EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 1/19/2008

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Men News

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ADRIATIC LEAGUE

Peter Skansi parts ways with Split -by Dragan Jankovski
Croatian basketball legend Petar Skansi is no more employed in BC Split. Namely, he decided to step down on a position of the club's sports director as well as on a position of director of the youth selections.

Skansi explained his move with a fact that he done everything what was expected from him and now, when situation in the club is more than satisfied, he can return to his private businesses.

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ARGENTINA

An olympic champion to Boca jrs. -by Facundo Iatzky
Gabriel Fernandez (204-C-76) is the new player of Boca Juniors. Gaby left Varese of Italian league (7.2 pts 4.8 rebs in 17 games) and will join Boca this week. Fernandez will be the third player of the 2004 argentinian olyimpic 'golden' team with his teammate Leo Gutierrez and Ale Montechia who will return to play the next month.

Estudaintes bahia blanca signed Marcelo Richotti as new head coach. He willl replace Guillermo Lopez. Richotti was in Asociacion Espanola recently.

Central entrerriano released Tomas Aguilera (10 pts 5.8 reb in 4 games) who was not what the coach expected. His replacement is center Carlos Wheeler (203-F/C-78, college: Campbellsville)

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BAHRAIN

Round 2 Begins -by Yousef Ahmed


CUP runners-up Muharraq will take on Al Najma while Al Hala and Sitra will battle it out in the first matches of the second-half of the Bahrain Basketball League on Wednesday at the Umm Al Hassam Sports Complex.

In the first match starting at 5.30pm, coach John Wojtak from Muharraq Club will be looking to make his team have a fresh start after their 10-point defeat to champions Manama in the Basketball Cup final held recently.

An excepted victory for Muharraq will see them move up to a joint second with Al Ahli club (17points) and Cup champions Manama will stay in the lead with 18 points. Ahli next match is against Isa Town scheduled for Thursday at the same venue.

Presently sharing second from bottom spot with Isa Town with 11 points each, Al Najma will be hoping to produce one of the biggest upsets of the season.

Al Najma are now looking for a new coach to take over the reigns from Mohammed Abu Shadi of Egypt who resigned after the team's recent disappointing results in the league.

In other matches, Manama are favourites to extend their unbeaten run to 10 matches when they play bottom team Bahrain Club on January 26 while Al Ittihad and Nuwaidrat will clash in an interesting encounter.

Ten clubs will battle it out in this double round robin championship with the top four teams booking berths in the semi-finals knock-out stage to decide the title.

Al Ahli were crowned champions last year for the 12th time and the first since 1989 after defeating Manama in a best-of-three thriller, but this year with muharraq in the race will make this second round and exciting battle for the top seed.




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Source GDN



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BELGIUM

ULEB Cup -by Peter Buyse


Oostende did what it had to do to keep its hopes of advancing to the next round alive by beating Nymburk at home.
It was once again a fight to the end but this time without copntroversy like the games vs Red Star and Bologna.
The game was very even in the first 2 quarters ending with an 42-41 half time lead.
Things seemed to go south for Oostende from that point on with Nymburk reclaiming the lead and even taking a 7pt lead after 30 minutes.
Oostende not wanting to let the home town fans down dug deep and thanks to a 3pt shot made by McCray got the lead back at 67-66.
Oostende was on a roll now and thanks to a 14-2 run took a 72-66 lead.
Nymburk too charge of the score from there with 3pointers by Mack, Sokolov and Lee to give them a 76-77 lead.

Oostende then showed it can hit long range shots too and thanks to Brunner and Green reclaimed the lead 82-77.

this lead turned out enough for the hard fought and well deserved win.

Next up for Oostende is Bologna on Saturday Jan 19 at 20.30 in the Sleuyter Arena.

Noteworthy is that Oostende only had 5 players who scored but they all scored in double figures with Brunner leading all scorers with 20 pts.

Leading scorer for Nymburk was Rancik with 27 pts who was held scoreless in the 4th quarter.

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Antwerp Diamond Giants could not get a win in Austria and came back home with a 80-69 loss.

The belgian team got off to a bad start with a 22-14 first quarter. Gmunden extended their lead to 41-26 at the half and held on for the win despite Antwerp winning Q3 14-19.



Van den Spiegel Back to CSKA -by Peter Buyse

Belgian Center Tomas Van Den Spiegel (214-C-78) is leaving Trefl Sopot to return to his old team CSKA Moscow.
He has signed with Moscow till the end of the 2008-2009 season.
This season he is averaging around 10 pts and close to 8 rebs per game in both the Polish league and the Euroleague.

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BOSNIA

Siroki Prima pivo sign Derrick Zimmerman -by Eurobasket

Siroki Prima pivo signed 27-year old American guard Derrick Zimmerman (189-G-81, college: Mississippi St.). Zimmerman played last season at Air Avellino (Italy), where he averaged 7.0ppg, 2.9rpg, 2.9apg and 1.8spg. He tried to make it to the NBA this summer, playing in the summer league for Washington Wizards. However he did not make the final roster and was searching for opportunity to play pro basketball overseas.



Leric moves from Slavija to Budva -by Sead Buljina
Samir Leric has accepted an offer from Budva, Montenegro and he will continue playing this season for Montenegrin team. Leric is leaving Slavija as a current MVP of the Bosnian National Championship. Slavija`s president, Zdravko Savija hopes that Leric will come back to Slavija for the Bosnian championship play offs. Samir Leric has played with Bosnian National team at several European Championships, including the 2005 EC.

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BULGARIA

Fans will manage online a real basketball club in Bulgaria -by Valentin Anguelov
A Bulgarian basketball club called BC START is hoping to gain supporters around the world with their online sports club management site www.nashiaotbor.com/eng.Ten-year-old START is taking a pro-active approach by asking basketball fans to fund an existing team. Start is seeking a minimum of 10,000 people—worldwide—who are willing sign up before May 1st, 2008, pledging to pay BGN 40 (EUR 20 / USD 30) each if enough other members register to do the same. Once the money has been collected, the team will organize a basketball camp and try-outs.

Training sessions will be filmed and broadcast on nashiaotbor.com, allowing fans to help spot and vote for talented new players. Every registered fan will also have the ability to watch all practices and official games online as well as interviews with players and coaches.
As a bonus, every registered supporter will receive a 15 euro gift voucher from www.and1shop.eu and an original BC Start T-shirt.

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CAMEROON

Collegiate News...Bendengue displaying solid numbers... -by Yann Tientcheu
Germain Bendengue can be introduced as a major element of the ensemble constituted by the Tigers of Dalhousie University in Halifax,
Nova Scotia , CAnada. The Cameroonian player stands as the best rebounder of the men's basketball program with 5.8 catches per meeting
and the 3rd best scorer with 11.3pts a game. He led the team in rebounding in four games this year, the highest being 17 on Nov. 24th at UNB. In addition
of posting unmatchable numbers on the board more than one this year, Bendengue also overwhelmed his team's competition on the offensive
figure of the game twice this season, scoring for instance 20pts on Nov. 24th for a double-double performance (17rbds) against UNB. His team is currently 10 for 10 overall, doing better away (4-4)
and on neutral territory than at home (4-6). Dalhousie University is presently 5th in the Atlantic University Sports Conference (including 8 schools) one spot better than the 6th position
the school was filling by the end of the 2006/2007 campaign. Bendengue had 19pts and 7rbds in a 77-74 win of Dalhousie University against Cape Breton on January 13th.

Parfait Bitee (188-G-85) cointinues to lead the Rams of Rhode Island university from the point and had 11pts and 4rbds on January 17th in a 68-61n loss to Saint Louis University. Joe Mbang
finished the game with 5pts and 2rbds in 18mns of action.

Stephane Bakinde (203-F-87) was at the center of the success of the DivII Newberry University Indians

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CHINA

Liaoning, Guangdong, Dongguan Take 2-0 Leads in CBA Playoffs -- Updated -by Arthur Volbert

Liaoning, Guangdong, and Dongguan took 2-0 leads in the first round of the CBA playoffs while Fujian has tied Jiangsu 1-1.

Jiangsu's top players didn't come to play today as Fujian smashed Jiangsu 112-99. Gong Songlin and DaJuan Tate each scored 29 points and Liu Yudong added 26 for Jiangsu. Lu Xiaoming had 11 points, 13 assists and 9 steals as he completely outplayed Jiangsu's Hu Xuefeng. Tang Zhengdong only had 14 points and 8 rebounds for Jiangsu and played only 27 rebounds. Hu had only 7 points and 3 assists, committing 5 turnovers. Yang Li led Jiangsu with 26 points.

