Eurocup Last 16 Game 4 co-MVPs: V. Claver, Power VLC & D. Smith, Panellinios

The Eurocup Last 16 resumed after a one-week break with best individual performances among Week 4 winning teams coming from Victor Claver of Power Electronics Valencia and Devin Smith of Panellinios, each with a 26 performance index rating. Although Oliver Stevic of Crvena Zvezda and Gary Neal of Benetton Gioco Digitale had better index ratings, 33 and 31, respectively, Claver and Smith share co-MVP honors because their teams were victorious in Last 16 Week 4 while Benetton lost to Panellinios and C. Zvezda to Turk Telekom. Maciej Lampe of Unics also had a 26 index but his team lost against Hapoel in Jerusalem. Claver had 21 points on 6-of-8 two-pointers. He added 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 6 fouls drawn for a 26 index as Valencia survived in overtime against visiting Galatasaray Cafe Crown. Meanwhile, Smith led Panellinios to a huge road win over Benetton with 27 points on 6-for-8 two-point and 5-for-8 three-point shooting. He added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 fouls drawn. Stevic had 18 points on 9-of-10 two-pointers, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 7 steals, but it was not enough for C. Zvezda to avoid its first Last 16 loss. Neal had 25 points, including 10-of-10 free throws, and 8 fouls drawn but Benetton was nonetheless eliminated from advancing. Lampe had 30 points on 13-of-18 two-pointers, 6 rebounds and 3 fouls drawn but Unics fell on the road against Hapoel.

Individual highs: Oliver Stevic, Crvena Zvezda, 7 steals

Lampe was the Last 16 Week 4 top scorer with 30 points against Hapoel. Darius Washington of Galatasaray Cafe Crown remains the Last 16's best scorer at 22.7 points per game. Rado Rancik, also of Galatasaray, led this week's rebounders by pulling down 11 boards against Valencia. He is also this phase's best rebounder at 9.5 per game. Keydren Clark of Aris BSA dished 6 assists in his team's home win against Alba Berlin. Yuval Naimy of Hapoel is the Last 16 assists leader at 5.5 per night. Stevic of Crvena Zvezda collected 7 steals to lead the weekly standings and is now also the best in the Last 16 at 3.3 per game. The last player to get more than 7 steals in a Eurocup game was Brandon Gay of Antwerp Giants on November 13, 2007. Alain Koffi of DKV Joventut and Serhiy Lishchuk of Valencia each had 3 blocks in this round. Lishchuk is also the Last 16 blocks leader at 2 per game. Rancik - with 19 points, 11 rebounds - and J.P. Batista of Lemans - with 16 points, 10 rebounds - were the only players to register double-doubles in Last 16 Week 4.

Pressrelease: Euroleague Basketball