Canadians in Europe: 6th-9th November
The weekly roundup of all the results from Canadian players taking to the courts in Europe.
EuroLeague
Kevin Pangos had eight points off the bench for Barcelona, while Thomas Heurtel started and scored 18 points and dished eight assists against Khimki. The Russian club took an early lead, only for Barcelona to level up at half-time, then took an eight-point lead ahead of the final period.
Alexey Shved was seemingly doing it all for Khimki, leading all scorers with 27 points, but even that and a late push would not be enough to salvage the win. Barcelona’s 87-80 win keeps them in sixth place in the overall standings, while Khimki retain their joint second-worst record of 1-5.
Elsewhere in the EuroLeague, the main story this week was Bayern Munich’s record-breaking night.
EuroLeague Women
Both Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe and Katherine Plouffe had 17 points for Bourges, but star of their opponents, USK Praha, Katerina Elhotova had one point more, and her teammate Alyssa Thomas led all scorers with 22.
The teams were evenly matched for three quarters, until Praha took a ten-point lead in the final period, and Bourges's last-minute attempt to turn the tables on the Czech club fell short. With half of their points coming from the paint, USK Praha remain unbeaten in Group A after dishing Bourges their first loss of the season by a scoreline of 88 points to 80.
Castors Braine could not find an answer for the offensive firepower of CCC Polkowice - the Polish club took an early double-digit lead and, aided by 23 points from Tiffany Haynes, never looked back. Ruth Hamblin only managed one bucket for Castors, who fall down the order in Group A after a 71-52 loss to Polkowice.
EuroCup
Zenit St. Petersburg saw Philip Scrubb and Sergey Karasev both put up 16 points, who went down by four to Ankara to up by eleven following a 14-point unanswered run. Ankara responded, outscoring Zenit in the third quarter to level the scores, then taking a ten-point lead with three minutes remaining. Sylven Landsberg led all scorers with 27 points for Ankara, while his team mate Vladimir Stimac had 20 of his own.
Ankara's 81-75 win sees both them and Zenit sitting mid-table in Group C, each with a 3-3 record.
Kyle Wiltjer started and had 12 points for Malaga who, after trailing Rytas Vilnius by five at half-time, out-scored the Lithuanian team 28-7 in the third quarter. Giorgi Shermandini had a game high 23 points for Malaga, who also displayed great ball movement and teamwork, with 31 team assists in the game, on their way to a 95-76 win over Vilnius.
Brady Heslip had 14 points for Skyliners Frankfurt, and Trae Bell-Haynes had four off the bench, but the standout performance was that of Erik Murphy, who scored 33 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
Skyliners led Turin by seventeen points at the end of the third quarter, and a late push by the Italian club closed the gap, but with better ball movement and defence, Skyliners remained in control to the end. After their 85-75 win, Skyliners move to third in Group D, while winless Turin remain at the bottom.
Aaron Doornakemp was scoreless for Valencia, who were tied with ASVEL at the end of a tight-knit first half. ASVEL then took their biggest advantage in the third quarter, then capitalised it in the fourth to win over Valencia 73-69. DeMarcus Nelson had 20 points for ASVEL, who move to the top spot in Group C over Valencia.
EuroCup Women
After trailing Fribourg by eight in the first quarter, Landes’s long-range play closed the gap and they took a five-point lead at the half. From there the team went rampant on offence and built on their lead over the Swiss club, leading by twenty points in the fourth quarter. Miranda Ayim led the scoring for Landes with 18, while Milica Ivanovic went one better for Fribourg, but that wouldn’t be enough for the win. Landes hold on to second place in Group J after their 73-59 win over Fribourg.
After a uncertain first quarter against Lefkada, Energa Torun opened the second quarter with ten unanswered points, and from then on took control on both ends of the floor. On defence, they out-rebounded Lefkada 66 to 31, and on the front court Nirra Fields had seven points, one of ten Torun players who made the scoresheet, led by Angelika Stankiewicz with 15 off the bench. Torun take a deserving first place in Group B after a blowout 74-44 win over their Greek opponents.
Shooting 58% from the floor, Keltern went up by five over Lyon ASVEL early on, but any lead they had here was short lived. ASVEL saw ten points from Michelle Plouffe as well as 27 from Alysha Clark, two of five players for the French team to score in double digits, and their defence went a long way to contain their German opponents. ASVEL's 79-68 win over Keltern puts them above in Group I.
FIBA Champions League
Xavier Rathan-Mayes had six points for AEK Athens, but turning the most heads was Vince Hunter, who made the highlight reel plenty of times on his way to a game-high 24 total points against Fuenlabrada.
AEK’s lead was constantly under threat, with Fuenlabrada doing well to shut them out on defence, but taking a double-digit lead late in the third gave the Greek control of the remainder of the game. With a dominant performance from close range, making 57% of field goal attempts, AEK move to a joint-highest 4-1 record in Group C with a 78-71 win over Fuenlabrada.
FIBA Europe Cup
Daniel Mullings in action for Kataja. Picture: FIBA.com
Even with 21 points and 10 rebounds from Daniel Mullings, Kataja found themselves trailing Aris Thessaloniki for three quarters. When the result started to look beyond doubt, Kataja closed the gap in the fourth and made for a tight remainder of the game.
Mullings gave Kataja a late two-point lead, and later a three from Vincent Simpson - who led all scorers with 31 points - with 13 seconds remaining stretched that out to five. Aris’s Gary Bell put up a last second three, but that only reduced the final deficit to two, and Kataja’s astonishing comeback was complete. The Finnish club secured their place in the second round following their 88-86 victory over Aris.
Thomas Scrubb had 11 points for Pallacanestro Varese, who also saw 17 from Tyler Cain, in a completely dominant performance over Rilski Sportist. Varese led from beginning to end and made two-thirds of their field goal attempts, leaving the Bulgarian club winless and Varese second in Group F after their 86-59 win.
Leicester Riders opened with a 7-0 run against Dinamo Sassari, who hit back with an eleven-point unanswered run to take a commanding lead over their English opponents. Dyshawn Pierre started and had 14 points for Sassari, who also saw a double-double from Achille Polonara (21 points, 12 rebounds), made 75% of their field goal attempts and dropped 12 threes on Leicester. Kiefer Douse stayed on the Leicester bench as they saw their Europe Cup chances disappear after a 95-60 loss to Sassari, who move to the top of H.