Guangdong took a 2-0 lead over Zhejiang Guangsha with a 105-98 victory. Wang Shipeng led the way with 23 points. Chen Jianghua (188-G-89) had an excellent game with 21 points on 8 of 8 shooting. However he only had 1 assist to 3 turnovers. Chen is confirming belief that he is an Allen Iverson-type combo guard rather than a true point guard. But, if his body holds up better than Nene's, he may have an NBA future. Yu Junkai led Guangsha with 24 points, Rodney White scored 19 and Zhang Nan added 17.

Liaoning scored its second straight one-point victory over Bayi, 98-97, to take a 2-0 lead in its playoff series. Once again Liaoning thoroughly outrebounded Bayi, this time a 44-25 advantage. Mo Ke of Bayi continued to have an awful season, fouling out in 22 minutes with only 9 points and 2 rebounds. His poor play jeaopardizes his spot on the national team. Yang Ming and Olumide Oyedeji had 25 points for Liaoning. Oyedeji added 18 rebounds. Yang, who is class of 1987, may have NBA potential as a combo guard. Continued play at this level could earn him a spot on the national team, perhaps ahead of Wang Lei, who had 4 points and no rebounds in 20 minutes for Bayi, too little activity to be included in the box score. Wang has been extremely inconsistent this season and one wonders if this inconsistency is inherent in his personality. Wang Zhizhi and Li Nan led Bayi. Wang had 31 points and 10 rebounds while Li had 21 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.


Dongguan defeated Shandong 112-96 to take a 2-0 lead in its series. Dongguan outscored Shandong 34-15 in the first quarter but Shandong won the second quarter 24-18 and the third 30-22 to narrow Dongguan's advantage to 74-69 after three quarters. Then Dongguan aced the fourth quarter 38-27 to gain its 16 point victory. Qiu Biao led Dongguan with 30 points. Zhang Kai had 23 points and 16 rebounds. Anthony Myles had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Mike Harris had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Herve Lamizana scored 19 points for Shandong. Lou Yandong scored 17, Hou Bing 14 and Mack Tuck 12. Dongguan outrebounded Shandong 49-34.



Fujian 112
Gong Songlin 29p+3r+2a+4s, Lu Xiaoming 11p+2r+13a+9s+4to, Yang Chao 9p+5r+2a, Liu Yudong 26p+12r+2a+4s+1bl, Jameel Watkins 17min+6p+7r+1a+6fl, DaJuan Tate 29p+7r+2a+2s
Jiangsu 99
Tang Zhengdong 27min+14p+8r+2a, Hu Xuefeng 7p+4r+3a+2s+5to, Yi Li 11p+6r+1a+1bl, Meng Da 3p+4r+1s+1bl, Ryan Forehan-Kelly 18p+4r+1a+2s, Yang Li 26p+5r, Jon Smith 11p+3r, Han Shuo 3p+2r+1a, Fang Hui 4p+3r

Fujian- 25 30 32 25 112
Jiangsu 21 27 26 25 99

Guangdong 105
Wang Shipeng 23p+1r+2a+3s, Liu Xiaoyu 4p+3r+1a+1s+2to, Jason Dixon 15p+7r+1a+1s+5to, Ji Le 6p+3r+1a, Du Feng 10p+2r+5to, Lamond Murray 16p+7r+1a+3s+1bl, Zhu Fangyu 10p+10r+3a+3s, Chen Jianghua 21p(8/8)+4r+1s+3s+2to
Guangsha 98
Yu Junkai 24p+3r+4a+2s, Li Meng 7p+4+2s+1bl, Zhang Nan 17p+6r+2a+6s, Ying Kui 30min+6p+2r+1a+3s+6fl, Rodney White 19p+12r+4a+2s, Yao Peng 6p+2r, Garnett Thompson 19p+5r+2a+1bl


Liaoning 98
Bian Qiang 17p+3r+1a+4s, Liu Xiangtao 47min+14p+4r+1a+1s+6fl, Yang Ming 25p(9/12)+3r+3a+3to, Li Xiaoxu 2p+6r+2a+1bl, Jamal Sampson 13p+9r+1bl, Olumide Oyedeji 25p+18r+3a+1bl
Bayi 97
Mo Ke 22min+9p+2r+1a+2s+6fl, Hu Ke 8p+1r+2a+3s+1bl, Wang Zhizhi 31p+10r+4a+1s+1bl, Li Nan 21p+4r+6a+3s, Wang Zhongguang 2p+4r+3a+1s, Chen Chen 8p+2r+2s, Yao Kaifu 10p+2a


Dongguan 112
Wang Yong1 6p+4r+2a, Zhang Kai 23p+16r+2a+2s+2bl, Qiu Biao 30p+4r+3a+1s+1bl, Wang Jing 11p+5a+2s, Anthony Myles 20p+12r+1a+1s+2bl, Li Gangfeng 5p+4r+2a, Mike Harris 15p+9r+2a+2s+1bl
Shandong 96

Lou Yandong 17p+5r+1s, Wang Gang 8p+3r+2a, Sun Jie 5p+2r+1a+1s, Li Lin 6p+2r+1s, Hou Bing 14p+2r+5a, Mack Tuck 12p+4r+3a, Herve Lamizana 19p+7r+5a+1s+5bl+5to, Cao Zhenhua 9p+5r
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Dongguan 34 18 22 38 112
Shandong 15 24 30 27 96



BAYI DROP ANOTHER GAME TO LIAONING!SERIES NOW 2-0!!!! -by Ogoh Odaudu

Liaoning Tigers this evening added another crucial game to their kitty in their playoff series.In an explosive game which was marred by a lot of bad officiating,the Tigers put their foot on the pedal and won the 1st quarter 30-17.They didnt relent in the second quarter and also won by 30-21 which brought scores at the break to 60-38.Bayi however turned the tables after the break and put the pressure on Liaoning With Li Nan (198-F-76) and Wang Zhizhi (214-C-79) piling up points as they made their comeback and reduced the deficit to 5pts at the end of the 3rd period.From there on,it became a ding dong affair as both teams traded points.Things fell apart for Bayi when Mo Ke (209-C-82) fouled out with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter and worsened when Wang Zhizhi also foulet out with under 2 minutes left of playing time.Liaoning held on to win by 1point as final scores stood at 97-98.Young point guard,Yang Ming (193-G-87) and Oyedeji Olumide (208-C/F-81) led Liaoning in scoring with 25pts each and Oyedeji added 18rebs.Bian Qiang (192-G-79) scored 17pts and import Sampson Jamal (211-F/C-83, agency: Octagon, college: California) contributed 13pts and 9rebs to his teams success.Wang Zhizhi netted 31pts and grabbed 10 boards for Bayi and Li Nan added 21pts.
Trouble erupted at the buzzer as Bayi fans accused the Liaoning team of playing dirty and this resulted in the team being held hostage in their locker room for hours after the end of the game.Head coach for Liaoning and Yang Ming,the point guard had to run for their dear lives as they left the post match conference as the fans tried to vent their annoyance on them.The head coach was actually spat on by a female fan on his way back to the locker room.The whole team and accompanying journalists were held hostage for hours at the end of the game and the police had to be invited to ease the tension.There was a huge crowd of hostile fans outside the door of the locker room chanting and singing songs of protest.The players and officials had to be sneaked out through a side entrance and into a police bus and driven in a convoy back to their hotel.Hope the CBA will do something about the fan situation as the next game is still in Ningbo.

In the other series,Guandong are now two games ahead of Guangsha while Fujian are on level terms with Jiangsu.DongGuan however beat Shandong again to make it 2-0 in their own series.Games continue on sunday.



