Promitheas sweeps Oldenburg to take first place

Promitheas Patras celebrated its qualification to the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals in his debut season in the competition after beating EWE Baskets Oldenburg 72-97 at Grosse EWE Arena on Tuesday night. The visitors led from the very beginning, amassing a double-digit advantage at the end of the first quarter and extending it to 38-56 at halftime. Promitheas secured first place in Group F and will face Tofas Bursa in the next stage with the homecourt advantage on its side. EWE Baskets Oldenburg was eliminated with its loss. Langston Hall posted a career-high 20 points and added 8 assists, Loukas Mavrokefalidis posted 19 points plus 6 rebounds and 6 assists, Leonidas Kaselakis and Chase Fieler contributed 16 and 15 points each and Dimitris Agravanis posted a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards for the winners. Rasid Mahalbasic led Oldenburg with 16 points, followed by Tyler Lason, Braydon Hobbs and Marcel Kessen with 12, 10 and 10 points, respectively.

Agravanis pushed Promitheas to a 0-6 lead in the early going with a floater and a three-pointer. EWE tried to react through Rickey Paulding, who made it 9-11 right before Mavrokefalidis took over with 7 points in a row followed by a nice assist to Leonidas Kaselakis to keep the visitors in front, 12-20. The latter then added a triple and a contested jumper that made it a double-digit lead, 16-27, at the end of the first quarter. The hosts used their backcourt to step up a gear, but Promitheas had no trouble to contain the threat thanks to a pair of triples by Agravanis and Kaselakis and the scoreboard showed 26-37 midway through the second quarter. Mahalbasic tried to cheer his team up and took charge inside, but things got even worse for Oldenburg after a 0-9 run capped by a fastbreak layup by Hall boosted Promitheas's lead to 34-53 entering the last 2 minutes of the second quarter. Mahalbasic kept rocking inside, adding a pair of free throws and later feeding Philipp Schwethelm for a triple, but Katselakis responded with a buzzer-beating three to help his team reach halftime with a comfortable margin, 38-56.

With its back to the wall, Oldenburg did its best to try to come back after the break. Paulding and Robin Amaize combined to reduce the gap to 43-56, but the joy hardly lasted for the hosts as Mavrokefalidis showed up immediately with a three and a fastbreak layup in a 0-7 run that made it 43-63. Tyler Larson and Hall traded points before Fieler drilled another three and added a jumper to set a 25-point margin for the visitors, 53-78, and eventually seal the outcome long before the final buzzer.

A dangerous rookie

Promitheas Patras is having a successful debut season in the 7DAYS EuroCup. It took fourth place at Group A of the regular season and stepped up in the Top 16 to dominate its group by winning its last three games to secure the top spot and gain the homecourt advantage in the playoffs.

Not only defense

Promitheas displayed a terrific defensive performance as its trademark, becoming the best defensive team of the competition (70.8 points allowed per game). Against Oldenburg, its offense excelled. It was the team's best scoring night of the season, shooting great from every distance: 66.7% on two-pointers, 46.9% on three-pointers and 80% on free throws.

Too fast, too early

Oldenburg needed a win by 17 or more points to secure a playoff berth if it wanted to avoid waiting for other results, but that target was quickly forgotten as Promitheas took an early double-digit lead at the end of the first quarter and an 18-point margin at halftime. That buried all hope for the home team, which saw its dream ruined much earlier than expected.

What’s next

Promitheas Patras will face Tofas Bursa In the quarterfinals, playing the first game in front of its fans. EWE Baskets Oldenburg finished its 2019-20 7DAYS EuroCup season with an overall record of 8 wins and 7 losses.