Canadians in Europe: 3rd - 4th January
The first games of the new year in European competition where Canadian players took to the court.
EuroCup
After falling behind by nine points early on, Malaga spent the remainder of the game trying to catch up. Making over half of their field goal attempts and getting more second chance points, Valencia were able to maintain their grip on the game. Kyle Wiltjer had 7 points and 5 rebounds for Malaga, while Aaron Doornakemp's 9 points and 7 rebounds were a part of Valenica's eventual victory by 85 points to 74.
Compatriots Zenit St Petersburg and UNICS Kazan faced off in one of the tightest games of this year’s EuroCup season. Melvin Ejim had 11 points and 8 rebounds for Kazan and Philip Scrubb put up 14 points for St Petersburg, but the top performer of the night was Jalen Reynolds, who posted 17 points and rebounds.
The scoreline was tight throughout - eight points was the biggest gap between the two, though for much of the way it was a one-possession game. Gal Mekel put Kazan up by one from the free-throw line, and Evgeny Voronov’s last-second three-point attempt for Zenit fell short. Victory was Kazan's, and by a single point.
EuroCup Women
With Spartak Moscow making less than a third of all shot attempts, ASVEL Lyon took advantage and came out firing. They scored 50% from the field, 52% from three-point territory and led by as many as 31 points in the game.
Michelle Plouffe contributed four points for ASVEL, while Marieme Badiane finished as the top scorer with 17 and Clarissa Dos Santos had 14 points and 11 rebounds as part of the French side's 83-52 victory.
After a close, back-and-forth first half with Venezia, Landes took an eight-point lead ahead of the final quarter, only for the Italians to re-take the lead with nine unanswered points. Venezia then carried that momentum forward on to see out the win, 77-68.
Miranda Ayim had 11 points for Landes, while on the other end Anete Steinberga's amazing 27 points were a big part in Venezia's win.
EuroLeague
Kevin Pangos contributed six points and three rebounds and assists in Barcelona's one-sided victory over Darussafaka. Barcelona did not look back after an early ten-point unanswered run, and out-shooting Darussafaka from the field and playing shut-down defence, the Spanish club propelled themselves to victory, 97 to 65. It was Barcelona's third win a row and moved up to sixth in the league standings.
