The 2017-18 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season was truly a thing of beauty in which the final standings were not settled until the record-setting triple-overtime Round 10 finale came to an end late on Wednesday night. The Top 16 comes next with Darussafaka Istanbul, Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul, ALBA Berlin and Herbalife Gran Canaria in Group H; FC Bayern Munich, Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, Zenit St. Petersburg and Fiat Turin in Group F; Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar, Dolomiti Energia Trento, Cedevita Zagreb and Buducnost VOLI Podgorica in Group G; and ASVEL Villeurbanne, UNICS Kazan, Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia and Limoges CSP in Group H.
GROUP A
UNICS Kazan wrapped up second place in Group A with a 72-79 victory over Fiat Turin PalaRuffini on Tuesday evening. Melvin Ejim posted 17 points and 8 rebounds and Stephane Lasme scored 16 points on perfect shooting as UNICS improved to 7-3 to rank behind only Darussafaka Istanbul in their group at the end of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season. UNICS used a strong finish in the second quarter to lead by 7 at halftime and boosted that margin to as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter to wrap up the victory. Fiat slipped to 5-5 and finished fourth behind Cedevita Zagreb, which defeated Levallois Metropolitans 94-79 in the Croatian capital on Wednesday. Cedevita also finished the regular season with a 5-5 record but was ahead of Fiat due to the tiebreaker. Levallois was sixth with a 2-8 record. Will Cherry led the winners with 19 points and Dzanan Musa added 17. Group A winner Darussafaka edged eliminated MoraBanc Andorra 68-69. It was a real thriller that came down to the final shot, but Jaka Blazic missed and Darussafaka held on to improve to 8-2, while Andorra exited the competition with a 3-7 record. JaJuan Johnson led the scoring with 19 points, all of which came in the second half.
GROUP B
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica booked its place in the Top 16 by downing visiting Liektabelis Panevezys 76-62 in the Montenegrin capital. While Buducnost finished the regular season with 5-5 record, Lietkabelis was eliminated with the loss. The outcome also secured Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia’s place in the Top 16 while the Italian club was still playing its game. Buducnost controlled things for most of the night and it was still a 57-56 game with six minutes to go when Kyle Gibson fueled an 11-1 run that decided the outcome. Gibson had 17 points and 5 assists to lead the way in the victory. Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul secured second place with an 87-68 victory over Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem. The second quarter was the key, with Galatasaray enjoying a 25-12 run to ensure a 5-5 record while leaving Jerusalem with a 2-8 mark. The hosts enjoyed an outstanding performance from Richard Hendrix, who combined 14 points with 12 rebounds. Reggio Emilia finished the regular season in style by rallying from a double-digit deficit to down previously undefeated FC Bayern Munich 90-82. Reggio Emilia also finished with 5-5 record, but slotted into third place after tiebreakers, while first place Bayern suffered its first defeat of the season. The visitors led 40-53 early in the third, but James White got Reggio Emilia rallying before Amadeo Della Valle took over in the fourth quarter to help the hosts pull out a win. Della Valle had 9 points in the final six minutes and finished with a game-high 24. James White had 17 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in victory.
GROUP C
The picture in this group was settled on Tuesday when Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius scored a 69-71 road victory over Limoges CSP to improve to 6-4 and lock up second place. The result also handed third place to ALBA Berlin, while Limoges, which dropped to 5-5, will be fourth. Rytas won for the fifth time in the last six games despite missing all 16 of its three-pointers – the first time any club ever failed to hit from long range and won a EuroCup game. Egidijus Mockevicius led the way for Rytas with 13 points and 10 rebounds. On Wednesday, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar completed a perfect regular season by overwhelming Partizan NIS Belgrade 99-64 at home. Lokomotiv finished first in Group C with a 10-0 record and will keep fighting for EuroCup glory in Top 16 Group G. Partizan finished sixth with a 1-9 record. Pavel Antipov led the winners with 21 points. ALBA routed RETAbet Bilbao Basket 86-68 at Mercedes-Benz Arena. Akeem Vargas scored a career-high 18 points to pace the winners. ALBA improved to 6-4, while RETAbet finished its EuroCup campaign with a 2-8 record and fifth in the group. The hosts led from start to finish with the margin reaching 27 in the second quarter before RETAbet fought back with a 2-19 run that bridged the second and third quarters and eventually drew the visitor within 9, but ALBA regrouped and cruised to victory. Alex Mumbru made history by scoring 12 points in defeat and moving into third place on the EuroCup’s career scoring charts with 1,192 points.
GROUP D
ASVEL Villeurbanne conquered first place in by downing Herbalife Gran Canaria 128-129 in a record-setting triple-overtime game. ASVEL finished first in Group D with a 7-3 record and Gran Canaria came in fourth at 5-5 after losing its first game at home. John Roberson led the winners with 42 points and set a EuroCup record for most three-point shots made in a single game with 11. ASVEL’s 129 points were the most by a road team in competition history. Pablo Aguilar led Gran Canaria with 25 points. Group D got its final Top 16 qualifier on Tuesday when Zenit St. Petersburg held off Tofas Bursa 76-80 on the road. There were several possible scenarios that would have put Zenit through even with small-enough loss and a combination of other results in the group, but the visitors took care of business behind a big night from Drew Gordon, who scored a career-high 27 points, along with 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. Zenit improved to 6-4 in Group D, and finished third; Tofas fell to 4-6 and was eliminated. Dolomiti Energia Trento shrugged off an early 13-point deficit to beat ratiopharm Ulm 84-94. Shavon Shields paced five Trento scorers in double figures with 19 points as the Italian side won its fourth straight game and fifth in the last six to improve to 6-4. Trento finished the group in second place. Ulm lost its seventh straight game to bow out of the competition with a 2-8 record.
