Babb fires Promitheas to road win

Promitheas Patras fired away all night from deep and rode those shots to a solid 81-91 road win against host MoraBanc Andorra on Wednesday. Promitheas raised its record to 4-1 in tough Group A, while MoraBanc dropped 2-3 at the halfway point in the regular season. Three-pointers fueled the visitors' victory, with Chris Babb, Oleksandr Lypovyy and Chase Fieler combining for 15 of their team's 16 shots. Babb hit 7 for 24 points, Lypovyy hit 5 for 15 and Fieler hit 3 on his way to 17 points. Langston Hall added 10 and 7 assists. MoraBanc got 18 points from Frantz Massenat, 12 from Moussa Diagne and 11 each from Dejan Musli and Dejan Todorovic.

Triples by Fieler and Babb sent Promitheas ahead 2-10 before Jeremy Senglin's 5 points in a row steadied MoraBanc. Musli scored twice in a 9-0 run for MoraBanc's first lead, 11-10. Lypovyy, from deep, and Dimitris Katsivelis, on a steal and finish, restored a 15-18 edge for the visitors, but Todorovic and Nacho Llovet took it back for MoraBanc, 20-18, after 10 minutes. Fieler struck from deep to open the second quarter and flip the lead. Soon, Lypovyy pulled the trigger on 2 triples in less than a minute to jack Promitheas in front by 23-31. Massenat and Diagne filled a 6-0 run to steady the hosts before Todorovic fired from long range for a 34-34 tie. Diagne's second alley-oop stuff got the lead back for the hosts, and despite Lypovyy's fourth triple, MoraBanc was able to hold a 43-39 lead after 20 minutes. Diagne and Clevin Hannah stretched the difference to 50-39 after the break, but Lypovyy and Babb were back at it from the arc to suddenly cut the difference to 53-52. MoraBanc tried to pull away again, but Promitheas kept answering until Babb's fourth triple stole back the lead and the visitors held it at 64-65 after 30 minutes. Babb hit his fifth triple and Octavious Ellis detonated a pair of alley-oops as Promitheas kept rolling to a 68-73 advantage. Babb was back with his sixth to make it 70-78 with under 5 minutes left and when Gerald Robinson drove for a layup the visitors had a double-digit lead. Massenat helped MoraBanc draw within 76-83 with 2 minutes left. But Babb would not be denied. His seventh triple going into the final minute restored a double-digit lead and ensure that Promitheas would return to Greece with a good-as-gold road win.

Key performer

Chris Babb was the go-to man for Promitheas throughout the second half, landing 5 of his 7 three-pointers after MoraBanc had led 50-39 early in the third quarter. From that point, the visitors outscored the hosts 31 to 52.

From the arc

MoraBanc came into the game leading the EuroCup with 11.8 triples made per game, but Promitheas was not far behind with 9.5. The visitors hit 7 of their first 11 before halftime, by which time Lypovyy had made 4 himself, and were at 13 of 25 after three quarters. They finished 16 for 30 matching Segafredo Virtus Bologna, also in Group A, for the most so far this season.

Did you notice?

Promitheas attempted the same number of two- and three-point shots – 30 – making 17 of the former and 16 of the latter. The triples made all the difference as host MoraBanc managed just 5-for-18 accuracy from the arc.

Next games

To start the second half of the regular season, Promitheas is home against Maccabi Rishon LeZion on Wednesday in Round 6. MoraBanc will try to regroup at home a day earlier when AS Monaco pays a visit in