By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
After a three-week break, EuroCup Group A action returned Wednesday, with all five contests happening on the same evening.
Partizan NIS Belgrade celebrated an 89-82 win over Boulogne Metropolitans 92 on the road with a comeback in the second half, to tie Lokomotiv Kuban on top of the standings with a 5-1 record.
Kevin Punter fired up 28 points for Zeljko Obradovic‘s squad, followed by Zach LeDay who posted 13 points. Alen Smailagic dropped 14 for the winners and Aleksa Avramovic contributed 12.
Kith Hornsby posted a team-high of 22 points for Boulogne that falls to a 3-3 record. David Michineau and Vince Hunter both added up 16 points for Vincent Collet’s squad, and Will Cumming signed off with 13 points.
A steal by Darius Thompson saved the day for Lokomotiv Kuban that edged Dolomiti Energia Trento 97-95 after an epic comeback in the fourth quarter. Trento led by as much as 13 points before Lokomotiv rushed back to tie the score at 93 points. With only 22 seconds to play and the visiting side down by two points, Thompson’s steal sealed the victory for the home team.
Johnathan Motley once again led the host with a new career-high 33 points and 11 rebounds, with his biggest contribution coming in the first half. Errick McCollum was the man of the hour and added 27 points and a new career-high 13 assists to help Loko complete the comeback and bounce back from Round 5’s defeat.
Desonta Bradford and Wesley Saunders tapped 18 points respectively for Trento, Diego Flaccadori added 17 and Jordan Caroline posted a double-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds.
Lietkabelis caused the upset of the round in Group A by taking down leaders Joventut Badalona 87-77 at home. The Lithuanian side led by as much as 61-49 by the end of the third quarter and held it together when Joventut attempted their comeback.
Panagiotis Kalaitzakis paced the winners with 16 points, 6 rebounds, Vytenis Lipkevicius added 14 points and Nikola Radisevic followed with 12.
Pau Ribas tapped 15 points prior to being ejected, Guillem Vives and Brandon Paul shared 11 points apiece.
Slask Wroclaw picked up its first victory of the season after with a dominant 87-71 performance against Hamburg Towers at home. Travis Trice and Aleksander Dziewa led the way for the Polish team with 18 points each and Kodi Justice tapped 15 points. Kerem Kanter posted 9 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Seth Hinrichs led the way for Hamburg with 16 points, 8 rebounds, Maximillian Di Leo added 14 points and Caleb Homesley tapped 13.
MoraBanc Andorra returned to victories after holding off Turk Telekom Ankara 98-75 at home. Codi Miller-McIntyre posted 14 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds for a PIR of 25, Clevin Hannah also tapped 14 points and Conor Morgan followed with 12 for Andorra.
Aaron Harrison had a game-high performance with 20 points, Anthony Clemmons contributed 13 points and six rebounds and Octavius Ellis followed with 12 points.
Group A Round 6 results:
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar – Dolomiti Energia Trento 97-95
Lietkabelis Panavezys – Joventut Badalona 87-77
Slask Wroclaw – Hamburg Towers 87-71
MoraBanc Andorra – Turk Telekom Ankara 98-75
Boulogne Metropolitans 92 – Partizan NIS Belgrade 82-89
Standings:
| Group A | W | L | PTS+ | PTS- | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar | 5 | 1 | 557 | 502 | 55 |
| 2. Partizan NIS Belgrade | 5 | 1 | 492 | 443 | 49 |
| 3. Joventut Badalona | 4 | 2 | 469 | 414 | 55 |
| 4. MoraBanc Andorra | 4 | 2 | 503 | 482 | 21 |
| 5. Lietkabelis Panevezys | 3 | 3 | 491 | 466 | 25 |
| 6. Boulogne Metropolitans 92 | 3 | 3 | 505 | 508 | -3 |
| 7. Turk Telekom Ankara | 3 | 3 | 451 | 482 | -31 |
| 8. Slask Wroclaw | 1 | 5 | 439 | 483 | -44 |
| 9. Hamburg Towers | 1 | 5 | 499 | 553 | -54 |
| 10. Dolomiti Energia Trento | 1 | 5 | 434 | 507 | -73 |
Photo credit: 7DAYS EuroCup