Mavrokefalidis shines to lead Promitheas in Venice
Promitheas Patras stunned Umana Reyer Venice 52-70 on Tuesday at Palasport Taliercio to shake up the standings in Group F of the 7DAYS EuroCup Top 16. Loukas Mavrokefalidis rewrote the Promitheas record book in his first start with the team. He posted 28 points and 13 rebounds for a performance index rating of 37. Langston Hall tallied 16 points and 9 assists and Leonidas Kaselakis added a career-high 15 points as Promitheas improved to 2-2 in its group. The result also left Reyer with a 2-2 record, but Promitheas captured the head-to-head tiebreaker between the teams and thus sits second in the group standings. Jeremy Chappell led all Reyer scorers with 12 points.
Mavrokefalidis scored the game’s first three baskets – including twice on the offensive glass. Reyer found its offensive flow and tied the score twice through Mitchell Watt before Andrew Goudelock's first points gave Reyer its first lead, 12-10. Mavrokefalidis countered with the first triple of the game, which gave him 11 first-quarter points, and Hall added a free throw to give Promitheas a 12-14 lead after 10 minutes. Mavrokefalidis remained red-hot with a basket-plus-foul to start the second quarter and Kaselakis kept the momentum with the visitors, who extended their lead to 14-21. Chris Babb added a triple to silence the Venice crowd, which prompted the hosts to call a timeout. Dimitris Agravanis's three-point play gave Promitheas a double-digit lead, 16-27. The lead reached 22-38 on more threes by Mavrokefalidis and Babb. Ariel Filloy connected on Reyer's first three of the night, but Kaselakis split free throws to end the half with Promitheas in control 27-41.
Promitheas held Reyer to just a single point over the first 4 minutes of the second half as it stretched the margin to 17. A basket by Mike Bramos changed little as free throws by Hall made it 30-49. Hall added a triple to make it a 20-point game in the final minute of the third quarter. Chappell set the score at 36-54 heading into the fourth quarter. The Reyer defense came alive and held Promitheas scoreless for 3-plus minutes at the start of the fourth quarter to trim the gap to 12. The visitors called a timeout and Mavrokefalidis scored from the line, but the momentum remained with Reyer. A layup by Bruno Cerella and free throws by Andrea De Nicolao drew the hosts within 48-57 with 5 minutes to play. Mavrokefalidis stepped up with 5 points over the next two possessions to stun the local supporters. Reyer did not recover and Promitheas put the game out of reach with what became a 0-11 run.
Mavrokefalidis's record performance
Loukas Mavrokefalidis set club records in scoring (28 points), rebounding (13 rebounds) and performance index rating (37). He wrested the scoring mark from teammate Chris Babb, who had 24 points in Round 5 of the regular season. The rebounding and PIR marks belonged to Octavius Ellis, who posted a PIR of 29 last week in the loss in Patras, but has since left the team.
Telling numbers
Reyer had a historically bad three-point shooting night, making just 1 three-pointer from 21 attempts (4.8%). Every player but Gasper Vidmar attempted a shot from behind the arc and only Ariel Filloy connected.
Goudelock comes up short in debut
Former EuroCup MVP Andrew Goudelock made his much-anticipated Reyer debut, but much like his teammates, he was unable to generate much against the Promitheas defense. Goudelock's lone basket came late in the first quarter and gave Reyer its only lead, 12-10. He also contributed 2 assists in a quiet 16 minutes.
What's next?
Both teams return to action in Round 5 on Wednesday, February 5. Promitheas will host Germani Leonessa Brescia, while Reyer takes on EWE Baskets Oldenburg.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Eurocupbasketball.com