Harris’s buzzer-beater lifts Bourg to victory in Venice

C.J Harris hit a three-pointer as time expired to lift Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse to a 78-81 road win over Umana Reyer Venice on Tuesday night at Palasport Taliercio. The visitors blew a 10-point lead, but survived after Harris broke the fourth tie of the fourth quarter to give Bourg the win. The result took Bourg’s record to 3-7 and dropped Reyer to 4-5. Harris finished with 19 points and 4 steals to pace the winners, Pierre Pelos added 13 points, Rasheed Sulaimon scored 12, JaCorey Williams 11 and Jalen Jones 10. Stefano Tonut led Reyer with career-highs of 22 points and 6 assists and Andrea De Nicolao added 10.

Pelos opened the scoring with a baseline step-back jumper and foul. De Nicolao countered with a four-point play to get Reyer on the scoreboard. A three by Michael Bramos and put-back by Mitchell Watt gave the hosts control. De Nicolao and Alexandre Chassang traded threes as Bourg stayed close. Pelos’s layup drew the visitors within 14-12 after 5 minutes. The threes continued to fall with Axel Julien briefly giving Bourg the lead and Valerio Mazzola answering at the other end. The next three came from Tonut and put the hosts up 5. Sulaimon heated up for Bourg and his free throws made it 22-23 at the end of the quarter.

Williams scored the first 3 points of the second quarter and Harris added a layup-plus-foul to cap a 0-12 Bourg run. Tarik Phillip revived Reyer with a three from the corner. Jones and Julyan Stone swapped threes before Martynas Echodas’s three-point play on the offensive glass drew the hosts within 31-32 midway through the quarter. Sulaimon scored and assisted Williams in a 0-6 Bourg run as the visitors rebuilt a 7-point margin. Despite a slam by Watt, Bourg continued to pad its lead with a three by Pelos and a jumper by Williams for a double-digit lead, 33-43. Tonut scored the last 4 points of the half to keep Reyer within striking distance at 39-45.

Tonut and Bramos trimmed the deficit to 3 early in the second half and Bourg point guard Julien took a seat with 4 fouls. Harris hit back with a three for Bourg to lead 44-50. Jeff Brooks and Harris swapped long-range shots as the margin continued to float in the 3-6 point range. Sulaimon changed that with a three-pointer, but Tonut scored the next 5 points to keep Reyer in the mix. Echodas muscled his way to a basket-plus-foul on the offensive glass to make it 57-60. Jones scored the last 4 points of the third quarter to give the visitors a 57-64 lead.

Michele got on the scoreboard with a three to open the fourth quarter for Reyer and Mazzola made up for a turnover with a triple that made it 63-66. Vitali completed the comeback with a triple to make it 67-67 with 6:37 remaining. After a timeout, Vitali buried free throws to give the hosts their first lead Since the first quarter. Vitali fouled out less than 3 minutes later and Maxime Courby split the resulting free throws to even things at 71-71. After Echodas hit a foul-line jumper, Jones countered with a three for a 73-74 Bourg lead. It was tied at 76-76 with a minute to go after a three by De Nicolao. Julien broke the tie for Bourg with a floater with 43.7 seconds to go. Tonut tied it with a jumper with 10.8 seconds left, but there was enough time left for Bourg, which won it on a buzzer-beater by Harris.

Harris’s game-winner caps breathtaking final minutes

CJ Harris walked away as the hero after Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse outlasted Umana Reyer Venice, but there were many players on both teams who made clutch plays in the final thrilling minutes. Jalen Jones made a go-ahead three for the visitors with 3 minutes to go and Andrea De Nicolao drained a three for Venice to tie it with 1:08 remaining. After Axel Julien’s floater gave Bourg the lead, Mitchell Watt made a great defensive play to stop Rasheed Sulaimon from doubling the lead, allowing Stefano Tonut to tie it with a jumper with 10.8 seconds left. That set the stage for Harris’s game-winner.

Reyer’s Tonut sets career-high in scoring

Umana Reyer Venice guard Stefano Tonut can hold his head high despite his team’s loss to Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse in Round 10. Tonut set career-highs in scoring with 22 points, assists with 6 and performance index rating with 26. He made 6 of 10 two-pointers, 2 of 6 threes and all 4 of his free throws. Tonut also collected 4 rebounds and 1 steal and committed 2 turnovers. His previous best scoring night was 21 points in December 2020 against Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, while his records for assists and PIR were 5 and 23, respectively, against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in Round 7 this season. Tonut’s career night came in his 43rd EuroCup game in his fourth season in the competition, all with Reyer.

By the numbers: Bourg wins by an edge

In a game that seemed destined for overtime, it is only appropriate to see that in the box score, Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse was only a little bit better than Umana Reyer Venice in most major categories and that’s what made the difference in the end. Bourg won the rebounding battle 30-33, committed 2 fewer turnovers (12-10), had 1 more assist (17-18). Reyer shot an excellent percentage from downtown, 45.2%, and Bourg was a little bit better again (50%), although the hosts made more threes (14-9). All in all, the game was as close as could be in the end and Bourg was just a little bit better.