EuroChallenge Round: 1 (Top 16) 19  january  2011

Eurobasket.com
Group I
Maccabi Haifa — Lukoil Academik 78-95
Maccabi Haifa lost to Lukoil Academic at the start of Group I EuroChallenge. The team from Bulgaria stole 78:95 win due to the last frame. Both teams traded baskets in the early going, but last three points from Haifa took the score out to 23:19. Kadir and Landesberg made it 27:19, while James reduced to 31:28. Killingsworth meanwhile made it 46:33 to close the first half. The second half saw Lukoil Academic begin to stamp their authority on the game as they edged ahead of their hosts thanks to some strong offensive play from Bruno Sundov (221-C-80, agency: Alti Sport), Banev and James. Due to 35-23 in the third period the board showed 69:68 at the end of 30 minutes. In the last stanza, the visitors continued to extend their lead and reached an easy win. A massive 27-9 allowed the Bulgarian team to taste 95:78 victory. Bruno Sundov and Banev stepped up with 15 points each for the winners. James netted 14, while Stojanovski scored 11. Killingsworth ended up with 24 points in the losing case and Robinson posted 17. Boris Rothbart (218-C-86, agency: Avi Zilberman) delivered 13, while Low added 12.

Spartak SP — Elitzur Netanya 73-70
Spartak Saint-Petersburg got their EuroChallenge Group I campaign off to a successful start after a thriller over Barak Netanya. The Russian team grabbed 73:70 win in the dying seconds even having 8-points deficit in the last quarter. The teams had been virtually inseparable for most of the game prior to the exciting finish. Spartak took 18-13 lead after the first period as Domercant closed the quarter with a jump shot. The teams traded baskets up to the end of the half as Romeo Travis (201-F-84, college: Akron) reduced it to 33:30 at the halftime. In the third quarter the hosts managed to get 24-18 spurt and grabbed 57:48 after 30 minutes. Israeli team created an 8-0 run in the start of the fourth frame and came to 59:56 margin. Moreover Tony Washam (198-F/G-82, college: St.Vincent) cut it to 72:70, but Domercant made the last free throw for the final success. Domercant top-scored for the winners with 16 points and Antic added 15. Zupan ended up with 12 points in the loisng effort, while Kotishevskiy and Popovic brought 9 apiece. Tony Washam delivered 23 points in defeat, but missed important free throws and the last three-pointer. Romeo Travis notched 16, whilst Brown had 13 points and 9 rebounds.

Group J
Krka — M.Hainaut 85-77
Krka prove the successful debut season in EuroChallenge as they won the sixth straight game. Novo Mesto saw 85:77 win over Dexia Mons-Hainaut in the Group J opener. Krka were always struggling to keep check of the guests in the first quarter, but they managed to trail one point after 10 minutes. Marcus Hatten (186-G-80, college: St.John's) gave the Belgian team 27:22 lead and Nivins scored for 42:34. Djordjevic nailed three to close the half at 42:39. In the third quarter the Slovenian team played better and staryed in front for the majority of it. Taylor however brought last 5 points for the guests to tie it all at 57:57. Only trailing 60:61 early in the fourth, the hosts started to take control of the game. Drobnjak scored for 69:63 and Djordjevic closed the run at 75:63. Alexandre Libert (194-G-90) was the last to score in the game but it was not enough for his team's win. Ikonic paced all the winners with 21 points, while Djordjevic and Dragic brought 18 apiece. Marcus Hatten answered with 26 points in the losing effort and Taylor added 15. Alexandre Libert netted 12, while van Paassen scored 8.

Antwerp — Karsiyaka 82-89 OT
Pinar Karsiyaka won the overtime thriller over Antwerp Giants in one of the most interesting games of Round 1 in EuroChallenge Sweet 16. The Turkish team grabbed 89:82 over the Belgium team on Tuesday night. Stanojevic brought the first points for the winners and Smith later scored for 15:8. The hosts managed to tie the game after 10 minutes and closed the period at 18:18. Only 1 point separated the teams in the second frame as Erdogan sent the teams to the lockers for 35:34. The third quarter however completely belonged to the guests that enjoyed 61:50 deficit after three quarters. It seemed they would win after 4 quarters, but Roel Moors (190-G-78, agency: Agency No 10) tied the game at 77:77 after 40 minutes. In overtime the Turkish side played better and reached the necessary win. David Holston (170-G-86, college: Chicago St.) poured in 24 points for the winners and Stanojevic added 20. Eldridge ended up with 17 points and Smith collected 16 points and 10 rebounds. Darnell Wilson (198-F-85, agency: Court Side, college: Canisius) replied with 23 points in the losing effort, whilst Hopkins chipped in 13. Strickland delivered 12 and Brown notched 11.

