EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 1/29/2008

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Men News

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ARGENTINA

More transactions -by Facundo Iatzky
Panamenian Antonio Garcia (203-F/C-76, college: Ky Wesleyan) is the new player of Estudiantes Bahia blanca. He will replace Leon Smith who had some good games but The new coach Richotti looked for another type of player.

Boca Jrs released Cheik YaYaDia

All ready for All Star Game -by Facundo Iatzky

2008 All Star Game will be attended in Mar del Plata on January 28th and 29th. It will be the 20th game so in the first day a group of the best players who played in the history of Liga A will show their skills.
These are the teams:
White: Marcelo Milanesio (9), Eduardo Cadillac (12), Gustavo Fernandez (4), Hector Campana (185-G-64) (5), Luis 'Chuzo' Gonzalez (88), Julio Rodriguez (8), Jorge Racca (13), Sergio Aispurua (11), Luis Villar (6) Ariel Scolari (15). coach: Walter Garrone.
Red Team: Miguel Cortijo (11), Marcelo Richotti (5), Ariel Bernardini (33), Raul Merlo (00), Carlos Romano (8), Esteban Perez (41), Adolfo Perazzo (14), Esteban Camissasa (4), Luis Gonzalez (7) Diego Maggi (6). coach: Luis Martinez. Arbitros: Alberto Garcia, Jorge Rubinsztein Eduardo Alagastino. Court: Polideportivo Islas Malvinas

In the second day, argentinian stars will fight against foreigner team.

NACIONALES (10): Sebastian Ginobili, Roman Gonzalez, Leonardo Gutierrez (200-F-78), Bruno Labaque, Julio Mazzaro, Sebastian Acosta, Juan Locatelli, Leandro Palladino, Andres Pelussi y Diego Osella. coach: Julio Lamas.
FOREIGNERS (9): Jamal Robinson, Antwon Hall, Quincy Wadley, Charles Jones, Michael Robinson, Cleotis Brown, Jason Osborne, Byron Johnson Robert Battle (200-C-81, college: Drexel), Chuck Robinson. coach: Silvio Santander


Dunk contest:
Pablo RIZZO - Lanus TNA
Brice ASSIE -.San Martin (C.) -TNA
Antwon HALL - Quilmes - LNB.
Mariano FIERRO - San Martin (C.) -TNA.
Pedro ROMERO - Sportivo America Rosario.
Chris JEFFRIES - Obras
Andres MOLTENO - Velez
Byron JOHNSON - Independiente (N) - last champion

3 point shootout contest:
Pablo S. RODRIGUEZ - Penarol (MdP) - 46.9%
Maximiliano MACIEL - Quilmes (MdP) - 46.5%
Pablo GIL - Estudiantes (BB) - 45.4%
Jose MURUAGA - Estudiantes (BB) - 43.7%
Juan Pablo SANCHEZ - Independiente (N) - 43.6%
Leonardo GUTIERREZ - Boca Jrs. - 42.9%
Cleotis BROWN - Quimsa - 42.3%
Leandro MASIERI - Belgrano (SN) last champion



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AUSTRIA

Transfer update -by Stefan Heinrich
The former Panthers, David Jandl (180-G-84, agency: Court Side) moved to St. Polten and he helped his new team to win the important game to stay in the Top8 after the 1st stage. Jandl had a gamehigh 22 points and 4 assists with 7/11 Field goals.

The Panthers signed the league Topscorer Mike Dale (196-G-84, college: S.Illinois) from UBSC Graz. Dale is the 9 (!) foreign player on roster of the Panthers. He was responsible for 12 points, 4 rebound and 3 turnovers in 27 minutes. On the side in this match was Marko Moric (207-F-81, agency: World Sport Agency), who made his first game fo the Gunners and he had 11 points and 7 rebounds during the road victory of the Gunners.

