Brescia come back for second win
Germani Brescia Leonessa grabbed its second home victory of the 7DAYS EuroCup season by coming back to defeat Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 78-71 in Group C. DeAndre Lansdowne scored 16 points while Awudu Abass had 15 points, Brian Sacchetti and Tyler Cain both scored 10 and Luca Vitali chipped in 9 points and 7 assists as Brescia moved to 2-1. Olimpija dropped to 0-3 despite Codi Miller-McIntyre scoring 21 points with Jaka Blazic adding 18 points and Mikael Hopkins picking up 10 points.
Abass and Ken Horton hit three-pointers early for a 6-2 lead for the hosts. Brescia had no answer for Blazic though, who drove his way to the basket and scored 6 points in putting Olimpija up 10-11. Marko Simonovic and Ryan Boatwright helped out with three-pointers as the visitors surged ahead 16-25 and led 19-27 after 10 minutes. Boatright made it a double-digit lead to start the second quarter before Abass nailed a triple and Horton converted a three-point play to make it 27-33. Olimpija scored the next 8 points - including a block and dunk by Hopkins in moving ahead 27-41. Brescia fought back with Sacchetti tallying 5 points and Vital converting an and-one. It was 39-46 at the intermission. Abass scored the first 5 points of the third quarter for Brescia in pulling within 44-48. Miller-McIntyre knocked down a three-pointer at the other end in extending the gap to 48-55. Lansdowne responded with a triple of his own and Cain’s free throws made it 51-55. Brescia held Olimpija without a point for the final 4:36 minutes, but could only get an Angelo Warner basket to trail 55-57 after 30 minutes. The game went back and forth early in the fourth with six lead changes as Horton and Warner hit three-pointers for Brescia and Miller-McIntyre had 4 points to help put Olimpija up 63-65. Abass tied it with the next score and Lansdowne twice evened it in the final 3 minutes at 69-69 and 71-71. Cain’s block led to another Lansdowne basket for a 74-71 Brescia lead with 100 seconds left. Olimpija managed to grab 2 offensive rebounds after misses, but turned it over with 17 seconds left and Vitali converted 2 free throws with 13 seconds left to finish the win.
Things tight in Group C
Brescia’s win moves its record to 2-1 and puts the Italian side into a four-way tie with Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul, Joventut Badalona and UNICS Kazan - all with the same mark.
Pivotal performer
DeAndre Lansdowne scored 9 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, hitting 6 of 11 two-point shots and his only three-point attempt and 1 of 2 free throws. He also had 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Telling numbers
Brescia did a good job on Olimpija’s shooters, holding them to just 4-of-22 shooting from long range for 18.2 percent while hitting 8 of 22 (36.4%) at their end.
Next games
Brescia will stay at home for Round 4 and host Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul on Wednesday, October 23. Olimpija will be hoping to finally grab a first win at home against Nanterre 92 the same evening.
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Eurocupbasketball.com