08 October, 2019
04 October, 2020
00 John Brown (BRIN), 31 Dylan Ennis (ZARA)
05/12/2019
Game Report
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Zaragoza top Brindisi in epic 2OT battle, Strasbourg and PAOK get big road wins - Gameday 7, Wednesday roundup

MIES (Switzerland) - Casademont Zaragoza outlasted Happy Casa Brindisi in a memorable double overtime thriller while SIG Strasbourg became the first team to win in Ankara and PAOK inflicted upon Telekom Baskets Bonn their first home loss.

Let's take a closer look at all eight games on the Wednesday slate, that concluded Gameday 7 action.

Casademont Zaragoza 96-93 Happy Casa Brindisi (2OT) - Group D


Dylan Ennis sunk two huge free-throws to send the game to second overtime and scored 12 points in that extra period to lift Zaragoza to a 96-93 win over Brindisi in the epic battle that concluded the first half of the BCL Regular Season on Wednesday night.

Nobody in Zaragoza's Principe Felipe arena could foresee this thrilling turn of events when the hosts raced to a 15-point lead early on, and certainly not when they appeared to be ending Brindisi's comeback attempt by opening up a 62-53 gap with less than seven minutes left in regulation.

But die-hard Brindisi made up for their poor shooting night from three-point range (6 of 29) by scoring  in transition, fought their way back again and an Alessandro Zanelli jumper from the corner five seconds from the end of regulation tied the scores at 71-all, sending the game to overtime.

After Ennis made the crucial free-throws four secods from the end of the first extra period that tied the scores at 81-all, John Brown was called for an offensive foul and the clash went into second overtime.

Ennis knocked down back-to-back triples to give Zaragoza an 88-83 cushion but Tyler Stone somehow still had enough energy to drill a long three with 16 seconds remaining to reduce the deficit to 94-93.

As it was to be expected by this point, it fell upon Ennis to take the final trip to the stripe and he made two free-throws that finally sealed Zaragoza's win three seconds from time, as a desperation three-point shot by Darius Thompson fell short.

Ennis finished with 21 points and Nicolas Brussino had a near double-double of 16 points and 9 rebounds. Meanwhile Stone posted a double-double of 27 points and 19 rebounds, also dishing out 5 assists, albeit in defeat.

Turk Telekom 75-83 SIG Strasbourg - Group A


Strasbourg ended a three-game losing skid in arguably the most difficult way possible as they became the first BCL team to beat Turk Telekom in Ankara, 83-75.

The French team led for most of the night and by as many as 11 points early in the second quarter, with Thomas Scrubb and Jerai Grant reaching double digits already before the break.

Turk Telekom though chipped away at the gap, inspired by big man Moustapha Fall who finished with a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds, and tied the scores at 67-all with less than eight minutes remaining to play.

Quentin Serron however calmly drilled a big triple 7:14 from the final buzzer and Damien Inglis followed up with a floater to give Strasbourg some much-needed breathing space and the French side held on rather comfortably until the end.

Ali Traoré came off the bench and paced the winners with 15 points and 4 rebounds while Scrubb and Grant finished with 14 points each, the latter also collecting 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

Strasbourg have now climbed to 3-4 and are tied in fourth place on the table with three more teams, while Turk Telekom have dropped to 5-2 and are tied in first place with Manresa and Sassari.

Telekom Baskets Bonn 83-85 PAOK - Group D


PAOK managed to turn the tables on Bonn and stunned the hosts 85-83 in a thrilling contest in Germany, as the Greek side claimed their third win in a row following a 0-4 start to the season.

The opening quarter was one-way traffic as Bonn raced to a 12-point lead, but PAOK regained their composure in the second frame and an Adam Smith triple 5:11 from the end of the third period sparked a 16-5 run for the visitors, who jumped in the driver's seat.

Zisis Sarikopoulos split two free-throws 1:21 from the end of the third period to stretch PAOK's lead to 73-64, their biggest all night.

Bonn reacted swiftly however to balance proceedings and the two teams exchanged blows throughout the final stanza.

With the scores tied at 83-all and 17 seconds left to the final buzzer, PAOK called a timeout and drew a pick-and-roll for JeQuan Lewis and Evangelos Margaritis.

The duo executed the play to perfection, Margaritis scored from close range to put PAOK ahead and the Greeks held on for the win as Bonn's Branden Frazier missed a corner three in the dying seconds.

PAOK shot an excellent 16 of 28 from beyond the three-point arc led by Adam Smith, who finished with 22 points on 6 of 10 from downtown, while Margaritis finished with 17 points and Bonn's Martin Breunig had 14 points and 6 rebounds in defeat.

Anwil Wloclawek 77-79 AEK - Group B


AEK trailed by as many as 13 points but held off Anwil in the final stretch of a highly entertaining, nail-biting clash to prevail 79-77 in Poland and remain joint leaders of the group.

Spurred on by an inspirational Ricky Ledo, Anwil built a double-digit lead midway through the second quarter but AEK managed to reduce the deficit to just 3 points in the final minutes of the period and the two teams traded punches after the interval.

