Promitheas proves too strong for Brescia

Promitheas Patras kept control of its playoff destiny with a 67-56 victory over Germani Brescia Leonessa on Wednesday at Dimitris Tofalos Arena. The result not only gave Promitheas a 3-2 record and sent Brescia down to 2-3, but it gave the home team the head-to-head tiebreaker between them. Promitheas could potentially clinch a quarterfinals berth before the end of the round if EWE Baskets Oldenburg defeats Umana Reyer Venice later Wednesday. Loukas Mavrokefalidis led the winners with 15 points and 7 rebounds, Langston Hall scored 11, Dimitris Agravanis tallied 10 points and 14 boards and Vangelis Mantzaris added 10 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. The home team used defense to get the job done, holding Brescia to 18-of-44 two-point shooting (40.9%) and 4-of-20 from downtown (20%). Tommaso Laquintana paced Brescia with a career-high 16 points and Kenneth Horton posted 15 points and 9 rebounds in defeat.

The game was high-scoring early with each team netting three baskets in the first 2 minutes. The lead swung back and forth with a pull-up triple by Travis Trice giving the visitors a 10-11 edge at the TV timeout. Promitheas regained the lead twice before David Moss's basket-plus-foul evened things at 16-16 after 10 minutes. Agravanis looked to stamp his name on the game with a rebound on one end and three-pointer-plus-foul. Layups by point guards Dimitris Katsivelis and Mantzaris boosted the margin to 24-18. Mavrokefalidis split free throws to give Promitheas its first double-digit lead, 30-20. Horton hit back with a three-pointer and a steal-and-slam as Brescia rallied to 33-27. Laquintana added a three-point play and Horton had a tough finish in the paint to bring the visitors within 35-32 at the break.

Tyler Cain’s first basket of the game opened the second half and got Brescia within 1. Promitheas took control soon after with basket-plus-fouls by Katsivelis and Mavrokefalidis and a pair of triples by Hall in a 14-2 run that made it 49-36. Laquintana tried to revive Brescia with a long three and later a three-point play. His fastbreak layup off Angelo Warner's steal made it 57-51 through three quarters. Horton scored again to begin the fourth quarter, but Marvin Jones made his first meaningful impact for Promitheas with a block at one end and a basket-plus-foul at the other. Jones threw down an alley-oop slam courtesy of Hall to make it 61-53. The two teams combined for 10 points in the first 8 minutes of the fourth quarter. A bucket by Mavrokefalidis gave the hosts a 65-56 cushion with 1:31 remaining to all but put the game on ice.

Mr. 1000

Loukas Mavrokefalidis made some personal history with his first basket of the game. His jump shot in the second minute of action gave him 1,000 career EuroCup points. Mavrokefalidis became the 18th player to reach that milestone. He is fourth among active players with 1,013 points.

Fourth-quarter boost

Marvin Jones played only 1 minute in his EuroCup debut a week ago and had limited impact in 3 minutes over the first three quarters in this game, but made a major impact in the fourth quarter. Jones recorded 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 blocks in 7 fourth-quarter minutes to help deflect a Brescia rally and wrap up the win.

What's next?

Group F will conclude with games on Tuesday, March 3. Brescia will host Italian League rival Umana Reyer Venice, while Promitheas visits EWE Baskets Oldenburg.