By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Conor Morgan hit the 3-point dagger to put the London Lions up by 5 with 49 seconds to play and then delivered a key block as his team beat Cedevita Olimpija 101 – 95 to capture its fourth straight EuroCup win and improve to 6-2.
After Morgan made it 94 – 89 from the corner and then pulled off a big defense on Shawn Jones, Jordan Taylor, and Matthew Morgan combined for 4-4 free throws that pretty much secured the Lions’ win also mathematically. On the other hand, Cedevita, that was coming off a big ABA League victory over Partizan Belgrade, remained winless in the season so far despite Klemen Prepelic’s 23 points and 10 assists.
Matthew Morgan finished with 24 points plus five assists and Conor Morgan had 18 points. Gabe Olaseni was named game MVP after finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists while Luke Nelson had 17 points, 15 of them in the first half where his team led 50 – 43.
Juan Nunez was everywhere on the floor with 14 points, 10 assists plus six rebounds and Trevon Williams had 20 points plus six rebounds as Ratiopharm Ulm escaped Aris Thessaloniki 99 – 88 in overtime.
Marcus Carr led Aris by scoring 20 points.
An offensive festival took place in Belgrade where Hapoel Tel Aviv defeated Joventut Badalona 103 – 99 behind 31 points plus five assists by Xavier Munford. J’Covan Brown (17 points, nine assists) hit the win-sealing free throws for the Israeli side.
With momentum from hitting the game-winner of the year in Spain, Andres Feliz posted 24 points plus seven assists for Joventut. Andrew Andrews contributed 23 points.
2023-24 EuroCup Round 8 Results:
Cluj Napoca – Gran Canaria 70 – 92
Buducnost – Trento 98 – 96
Bourg en Bresse – Turk Telekom 86 – 67
Hamburg Towers – Wolves Vilnius 71 – 84
Paris Basketball – Besiktas 63 – 68
Slask Wroclaw – Lietkabelis 71 – 75
Prometey – Reyer Venezia 89 – 82
Aris Thessaloniki – Ratiopharm Ulm 88 – 99
Hapoel Tel Aviv – Joventut Badalona 103 – 99
London Lions – Cedevita Olimpija 101 – 95
Standings:
Group A:
- Paris 7 – 1
- Besiktas 6 – 2
- London Lions 6 – 2
- Hapoel Tel Aviv 5 – 2
- Wolves Vilnius 4-3
- Prometey 4 – 4
- Joventut Badalona 3 – 5
- Reyer Venezia 3 – 5
- Hamburg Towers 1 – 7
- Cedevita 0 – 8
Group B:
- Gran Canaria 8 – 0
- Cluj-Napoca 6 – 2
- Bourg en Bresse 6 – 2
- Ratiopharm Ulm 6 – 2
- Lietkabelis 4 – 4
- Aris Thessaloniki 3 – 5
- Buducnost 3 – 5
- Dolomiti Energia Trento 3 – 5
- Turk Telekom 1 – 7
- Slask Wroclaw 0 – 8
Photo: EuroCup Basketball