By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Two ratiopharm Ulm teammates gained entry for the MVP honors of this week: Cristiano Felicio and Sindarius Thornwell were both explosive to lift Ulm to a 96-86 victory over Bourg.
Per EuroCup:
Cristiano Felicio and Sindarius Thornwell became just the second 7DAYS EuroCup teammates in the last five years to share an MVP honor after leading Ratiopharm Ulm to a 96-86 win over Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse with PIRs of 26 each, the highest among winning players in Round 7.
Remarkably, the last time teammates were co-MVPs, both were Ulm players, too; Zoran Dragic and Derek Willis in Round 5 of the 2019-20 regular season. Prior to that, Lietkabelis Panevezys teammates Ksystof Lavrinovic and Zygimantas Skucas were two of three players who shared the MVP honor in Round 2 of the 2016-17 season.
This time, Thornwell led Ulm with 23 points, based on his 6-for-9 three-point and 5-for-6 free throw shooting, in addition to 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. Felicio registered a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, which included 6 on the offensive glass. Felicio and Thornwell in fact ranked sixth in PIR for Round 15, but all five players above them lost their games.
Errick McCollum of Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar had a PIR of 31 after scoring 27 points in his team’s loss to Hamburg Towers, and Dolomiti Energia Trento forward Jordan Caroline matched that PIR with 20 points and 12 rebounds in defeat to Turk Telekom Ankara. Gediminas Orelik of Lietkabelis Panevezys lost despite amassing a PIR of 29 with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals against MoraBanc Andorra. And after Calvin Harris had a 28 PIR in Bourg’s loss to Ulm, Justin Cobbs recorded the same despite Buducnost VOLI Podgorica suffering defeat at the hands of Gran Canaria.
Individual highs: Balsa Koprivica, Partizan, 4 blocks
McCollum’s 27 points were the highest scored this week. His Lokomotiv teammate Johnathan Motley remains the leading marksman this season with 23.9 points per game. Caroline and Jaka Blazic of Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana topped all Round 7 rebounders with 12 apiece. Caroline joins Vince Hunter of Boulogne Metropolitans 92 atop the EuroCup rebounding charts with 8.7 per game. The top assister of Round 7 was Semaj Christon of Ulm with 10, while Andrew Albicy of Gran Canaria is the new leader of the overall assists chart with an average of 7.5. Gabrielius Maldunas of Lietkabelis Panevezys grabbed 4 steals this week, more than any other player, but Albicy remains the EuroCup’s steals leader with 2.5 per night. Partizan NIS Belgrade’s young center Balsa Koprivica equaled the competition’s season-high by blocking 4 shots. Octavius Ellis of Turk Telekom Ankara ranks first overall with 2.3 blocks per game. Blazic (10 points, 12 rebounds), Caroline (20 points, 12 rebounds), Christon (13 points, 10 assists) and Felicio (20 points, 10 rebounds) all recorded double-doubles in Round 7.