Group K
Ventspils — Benfica 100-65
BK Ventspils destroy Lisboa e Benfica in Group K opener of EuroChallenge. Trailing 4 points after the first 10 minutes, the Baltic side pushed the tempo for good to win the encounter. The first quarter provided few clues of what was to come as the teams could barely be separated in the early exchanges. The Portuguese team grabbed 31:27 after the first quarter. but was smashed later in the game. Strelnieks tied it at 34;34 and Gulbis gave already 46:36 lead for the hosts. After 23-10 in the period, the Latvia team took 50:41 advantage. Ingus Bankevics (195-G/F-85, agency: Alti Sport) stemmed the flow and helped BK Ventspils to increase to 59:44 in the third period, while Jenkins closed it at 73:39. In the last quarter the Latvian team controlled the game and reached three digits number. Ingus Bankevics paced all the winners with 26 points, while Strelnieks collected 14 points and 10 rebounds. Saulius Kuzminskas (210-C/F-82, college: California) netted 12 and Anderson followed them with 11 points. Jenkins responded with 16 points in the losing effort. Evora netted 13, whilst Evans produced 12.

Gravelines — Norrkoping 75-65
Trailing in the whole first half, BCM Gravelines Dunkerque needed a massive second to win over Norrkoping Dolphins. The French side started their EuroChallenge Last 16 with the win over Scandinavian team 75:65. The hosts had a nightmare first half and were steamrollered as the Dolphins won both first periods. After 22-21 in the first period they added 25-19 in the second. In the third period BCM Gravelines Dunkerque worked really hard and outscored the guests heavily which was not surprising with the home defence 15-5. Ben Woodside (180-G-85, agency: Priority Sports, college: N.Dakota St.) drove a laypup to close the third frame at 55:52. Another 20-13 in the last quarter allowed the French team to taste the win. Ben Woodside poured in 23 points and Akpomedah collected 15 points and 12 rebounds. Yannick Bokolo (191-G-85) nailed 10, while Johnson scored 9. Gervin finished the night with 12 points in defeat and Saks as well as Lindqvist chipped in 11 apiece. Mitchell followed them all with 10 points.

Group L
BK Prostejov — Oostende 66-74
BC Oostende looked better in their opener of EuroChallenge Last 16 in Group L to beat BK Prostejov. The Belgian team needed 74:66 for the first points in the group. The first quarter saw both sides trading baskets throughout, but the guest held a slender lead at the end of the first quarter. Faison scored for 17:15 and Ebong delivered two for 23:19. Landry however closed the half for 35:31 as the team from Czech Republic won the frame 22-15. In the second half, the guests stepped up their defensive intensity. They managed to win the third period 27-17 to take 58:52 lead. Mitchell nailed three to open the last frame and Matt Lojeski (198-G-85, college: Hawaii) followed him for 71:64. Green and Benas Veikalas (192-G-83, college: Metro St.) exchanged the baskets at the end for the final result. Matt Lojeski stepped up with 17 points for the winners and Green, Faison and Thomas notched 11 each. Benas Veikalas replied with 18 points and 10 rebounds in defeat. Landry collected 17 points and 10 boards, whilst Hyzy scored 10 points.

Lokomotiv — Zadar 87-69
Lokomotiv Kuban edged BC Zadar 87:69 at the start of Group L of EuroChallenge. The Russian squad improved to 1-0 record to share the top with BC Oostende. The first quarter provided few clues of what was to come as the teams could barely be separated in the early exchanges. Lokomotiv Kuban however pushed the tempo late in the period to take 25:15. Moreover Lokomotiv added an 11-0 run for 36:25 advantage early in the second. BC Zadar responded with 7-0 run in the end of the half to trail 28:43 at the halftime. In the third period Kuban continued to extend their lead thanks to some highly impressive outside shooting from Lionel Chalmers (183-G-80, college: Xavier). His three-pointer gave the hosts 54:36 and Massey made it 60:42. Sheleketo opened the last frame for 64:46 and Mason reduced a bit to 67:54. Toporov and Tucker made the last free throws in the game for the winners that enjoyed 87:69 win. Massey, Lionel Chalmers and Tucker top-scored for the winners with 14 points each. Pavle Marcinkovic (197-G-89) ended up with 14 points in the losing effort. Mason scored 13 and Bilan added 11.
Source http://www.eurobasket.com/EuroChallenge/basketball.asp?Ne...