Oberwart wins the regular season -by Eurobasket News
The Oberwart Gunners succeeded in the first part of the Austrian Bundesliga season. In the final Round 22 the Gunners overcame Furstenfeld 92:80 away from home to retain the top spot. In a close road battle it was the third stanza that brought luck to the visitors. Oberwart were up by just 2 points at the interval but burst out with a 24:12 third frame to put things up for good. Jay Youngblood (196-G-84, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Kent St.) masterminded the win with game-high 23 points and 6 assists for Oberwart. Adam Boone (190-G-81, college: Minnesota) contributed 20 points, while Jason Johnson (202-F/C-77, college: Tennessee St.) added 17 points for the winners. Anthony Shavies (191-G-83, college: Missouri St.) responded with 22 points and 9 boards for Furstenfeld. Shelton Colwell (202-F-80, agency: Court Side, college: Missouri St.) had 12 points as the hosts finished the regular season at 16-6 record in the fourth spot.
Kapfenberg secured the second overall place with a rout of the Worthersee Piraten 75:47. The Bulls dominated the game and easily secured their 17th win in the season to finish comfortably just behind the Gunners in the standings.
Gmunden dismantled Graz in the final round but still drove to just the third position. Gmunden had an obvious advantage over the visiting Graz and outlasted them in every facet of the game. Leading by 22 points at halftime Gmunden went even more thorough in the third stanza extending the margin to 29 points. Deteri Mayes (189-G-74, agency: Court Side, college: Murray St.) accounted for 23 points to pace Gmunden. Rashard Sullivan (203-F/C-84, college: S.Indiana) dropped 18 points and collected 9 boards for the winners. Brandon Powell and C.J. Pigford (201-F, agency: Heinrich Sports, college: Elizabeth City) notched 18 points apiece for Graz. The visitors fell to 2-20 record and remained at the very bottom of the ladder.

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BELIZE

U-26 Basketball Tournament to start today!!! -by David Magana
The U-26 Basketball tournament being held by the BBA is schedule to start today. Up to press time, the following teams that have registered to participate;
Lake I Boyz
UB Black Jaguars
Junior Bulldogs
Belmopan Young Guns
Complex Bombers
Mesop Guardian Bombers
Buttonwood Bay
The Future

The regular season is supposed to run from February 25 to March 6, followed by playoffs. The following is the schedule for this week's games.

Mon. 28 Jan - 6:30 pm - Civic Center
The Future - Belmopan Young Guns
Lake I Boyz - Buttonwood Bay
Mesop Guardian Bombers - Complex Bombers

Wed. 30 Jan - 6:30 pm - Civic Center
Buttonwood Bay - The Future
Complex Bombers - Junior Bulldogs
Mesop Guardian Bombers - UB Black Jaguars

Thurs. 31 Jan - 7:30 pm - UB Stadium
UB Black Jaguars - Belmopan Young Guns

Fri. 01 Feb - 6:30 pm - Civic Center
Buttonwood Bay - Complex Bombers
The Future - UB Black Jaguars
Lake I Boyz - Junior Bulldogs

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BRAZIL

FTC EAD obtained 1st victory in National Masculino over Pitagoras Minas.- -by Ed Goodman
FTC EAD of Salvador de BAHIA won over Pitagoras MInas 86-83 in over time. The regular time ended 74-74 Roberto with 20 Pts. and 15 Rebs. and Newsome 18 Pts. 9 Rebs. were the best scorers by the winners Joel Munoz also helped in the win with 8 Pts. and 13 Assists. by Pitagoras Johnson with 33 Pts was the best.