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CROATIA

Cibona loses to Maccabi, Top 16 hopes go dimmer -by Eurobasket News
Cibona - Maccabi 76:81

Croatian champs Cibona suffered another massive blow to their Euroleague Top 16 aspirations as they fell short to Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Zagreb. Cibona fell to 4-8 record and now must win remaining games for a hope to stay in the race. Maccabi meanwhile got into a three-team tie for the top spot in Group B. Cibona led early on as some neat offense allowed the hosts to clinch an 18:12 lead. Will Bynum (180-G-83, agency: Priority Sports, college: Georgia Tech) and Yotam Halperin (196-G-84, agency: Arik Krayn Services) denied the deficit late in the frame but it was Sam Hoskin (206-F/C-79, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: De Paul) who finalized the first quarter at 20:17 for Cibona. Will Bynum and Yotam Halperin continued to deliver for the visitors after the intermission. They combined for 5 quick points and Maccabi retained the lead. Sam Hoskin hit a jumper but that the only bright spot for the home team in the second stanza. Maccabi exploded with a storming 27:4 rally in the second quarter to stun the hosts. The visitors accumulated a 44:24 lead at the interval and suddenly looked pretty secured down the stretch. Chris Warren (196-F-81, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: S.Carolina) tried to fuel his teammates in the third stanza with a couple of difficult shots. But Maccabi wisely kept the distance before Tre Kelley (183-G-85, college: S.Carolina) and Sam Hoskin connected from afar as the hosts trimmed the deficit to 10 points. Tre Kelley did not stop and drilled one more long jumper to set a 53:62 scoreline with 30 minutes gone in this one. Luksa Andric (209-C/F-85) started the fourth period with a jumper for Cibona as they erased the margin to 7 points, while Sam Hoskin added a basket for a 57:62 game. Cibona looked unstoppable at the moment as Sam Hoskin exploded with two more jumpers to tie the teams at 62. The teams kept close from now on and Maccabi led by a single point 77:76 with just over a minute left in regulation. Morris converted a play for Maccabi to give them a 79:76 advantage with 10 seconds remaining. Luksa Andric lost the ball in the next possession and Yotam Halperin was deadly from charity stripe as Maccabi clinched the 9-3 record.
Will Bynum paced the visitors with 21 points. Yotam Halperin added 13 points for the winners. Sam Hoskin led all scorers with 27 points and 8 boards for Cibona. Tre Kelley nailed 18 points in a losing clause. Cibona visits France next week to take on winless Le Mans. Maccabi hosts Armani Jeans.

Cibona: Sam Hoskin 27, Tre Kelley 18
Maccabi: Will Bynum 21, Yotam Halperin 13, Esteban Batista (208-F/C-83) 12+10 boards

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CYPRUS

AEL agreed terms with another French player -by Chris Mammides

AEL's third French palyer is now a fact. The Algerian/French guard Ali Bouziane (192-G-77) replaced yesterday the injured Swidish/Congolese guard Olivier Ilunga (185-G-84). The French guard is counting 11 seazons int he French league with best one being the seazon 2001-2002 when he was scoring 10.2 points per game with the jersey of Gravelines where he spent most of his career.

Pizza Express Primetel Apollon agreed terms with the American Coach Joe Whelton to be the new Technical Advisor of the Limasol team.

New arrivals from B.M.C AEK Larnacas who agreed terms with Chris Dunn (191-G-83, college: W.Virginia St.)



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DENMARK

The latest results from and out of the country -by Eurobasket News
Bakken Bears overcame BK Amager 90 :79 to take 13-2 record. Jason Siggers led the winners with 30 points. Nicolai Iversen and Martin Thuesen (181-G-79) followed him with 12 points apiece. Matthew Cooper top-scored for the guests with 24 points. Svendborg improved to 12-3 after a win over Aabyhoj 83:57 as Ivan Hoger (225-C-82, agency: Global Sports Plaza) nailed 18 points for the winners. Andreas Jorgensen (190-G/F-84) ended up with 12 points in defeat.
CSKA and David Andersen (212-C-80) overcame Zalgiris 88:60 last night. The teams entered the game with the Euroleague Top 16 tickets booked. They just fought for the standings in Group A. CSKA thus ensured their top spot and the best seed for Top 16. Zalgiris fell to 7-5 record and can only reach the 4th place in the final two rounds. The encounter turned rather one-sided to a big disappointment of a sell-out crowd in Kaunas. CSKA dominated from the start and snapped Zalgiris' five-game winning streak. Trajan Langdon hit two three-pointers early in the game as CSKA claimed a 12:7 lead. De Juan Collins dropped 5 points in a row for the hosts to trim the difference to 1 point but CSKA cleared off once again. Ramunas Siskauskas hit from outside and David Andersen converted consecutive baskets to allow the visitors enjoy a 26:16 advantage after 10 minutes. Both teams improved on their defense in the second quarter. A couple of turnovers were followed by Goran Jurak 's triple and Zalgiris returned to contest at 23:28. However CSKA sparked late in the frame registering a 12:0 run to seal the first half outcome at 46:30. J.R. Holden and David Andersen connected from afar to extend CSKA onslaught after the break. The margin grew to 20 points 59:39 with Zalgiris unable to find the right answer. Rimantas Grigas called for a timeout but CSKA did not allow the hosts to come any closer in the third quarter. The teams entered the fourth period with Zalgiris trailing by 20 points. Marko Popovic and Trajan Langdon traded trebles early in the fourth term but Zalgiris obviously lost concentration defensively as Trajan Langdon and Nikos Zisis opened up a 25-point cushion. From now on the teams just eased to the final moments with no intrigue whatsoever.
Ramunas Siskauskas banked 20 points to lead CSKA. Trajan Langdon had 19 points, while David Andersen secured 18 points and 9 boards for the winners. De Juan Collins answered with 16 points for Zalgiris. Mantas Kalnietis scored 11 points for the home team. CSKA takes on Tau in the next round, while Zalgiris hosts Olympiakos next Thursday.

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EUROLEAGUE

Summary of Week 12 -by Eurobasket News
Week 12 of Euroleague brought three players that got weekly MVP. Marko Milic (199-G-77) of Union Olimpija, Romain Sato (194-G-81, college: Xavier) of Montepaschi Siena and Will Solomon (187-G-78, college: Clemson) of Fenerbahce Ulker shared the honor.

In Group A CSKA and Zalgiris entered the game with the Euroleague Top 16 tickets booked. They just fought for the standings in Group A. CSKA thus ensured their top spot and the best seed for Top 16 with 88:60 win. Zalgiris fell to 7-5 record and can only reach the 4th place in the final two rounds. The encounter turned rather one-sided to a big disappointment of a sell-out crowd in Kaunas. CSKA dominated from the start and snapped Zalgiris' five-game winning streak. Trajan Langdon hit two three-pointers early in the game as CSKA claimed a 12:7 lead. De Juan Collins dropped 5 points in a row for the hosts to trim the difference to 1 point but CSKA cleared off once again. Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) hit from outside and David Andersen (212-C-80) converted consecutive baskets to allow the visitors enjoy a 26:16 advantage after 10 minutes. Both teams improved on their defense in the second quarter. A couple of turnovers were followed by Goran Jurak 's triple and Zalgiris returned to contest at 23:28. However CSKA sparked late in the frame registering a 12:0 run to seal the first half outcome at 46:30. J.R. Holden and David Andersen connected from afar to extend CSKA onslaught after the break. The margin grew to 20 points 59:39 with Zalgiris unable to find the right answer. Rimantas Grigas called for a timeout but CSKA did not allow the hosts to come any closer in the third quarter. The teams entered the fourth period with Zalgiris trailing by 20 points. Marko Popovic and Trajan Langdon traded trebles early in the fourth term but Zalgiris obviously lost concentration defensively as Trajan Langdon and Nikos Zisis opened up a 25-point cushion. From now on the teams just eased to the final moments with no intrigue whatsoever.
Ramunas Siskauskas banked 20 points to lead CSKA. Trajan Langdon had 19 points, while David Andersen secured 18 points and 9 boards for the winners. De Juan Collins answered with 16 points for Zalgiris. Mantas Kalnietis scored 11 points for the home team. CSKA takes on Tau in the next round, while Zalgiris hosts Olympiakos next Thursday.
Polish Prokom rose from the ashes in Group A as they held off Olympiakos yesterday. Prokom enjoyed their second win in a row and revived their chances of making it to the next round of the tournament. Polish team improved to 3-9 record and has at least a ray of hope now with two more rounds left. Olympiakos started the game a bit more concentrated as Marc Jackson reigned inside and lifted the visitors to 8:4 lead. Donatas Slanina hit a three-pointer, while Chris Harissis added another one to cap the first frame at 14. Olympiakos went on an 8:0 run right after the intermission. However finally Milan Gurovic (207-F-76, agency: Beo Basket) broke his silence with a massive three-pointer to set Prokom rolling. Serbian forward later converted a three-point play as the hosts cut the gap to 2 points. Milan Gurovic did not slow down as his triple sent the teams into the dressing rooms drawn at 29. Milan Gurovic picked up from where he left in the second term as his long bomb opened the lead for Prokom early in the third period. The teams traded the baskets before Olympiakos took over in the dying seconds of the third stanza with Jackson and Loukas Mavrokefalidis sealing a 44:40 lead for the visiting side after 30 minutes. Prokom kept it tight throughout the fourth frame. Gurovic and Tomas Van Den Spiegel teamed up for 5 points late in regulation and Prokom grabbed a 59:58 advantage. Tomas Masiulis added pain to the visitors with a basket for 61:58. Milos Teodosic went to the line but sank just one shot, while Donatas Slanina was perfect from the stripe to enlarge the gap to 4 points and no time for Olympiakos to deny it.
Milan Gurovic drained season-high 28 points for the Polish team. Tomas Van Den Spiegel tallied 15 points and 12 boards for the winners. Marc Jackson notched 18 points and 11 rebounds for Olympiakos. Ioannis Bourousis scored 11 points in a losing case. Olympiakos fell to 7-5 record and are now tied for the 4th spot with Zalgiris at 7-5. These both teams will clash in the next round in Kaunas. Prokom will take on Montepaschi Siena away from home in a vital battle for Polish side.
Montepaschi Siena stayed in the fight to reach high in Group A by downing host Virtus VidiVici Bologna 64:77. Romain Sato paced the winners with 18 points on 8-for-10 two-pointers, 6 rebounds and 5 steals.
Tau Ceramica won over Union Olimpija 89:74 as Mirza Teletovic (205-F-85, agency: Beo Basket) led the way with 18 points. Olimpija captain Marko Milic paced his team with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals.

