Canadians in Europe: November 10th - 12th

There must have been something in the air this week, as highlight game followed highlight game in Europe's top basketball leagues, many of them with Canadian players right in the thick of it.

FIBA Europe Cup

Kenny Cherry and Phillip Scrubb combined for twenty points in a pressure-cooker game for Avtodor Saratov, who were given a rough ride on the road at Reggio Emilia. The Italians' inside play was matched by Saratov's three-point shooting, resulting in a close game throughout where there was never any more than seven points between teams.

After a deadlock in the final stretch, Emilia gained the lead from a three-pointer by Justin Johnson with seven seconds left and the Italian team gave their visitors no chance for another shot, ending their unbeaten streak in Group D. They still occupy the top spot and results of other games mean they and Emilia have both already qualified for the next round.

FIBA Champions League

Yet another wild night on the court was had by Canarias Tenerife against Prometey, in which Kyle Wiltjer had seven points and six rebounds for the home team. Greater all-around penetration on offence gave Tenerife a first quarter double-digit lead but better consistency on offence saw Prometey stay the course, first closing the gap, then going in front by the third quarter.

The Spanish team fought to maintain their slender lead, but Prometey built their biggest lead of the game, seven points, with five minutes left, only to go cold and leave Tenerife open to take the lead.

D'Angelo Harrison had the last attempt to win the game for Prometey, but he came up short and Tenerife prevailed, coming away with the victory.

Anthony Bennett scored five for Hapoel Jerusalem, who trailed Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski at home all the way until the final five minutes, when they made their presence in the low post, going from down two to victory 83-76. Greater inside play and better bench production led a new-look Hapoel team to their first win of the 2021 group stage, but only time will tell if that can save their BCL season.

EuroCup

Dylan Ennis was the top scorer for Gran Canaria with nineteen points in a blowout home win versus JL Bourg-en-Bresse. It looked all over early on for the French club after being held to just three points in the first quarter but with Gran Canaria on two thirds field success, there was no way back at all for Bourg-en-Bresse. The Spanish team topped Group A after victory 78-49 and made it look easy.

Elsewhere Tyler Ennis had just one basket for PTT Ankara in a night to forget for the team, who were in Spain and struggling against Joventut. After falling behind by ten points early on the Turkish team struggled to get themselves back into it as Joventut would not be denied in the paint. Ankara were jumped by Joventut in Group A following the 76-67 loss on the road.

Melvin Ejim started for Cedevita Olimpija, going on to score ten points and grab eight rebounds in a wild home encounter with Ulm. Early three-point success from the German team lifted them to an early twenty-one point lead over their hosts, prompting Cedevita to respond in kind, narrowing the gap before inching in front just before the fourth quarter.

With five minutes to go Ulm erased an eight-point deficit to level the scores at the final buzzer, sending the game to OT. Threes from Jacob Pullen erased Ulm's lead and a final free throw from Zach Auguste tied the scores after five minutes, a second period of overtime was required. The team tried to do the same in 2OT, but Ulm had more of their shots drop and finally put the game to bed with them winners by five.