The week's big numbers: Great Wall of Lukovic and Durazi's break-out party
MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) - Mornar Bar center Uros Lukovic and Falco Vulcano youngster Krisztofer Durazi made sure the Regular Season curtain was closed with trumpets and horns.
MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) - Mornar Bar center Uros Lukovic and Falco Vulcano youngster Krisztofer Durazi made sure the Regular Season curtain was closed with trumpets and horns by inscribing their names into the record books.
Lukovic equaled his personal best in blocks en route to a season-high in the category, while Durazi surprised everyone by tying the all-time high mark in rebounds in his FIBA Europe Cup debut.
Like every week, we are taking a look at the most interesting events of the gameday through the lens of numbers and getting you up-to-speed on all of the record-breaking performances.
3
Third time's a charm, they say. It wasn't for Proximus Spirou, who squandered their third opportunity to punch a ticket to the next phase of the competition and were duly eliminated by Bnei Rav-Bariach Herzliya.
87-83 FT
— Proximus Spirou (@spiroubasket) December 6, 2017
Goodbye @FIBAEuropeCup.
19 pts, 3 rbs @Lib_alex
12 pts, 4 ass Rasko Katic
Let's Go Spirou ! #AuCoeurDeLaPassion pic.twitter.com/SRaEspET5A
The Belgian side started their FIBA Europe Cup season with three wins in a row, but lost the next three in a disappointing turn of events for their fans in Charleroi. They could have qualified with a win on the last day of action, but fell short, 87-83 in Israel, against the already-eliminated Herzliya side.
5
Christopher Jones of Belfius Mons-Hainaut and Hristo Nikolov of Lukoil Academic joined the 5-steal club on the final day of the Regular Season, but one thing they could not steal was road victories, as the teams suffered defeats against Khimik and U-BT Cluj-Napoca, respectively.
Les Renards s’inclinent face à Khimik.(78-75) Cependant, rien n’est fini pour les Montois. Grâce aux résultats du match opposant les équipes de Pristina et de Demir Insaat, et la victoire du collectif turc, Mons se qualifie pour la suite de l’aventure européenne. @FIBAEuropeCup pic.twitter.com/h0HVM5yJdz
— Belfius Mons-Hainaut (@mons_hainaut) December 6, 2017
This season, 16 different players have registered at least 5 steals in a single game, with Sigal Prishtina guard Andrew Lawrence standing out from the crowd with two such games. Meanwhile, Keravnos guard Kenneth Barker still holds the season-best record with 7.
5
Uros Lukovic of Mornar Bar showcased his rim-protecting prowess once again by setting a new competition season-high in blocked shots, rejecting Kataja Basket five times at the rim.
One of the most prolific shot-blockers in FIBA Europe Cup history, the Serbian center has swatted away 5 shots twice in the past, wearing a Kumanovo jersey in the 2015-16 season.
10
Kapfenberg Bulls point guard Bogic Vujosevic became the tenth player this season to dish out a double-digit number of assists, finding his teammates 10 times for easy scores against FC Porto.
Die @ecebulls Kapfenberg verabschieden sich mit einer Heimniederlage gegen den FC Porto aus dem @FIBAEuropeCup. #FIBAEuropeCup #SkyABL https://t.co/lGLUAVUkOn
— Sky Sport Austria (@SkySportAustria) December 6, 2017
The 25-year-old Serbian playmaker couldn't help the Austrian champions end their FIBA Europe Cup campaign on a positive note though, as the Bulls suffered a 71-61 loss at the hands of FC Porto.
13
There will be 13 different countries represented in the Second Round, with representatives from Belarus, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia and Turkey making it past the Regular Season.
Having started the campaign with four clubs, Hungary now leads the way with three and Turkey is the only other country with multiple teams still in the competition.
19
Krisztofer Durazi had a debut to remember in the FIBA Europe Cup, not only earning Top Performer honors in his first game of the season for Falco Vulcano but also equaling long-standing competition records.
The 19-year-old Hungarian forward was the third player in the history of the FIBA Europe Cup to notch down 19 rebounds in a single game, joining Maurice Sutton and Ross Bekkering at the top of the totem pole.
WATCH 👀 how 19-year-old Falco Vulcano youngste Krisztofer Durazi manages his season debut 💪 🙌! #FIBAEuropeCup pic.twitter.com/vjtJkcYZHm
— FIBA Europe Cup (@FIBAEuropeCup) December 8, 2017
He also matched the all-time record for offensive rebounds with 11 boards, a feat only accomplished once before by Egyptian big man Assem Marei in the 2015-16 season.
61
Falco Vulcano registered the largest victory margin this season in a 104-43 win over Karposh Sokoli, beating their opponents by 61 points on the road in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia capital Skopje.
Falco Vulcano finished their strong #FIBAEuropeCup campaign by handing @kk_sokoli the biggest defeat of the season. 👇
— FIBA Europe Cup (@FIBAEuropeCup) December 6, 2017
📊 https://t.co/oyZ6bWc9tH pic.twitter.com/XIHxIfyrwh
The season record had previously been held by ESSM Le Portel, who had defeated Bosna 101-51 at the start of November. However, the 61-point win was still some way off from the 121-45 beating CEZ Nymburk handed to Irish side Hibernia in the 2015-16 season.
110
Avtodor Saratov waved goodbye to the FIBA Europe Cup by setting a new season-high mark in scoring in a 110-71 blowout win against SL Benfica, who had a particularly rough time finding the net.
💥🥁ТА-ДАМ! 🥁💥
— BC Avtodor Saratov (@AvtodorSaratov) December 7, 2017
Неожиданное пополнение в группе поддержки «Автодора»! 💃🕺🏀⛹🏿🐼💃@Callmescoop12 pic.twitter.com/hCsUaqlcxb
While the hosts knocked down half of their long-range attempts, 11-of-22, the visitors from the Portuguese capital managed just a single make on the same 22 attempts for a measly hit rate of 4.5 percent.
The previous season-high of 108 was co-owned by Szolnoki Olaj, Falco Vulcano and Bakken Bears, with the century mark now reached seven times, including the Avtodor game.
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