Canadians in Europe: December 12th-13th
Canadians took on Canadians all across Europe this week, where old rivals mets up and various pan-continental competitions reached crucial stages as the calendar year starts to wind down.
EuroCup
Valencia opened with a 15-4 lead over Zenit St Petersburg, with the Spanish club’s trio of Will and Matt Thomas and Sam Van Rossom going on to overwhelm their opponents from all spots on the floor. Zenit saw good work from their bench – Philip Scrubb had 13 points, while Jalen Reynolds went on to lead all scorers with 21 – but when the teams seemed evenly matched, Valencia’s tougher defence proved to be the deciding factor in this game. Aaron Doornakemp contributed just one bucket as Valencia secure the top spot in Group C following a 97-89 win over Zenit, who are still in the fight for qualification.
Melvin Ejim returned to the UNICS Kazan lineup, but saw limited minutes against Malaga. The Spanish team were in the driver’s seat in the first half, behind good long-range shooting from starter Kyle Wiltjer - who finished with four threes and 16 total points - and Giorgi Shermandini off the bench, who led all scorers with 22. Kazan’s three-point shooting ate into Malaga’s advantage on the scoreboard, and at the end Pierria Henry and Jackie Carmichael combined to see off Malaga by three points. This win also sees UNICS Kazan jumped ahead of Malaga in Group D.
Skyliners Frankfrut’s encounter with Mornar Bar was a game of contrasting ends, with Mornar Bar making a push in the opening and closing quarters and Frankfurt in control for the mid-section. Trae Bell-Haynes and Brady Heslip had only a handful of points for the German club. They were eclipsed by Quantez Robertson, who had 16, and Erik Murphy and Shawn Huff, who both came off the bench to score 19 and 13 points respectively. Huff closed out the game by ensuring victory for the Skyilners, 87-83, which also secured them third place in Group D.
EuroLeague Women
Castors Braine began their game against Bourges ahaed by 8-2, but the French club responded with a 14-point run, then going on to outscore Castors 49-32 in the first half. Reducing the deficit for Castors were the duo of Celeste Trahan-Davies and Karlie Samuelson, who had 16 and 15 points respectively, but with Bourges out-shooting them from the field, having greater production from their bench and defence, they maintained their control on the game.
Ruth Hamblin watched from the bench as Nayo Raincock Ekunwe led Bourges with 14 points and the French club cemented their seating in third place in Group A. Castors, meanwhile, are sat firmly in seventh following a 78-65 loss.
More drama was found in the EuroLeague Women this week, namely Polkowice's routing of Nadezhda and a dramatic win for Riga over Fenerbahce.
EuroCup Women
Landes did not look back after taking the lead against Fribourg after eight unanswered points, in a game where the French club were unstoppable in the paint, putting up 56 of their total points. Miranda Ayim had 14 points, as did her team mate Markeisha Gatling, while Mamignan Toure led Landes with 18 points off the bench. Fribourg had four players score in teen figures, with Samantha Ostarello also grabbing 12 rebounds to go with her 16 points, but nothing the Swiss team could do could halt Landes.
Winning 85-70, Landes then had a day-long wait to see if that would be enough to see them through to round two. After Sint-Katelijne-Waver lost by ten points to Tarbes, Landes tied up second place in Group and a spot in the second phase of the competition.
Energa Torun held Lefkada scoreless for over the first give minutes of regulation, after opening with a 15-0 run in a completely one-sided game. Torun saw six players score ten or more points, one of them being Nirra Fields with 12. Another was Angelika Stankiewicz, who had a game-high 20 off the bench, and Laura Svaryte, who had 10 points to go with 11 rebounds. In addition, Torun hit 14 threes - over 50% out of all attempts – shared the ball better and shut out Lefkada on defence.
Finishing ahead by 95 points to 48, Torun advance to the next round as the runners-up of Group B.
A big win for Keltern in their final group game would see them through the group stage. Their opponents, ASVEL Lyon, had other plans, ending the high-scoring first quarter ahead 37-21. This set the tone for the rest of the game, where ASVEL outclassed Keltern both on offence and defence.
With 11 points to her name, Michelle Plouffe was one of six ASVEL players to score in double digits, with Clarissa Dos Santos leading everyone on the floor with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Ahead by as many as 53 points in the game, ASVEL guarantee their place in round two after a one-sided win over Keltern by a score of 109-63.
EuroLeague
A matchup known as the Classico took place in the Spanish capital, as the country’s top two teams, Barcelona and Real Madrid, met in the EuroLeague.
The home team were helped along by their trio of Trey Thompkins, Anthony Randolph and Jaycee Carroll, who all scored in the teens here. Kevin Pangos put up 11 points off the bench, Barcelona’s second-highest scorer behind Thomas Huertel with 16, but no one could stop Real’s offence in this one.
Making over two-thirds of their field goal attempts, dropping 12 threes and good work on defence saw Real Madrid coast home to a conclusive win, with the final score being 92-65 in their favour.
