2018-19Regular SeasonRound 9
December 12, 2018 CET: 19:45
Local time: 19:45 STADE LOUIS II

Monaco clinches first place in Group A

AS Monaco clinched first place in Group A of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season by downing Galatasaray Istanbul 76-71 at home on Wednesday. Monaco improved to 7-2 in Group A, while Galatasaray fell to a 3-6 and was eliminated from the competition. Ian Hummer and Elmedin Kikanovic led the winners with 14 points apiece, Paul Lacombe added 13 and Derek Needham had 11 for Monaco. Tai Webster and Aaron Harrison led Galatasaray with 18 points apiece, Nigel Hayes added 14 and Zach Auguste posted 10 points and 13 rebounds for the visitors.

Kikanovic and Needham allowed Monaco to get an early 7-3 lead. Auguste answered with a three-point play and Hayes added a layup to give Galatasaray its first lead, 7-8. Hummer and Lacombe stepped up with consecutive layups, but Harrison and Webster kept the visitors ahead, 13-14. A close basket by Hummer gave Monaco a 15-14 lead after 10 minutes. Erolcan Cink fed Auguste for a dunk and struck from downtown to give Galatasaray a 19-21 edge early in the second quarter. Lacombe and Hummer kept pushing Monaco, scoring 4 points apiece before the visitors stopped the game at 27-25. Marko Arapovic swished a jumper and an outstanding Hayes restored a 29-32 Galatasaray lead. Kikanovic took over late in the first half, getting help from Jarrod Jones to give Monaco a 39-37 edge at the break. Lacombe hit a triple soon after halftime and Kikanovic added his trademark jump hook for a 44-39 Monaco lead. Lacombe kept pacing the hosts with consecutive layups, Needham added a big triple, and a floater by Jarrod Jones made it a double-digit game, 53-43. Needham scored again and back-to-back three-pointers by Sergii Gladyr broke the game open at 63-46 at the end of the third quarter. Galatasaray improved its defense in the fourth quarter and a three-pointer by Hayes made it a single-digit game, 65-56. Webster took over with a three-point play and a free throw by Auguste got Galatasaray as close as 65-60 with three minutes left. Kikanovic hit 3 of 4 foul shots and Hummer added a layup, but Hayes and Harrison got Galatasaray within striking distance, 70-67, with 45.7 seconds left. Hummer hit free throws only to see Harrison answer with a 10-meter bomb for a 72-70 score. Lazeric Jones and Needham combined for 4 of 6 free throws in crunch time to help Monaco put the victory on ice.

Pivotal performer

Once again, Lacombe had a strong all-around performance to lead Monaco to an important win. Not only did he score 13 points, but Lacombe also added 8 rebounds and 4 assists for a team-high performance index rating of 19.

Game-changing moment

The final eight minutes of the third quarter sealed the outcome. Lacombe started a 19-5 run with back-to-back layups and Gladyr closed it with consecutive three-point shots. When the dust settled, Monaco led 63-46 and was well on its way to clinching first place in Group A.

Stellar stat

Second-chance opportunities and two-point shooting percentage made the difference in the game. Monaco outrebounded Galatasaray 33-26 and pulled down 11 offensive boards. Monaco hit 23 of 38 two-point shots (60.5%) and Galatasaray hit just 15 of 33 shots inside the arc (45.5%).

Did you notice?

Monaco is the first EuroCup newcomer to finish first in its regular season group in five years. Back in the 2013-14 season, two EuroCup debutantes - Union Olimpija Ljubljana and Nizhny Novgorod - finished atop their respective regular season groups.

Next game:

Both teams return to EuroCup action next week. Monaco visits Morabanc Andorra on Tuesday. Galatasaray hosts Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade on Wednesday.