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CBA

Albany posts back-to-back wins over Butte -by Eurobasket News
The Albany Patroons claimed two straight wins over the Butte Daredevils as the CBA action resumed after the All-Star Game pause. In the first of two encounters Albany registered a 96:86 victory. The lead throughout the whole game and entered the fourth period with an 11-point lead. The Daredevils were unable to erase the deficit and lost the game. Six Albany players scored in double figures with Amal McCaskill (6'10''-F/C-73, college: Marquette) and Nat Burton (6'3''-G-77, college: Georgetown) leading the charge. Amal McCaskill provided 21 points, 12 boards and 8 assists, while Nat Burton added 21 points for the winners. Odell Bradley (6'4''-F/G-81, college: IUPU-Indianapolis) responded with 32 points for Butte. Aaron Cook (6'2''-G-83, college: Hartford) banked 15 points, 6 assists and 5 boards in a losing clause.
The next game turned to be a more heated battle with the Daredevils making their ambitions loud in the opening frame. The visitors outscored Albany 33:18 in the first frame looked pretty convincing at the moment. However the Partoons took over in the second stanza. A well-balanced hosts' offense adjusted and evened things up quickly enough. The teams headed into the final period with the home team up by 2 points and they never gave it up finalizing a narrow 99:96 victory. Nat Burton produced 30 points in a win. Odell Bradley was once again leading the action with 38 points for Butte. Albany improved to 14-11 record and would take on East Kentucky next. Butte dropped to 13-14 and sees to improve against Minot this week.
Meanwhile the Rio Grande Valley Silverados signed Andre Owens (6'4''-G-84, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: UTSA). A 23-year-old guard played recently in the Atlanta Krunk. In 2007 he spent some time in German Second Bundelsiga playing for Dortmund. There he averaged 19 points and 7.6 boards per game.
The Great Falls Explorers opted to sign three new players. These are Tim Pledger (5'9''-G-76, college: Belhaven), Vinson Smith (6'4''-F, college: Mo.-Kansas City) and Damien Hubbard (6'6''-F-84, college: Liberty). They also waived Melvin Garrett (6'7''-F-82, college: Gardner-Webb), Herbert Jones (6'7''-F-83, college: Appalachian St.) and Pele Paelay (6'4''-G-84, college: Co.Carolina).
The Oklahoma Cavalry also renewed their roster with the addition of Shawn Daniels (6'7''-C-79, college: Utah St.), Brandon Dean (6'2''-G-79, agency: Naiditch Entertainment, college: Arkansas), DeAnthony Bowden (6'1''-G-80, college: Creighton). They also waived Marc Williams (6'3''-G-83, college: Indiana, PA).

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CHINA

Game between Jiang su and Liao ning -by Robert Wang
After we investigated on the game between Jiang su and Liao ning last night, we cleared up the situation between Oyedeji and Tang Zheng dong, olumide Oyedeji didn't fight Tang, I fouled Tang which is part of basketball game, the refree called a foul on him and Tang just got up and pushed O on the ground after refree called a foul, that lead to O's teammates to react to what he did to O after the already refree called the foul on O. For Tang action the refree gave him a technical foul and the other technical foul was given to the bench for coming to the court after the refree called a foul on Tang because Tang pushed O on the ground and O's teammates reacted as O said earlier. As we knw that many chinese players are used to play dirty when they were young and they can't correct their game action when they played the game, since they are used to do it! Hope these chinese players use reasonable action in the game and play fairly. Oyedeji has been in good attitude and he played very strong under the hoops, and chinese fans gave him a nick name 'beast'. Hope O doing better and better and hope Liao ning go to Champion!

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CUBA

LSB News, Capitalinos +43 against Santiago -by Alessandro Fontana
LSB-time in Cuba!
Capitalinos (11-1) played a great game against Santiago de Cuba (0-11). They won 121-78, an incredible +43. Capitalinos is still the leader of this LSB, a great team with Orestes Torres and Eliezer Lima who are playing very good the LSB 2008. Capitalinos can really win this year the title and close the hegemony of Ciego de Avila. Guantanamo (10-2) won against Metropolitanos (3-9) 84-74. Ciego de Avila (9-3) won an easy game against Villa Clara (3-9), to mention the game of Michael Guerra, the 'cabeza' of the team with some spectacular assists behind the back. Matanzas (6-5) won against Camaguey (5-7) 88-80 an important game, Matanzas can really qualify for the play-offs and They have to play still a game against Santiago de Cuba.
The Results:
Ciego de Avila- Villa Clara= 79-75 (CAV= Guerra 16, perez 14, SIlvestre 12; VC= Carta 18, Rodriguez A. 14)
Guantanamo- Metropolitanos= 82-74 (G= Soria 22, Elias 16, Simon 16; M= Borlot 18, Dube 17)
Capitalinos- Santiago de Cuba= 121-78
Guantanamo-Metropolitanos= 84-74
Ciego de Avila- Villa Clara= 93-61
Matanzas-Camaguey= 88-80
A. Fontana