Ledo pushed the hosts ahead 75-70 with less than three minutes remaining but Keith Langford replied by converting a 4-point play to make sure the game would go down to the wire.

With the scores tied at 77-all and just 14 seconds remaining, Howard Sant-Roos took the lane, drew the defense on him and dished out masterfully to Jonas Maciulis, who put AEK ahead with a dunk.

AEK still had three fouls to give and put them to good use until finally Tony Wroten missed a very long three and the visitors regained possession.

Anwil sent Maciulis to the line, the Lithuanian international wasted both his free-throws and Roland Freimanis got the rebound, but his desperation shot from his own half fell short.

Langford and Maciulis finished with 16 points each, with the American also delivering 5 assists and the latter collecting 6 rebounds. Ledo posted a double-double of a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds in a stellar losing effort.

Nizhny Novgorod 80-78 VEF Riga - Group C


Brandon Brown scored 13 of his 22 points in the final 7 minutes and Nizhny overturned an 8-point fourth-quarter deficit to inflict on VEF yet another defeat in a close finale, 80-78.

The Latvian side appeared to be closing in on the victory that would end a five-game losing skid when they pushed ahead 71-63 with about eight minutes remaining and Darrlyn Willis, Niznhy's top performer up until that point, got into foul trouble.

Brown decided to take the matter into his own hands and Nizhny clawed their way back and jumped ahead 78-76 with 30 seconds left. Lester Medford however drew a foul and sunk both his free-throws to tie the scores at 78-all.

With just 5 seconds remaining to the final buzzer, Brown knocked down a step-back jumper from just inside the arc to put Nizhny back ahead.

VEF called a time-out and advanced the ball but they fluffed their lines after the inbound pass and although the ball eventually fell into Kristijan Krajina's hands, his desperation shot bounced out.

Brown had 3 rebounds and 2 assists to go with his 22 points while Darrlyn Willis finished with a season-high 26 points and 12 rebounds. Medford had 21 points and 8 assists in defeat.

Nizhny have now improved to 4-3 while VEF have dropped to 1-6.

Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 94-72 Telenet Giants Antwerp - Group B


Hapoel used a 22-6 burst late in the second quarter to overcome an uncharacteristically slow and then raced to a 94-72 victory over Antwerp, the Israeli team's fourth success in as many games at home.

It was not all smiles in Jerusalem nonetheless, as J’Covan Brown appeared to be suffering an injury and had to leave the game after only 15 minutes of action.

A Vincent Kesteloot layup 5:56 from the end of the second period gave Antwerp a 31-26 lead, but Hapoel's second unit enabled the hosts to shift gears.

Hapoel jumped in the lead and Nimrod Levi knocked down a triple just before the half-time buzzer to stretch the gap above 10 points, 48-37.

The winners saw seven of their players score in double digits, led by James Feldeine who finished with 17 points and 5 rebounds.

Meanwhile Mindaugas Kupsas, Suleiman Braimoh and TaShawn Thomas contributed 12 points each, the latter also bringing down 8 rebounds. Antwerp's Luka Rupnik finished with 15 points and 2 assists in a losing effort.

Hapoel remain tied with AEK at the top of the table after both teams improved to 5-2 on Wednesday, while Antwerp have dropped to 2-5 and are joint bottom of the group, together with EB Pau-Lacq-Orthez.

Falco Szombathely 97-73 Neptunas Klaipeda - Group D


BCL debutants Falco jumped in the lead late in the opening quarter and scored at will in transition to pull away from Neptunas and claim a third big scalp in as many home games, 97-73.

The Hungarian side scored 25 points on the fast break and forced 21 Neptunas turnovers, off which they also scored 25 points.

Zoltan Perl came off the bench and shot an excellent 9 of 12 from two-point range to lead five Falco players in double digits with his 21 points, also adding 7 assists and 5 rebounds, while Quinton Hooker and Szilard Benke chipped in with 16 points each.

For Neptunas, Tomas Delininkaitis and Simas Galdikas finished with 15 points apiece, the latter also collecting 7 rebounds.

Falco improve to 3-4 in the standings while Neptunas missed the chance to join Dijon at the top of the group as they slide to 4-3.  

Mornar Bar 84-77 Gaziantep - Group C


Mornar Bar won the battle on the glass against Gaziantep and claimed their first victory in this BCL season after six consecutive losses, 84-77 over the Turkish team at home.

The Montenegro side out-rebounded Gaziantep 41 to 33 and they also came up with 6 blocks, while the visitors blocked only one shot.

A Damir Markota jumper 7:13 from the end of the third frame capped off a 17-6 run bridging the two middle quarters and the hosts built a 12-point lead, 51-39.

Gaziantep never mounted a comeback attempt and Mornar reached their first success in rather stress-free fashion.

Jacob Pullen paced the winners with 23 points and Markota finished with Markota finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds, while Ivan Buva posted a game-high 30 points and 8 rebounds in an excellent, albeit losing, effort.