By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Awudu Abass scored 13 out of his EuroCup career-high 19 points in the last five minutes of the game as Germani Brescia Leonessa beat Pormitheas Patras 63 – 57 at home for the first round of the competition’s Top 16. It was a game of huge ups and downs for both teams with the Italian squad delivering down the stretch with a decisive 12-0 run.
Promitheas had made it 43 – 49 three minutes into the fourth period, after recovering from a 38 – 24 third-quarter deficit. Brescia then began pulling off consecutive defenses and Abass dropped eight points in a row to hand his team a 55 – 49 lead with 3:21 left to play.
Abass kept making buckets and drained the triple for the 63 – 54 with 41 seconds left as his team was safe en route to its first-ever EuroCup Top 16 win. Luca Vitali added 14 points, including a key triple before Abass’ dagger, while Tyler Cain had 12 points and seven boards.
Vangelis Mantzaris (12 points, six assists, five rebounds), Chase Fieler (12 points) and Oleksandr Lypovyy (11 points, six rebounds) stood out for Promitheas in the team’s maiden appearance in the competition’s Top 16. The Greek side scored just three points in the second quarter to fall behind 26 – 18 at halftime and then down by 14. They recovered yet Brescia had the final say.