Elmedin Kikanovic - AS Monaco (photo Monaco) - EC18
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: CORTES, CARLOS; BAUMANIS, INGUS; RACYS, SAULIUS
Attendance: 1965
By Quarter1234
AS Monaco15242413
Galatasaray Istanbul1423925
End of Quarter1234
AS Monaco15396376
Galatasaray Istanbul14374671
AS Monaco
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 JONES, LAZERIC 30:18 7 2/4 0/2 3/4 2 1 3 4 1 1     1 6 14
3 BARRY, REMI 5:26 2 1/1           1         1   2
4 NEEDHAM, DEREK 29:36 11 2/6 2/5 1/2 2 3 5 2         4 6 12
6 LACOMBE, PAUL 33:15 13 5/7 1/4   1 7 8 4 1 2 1   4 3 19
7 CHAM, KEVIN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 GLADYR, SERGII 17:19 6   2/5   1 2 3 1         5 2 4
9 KIKANOVIC, ELMEDIN 23:03 14 4/8   6/8 4 4 8 1 1 4     4 5 15
20 LOUBAKI, LUC DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 JONES, JARROD 28:59 9 4/5 0/5 1/2   4 4     3     4 1  
24 OUATTARA, YAKUBA 9:25   0/1 0/2   1 1 2 1              
34 HUMMER, IAN 22:39 14 5/6   4/8       1   1       4 13
Team           1 4 5     1         4
Totals 200:00 76 23/38 5/23 15/24 12 26 38 15 3 12 1 0 23 27 83
        60.5% 21.7% 62.5%
Head coach: FILIPOVSKI, SASO
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Galatasaray Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 WEBSTER, TAI 29:02 18 6/8 0/5 6/7   2 2 2   2     3 6 15
2 HARRISON, AARON 29:23 18 1/4 4/7 4/5   1 1 1 4 1   1 5 3 13
3 ARAPOVIC, MARKO 18:10 5 2/5   1/1 1 1 2 2         2 1 5
7 HAYES-DAVIS, NIGEL 30:33 14 2/6 2/6 4/4 1 5 6 2 2 2     4 4 14
8 KORKMAZ, CAN 11:53     0/1     1 1   1 1     1   -1
11 ARAR, EGE 4:26                 1           1
12 ERDENIZ, CANER DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 CINKO, EROLCAN 12:45 3   1/3         2   1     4 1 -1
22 OLMAZ, AYBERK DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
24 KLOBUCAR, JAKA 18:13 1     1/2   1 1 3   3     3 2  
30 AUGUSTE, ZACH 29:13 10 3/7   4/7 3 10 13 1 1 1     2 6 21
61 KOKSAL, GOKSENIN 16:22 2 1/3             1 2     3   -4
Team           2 5 7               7
Totals 200:00 71 15/33 7/22 20/26 7 26 33 13 10 13 0 1 27 23 70
        45.5% 31.8% 76.9%
Head coach: ERDOGAN, ERTUGRUL

Head Coaches

FILIPOVSKI, SASO
AS Monaco
"I am very happy for my team because we lost three games in the French League when we were leading by 10-12 points, even by 7 points with two minutes to go. It was difficult for us to play because of this psychological aspect, but all the credit to my guys. They stayed together, fought and for us, it is a big thing to finish first in this group. Congratulations to my team. Of course, we have one more game to play. As for the game, we played good defense, especially in the opening three quarters. In the last quarter, we had a big advantage and there was more stress and fear than knowledge. Also, in the end, they scored a long three and we missed some free throws, but, like I said, it was the psychological aspect because we lost three games in the final moments. Now we need to focus on our next game. We will go step by step to involve our new players in the team. Sergii [Gladyr] helped us already today and we also have Buckner, who will help us in the '5' position. He cannot play the EuroCup with us, but he will be with us in the next phase and play in the French League. Thank you to our fans who came and supported us, although we didn't give them a comedy, we gave them a thriller. But this thriller finished with a win. There were emotions and thanks to them for their support."
ERDOGAN, ERTUGRUL
Galatasaray Istanbul
"Congratulations to Monaco. I think that Coach Filipovski is doing a great job in here - against all odds, he did a pretty good job until now. I think we couldn't play what we wanted to see on the court. What I am trying to tell you is that we had no energy, no intelligence on the court. Offensively, except for the first quarter, I can say it was not bad, but defensively, we made a lot of simple mistakes. It was far away from our game plan and of course, our turnovers again. I think that offensive rebounds and turnovers were the key points of the game. Right now, I think we don't have any chances to reach the next round, so we will focus on the Turkish Cup and the Turkish League. One more time, congratulations to Monaco and good luck for the rest of the season."

Players

GLADYR, SERGII
AS Monaco
"We had a good reaction, but we still have to improve our game - especially, we didn't play very well in the fourth quarter. We are happy to be first in our group, but still have to think about the game against Andorra, finish the regular season the right away and get ready for the second phase."
WEBSTER, TAI
Galatasaray Istanbul
"Unfortunately, we didn't get the result that we wanted. Monaco is a tough team to come in and play on the road. We still have another game at home and hopefully, we can get a better result in that one."
No results found.