Ties at the top of the Eurocup standings
The final night of action for the 7DAYS EuroCup in 2021 came with Wednesday of Round 8, after which five teams are tied for the best record in the competition at 6-2. Lokomotiv outlasted Partizan to leave the two even in Group A. Joventut pulled away late in Poland to join them in a three-way tie. Hamburg also won on the road, beating Trento to climb to eighth place and create a two-win gap from ninth. Turk Telekom and Metropolitans both won at home. In Group B, Gran Canaria blasted Virtus in the last game of the round, with the winner assured a share of first place alongside Buducnost, which won on the road the day before. On Tuesday, Reyer and Cedevita also succeeded on the road, with only Bursaspor protecting its home floor in Group B.
GROUP A
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 101-94 Partizan NIS Belgrade
On Wednesday night, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar finished the calendar year on a winning note by outgunning Group A leader Partizan NIS Belgrade 101-94. The two teams are now level atop Group A with 6-2 records. They traded leads for much of the first half and the third quarter, but Lokomotiv’s long-range shooting made the difference. The hosts made 16 three-point shots on 34 attempts, led by a career-high 33 points from Errick McCollum and point guard Darius Thompson’s 10 points, ten assists, and nine rebounds. Stanton Kidd added 16 points, Quinn Cook finished with 15, and Johnathan Motley had 11 points and six rebounds before being ejected early in the third quarter. In a losing effort, Gregor Glas paced Partizan with 20 points, Zach LeDay scored 19, Aleksa Avramovic 15, Kevin Punter 14, and Rade Zagorac 11.
Turk Telekom Ankara 65-60 Lietkabelis Panevezys
Turk Telekom Ankara remained undefeated at home and won back-to-back games for the first time this season by fighting off a tough Lietkabelis Panevezys effort 65-60 in Group A. With Henrik Rodl coaching his first game at the helm, Turk Telekom jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first quarter but fell behind in the second. The game went back and forth before the hosts lost a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and eventually survived thanks to a clutch three-pointer from Anthony Clemmons and a layup by JaJuan Johnson in the final minute. Johnson scored 28 points with seven rebounds to lead Turk Telekom, which improved to 5-3 and 4-0 at home. Clemmons chipped in 11 points, and four assists and Alex Perez tallied 5 points and 11 assists. Lietkabelis dropped its fourth game out of its last five to fall to 3-5 despite Djordje Gagic and Panagiotis Kalaitzakis both scoring 11 points in the loss.
Dolomiti Energia Trento 90-99 Hamburg Towers
In an exciting and high-scoring game in which neither team managed to take a double-digit lead, Hamburg Towers prevailed and grabbed its second road win of the season by beating Dolomiti Energia Trento 90-99 at BLM Group Arena on Wednesday night. The visitors entered the fourth quarter trailing 70-66, but scored 33 points in the last 10 minutes to seal the outcome and improve to 3-5 in Group B. Caleb Homesley set the tone for Hamburg with 27 points and five three-pointers, Jaylon Brown contributed 20 points in just 19 minutes, Maik Kotsar signed off on a double-double of 15 points, and 11 rebounds for a career-high PIR of 30 and Ray McCallum and Justus Hollatz provided 14 and 12 points, respectively. Diego Flaccadori led Trento with 19 points on a 10-of-11 free-throw shooting. Cameron Reynolds followed with 16 points, while Johnathan Williams posted 13 points, eight boards, and four steals, and Toto Forray and Welsey Saunders had 11 points apiece for Trento, which dropped to 1-6.
Slask Wroclaw 73-87 Joventut Badalona
Despite missing its veteran leaders, Joventut Badalona kept pace with the Group A leaders by fending off host Slask Wroclaw for a 73-87 road win on Wednesday. Joventut improved to 6-2 to enter a first-place tie heading into 2022 with fellow group leaders Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and Partizan NIS Belgrade. Slask fell to 1-7 despite fighting back from 15-point deficits to lead after three quarters. Vladimir Brodziansky poured in a career-high 29 points to lead Joventut. Andres Feliz and Joel Parra added 13 and 12 points off the bench, while Simon Birgander scored 12 to go with 14 rebounds. For Slask, Jakub Karolak drilled six three-pointers on the way to 27 points. Travis Trice followed him with 14 points, and Aleksander Dziewa added 11.
GROUP B
Herbalife Gran Canaria 100-80 Virtus Segafredo Bologna
Herbalife Gran Canaria collected its second straight big victory in Group B of the 7DAYS EuroCup when it knocked off Virtus Segafredo Bologna 100-80 at home on Wednesday. Gran Canaria gained control of the game with a 16-4 run in the fourth quarter to follow up its win last week at Buducnost VOLI Podgorica. The result snapped Virtus’s three-game winning streak. Dylan Ennis poured in 17 points to pace five scorers in double figures for Gran Canaria, which has won six of its last seven games and is tied for the top spot in Group B with a 6-2 record. AJ Slaughter scored 16 points and dished nine assists, Chris Kramer and John Shurna both scored 14 points, and Miquel Salvo chipped in 10 points in the winning effort. Virtus dropped to 5-3 despite Kyle Weems scoring 17 points. Marco Belinelli added 16 points, Milos Teodosic tallied 15 points and 13 assists, Alessandro Pajola scored 11, and Mam Jaiteh 10 points. It was the second time in the last three games that Virtus gave up 100 points, having beaten Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 101-104 on the road in Round 6.