Efes Pilsen definitely needed this win more as they edged Lietuvos Rytas in Istanbul yesterday to seal their Top 16 birth. Efes Pilsen clinched an 8-4 record just one win behind Lietuvos Rytas. Lithuanian team secured the share of the top spot in Group B. The visitors however showed that the game would not be an easy jog for Efes Pilsen as Chuck Eidson and Marijonas Petravicius (207-F/C-79, college: S.Carolina) scored 4 points to put Rytas ahead at the start. Efes Pilsen reacted immediately as Scoonie Penn and Rashad Wright fueled an 11:2 run to put the hosts up. Marijonas Petravicius would not stop however as his 4 points allowed Rytas to retain the lead at 13:11. The Lithuanian side held to the advantage and finished the first frame 24:20 in front. The lead moved to and fro with neither side being able to dominate in the second quarter. Hollis Price (186-G-79, college: Oklahoma) and Arturas Jomantas put the visitors ahead 45:41 late in the half but Drew Nicholas sank 5 points for Efes Pilsen to square things up at 46. Marijonas Petravicius and Hollis Price remained the key force for Rytas after the break. They accounted for another scoring burst from Lietuvos Rytas as they accumulated a 65:58 lead late in the third stanza. However Drew Nicholas once again stepped up for the home team to cap the frame and froze it up at 62:67. Finally Efes Pilsen broke through as Scoonie Penn and Kenny Gregory combined for back-to-back three-pointers and lifted the hosts to 71:70 advantage. Lietuvos Rytas fought back and the teams were tied at 80 with just over a minute remaining. Scoonie Penn dropped a jumper and Kenny Gregory hit his own one for an 84:80 Efes Pilsen lead. Rytas wasted their possession and Scoonie Penn punished them with two accurate free throws to ensure the winning result.
Scoonie Penn drained 21 points for Efes Pilsen. Andre Hutson provided 20 points and 8 boards, while Drew Nicholas contributed 16 points for the winners. Marijonas Petravicius led Rytas with game-high 22 points. Hollis Price secured 19 points in a losing effort. Efes Pilsen posted solid 56% accuracy from the field and pulled down 32 boards. Rytas managed 48% of field goals and 31 boards. Lietuvos Rytas will now face Unicaja at home in the battle for the top spot. Efes Pilsen takes on desperate Aris at home next week.
Croatian champs Cibona suffered another massive blow to their Euroleague Top 16 aspirations as they fell short to Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Zagreb. Cibona fell to 4-8 record and now must win remaining games for a hope to stay in the race. Maccabi meanwhile got into a three-team tie for the top spot in Group B. Cibona led early on as some neat offense allowed the hosts to clinch an 18:12 lead. Will Bynum and Yotam Halperin (196-G-84, agency: Arik Krayn Services) denied the deficit late in the frame but it was Sam Hoskin who finalized the first quarter at 20:17 for Cibona. Will Bynum and Yotam Halperin continued to deliver for the visitors after the intermission. They combined for 5 quick points and Maccabi retained the lead. Sam Hoskin hit a jumper but that the only bright spot for the home team in the second stanza. Maccabi exploded with a storming 27:4 rally in the second quarter to stun the hosts. The visitors accumulated a 44:24 lead at the interval and suddenly looked pretty secured down the stretch. Chris Warren tried to fuel his teammates in the third stanza with a couple of difficult shots. But Maccabi wisely kept the distance before Tre Kelley and Sam Hoskin connected from afar as the hosts trimmed the deficit to 10 points. Tre Kelley did not stop and drilled one more long jumper to set a 53:62 scoreline with 30 minutes gone in this one. Luksa Andric started the fourth period with a jumper for Cibona as they erased the margin to 7 points, while Sam Hoskin added a basket for a 57:62 game. Cibona looked unstoppable at the moment as Sam Hoskin exploded with two more jumpers to tie the teams at 62. The teams kept close from now on and Maccabi led by a single point 77:76 with just over a minute left in regulation. Morris converted a play for Maccabi to give them a 79:76 advantage with 10 seconds remaining. Luksa Andric lost the ball in the next possession and Yotam Halperin was deadly from charity stripe as Maccabi clinched the 9-3 record.
Will Bynum paced the visitors with 21 points. Yotam Halperin added 13 points for the winners. Sam Hoskin led all scorers with 27 points and 8 boards for Cibona. Tre Kelley nailed 18 points in a losing clause. Cibona visits France next week to take on winless Le Mans. Maccabi hosts Armani Jeans.
Armani Jeans Milano saw the first home win of the season, 77:69, over Aris TT Bank. Gallinari posted 20 points, Watson added 17 points and 13 boards.
Unicaja downed Le Mans 87:68 in Spain. Le Mans dropped to 0-12 and only has two games left to register its first win in its 2007-08 Euroleague season. Carlos Cabezas (186-G-80) led the winners with 14 points, while Jiri Welsch added 12.

Panathinaikos took the pleasure of another great victory in a European game against the French Chorale Roanne yesterday night in Group C and made another step increasing their chances of finishing in the top spot of the Group. Greek team improved to 11-1 record after 102:78 victory. Kostas Tsartsaris tallied 19 points, 3 boards and 3 assists for the winners. Marc Salyers (205-F-79, college: Samford) notched 27 points and 4 rebounds for Roanne.
Partizan Igokea missed a huge chance to make enormous step forward to Euroleague Top 16. Lottomatica Roma celebrated at home in an overtime thriller 88:87. Roko Leni Ukic netted 23 points for Lottomatica while Erazem Lorbek scored one point less than him. Partizan got 22 points and 9 rebounds from Novica Velickovic and 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals from Partizan's star Nikola Pekovic (210-C-86, agency: Beo Basket).
Brose Baskets Bamberg had a win over Fenerbahce Ulker 81:73. Darren Fenn scored 21 points to lead the German champs, who improved to 2-10 this season. Will Solomon carried Fenerbahce with 28 and 4 assists.
In the Spanish battle Real Madrid climbed to the second place in Group C by downing Barcelona 82:79. Felipe Reyes and Louis Bullock led the winners each with 14 points. Roger Grimau (196-G-79) led Barcelona with 14 points as well.

Cibona loses to Maccabi, Top 16 hopes go dimmer -by Eurobasket News
Cibona - Maccabi 76:81

Croatian champs Cibona suffered another massive blow to their Euroleague Top 16 aspirations as they fell short to Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Zagreb. Cibona fell to 4-8 record and now must win remaining games for a hope to stay in the race. Maccabi meanwhile got into a three-team tie for the top spot in Group B. Cibona led early on as some neat offense allowed the hosts to clinch an 18:12 lead. Will Bynum (180-G-83, agency: Priority Sports, college: Georgia Tech) and Yotam Halperin (196-G-84, agency: Arik Krayn Services) denied the deficit late in the frame but it was Sam Hoskin (206-F/C-79, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: De Paul) who finalized the first quarter at 20:17 for Cibona. Will Bynum and Yotam Halperin continued to deliver for the visitors after the intermission. They combined for 5 quick points and Maccabi retained the lead. Sam Hoskin hit a jumper but that the only bright spot for the home team in the second stanza. Maccabi exploded with a storming 27:4 rally in the second quarter to stun the hosts. The visitors accumulated a 44:24 lead at the interval and suddenly looked pretty secured down the stretch. Chris Warren (196-F-81, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: S.Carolina) tried to fuel his teammates in the third stanza with a couple of difficult shots. But Maccabi wisely kept the distance before Tre Kelley (183-G-85, college: S.Carolina) and Sam Hoskin connected from afar as the hosts trimmed the deficit to 10 points. Tre Kelley did not stop and drilled one more long jumper to set a 53:62 scoreline with 30 minutes gone in this one. Luksa Andric (209-C/F-85) started the fourth period with a jumper for Cibona as they erased the margin to 7 points, while Sam Hoskin added a basket for a 57:62 game. Cibona looked unstoppable at the moment as Sam Hoskin exploded with two more jumpers to tie the teams at 62. The teams kept close from now on and Maccabi led by a single point 77:76 with just over a minute left in regulation. Morris converted a play for Maccabi to give them a 79:76 advantage with 10 seconds remaining. Luksa Andric lost the ball in the next possession and Yotam Halperin was deadly from charity stripe as Maccabi clinched the 9-3 record.
Will Bynum paced the visitors with 21 points. Yotam Halperin added 13 points for the winners. Sam Hoskin led all scorers with 27 points and 8 boards for Cibona. Tre Kelley nailed 18 points in a losing clause. Cibona visits France next week to take on winless Le Mans. Maccabi hosts Armani Jeans.