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CYPRUS

Match Day 16 - B' Division: Anagennisi is closed to promotion! -by Chris Mammides
A.Yermasogias is very close to their first title in club history as on Sunday topped down the Philips College 62-73 in the Second Division league at Philips College home court at Lyceum of Apostolos Varnavas in Nicosia. Rakis Karagiannis (190-G-78, college: Lynn) drilled 3 three-pointers en route to 18 points and games' MVP honors and Dimitris Prokopiou (187-G-83, agency: Globalsports/Globalevents) added 16 for Anagennisis, who are enjoying a dream season thus far, trailing at the top of the league (these first 16 weeks). It was Philips College that started stronger, using a 0-6 run to take a 12-6 lead. However Rakis Karagiannis closed the gap to 12-10 after 10 minutes. In the second half, Andreas Papanikolaou (191-G/F-75) and Alexandros Alexandros Papadopoulos (194-F-79) put on a three-point shooting display to build a 32-24 halftime advantage. Alexis Georgiadis (194-F-79) remained hot in the beginning of the third period as the lead peaked at 35-22 before Anagennisi narrowed the deficit and following an 11-3 tear with Karagiannis and Ioannidis on fire the visitors used a 9-20 third period to take control by halftime (41-44) and sail away for a big road win. Philips tried hit back in the remaining fourth quarter and cut for a while the deficit to one points with Loizos Hatzivasileiou scoring in a lay-up but A.Yermasogias with a new offensive strategy and with Loris Loizos Hatzivasileiou (202-C-83) adding points together with Karagiannis's amazing performance finished the game once and for all for A.Yermasogias.
The points for the two teams were as follows:
Philips College: Alexandros Papadopoulos 13, Alexis Georgiadis 10, Andreas Papanikolaou 10, Zagorov 2, Ioannou 4, Loizos Hatzivasileiou 9, Antoniou 6, Konstantinou 8
Anagennisi Germasogias: Dimitris Prokopiou 16, Kounoudis 1, Ioannidis 12, Loris Hatzivassiliou (196-F-78) 12, Karagianis 18, Nestoridis 3, Gregoriou 11.
In the other games of the 16th week the results were as follows:

Asteras - Onisillos Sotiras 70-48
Digenis Akritas - APOP Pafou 83-73
Achilleas Agrou - Argonaftes 81-61
Doxa Strovolou - Olympos Aglantzias 70-65
AE Yeroskipou - Enosi Kokkinotrimithias 0-20*

*The team of Yeroskipou withdraws from the league due to financial problems.

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D-LEAGUE

Weekend Results -by Surujh Roopnarine
Friday, January 25th
Rio Grande Valley Vipers (76) at Albuquerque Thunderbirds (99)
VIPERS: Trent Strickland (6'5''-G-84, college: Wake Forest) (21p+10rb), Kris Collins (14p), Quannas White (10p), Jesse Smith (6p+7rb)
T-BIRDS: Josh Gross (6'6''-F-83, college: NC-Greensboro) (20p+6rb), Daniel Horton (18p+6rb), Ali Berdiel (16p+7rb+9as+5st), Elijah Ingram (11p+8as)

Sioux Falls Skyforce (101) at Utah Flash (97)
SKYFORCE: Elton Nesbitt (5'10''-G-80, college: Georgia Southern) (20p), Carl Elliott (19p), David Bailey (18p+7as), Kasib Powell (16p+5rb)
FLASH: Kevin Kruger (6'2''-G-83, college: UNLV) (18p+9as), Britton Johnsen (17p+6rb), Brian Hamilton (15p+5rb), Brian Jackson (11p+9rb)

Saturday, January 26th
Austin Toros (107) at Tulsa 66ers (114)
TOROS: Justin Reed (6'8''-F-82, college: Mississippi) (27p+6rb), Keith Langford (25p+7rb), DeMarr Johnson (17p), Ian Mahinmi (6'9''-C/F-86) (14p+9rb)
66ERS: Ramon Sessions (6'3''-G-86, college: Nevada) (26p+10rb+14as), Nick Fazekas (21p+14rb), Mike Hall (19p+5rb), David Noel (16p)

