By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Pat Beverley’s transfer to Hapoel Tel Aviv created headlines during the summer.
Still, after Game 1 of the BKT EuroCup, the Israelis lost on the road to Juventut Badalona (78-75) after a close game.
Veteran Ante Tomic (17 p. 12 r.) starred for the Spanish team, while Beverley with 14 points, six assists, and three rebounds tried his best.
Bruno Caboclo (14 p.) and Jonathan Motley (11 p.), also tried to turn things around but couldn’t. On top of that, Motley left the game injured on the right leg.
On the other games of the night, Turk Telekom prevailed over Lietkabelis (72-66) at home, last season’s finalist Bourg-En-Bresse destroyed Hamburg Towers on the road by 20 points (100-80) with Adrian Nelson scoring 18 points and Mike Tobey scored 20 points for Gran Canaria in the 84-81 win over Trento.
Trento’s Jordan Ford with 32 points had an amazing game but the best he could do for Trento was to cut the final point difference to three points with a buzzer-beating three.
EUROCUP 2024-25
Group A
Joventut Badalona – Hapoel Tel Aviv 78-75
Gran Canaria – Trento 84-81
Wolves – Bahcesehir (25/9)
Besiktas – Buducnost (25/9)
Trefl Sopot – Ulm (25/9)
Standings
- Gran Canaria 1-0
- Joventut 1-0
- Bahcesehir 0-0
- Besiktas 0-0
- Buducnost 0-0
- Ulm 0-0
- Trefl Sopot 0-0
- Wolves 0-0
- Hapoel Tel Aviv 0-1
- Trento 0-1
Group B
Turk Telekom – Lietkabelis 72-66
Hamburg Towers – Bourg-en-Bresse 80-100
U-BT Cluj Napoca – Cedevita-Olimpija (25/9)
Hapoel Jerusalem – Valencia (25/9)
Umana Reyer Venezia – Aris (25/9)
Standings
- Bourg-en-Bresse 1-0
- Turk Telekom 1-0
- Valencia 0-0
- Hapoel Jerusalem 0-0
- Venezia 0-0
- Aris 0-0
- Cedevita Olimpija 0-0
- Cluj Napoca 0-0
- Lietkabelis 0-1
- Hamburg Towers 0-1