Cibona: Sam Hoskin 27, Tre Kelley 18
Maccabi: Will Bynum 21, Yotam Halperin 13, Esteban Batista (208-F/C-83) 12+10 boards

Milan Gurovic launches Prokom right back into Top 16 contention -by Eurobasket News
Prokom - Olympiakos 63:59

Polish Prokom rose from the ashes in Group A as they held off Olympiakos yesterday. Prokom enjoyed their second win in a row and revived their chances of making it to the next round of the tournament. Polish team improved to 3-9 record and has at least a ray of hope now with two more rounds left. Olympiakos started the game a bit more concentrated as Marc Jackson (206-C/F-75, college: Temple) reigned inside and lifted the visitors to 8:4 lead. Donatas Slanina (192-G-77) hit a three-pointer, while Chris Harissis (191-G-76) added another one to cap the first frame at 14. Olympiakos went on an 8:0 run right after the intermission. However finally Milan Gurovic (207-F-76, agency: Beo Basket) broke his silence with a massive three-pointer to set Prokom rolling. Serbian forward later converted a three-point play as the hosts cut the gap to 2 points. Milan Gurovic did not slow down as his triple sent the teams into the dressing rooms drawn at 29. Milan Gurovic picked up from where he left in the second term as his long bomb opened the lead for Prokom early in the third period. The teams traded the baskets before Olympiakos took over in the dying seconds of the third stanza with Jackson and Loukas Mavrokefalidis (207-C-84) sealing a 44:40 lead for the visiting side after 30 minutes. Prokom kept it tight throughout the fourth frame. Gurovic and Tomas Van Den Spiegel teamed up for 5 points late in regulation and Prokom grabbed a 59:58 advantage. Tomas Masiulis (204-F-75) added pain to the visitors with a basket for 61:58. Milos Teodosic went to the line but sank just one shot, while Donatas Slanina was perfect from the stripe to enlarge the gap to 4 points and no time for Olympiakos to deny it.
Milan Gurovic drained season-high 28 points for the Polish team. Tomas Van Den Spiegel (214-C-78) tallied 15 points and 12 boards for the winners. Marc Jackson notched 18 points and 11 rebounds for Olympiakos. Ioannis Bourousis (212-C-83, agency: FCM) scored 11 points in a losing case. Olympiakos fell to 7-5 record and are now tied for the 4th spot with Zalgiris at 7-5. These both teams will clash in the next round in Kaunas. Prokom will take on Montepaschi Siena away from home in a vital battle for Polish side.

Prokom: Milan Gurovic 28, Tomas Van Den Spiegel 15+12 boards, Donatas Slanina 9
Olympiakos: Marc Jackson 18+11 boards, Ioannis Bourousis 11

Week 12: Panathinaikos added another victory over Roanne -by Chris Mammides
Panathinaikos took the pleasure of another great victory in a European game against the French Chorale Roanne yesterday night in a match taken place in the 'invaded' by 10,000 green fans, OAKA. Zeliko Obradovic's troops enjoyed their eleventh win in the Group C and made another step increasing their chances of finishing in the top spot of the Group. Greek team improved to 11-1 record and has many chances to end in the first spot if they win at least another game in the remaining two rounds. Panathinaikos started the game with Kostas Tsartsaris (210-F-79) in his continuous crescent (MVP in the last four Green games) reigned inside and lifting the home team to a clear 29-15 lead in the first quarter. Marc Salyers (205-F-79, college: Samford) short dominance and Brion Rush's three pointers closed the gap to ten, 47-37 for a minute, but… Panathinaikos went on a 7-0 run right after this short 'French attack' and finished the half time with a difference of 15 points, 52-37. In the third quarter, Diamantidis broke his silence with an amazing block shot and an equally massive three-pointer to set a clear difference of 24 points. The Greek all around guard was the player to lead the first offence of Panathinaikos in the fourth quarter while Spanoulis and Kostas Tsartsaris continued their good defence and very good offence leading their team up to 30 points difference 3.45' minutes before the end of the game. The Serb Head coach Obradovic use all his twelve players by putting in the court the talented Greek guard Tatarounis (his second Euro-league game in his career) and the promising small forward/guard Perperoglou to be able to have them ready for the very difficult continuation of both Greek and European games as Mike Batiste and Dejan Tomasevic are expected to loose more than one games due to their injuries. Kostas Kostas Tsartsaris tallied 19 points, 3 boards and 3 assists for the winners. Marc Salyers notched 27 points and 4 rebounds for Roanne. Brion Rush scored 15 points in a losing case. Chorale Roanne fell to 3-9 record and are now in a nearly 'dead' situation as they need a small miracle to qualify in the next round (2 wins in the next 2 games and 2 negative results for Parizan and Roma). These both teams will clash for the fifth spot of the group.

Panathinaikos: Kostas Tsartsaris 19, Nikos Hatzivrettas (195-G-77) 16+ 3 boards and 3 block shots and Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) 12 + 7 boards and 5 assists
Roanne: Marc Salyers 27 points and 5 boards, Brion Ruch 15 points, 4 boards and 4 assists.

In the other two games of Greek interest, Olympiakos 'managed' to score only 59 points and lost to Polish Prokom (63-59) while Aris lost in Italy to Bologna 75-69 but qualified in the top 16 as Maccabi succeed a road win in Croatia (73-69) and by beating the rivals for the fifth position, team of Cibona, Herbert's team qualified for a third consecutive season in the top 16 European teams.

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FINLAND

KORISLIIGA: Pyrinto stopped Torpan Pojat -by Rauno Hurmalainen

Korisliiga, Round 26: There was no new record with consecutive wins tonight. Torpan Pojat (Helsinki) had already won 20 contests in a row, but
victory # 21 or even # 22 did not happen this time. Pyrinto (Tampere) caused the second loss of this season to Helsinki-Team: 78-71. Head Coach Jarmo
Laitinen has made his three American players with a lot of experience in good condition. This trio played tonight 113/120 minutes and led Pyrinto to a
seven-point-victory. Torpan Pojat had a slow start (halftime 35-19) and two players Iiro Tenngren + Timo Heinonen early in foul troubles. Anyway it was
a six-point-game at the end, but Pyrinto earned the victory. M.C. Mazique (206-F/C-75, college: Alabama) led Pyrinto with 19 pts, Damon Williams (199-F-73, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: Colorado St.-Pueblo) had again a double-double (18/18) as well as Damion Dantzler (202-F-76, college: Louisville) (11/14). Kouvot (Kouvola) crushed over Tarmo (Porvoo) and YMCA Lahti did the same, when meeting Team Componenta (Karkkila).

Pyrinto - Torpan Pojat 78-71 (35-19) (M.C.Mazique 19, Damon Williams 18/18 - Josh Gonner 23, Timo Heinonen 15).

Kouvot - Tarmo 95-56 (36-29) (Corey Smith 29, Peter Cipriano 15/14 - Esa Maki-Tulokas 16, Tony Bennett 16).

YMCA Lahti - Team Componenta 93-72 (45-37) (Ed Williams 30/10, Teemu Laine 14 - Nick Wallery 27/11, Chris Hester 17).





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FRANCE

Asvel with good start -by Umberto Scogni
In the first day of the 15th week of the ProA ; Asvel won the tough beggining game against Paris Levellois. Asvel are ahead 37-33 in the first half; ant the also won the game with the score of 86-76. Amadi was the leading scorer for the victorious side ; meanwhile Je'Kel Foster (191-G-83, agency: 540 Sports, college: Ohio St.) can not save the Paris from loosing although he scored 22 points.

ASVEL: Wilson (17), Troutman (13), Aymeric Jeanneau (185-G-78) (11), Conley (12), Sangare (4), Nsonwu-Amadi (20), Laurent Foirest (197-F-73) (9).

PARIS : Mouillard (10), Jurica Golemac (209-F-77) (4), Torbert (8), Je'Kel Foster (22), Akpomedah (11), Mizrahi (5), Aka (4), Jean Baptist Adolphe (12).