Ft. Wayne Mad Ants (103) at Iowa Energy (109)
MAD ANTS: Corey Minnifield (6'8''-F-81, college: Loyola (LA)) (29p+9rb+5to), Roderick Wilmont (26p+5rb), Earl Calloway (18p+7rb+8as), Larry Turner (10p+10rb)
ENERGY: Mike Efevberha (6'5''-G-84, college: Cal.St. Northridge) (21p+6rb), Dwayne Mitchell (21p+5as), Doug Thomas (16p+15rb), Anthony Tolliver (18p+9rb)

Sioux Falls Skyforce (103) at Albuquerque Thunderbirds (102)
SKYFORCE: Chris Alexander (7'1''-C-80, college: Iowa St.) (17p+17rb), Kasib Powell (18p), Jermareo Davidson (17p+6rb), David Bailey (17p+5as)
T-BIRDS: Josh Gross (23p+8rb), Daniel Horton (19p), Darvin Ham (12p+11rb), Cory Underwood (15p+9rb)

Los Angeles D-Fenders (99) at Idaho Stampede (100)
D-FENDERS: Cecil Brown (6'4''-G-83, college: UCSB) (41p), Brian Chase (32p+5to), Stephane Lasme (13p+7rb), Sean Banks (6'8''-F-85, college: Memphis) (8p+6rb)
STAMPEDE: Mike Taylor (6'2''-G-86, college: Iowa St.) (21p+10as+5st), Roberto Bergersen (17p), Lance Allred (15p+8rb), Randy Livingston (6p+13as+7to)

Bakersfield Jam (93) at Anaheim Arsenal (102)
JAM: Andre Barrett (5'9''-G-82, college: Seton Hall) (26p+7rb+9as), Nick Lewis (18p+5rb), James Peters (6'8''-F-81, college: UNLV) (15p+5rb), Michael Cuffee (10p+6rb)
Anaheim Arsenal: Steven Smith (6'8''-F-83, college: La Salle) (25p+5as), Ivan Johnson (19p+9rb), Will Blalock (19p), Kedrick Brown (12p+7rb)

Sunday, January 27th
Austin Toros (119) at Tulsa 66ers (120)
TOROS: Ian Mahinmi (32p+9rb), Justin Reed (18p+15rb), DeMarr Johnson (25p+8rb), Keith Langford (19p)
66ERS: Ramon Sessions (28p+7rb+12as+5to), Nick Fazekas (22p+13rb), Jason Fontenet (23p), Mike Hall (21p+11rb)

Rio Grande Valley Vipers (99) at Bakersfield Jam (101)
VIPERS: Desmon Farmer (6'5''-G-81, college: USC) (28p), Jesse Smith (16p+12rb), Trent Strickland (14p+8rb), Quin Humphrey (11p+9rb)
JAM: James Peters (26p+7rb), Andre Barrett (18p+9rb+9as), Scooter McFadgon (14p+6rb), Michael Cuffee (12p+6rb)

Utah Flash (71) at Los Angeles D-Fenders (95)
FLASH: Garry Hill-Thomas (6'5''-G-82, college: Nevada) (16p), James Lang (11p+8rb), Kevin Kruger (10p), Morris Almond (8p)
D-FENDERS: Sean Banks (24p+11rb+6as), Cecil Brown (24p+6rb), Wendell White (12p+5as), Errick Craven (10p)

Dakota Wizards (113) at Colorado 14ers (109)
WIZARDS: Carlos Powell (6'7''-F-83, college: S.Carolina) (30p+7rb), Rod Benson (17p+11rb), Dontell Jefferson (22p+5as), Kevin Kyde (11p+10rb)
14ERS: Kaniel Dickens (6'8''-F-78, agency: Priority Sports, college: Idaho) (27p+8rb), Eddie Gill (19p+5rb+14as), Elton Brown (19p+9rb), Brian Greene (18p)

Recent Transactions -by Surujh Roopnarine
NBA -->D-League Player Movement
The Utah Jazz re-assigned rookie sharp-shooter Morris Almond (6'6''-F-85, college: Rice) to the Flash. Almond spent roughly a month with the Flash, between December and January and tore up the scoreboards. The ex-Rice superstar averaged a league-leading 29.8ppg in 10 contests in the D-League.
The NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs recalled Ian Mahinmi (6'9''-C/F-86) from the Austin Toros.
In 24 games with the Toros, Mahinmi averaged 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.20 blocks in 30.4 minutes. He is leading the D-League in field goal percentage, shooting .644 (154-239) from the field.

