EuroView: Motum's scoring inspires Anadolu Efes
Brock Motum enjoyed a big game, inspiring Anadolu Efes Istanbul to an important win in Turkey, while Mitch McCarron continued his outstanding form in Slovenia over the past week.
Australian Boomer Brock Motum combined with Errick McCollum to power Anadolu Efes to an 82-90 road win over fifth placed Banvit in the Turkish Super League to maintain pressure on ladder leader Fenerbahce and second placed Tofas. Efes started strongly and never trailed, opening up a commanding 16 point led at half time before cruising to the 8 point victory. Motum was at his efficient best, shooting 9-11 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc to finish with 21 points and 3 rebounds in playing the full 40 minutes. He is now averaging better than 14 points per game in the Super League this season.
In Lithuania, Ben Madgen's Lietuvos Rytas cemented their position at the top of the standings thanks to a 110-68 demolition of Pieno žvaigždės. Rytas won every quarter over their out-matched opponents, with every player on the roster scoring 4 or more points as the playing time was shared. Madgen started and scored 8 points with 8 rebounds and 1 steal in playing a team-high 26 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETNA2dcrQKE
Mitch McCarron earned MVP of the last round following his 23 point, 9 rebound and 6 assist outburst in Petrol Olimpija's big 78-71 win over second placed Primorska in the Slovenian national league. However he was used sparingly in their follow up 70-65 win over Rogaška that has them firmly entrenched in first place.
BG Göttingen helped put distance between them and 15th placed Mitteldeutscher BC in the German Bundesliga courtesy of a 96-90 victory. A 24-13 third quarter was behind the important win, with Mitch Creek coming off the bench to add 4 points on 2-4 shooting with 2 assists in 16 minutes as the court time was shared around.
The two Australians playing in Serbia's national league experienced mixed results this week.
Scoring guard Mirko Djeric added 14 points on 5-7 shooting, including 4 three-pointers in Vršac's 66-108 capitulation to the unbeaten Partizan Belgrade. Currently 2-2, his side is just one game behind second place. Djeric has been averaging an impressive 17.8 points per game and has been one of the best shooters in the league this season.
Former Sydney Kings centre Isaac Humphries played just 5 minutes off the bench in FMP Belgrade's 84-77 win against Dynamic Belgrade. the 7-footer added 2 points and 1 blocked shot as his side moved into outright second place in the KLS Group B standings.
Dan Trist finished off the Spanish second division season with a team-high 16 points and 7 rebounds as Ourense lost to Huesca 69-72. Trist's side finished in 12th position, 2 games outside the top 8, thus missing out on a finals berth.
Ryan Broekhoff had his cast removed this past week as he closes in on a playing return for Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in the VTB United League, while Jonah Bolden was noticeably due to an undisclosed injury absent in Maccabi Tel Aviv's 79-86 loss to second placed Maccabi Ashdod.