Round 15 Game of the Week! Le Mans 9-5 Strasbourg 8-6 -by Sean Davis

Strasbourg IG takes their 6 game win streak on the road to face a Le Mans Sarthe Basket
team who has won 7 of its last 9 games. Both teams are red hot and
are neck in neck in the standings. Le Mans Sarthe Basket is lead by their all-star
Nicolas Batum (201-F-88) who is leading Le Mans Sarthe Basket in scoring with 13ppg. Sam Clancy (201-F-80, college: USC) is another key component leading the team in rebounds averaging 8 per game. Strasbourg IG is led by Afik Nissim (180-G-81, agency: Beo Basket) who is coming off a 20pt
game last week against Le Havre. Aaron Pettway (211-C-80, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Oklahoma St.) is another player to
watch coming off a double double scoring 16pts and 11 rebounds lastweek.



Herve Toure : "I'm a European basketball player" -by Maxime Weber

You left Milan after 8 games and signed with Cantu. What happened?

Herve Toure (202-F-82, agency: ACMT):The new coach, Caja Attilio, arrived with his game plan and I wasn't in. So, I understood that I wouldn't play with Milan anymore. I accepted the offer of Cantu and I play my first game against Napoli.

And you scored 23 points in 21 minutes of playing game!

Herve Toure (202-F-82, agency: ACMT):That was a pretty good game. Unfortunately I get a little injured after and I wasn't 100% physically ready during 3 games. I tried to do my best for the team during this period. Now, everybody is all right and we won 3 games in a row. I think all the players play for the same goal. Well, now we could think about the playoff.

What is your role with Cantu?

Herve Toure (202-F-82, agency: ACMT): I play position 4. The coach needs my capacity to do a lot of things on the court. I'm not a happy shooter, I know when I have to shoot and when I have not. Against Biella, I scored 7 points in a row during the money time and we won. Vs Rieti, I defended with my heart and I think I leaded my teamates to the victory without tremendous stats.

Do you sign for several seasons with Cantu?

Herve Toure (202-F-82, agency: ACMT): No, my contract goes until the end of the season. After, I don't know yet what I will do. I like Italy and Cantu but I'm a 'European basketball player', so I could discover a new league or stay in Lega and play with a 'ULEB' team. I don't know yet.



Round 15 Game of the Week! Le Mans 9-5 Strasbourg 8-6 -by Sean Davis


Round 15 Game of the Week! Le Mans 9-5 Strasbourg 8-6 -by Sean Davis


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GEORGIA

Giorgi Tsintsadze damaged PAOK with its Kutluay -by Levan Mikeladze
TU/Rock stayed unbeaten in FIBA EuroCup Group A as they beat Saloniki PAOK 90:80 in Gameday 4. Rock started bravely and missed rarely in first half. Gert Kullamae (198-G/F-71), Brian Cusworth (213-C-84, college: Harvard), Tanel Tein (194-G/F-78, college: St.Francis,NY) and George Tsintsadze (192-G-86) did most of the damage. Everything seemed clear after first half as Rock led 56:33, already, but in 3rd, PAOK managed to make a 23:5 run thanks to good defence and offensive sharpness of Ibrahim Kutluay (198-F/G-74) and Edmund Saunders (203-F/C-78, college: Connecticut). With a quarter to play, Rock led only by ten. Luckily, Estonian champions started the 4h with a 11:4 run in 4 minutes (7 points in a row from Cusworth!), went ahead by 17 points (82:65) and kept the safe lead until the end. With 40 seconds left, PAOK had completed 11:2 run and were trailing by six points only (86:80) but it was too late to change the fate of the game.
Rock outrebounded PAOK 32:23 and made 60% field goal attempts (in first half - 70%). The victory helped Rock to secure the spot in quarter-finals.
Stats
Rock: Tsintsadze 21+6ast, Janar Talts (204-C-83) 18+9reb, Cusworth 16+6reb, Kullamae 16, Tein 10+6ast
PAOK: Kutluay 22, Saunders 18, Rowe 11, Diarra 10

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GERMANY

Cody Toppert will suit up for the Merlins -by Moritz Korff
The Proveo Merlins Crailsheim (2. Bundesliga Pro B) needed a player to replace injured Chuck Harris (190-G-85, college: Canisius). Here he is: Cody Toppert (193-G/F-83, agency: Interperformances, college: Cornell), 25 years of age, from Albuquerque, New Mexico is currently in his third season as a pro. After leaving Cornell University (NCAA1) in 2005 the left-hander spent one a couple of month in the NBA D-League in 2005-2006 and moved on to play in New Zealand later. in 2006-2007 Toppert had 21 appearances in the Portuguese UZO-league, averaging 10.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists for Barreirense. In October 07 he joined CBA-team Great Falls Explorers and added 13.7 ppg in 17 games.

New Bosman-Players in the 2. Bundesliga Pro B -by Moritz Korff
According to the web site of the 2. Bundesliga the Ansbach Piranhas and the Iserlohn Kangaroos have each added a Bosman-player to the roster.
The Serbian-Irish Post Player Mihajlo Pesic (206-F/C-81), a former U16-international of Yugoslavia, is the new man in Ansbach. Pesic mostly played in Spain during the past years (13.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.1 bpg in 7 games for EBA-side Marin Peixegalego during the 2006-2007 campaign) and was considered as a rising star back in the late 90s, when signing a 5-year-deal with the Italian top-team Adecco Milan.
Meanwhile, Duke Tshomba (196-G/F-78, college: Wichita St.) has reportedly joined Iserlohn. The 29-year-old Belgian Guard/Forward - his brother Butch played for Wuerzburg in the Bundesliga some years ago - spent this past season in Sweden and Cyprus. Tshomba played four years of college-basketball in the USA, graduating from D1-school Wichita State in 2002, and is a former member of the Belgian National Team.

Marcus Ligons joins Vegesacker TV -by Daniel Poerschke
Vegesacker TV of the 2. Regionalliga North signed athletic american forward Marcus Ligons (201-F-84, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement). Ligons played college ball at NCAA 2 school Chadron State and averaged 17.4ppg and 8.0rpg last season. Ligons is versatile and can play both forward spots on the court. He hit 37.4% of his three-point shots last season.

Gieler commits to Siena College -by Moritz Korff
German Center Wolfgang Gieler (206-C-86) who is currently in his sophomore season at Allan Hancock College has committed to play at NCAA Division One Siena College in the 2008-2009 campaign. The Bonn-native leads Hancock, a Junior College in California, with 18.2 points and 10.9 rebounds this season. Last year Gieler played at UC Irvine.

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GREECE

Week 12: Panathinaikos added another victory over Roanne -by Chris Mammides
Panathinaikos took the pleasure of another great victory in a European game against the French Chorale Roanne yesterday night in a match taken place in the 'invaded' by 10,000 green fans, OAKA. Zeliko Obradovic's troops enjoyed their eleventh win in the Group C and made another step increasing their chances of finishing in the top spot of the Group. Greek team improved to 11-1 record and has many chances to end in the first spot if they win at least another game in the remaining two rounds. Panathinaikos started the game with Kostas Tsartsaris (210-F-79) in his continuous crescent (MVP in the last four Green games) reigned inside and lifting the home team to a clear 29-15 lead in the first quarter. Marc Salyers (205-F-79, college: Samford) short dominance and Brion Rush's three pointers closed the gap to ten, 47-37 for a minute, but… Panathinaikos went on a 7-0 run right after this short 'French attack' and finished the half time with a difference of 15 points, 52-37. In the third quarter, Diamantidis broke his silence with an amazing block shot and an equally massive three-pointer to set a clear difference of 24 points. The Greek all around guard was the player to lead the first offence of Panathinaikos in the fourth quarter while Spanoulis and Kostas Tsartsaris continued their good defence and very good offence leading their team up to 30 points difference 3.45' minutes before the end of the game. The Serb Head coach Obradovic use all his twelve players by putting in the court the talented Greek guard Tatarounis (his second Euro-league game in his career) and the promising small forward/guard Perperoglou to be able to have them ready for the very difficult continuation of both Greek and European games as Mike Batiste and Dejan Tomasevic are expected to loose more than one games due to their injuries. Kostas Kostas Tsartsaris tallied 19 points, 3 boards and 3 assists for the winners. Marc Salyers notched 27 points and 4 rebounds for Roanne. Brion Rush scored 15 points in a losing case. Chorale Roanne fell to 3-9 record and are now in a nearly 'dead' situation as they need a small miracle to qualify in the next round (2 wins in the next 2 games and 2 negative results for Parizan and Roma). These both teams will clash for the fifth spot of the group.

Panathinaikos: Kostas Tsartsaris 19, Nikos Hatzivrettas (195-G-77) 16+ 3 boards and 3 block shots and Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) 12 + 7 boards and 5 assists
Roanne: Marc Salyers 27 points and 5 boards, Brion Ruch 15 points, 4 boards and 4 assists.