Player Movement
Bakersfield: Traded Jovan Harris (6'3''-G/F-81, college: USF) to Iowa for Nick Lewis (6'10''-F/C-83, college: San Diego)
Dakota: Announced that Maurice Baker (6'1''-G-79, college: Oklahoma St.) has left the team to play in France.
Bakersfield: Acquired shooting guard Trey Johnson (6'5''-G, college: Jackson St.) and waived Donnell Williams (6'8''-F).
Utah: Signed Kevin Sweetwyne (6'3''-G-76, college: Idaho St.) and waived Aristide Sawadogo (7'1''-C-81, college: Clayton St.).



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EGYPT

Back to Games -by Eslam Mohamed
Tuesday 29-01-2008 The Egyptian League will be resumed with six games in the 7th round after stoppage time for Dubai championship
the six games are

1- Al Ahly Vs smoha
2- Ittihad El Shorta Vs Sporting
3- Eastern Company. Vs Al Zamalek
4- Al Geish Army vs Al Gezira
5- Al Shams Vs Al Ittihad Alexandria Alexandria
6- Damenhor vs Gazco

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GERMANY

Regionalliga Notes -by Moritz Korff
North:
The P4two Balles Osnabrueck remained the only unbeaten Regionalliga-team by blowing out SG Wolfenbuettel 105:56. The brothers Lamar Morinia (183-G-81, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Montana St.-Northern) and Larry Morinia (180-G-80, agency: ProSportsCareers, college: Montana St.) had 27 and 18 points respectively for Osnabrueck. SC Rist Wedel improved to the 4th place after defeating the Itzehoe Eagles in a thriller. Stacy Pearson-Taylor (198-F-83, college: Bemidji St.) scored 25 points in the first quarter and finished the game with 36 (including 4 treys), while Rist-playmaker Kristof Schwarz (186-G-87) added 19. John Waller (193-F-82, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: ODU) had 27 points for the hosting Eagles. BG Magdeburg got back on track and had five players in double figures in a 98:93 versus MBC Weissenfels. Volodymyr Ivanov (198-F-80) scored 20 points for the winning team, Dutchman Peter Van Rij (206-C-76, agency: Court Side, college: Charleston So.) added a double-double of 19 points and 15 boards. Cornell Kairies (193-F-80) topscored for MBC (32 pts). Meanwhile, Central Hoops came out victorious of the Berlin-derby against Lok Bernau. Tommy Thorwarth (194-F-79) hit 5 three-pointers to finish with 25 points, while Bernau was paced by 23 points of Jermaine Robinson (188-G-81, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Cleveland St.). Oldenburger TB edged past the Aschersleben Tigers (7:83). Jasper Knoch (193-F-86) netted 23 points for OTB, while Bryan Harrison (188-G-84, agency: Weller Sports - Entertainment, college: Georgia Coll.) finished with a game-high 34 points (4 treys) for the Tigers.

