Bourg blasts Promitheas for first win

Minicidelice JL Bourg en Bresse collected its first victory of the season - and first win in the 7DAYS EuroCup in nearly 11 months - as it blasted Promitheas Patras 92-62 at home. Bourg used first-half runs of 14-3 and 14-2 to take control of the game and never look back in taking a 1-2 record in Group B. It was the team’s first EuroCup win since beating Partizan NIS Belgrade 73-71 on December 15, 2020, to snap a nine-game losing streak. Eric Mika paced six Bourg players in double figures with 22 points and also had 11 rebounds. Rasheed Sulaimon scored 13 points, Hugo Benitez and Pierre Pelos both had 12 points, Maxime Roos 11 and Axel Julien chipped in 10 points and 7 assists. Kendrick Ray was Promitheas’s leading scorer with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Isaiah Miles scored 11 points. Promitheas is now 0-3 on the season and had its losing streak extended to nine games.

Neither team scored in the first 2 minutes with Jerai Grant starting the scoring with a dunk for the guests before Julien connected at the other end. Pelos gave Bourg its first lead, 4-2. After Ray strung together 6 points for a 9-13 lead, Bourg responded with a 14-3 surge including three-pointers from Sulaimon and Hayden Dalton for a 23-16 cushion, which was 25-19 after 10 minutes.

The Bourg surge continued with Pelos adding 4 points in a 14-2 run as the lead swelled to 41-23. Five points from Julien had the advantage at 19. Miles answered with a three-pointer and the gap was down to 12 points and 50-36 at the break.

Bourg did not let up in the third quarter with Sulaimon tallying 5 points as the margin grew to 59-38. The hosts were still up 21 points on Mika’s three-point play. Promitheas was able to come back with some stops, but just couldn’t produce much offense with a 2-7 run over more than 5 minutes to get within 16. It was 67-49 after 30 minutes.

Sulaimon and Nikos Gkikas swapped three-pointers to start the fourth quarter and Dimitris Agravanis trimmed the deficit to 70-54. Sparked by Roos’s defense and some three-point shooting, Bourg finished the game on an 18-6 run.

Pivotal performer: Career night for Bourg's Mika

Eric Mika had a night to remember as the big man poured in 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 4-of-5 free throws to set a new career single-game scoring best. His 11 records - including 4 from the offensive glass - also were a new career-high as was his index rating of 32. Mika, who is playing his third season in the EuroCup following campaigns with Germani Brescia Leonessa and Partizan NIS Belgrade, also had 2 assists and 5 fouls drawn.

Roos shows just how dynamic he can be

Bourg’s Maxime Roos showed just how dynamic he can be as he had an outstanding final 6 minutes of the game. The 26-year-old blocked four shots in a span of 3:05 minutes while also scoring seven points. For the game, Roos ended with 11 points on 5-of-5 2-point shots and 0-of-2 three-pointers and 1-of-1 free throws and 2 rebounds for a PIR of 13. The four blocks were one off his career-best as he swatted five shots in Rounds 2 and 3 of the Top 16 last season for Boulogne Metropolitans.

Telling numbers: Bourg outhustles Promitheas

Bourg committed only 4 turnovers while forcing 15 Promitheas turnovers, which they turned into 24 points compared to 3 by the visitors. Bourg also dominated the second-chance points stat 32-13 thanks to a club-record 16 offensive rebounds. Bourg also held Promitheas to just 6-of-26 shooting on three-pointers (23.1%) and the guests converted just 6-of-12 on free throws. Bourg connected on 55.1% of its two-pointers as well as 14 of 15 free throws.