London Lions fall at home to Ankara in EuroCup

By Sam Neter on March 22, 2023

London Lions fell 89-84 at the hands of Turk Telekom Ankara in EuroCup action at the Copper Box Arena in Stratford on Wednesday night.

Sam Dekker had 25 points to lead London, Miye Oni knocked down five three-pointers for 21 points, with Tomislav Zubcic adding 14 and Luke Nelson 11.

“It’s tough losing a game like that,” Lions Head Coach Ryan Schmidt said.

“Our guys really battled. Gotta give credit to Turk Telekom, they’re a really good team, they’re where they’re at in the standings for a reason, a lot of talent, very well coached and get it done on both sides of the ball. I thought we did a lot of good things to give ourselves a chance; I thought our resolve was really good.

“…Competing with a team like that down to the wire is something we can carry forward, and hopefully continue to play good basketball but at the same time we’ve gotta clean up these little things as we get closer and closer to playoff time.”

Axel Bouteille shone for Ankara with 21 points.

Lions will take solace in making this contest more competitive than the 102-75 defeat they suffered in their first meeting in Turkey.

More to come.

Box score.

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