FIBA Europe Cup: Numbers of Week 3

MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) - With the first three weeks of FIBA Europe Cup action complete, the Regular Season has reached its midway mark and there is no slowing down from teams and players alike when it comes to upping various benchmarks.

New records were broken and the bar raised in multiple categories in Week 3, with the pressure slowly building up as teams close in on the first cut-off point in the competition.

9 & 10

Halfway through the Regular Season, the number of undefeated teams in the competition is still pretty high. Nine of the clubs are still going strong and have won all of their games so far. In this context, Group A is unique as the only group without one: Alba Fehervar, Elan Chalon and SL Benfica are at the top of the standings with identical 2-1 records. There are no exceptions in any of the groups with it comes to teams that are still winless. In all groups, there is a single club that is yet to record its first win of the season.

12

Tony Taylor was unusually quiet for Enisey Krasnoyarsk throughout the first 38 minutes of play against Sigal Prishtina, but came to life at the end of the fourth quarter and completely took over the game in overtime.

Having scored 5 points in the final 1:30 of the final frame, Taylor singlehandedly kept the Krasnoyarsk side in the game and dropped 12 more points in the extra period to snatch a 102-101 victory for the Russian team.

The American guard eventually finished the game as Enisey's leading scorer with 21 points and 6 assists in his personal account.

15

Limburg United were shooting the lights out from downtown, but still could not get their maiden win in the competition. The Belgian club went 15-of-25 from three-point range for an incredible 60% clip, but were not able to contain BCM Gravelines on the other end of the floor and suffered a 98-95 defeat.

Ben Simons knocked down 5-of-7 from long-range for Limburg United, while six other players on the roster knocked down at least one three-pointer as well. The 15 made three-point field goals marks the new FIBA Europe Cup season-high by any team.

16

Frank Elegar and DJ Cooper share the entry on equal rights, as they set a new benchmark for most rebounds and assists in a single game this season respectively.

Elegar recorded his third double-double of the season for Enisey with a 19-point and 16-rebound performance against Prishtina. The Krasnoyarsk center is currently the best rebounder in the FIBA Europe Cup with an average of 12 boards per game. He ranks second in overall efficiency.

Meanwhile, Elan Bearnais’ point guard Cooper was busy looking for his teammates in an 81-66 victory against Redwell-Gunners Oberwart, finishing the game with 12 points and 16 dimes. Cooper is the run-away assists leader in the competition with an average of 14 assists per game.

33

Andrew Lawrence put on a scoring clinic in Krasnoyarsk, scoring 33 points in Sigal’s overtime loss to Enisey. However, the terrific offensive display, including a go-ahead three-pointer with 8 seconds left in the extra period, wasn’t enough to end the Kosovar side’s victory drought.

What makes it even more painful is the fact that it was the second consecutive overtime loss in the competition for the Prishtina team. Last week, Sigal went down to Rilski Sportist in similar circumstances.

36

Limburg United big man Seth Tuttle just raised the bar for his opponents by setting a new FIBA Europe Cup season record by collecting an efficiency index ranking of 36 in a nail-biting defeat against BCM Gravelines. The 24-year-old American was two assists shy off a triple-double, finishing the game with 28 points, 13 boards and 8 dimes.

Up to this point, the season high was co-owned by Rilski Sportist guard Yordan Bozov and Enisey man in the middle Frank Elegar, both of whom had collected a ranking of 35 previously.

111

While an Alba Fehervar victory against last year’s FIBA Europe Cup Final Four participants Elan Chalon is not a shocker, the way the Hungarian club dominated was truly sensation.

Alba dominated the game from tip-off to the very final whistle and handed the French side its very first defeat in Group A with the scoreboard showing 111-91 when all was said and done.

Not surprisingly, the 111 points scored by the Fehervar club is new competition high this season. Having turned the ball over only 6 times, Alba also set a new bar in this category.

FIBA