By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Marko Pecarski and Axel Bouteille were named co-MVPs of Round 5 of the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup Regular Season.
Euroleague Basketball confirmed the 24-year-old Serbian and the 29-year-old French sharing the weekly award on Thursday.
Besides leading 7bet-Lietkabelis and Bahcesehir Koleji to wins in Round 5, they produced a PIR of 34, the highest among all players on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Per the press release: “Two extraordinary individual performances in respective winning efforts allowed Marko Pecarski of 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys and Axel Bouteille of Bahcesehir College Istanbul to share co-MVP honors in Round 5 of the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup season.
Pecarski helped Lietkabelis record its first win of the campaign, having dominated in an 84-80 win over the previously unbeaten Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse. Pecarski had a career-high 34 PIR and scored a career-best 22 points on perfect shooting after going 8 for 8 on two-pointers, 1 for 1 from three-point range and 3 for 3 on free throws. His 22 points without missing a shot are the eighth most in EuroCup history and a record for a Lietkabelis player. Pecarski also posted 8 rebounds, his second-highest tally this season, and tied his career high with 2 blocks. He drew 3 fouls, too. Bouteille led Bahcesehir to a 75-92 road win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica. He had a season-high 21 points on 5-of-6 two-pointers, 3-of-7 three-pointers and 2-of-3 free throws, adding a career-high 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 3 fouls drawn for a PIR of 34, his highest mark in 78 EuroCup career games.
The third-best PIR in Round 5 belonged to Dreamland Gran Canaria’s Miquel Salvo, who had a career-best 32 PIR in his team’s 125-78 win over ratiopharm Ulm. Salvo netted a career-high 20 points, going 2 for 3 on two-pointers, 2 for 2 on three-pointers and 10 for 11 on free throws, while he also recorded 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 6 drawn fouls. His +36 in the plus-minus column is the second-highest mark of any player this season. Jaka Blazic of Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana posted a PIR of 29 after amassing 19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in his team’s 75-82 win at Aris Midea Thessaloniki. Rounding out the list of top performers is Umana Reyer Venice’s Rodney McGruder, who had a PIR of 28 on his club and EuroCup debut, as the guard finished with 28 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 4 steals in an 80-68 win against Veolia Towers Hamburg.
Individual highs: Rodney McGruder, Reyer, 28 points
Reyer’s Rodney McGruder scored a round-high 28 points on his club and EuroCup debut. Jared Harper of Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem is the competition’s top scorer at 20.4 points per game.
Axel Bouteille of Bahcesehir College Istanbul led all rebounders by pulling down 12 in Round 5. Mfiondu Kabengele ranks first overall at 10.2 rebounds per night.
Six players – Hapoel Sholomo Tel Aviv’s Patrick Beverley, Cedevita’s Devante Jones, Valencia Basket’s Xabi Lopez-Arostegui, Trefl Sopot’s Tarik Phillip and Jakub Schenk, and Hamburg’s Brae Ivey – dished 7 assists, the most in Round 5. Zavier Simpson of U-BT Cluj-Napoca ranks first overall with 7.5 assists per contest on average.
McGruder, Harper and Dreamland Gran Canaria’s Carlos Alocen each recorded 4 steals in Round 5, the most in this round. Beverley leads the overall standings with 2.4 per game.
Two players – Buducnost’s Aleksa Ilic and Aris’ Joshua Roberts – had a round-high 3 blocks. Ilic and Jaen-Marc Pansa of Bourg are tied for first overall with 2.0 blocks per night.
Bouteille (21 points, 12 rebounds) was the only player to post a double-double.”
Top 10 Plays
A poster dunk by 20-year-old Tobias Jensen was too little too late for ratiopharm Ulm against Dreamland Gran Canaria in Gran Canaria Arena on Tuesday but ranked first in the Top 10 Plays of the Week.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net