored 14 points, David Michineau had 12, Vince Hunter picked up 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Tomer Ginat added 10 points. Travis Trice was the only Slask player in double figures with 11 points, with Kerem Kanter chipping in 9 points and 14 rebounds. But they were not enough, as Slask has now lost four straight for a 1-9 record.
Valencia Basket 103-76 Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
Valencia Basket blasted Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 103-76 at La Fonteta on Tuesday night. The hosts trailed 12-15 after 7 minutes but used strong runs to finish both the first and the second quarters to build a 53-33 lead that the visitors never threatened. Valencia improved to 8-3 to stay atop Group B, while Buducnost dropped to 7-4. Martin Hermannsson led six Valencia scorers in double-figures with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Jasiel Rivero followed with 15 points in 16 minutes, Mike Tobey and Sam Van Rossom scored 12 apiece, and Jaime Pradilla and Bojan Dubljevic contributed 11 and 10, respectively. Justin Cobbs and Vladimir Micov led the visitors by posting 15 points each, and both Dennis Seeley and Willie Reed added 13 in the losing effort.