In the other two games of Greek interest, Olympiakos 'managed' to score only 59 points and lost to Polish Prokom (63-59) while Aris lost in Italy to Bologna 75-69 but qualified in the top 16 as Maccabi succeed a road win in Croatia (73-69) and by beating the rivals for the fifth position, team of Cibona, Herbert's team qualified for a third consecutive season in the top 16 European teams.

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GUINEA

Doumbouya now in Kuwait -by Kristian Santiago
Guinean post-player Amadou Doumbouya (206-F-79, college: Colorado) signed in Kuwait with Al Sahel two weeks ago.
In his first game, the former-Buffalo recorded 26 points and 13 rebounds against Al Kuwait SC.
Besides Amadou ,center Mohammed Camara (211-C-83, agency: Promotex, college: San Diego St.) is also in the Middle East and plays in Qatar for Al Ahli altogether with fellow Guinean Mohamed Beka Youla (2,02 - F - ) who played lastly for BACK in Guinea.

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HOLLAND

West-Brabant Giants Take Care Of Business In Zwolle -by Sanders Jackson


Thursday night in the ZBC-hal, within the last 1:30 of regulation, and Landstede within striking distance vs. West-Brabant Giants and behind 81-77, Landstede forced two consecutive West-Brabant misses, but unfortunately could not come away with the big rebounds, which West-Brabant capitalized on, leading to a three-point play by Andre Harris (203-F-85, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: Fairleigh Dickinson) and a Devonne Giles (203-F-83, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: Texas Tech) layup sealed the deal for the Giants, winning by the score of 88-82.


The Giants were able to take control of the game after halftime due to their size advantage, and the fact that their balance of height and athleticism on the wings, their ability to make plays, and more abundance of difference makers at every position in comparison to their opponents stood out. This was easily confirmed by the fact from the front line of Giles, Harris and Tim Blue (206-F-84, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: Middle Tenn.St.) who made it difficult for Landstede to get easy drives, blocking Landstede shots in crunch time, while on offense they managed easier to get to the rim. But the one player who could not be denied by any means was Giants PG Patrick Pope (183-G-81, college: St.Augustine), who was unstoppable from start to finish. Pope's first basket of the game in the first minutes of the game, a deep three-pointer, was an omen for the Landstede team and it snowballed from there. Pope had the ability to dribble to any spot of the floor he wanted, using his vision on the open court and halfcourt well, to the dismay of Landstede, to the tune of scoring a game-high 30 pts. (9-13 FG, 10-10 FT).


Landstede, who led at the half 37-31, being inspired by the strong 1st half play of Nate Lufkin (208-C-82, college: Holy Cross), gave up too many easy looks at the start of the 3rd quarter, and made sometimes bad passing decisions and unable to finish strong on close looks at the basket. An 18-footer by Harris at 7:40 and two free throws by Blue at 5:37 left gave West-Brabant its biggest lead at 76-61, and would not get any closer than four points the rest of the way. The front line of Giles, Harris and Blue combined for 43 total pts. Darnell Wilson (198-F-85, college: Canisius) led Landstede with 22 pts. Landstede's shooting woes continued, shooting only 39% FG and 7 of 24 from the three-point line. West-Brabant are now in 3rd place at 13-7, a half-game behind Eiffel Towers for 2nd place in the FEB standings, while Landstede falls to 6-15.



Rotterdam Challengers On A Roll, Sends MyGuide Amsterdam To 1st Home Loss Of Season -by Sanders Jackson

Life on the road for Rotterdam Challengers has been pleasant this week, first with the overtime win in Groningen, and now Thursday night in the Sporthallen-Zuid. After down 20-16 at the end of the 1st quarter, Rotterdam came out like gangbusters in the 2nd quarter, dominating both the 2nd and 3rd quarters, winning convincing 97-86 to hand MyGuide its 1st home loss of the season. Rotterdam led at one point in the game by as much as 24 pts. (76-52), crushed the taller MyGuide team on the glass (43-25 difference), forced MyGuide to shoot 38.1% FG the 1st half, and had 52 free throw attempts (making 39). Red-hot Sullivan Sykes (193-G/F-81, college: St.Joseph, IN) was once again a difference-maker, scoring a game-high 25 pts., with good supporting roles from waterbug PG Charles Richardson (175-G-84, agency: R.H.Consultancy, college: Nebraska) (21 pts.) and equally hot Djoenie Steenvoorde (195-G/F-81, agency: R.H.Consultancy) (19 pts.). Both Sykes and Steenvoorde combined to shoot 24 of 30 from the charity stripe. Jeron Roberts (194-G/F-76, agency: Gross Zeev ISA, college: Wyoming) led MyGuide with 21 pts. Rotterdam are now 11-8 and moves into 5th place in the FEB, while MyGuide still remain in 1st place with a 17-4 record.

Antonio Griffin not to Rotterdam Challengers -by Fred Roggen
The Challengers have dissolved the contract with Antonio Griffin (197-G/F, college: CSU Bakersfield), because Griffin sits in prison. The guard have been taken up because of car theft.
Now Griffin do not come to Rotterdam, the Challengers want to present a new player in short time.

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HUNGARY

Stojan Ivkovic: new head-coach of the national team -by Csilla Kantor
The Hungarian Basketball Federation has appointed the head-coaches of the women- and men national teams on Friday, 18.01. With this decision the head-coach of the women national team will be Laszlo Ratgeber and Stojan Ivkovic will be the the coach of the men's team. Both appointments last for one year. The main goal with the team is to remain member of the A-division. Ivkovic used to be a player of PVSK and he is the head-coach of this team in the season 2007-2008. He has been conducting the men's national team since the spring of 2007. Under his leadership the team had 7 winnings and 4 lost from 11 games in the European Championship 2007.

Round 15: ZTE could win against Albacomp -by Tamas Deri
ZALAKERAMIA ZTE KK - ALBACOMP 91-87
(22-14, 12-24, 34-21, 23-28)
Zalaegerszeg, Att.: 1.200 nező, Referees: Forray, Palla, Toth
ZALAKERAMIA: Vladimir Miskovic (188-G-78) 27/18, Mark Walters (188-G-82, agency: Warren Sports, college: N.Mexico) 13/6, Kaman 10/6, Gay 10, Keresztes 7, Adam Toth (207-F/C-89, agency: FCM) 5, David Gaspar (193-G/F-82) 13/6, Baki 2, Simon 1, Hoffmann 3, Coach: Nikola Lazic
ALBACOMP: Balazs Simon (188-G-80, agency: Court Side) 18/9, Cory Bradford (191-G-78, agency: Edge Sports, college: Illinois) 33/12, Radovic, McClendon 8, Zoltan Bencze (213-C-81) 13, Sos 11/9, Hanga, David, Boozer 4, Coach: Goran Miljkovic

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IBL

Illegal Motion Dance Team Final Auditions Feb. 2 -by John Gary
courtesy oursportscentral.com Illegal Motion a pro independent dance team in Battle Creek is holding final auditions for their 2008 dance season. Women must be 18 years of age or older, team orientated and willing to commit to the team for the season.

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ITALY

Lega2 - Last market news -by Gabriele Fioretti
Novara, after have signed the third coach of their season, agreed to part ways with Davide Cristelli (203-F-77) (could be signed by Ozzano) and announced to have inked Walter Santarossa (200-F-78), former forward of Angelico Biella (serieA).

News from Rieti -by Stefano Pini
Solsonica Rieti was involved in2 trades. Pape Sow (208-F-81, college: Cal.St. Fullerton) will play for Prokom Telecom Sopot until the end of the season. In the last days seemd that the center should go to Roma. Russell Carter (193-G-85, college: Notre Dame) will leave for Banco Sardegna Sassari. The team, for the moment will add Nelson Ingles (180-G-75, agency: Interperformances) to the roster.

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JORDAN

Round nine of Excellent League -by Mohammed Malas
Three games were played in Round nine of Excellent league, Zain and College Sports club game were postponded due to Zain's participation in Dubai International Tournament which will resume until 26th of january.

Arena Amman 96 - Al Riyadi/Aramex 68 (Qs: 17-14, 46-27, 74-42 & 96-68)

Arena Amman took the revenge with a strong beat this time 96-68 over Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman thanks to the big performance from Josh Cooperwood, Mark Strickland (208-F/C-70, college: Temple) and Zeid Abbas, While Wesam Sous, Hussam Lufti and Issa Kamel were out of action today and were lost during the minutes of the game which ended with a big loss for them.

