Road wins propel Valencia and Gran Canaria to the top of Eurocup Group B
The second half of the 2021-22 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season began with Round 10. After Bourg was the lone road winner among four games on Tuesday evening, the script was flipped on Wednesday as Lokomotiv in Group A and Valencia, Ulm, and Gran Canaria in Group B all won away games. Ulm’s triumph in Podgorica allowed Valencia and Gran Canaria to tie Buducnost with seven wins atop Group B – and Gran Canaria has a game at hand. Lokomotiv, which was victorious in Andorra for its 7th win, remained one win behind Partizan and Joventut for first place in Group A. Those two teams and Lietkabelis won at home on Tuesday. Metropolitans was the lone team to protect its home floor on Wednesday.
GROUP A
MoraBanc Andorra 76-86 Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar shrugged off missing two of its leading players in defeating MoraBanc Andorra 76-86 in Group A to snap its three-game losing streak. Without big men Johnathan Motley and Gregg Whittington, Lokomotiv raced away early by 16 points, and the advantage was 19 points before Andorra pulled within three just after the break. The guests increased the margin to 13 points in the third quarter, and it was never close in the final 10 minutes. Errick McCollum was unstoppable with 30 points and six assists, Alan Williams picked up 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Darius Thompson chipped in 17 points in helping Lokomotiv move to 7-3. Andorra dropped to 5-4 – with its first loss at home this season – despite Codi Miller-McIntyre tallying 20 points and eight assists. Amine Noua scored 12 points, and Moussa Diagne had four and ten rebounds.
Boulogne Metropolitans 92 99-82 Turk Telekom Ankara
Boulogne Metropolitans 92 made a big-city move in Group A when it turned back visiting Turk Telekom Ankara by 99-82 on Wednesday and covered the tiebreak between them, as well. Both teams are tied with 5-5 records alongside Lietkabelis Panevezys and tied on victories with MoraBanc Andorra between the fourth and seventh positions in the Group A standings. Will Cummings led the winners with 26 points among six Metropolitans scorers in double figures. Tony Crocker hit five three-pointers for 17 points. Keith Hornsby scored 14 more, Ginat Tomer 13, David Michineau 11, and Vince Hunter 10. For Turk Telekom, which led 0-8 to start the game, Alex Perez poured in 21 points while Octavius Ellis added 13, Samet Geyik and Erdi Gulaslan 12 each.
GROUP B
Promitheas Patras 68-71 Valencia Basket
Valencia Basket overcame injuries and absences to rally past Promitheas Patras 68-71 at Dimitris Tofalos Arena on Wednesday. Valencia improved to 7-3 in Group A while Promitheas lost its fourth in a row and dropped to 2-7. Mike Tobey led the winners with a EuroCup career-high 22 points. Neno Dimitrijevic added 10 for Valencia. Dimitris Agravanis paced Promitheas with 22 points, Kendrick Ray added 15, and Trevis Simpson had 13 in his debut for the hosts. Promitheas led 68-61 lead with over 3 minutes left, but Josep Puerto and Tobey combined for all the points in a 0-10 final run that won it.
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 68-89 ratiopharm Ulm
ratiopharm Ulm shook things up in Group B of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season with a resounding 68-89 road win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica at Moraca. Ulm scored the first 7 points of the game and never looked back in winning on the road for the third time this season to improve to 5-5. Buducnost, which entered the night in sole possession of first place in the group, fell to 7-3 and a tie for first place with Valencia Basket. Semaj Christon paced the winners with 18 points and six assists, Felicio Cristiano posted 17 points and ten rebounds, Jaron Blossomgame added 14 points, nine boards, and two steals, Karim Jallow scored 11 for the winners. Justin Cobbs led Buducnost with 17 points, four assists, and four steals, Petar Popovic scored 16 off the bench, D.J. Seeley added 13, and Marko Jagodic-Kuridza 10.
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 60-75 Gran Canaria
On Wednesday, Gran Canaria won its third consecutive game in Group B by downing Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 60-75 in the Slovenian capital. Gran Canaria now leads the Group B standings with a 7-2 record, while Cedevita dropped to 3-6 with its third straight loss at home. Dylan Ennis led the winners with 14 points, Artem Pustovyi added 12, and A.J. Slaughter scored 10 for Gran Canaria. Yogi Ferrell paced Cedevita with 11 points, and Melvin Ejim and Jacob Pullen each added 10 for the visitors. Five different players struck from beyond the arc to give Gran Canaria a 7-23 margin at the end of the first quarter. Alen Omic and Edo Muric fueled a 10-0 run that brought Cedevita within 24-30, but Ennis and Nico Brussino helped the guests restore a 27-41 margin at halftime. Little changed after the break as Pustovyi and an outstanding Ennis boosted their team’s margin to 48-63 at the end of the third quarter, and Gran Canaria cruised the rest of the way.