Orthodox 123 - Al Wihdat 72 (Qs: 20-33, 62-42, 96-56 & 123-72)

Orthodox continued breaking the records in the league with another high scoring win against Al Wihdat 123-72!!

Everyone from the red castle played well and gave all what they can to score and defend their baskets over the offense of Al Wihdat esspecially from Anthony Steward, Moussa Al Awadi and the new guy Dorde Jovanovic.

Hussein Erbid 74 - Al Awdah 49 (Qs: 19-9, 38-23. 58-34 & 74-49)

An easy game was for Hussein Erbid in their home court, Robbie Banks and Glen Summerall scored most of Hussein's points against a tough defense from Al Awdeh who was making a good performance in some parts of the game but did'nt resume for a long time.

Al Jalaa drops Zain in Dubai Int'l Opener -by Mohammed Malas
Zain of Jordan's players were out of service in their 1st game within Group B of Dubai Int'l Tournament following their big loss from Al Jalaa of Syria 83-59.

Rasheim Wright (18 points) and Nate Johnson (16 points) were trying to do something after the team's big drop esspecially in the 1st two quarters which showed a huge effort and hight performance from Al Jalaa esspecially Michel Madanli (196-G-81, agency: Huss Sport Agency) (28 points) and Samaki Walker (21 points).

In the other game of Day 1, UAE National Team made an important win over Sagesse by 3 points 83-80 in nearly a one side show most of the time except the 4th quarter which was nearly equal from both sides, Ibrahim Khalfan scored 30 points for his country and that was a big asset for the valuable win.

# Day 2 games schedule (UAE time +4 GMT):
- Saturday 19/1:
15:00 UAE NT - Mahram
17:00 Ittihad Aleppo - Gezira
19:00 Al Riyadi - Saba
21:00 Al Ahli - Al Jalaa Aleppo

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KUWAIT

Doumbouya now in Kuwait -by Kristian Santiago
Guinean post-player Amadou Doumbouya (206-F-79, college: Colorado) signed in Kuwait with Al Sahel two weeks ago.
In his first game, the former-Buffalo recorded 26 points and 13 rebounds against Al Kuwait SC.
Besides Amadou ,center Mohammed Camara (211-C-83, agency: Promotex, college: San Diego St.) is also in the Middle East and plays in Qatar for Al Ahli altogether with fellow Guinean Mohamed Beka Youla (2,02 - F - ) who played lastly for BACK in Guinea.

A win for Al Jahraa -by Ali Ahmed

Al Jahraa ended with a deserved win 72-68 over Al Arabi yesterday.

Quarters of the game:

1st Quarter: 17 / 16 to Al Jahraa.
2nd Quarter: 39 / 33 to Al Jahraal
3rd Quarter: 55/ 54 to Al Arabil
4th Quarter: 72 / 68 to Al Jahraal



back to the game, in the first quarter it was a close game (17-16 Jahraa) , in the 2nd quarter Al Jahraa started taking the lead until they finished the first half with 39 / 33 ( 22-17 Jahraa ), then Al Arabi did a great job to get back in the game and ending the 3rd quarter with there lead by 55 / 54 ( 23 -15 Arabi ), but in the lat quarter Al Jahraa played really well to take this win by 72/ 68 ( 18-13 )



The man of the game was Cedric Taylor from Al Jahraa with 29pts and 21rebs from Al Jahraa.
In Al Arabi, Jeryl Sasser (198-G-79, college: SMU) did a good game with 17pts and 6rebs.

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LITHUANIA

Zalgiris gets hardly beaten by CSKA -by Eurobasket News
Zalgiris - CSKA 60:88

The teams entered the game with the Euroleague Top 16 tickets booked. They just fought for the standings in Group A. CSKA thus ensured their top spot and the best seed for Top 16. Zalgiris fell to 7-5 record and can only reach the 4th place in the final two rounds. The encounter turned rather one-sided to a big disappointment of a sell-out crowd in Kaunas. CSKA dominated from the start and snapped Zalgiris' five-game winning streak. Trajan Langdon (192-G-76, college: Duke) hit two three-pointers early in the game as CSKA claimed a 12:7 lead. De Juan Collins (188-G-76, college: Tuskegee) dropped 5 points in a row for the hosts to trim the difference to 1 point but CSKA cleared off once again. Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) hit from outside and David Andersen (212-C-80) converted consecutive baskets to allow the visitors enjoy a 26:16 advantage after 10 minutes. Both teams improved on their defense in the second quarter. A couple of turnovers were followed by Goran Jurak (203-F/C-77) 's triple and Zalgiris returned to contest at 23:28. However CSKA sparked late in the frame registering a 12:0 run to seal the first half outcome at 46:30. J.R. Holden (185-G-76, college: Bucknell) and David Andersen connected from afar to extend CSKA onslaught after the break. The margin grew to 20 points 59:39 with Zalgiris unable to find the right answer. Rimantas Grigas called for a timeout but CSKA did not allow the hosts to come any closer in the third quarter. The teams entered the fourth period with Zalgiris trailing by 20 points. Marko Popovic (185-G-82, college: S.Idaho JC) and Trajan Langdon traded trebles early in the fourth term but Zalgiris obviously lost concentration defensively as Trajan Langdon and Nikos Zisis opened up a 25-point cushion. From now on the teams just eased to the final moments with no intrigue whatsoever.
Ramunas Siskauskas banked 20 points to lead CSKA. Trajan Langdon had 19 points, while David Andersen secured 18 points and 9 boards for the winners. De Juan Collins answered with 16 points for Zalgiris. Mantas Kalnietis (195-G-86, agency: Interperformances) scored 11 points for the home team. CSKA takes on Tau in the next round, while Zalgiris hosts Olympiakos next Thursday.

Zalgiris: De Juan Collins 16, Mantas Kalnietis 11
CSKA: Ramunas Siskauskas 20, Trajan Langdon 19, David Andersen 18

Linas Kleiza explodes with career-high 41 points for Denver -by Eurobasket News
Lithuanian talent Linas Kleiza (6'8''-F-85, agency: Interperformances, college: Missouri) had an outstanding night for the Denver Nuggets yesterday. He surpassed his career-high digits scoring remarkable 41 points and pulling down 9 boards to eclipse both Allen Iverson (6'1''-G-75, college: Georgetown) and Carmelo Anthony (6'8''-F-84, college: Syracuse). Linas Kleiza carried the Nuggets past the Utah Jazz 120:109. Lithuanian forward previous high numbers were 29 points against the Los Angeles Lakers in March last year. Kleiza went on fire in the second stanza nailing 20 points as the Nuggets grabbed a 61:59 advantage at the interval. Carmelo Anthony provided 8 points in the dying stages of the third stanza to enlarge the margin to 10 points and Denver never looked back afterwards. The win also snapped Utah's 4-game winning streak. Marcus Camby (6'11''-F/C-74, college: Massachusetts) tallied impressive career-high 24 rebounds and 11 blocks for the Nuggets. He fell just 2 points short of triple-double but still shone in the Nuggets' victory. Deron Williams (6'3''-G-84, college: Illinois) answered with 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Jazz as they slipped to 22-18 record.
LeBron James (6'8''-F-84) scored 27 points for the Cleveland Cavaliers as they narrowly beat the Spurs yesterday. The Cavs now registered three victories in a row and improved to 21-18 record. San Antonio meanwhile stalled as they lost 5 in last 10 games. They were not helped by 31 points from Emanuel Ginobili (6'6''-G-77, agency: Interperformances). LeBron James scored a layup to put the Cavs up by 2 with 33 seconds remaining in regulation. Tony Parker was not able to convert from the free throw line, while Emanuel Ginobili missed a buzzer-beating jumper to seal it. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (7'2''-C-75, agency: Interperformances) banked 17 points, while Anderson Varejao (6'9''-C-82) delivered 12 points and 14 boards in a win.

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MEXICO

Santos Slips, Campeche Notches Big Win -by Justin Brink
San Luis Santos Reales slipped up big time last night against the Algodoneros de La Comarca - Torreon 121-107. And while both teams have played themselves into the LNBP post season the uninspired Santos performance has us wondering how deep can San Luis go? Did coach Frola tell his boys to take a little break in Cabo this week? What's up? A week away from the playoffs is no time to be going through the motions. Click here for more of last night's LNBP results.

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NBA

Linas Kleiza explodes with career-high 41 points for Denver -by Eurobasket News
Lithuanian talent Linas Kleiza (6'8''-F-85, agency: Interperformances, college: Missouri) had an outstanding night for the Denver Nuggets yesterday. He surpassed his career-high digits scoring remarkable 41 points and pulling down 9 boards to eclipse both Allen Iverson (6'1''-G-75, college: Georgetown) and Carmelo Anthony (6'8''-F-84, college: Syracuse). Linas Kleiza carried the