West:
Schwelmer Baskets held off SVD 49 Dortmund, 90:70, in a battle of the division's top two teams. Kristofer Speier (206-F-81, college: Lewis-Clark) led Schwelm with 23 points followed by Keith Harris (196-G/F-85, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Oklahoma Christian) with 22 and Matthew Reid (185-G-84, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Cameron) with 19. Frank Benson (196-F, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Oklahoma Baptist) had 26 points for the 49ers, Gary Johnson (188-G-82, college: Cent.Florida) added 23, including 5 three-pointers. The Elephants Grevenbroich rallied past Leverkusen 94:65 and were led by the double-doubles of Peter Krausen (207-C-85), who had 25 points plus 12 boards, and Chris Wooldridge (198-F, college: Catawba) who finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
BSV Wulfen earned a 109:83-victory over Waltrop. Just like last week Wulfen's Tim Thompson (185-G-81, college: N.Mexico Highlands) received topscoring-honors and netted 22 points, while Jamaal Brown (201-F-83, college: Cal.St. Fullerton) scored a game-high 32 points for the visiting side. The NVV Lions Moenchengladbach took on Meckenheim to face former Lion Josh Mueller (180-G-82, college: S.Dakota). Mueller paced his team with 25 points (5 treys). However, Meckenheim stayed unsuccessful, as 26 points of each Brad Shove (183-G, college: St.Rose (NY)) and Clayton Longmire (201-F, college: St.Rose (NY)) led the Lions to an easy 93:75. Isaac Jefferson (196-G/F-81, college: Hampton) scored 28 points as BG Hagen picked up a 96:83-win over Bochum that was led by Parrish Brown (185-G, college: Maryland) who had a game-high 36 points. BBV Hagen got its 12th win of the season, when topping the Bergheim Bandits 90:79. BBVs Jason Price (184-G-77, agency: Global Sports Plaza, college: Iowa) netted 23 points, Mario Brown (201-F-84, college: Jacksonville) had 25 for the Bandits in the loss.

South-West:
60 points of its three Americans helped league-leading ASC Mainz in a 110:69-win over DJK/MJC Trier. Big man Edjuan Green (203-F-82, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Texas A&M) led all scores with 24 points, while Mario Hubert (198-F/C-80) added 14 for Trier. #2 Panthers Schwenningen responded on Sunday with a 107:101 over Treis-Karden. Mensah Sadikki Taylor (198-F-80, college: Gardner-Webb) tallied 40 points for Treis, while Schwenningens Marco Schlafke (185-G-82) finished with 34 points. TV Konstanz suffered its 4th defeat in a row and got upset by SG Heidelberg-Kirchheim (73:77). Yannick Rupp (185-G) dropped 18 for the home team, while Lars-Eric Menck (200-F-78) trilled in 4 treys for Konstanz and had 24 points at the end of the game. Meanwhile, Weissenhorn cruised to a 107:86-road win at Giessen. Raheim Lamb (198-F-80, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Massachusetts) led all scores with 34 points, his teammate Mario Simic (198-F-83) nailed six three-pointers (all in all 26 pts). Jonathan Mesghna (199-F-89) paced MTV Kronberg with 14 points in a 77:71 over TS Goeppingen, that got a game-high 28 points of Victor Morris (185-G-85, college: Cleveland St.). TV Rastatt-Rheinau picked up a 81:68-win over visiting TV Lich II. The host was led by 26 points from Bernd Huebner (203-C-82) and 19 from Thorsten Kustos (188-G-79). Marian Schick (198-F/C-86) added 22 for Lich.

South-East:
FC Bayern Muenchen climbed back to the top of the South-East division by overcoming BIG Gotha (101:82). Mirko Virijevic (201-F-81, college: Freed-Hardeman) netted 24 points for Bayern, Anton Kazarnovski (205-F/C-85, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement) had 21. Gotha's Michael Rost (183-G-85) finished with 21 points. Stephen Cramer (188-G, college: Hope (MI)) put in 32 points for the COOCOON Baskets Weiden in a 81:73 against the Dachau Spurs. Four of the Spurs' players fouled out during the game, including topscorer Calvin Wooten (186-G-84, college: Oakland) who had 29 points this time. After suffering defeat versus Landshut last weekend the Wuerzburg Baskets returned to success, receiving 29 points (8 treys) from Markus Hallgrimson (190-G-75, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Montana St. - Billin) in a narrow 86:84-road win at Baunach. Bernd Endres (203-C-78) finished with 32 points for the host. The Dresden Titans picked up an important victory (83:54) against Breitenguessbach to stay away from the relegation spots. 18 points by Konrad Tota (196-F-80, college: Dickinson St.) led the Titans to the first win since early December.

Mark Dickel is leaving Bamberg -by Moritz Korff
As the defending German champion published on its website today Mark Dickel (187-G-76, college: UNLV) will no longer be a member of the Brose Baskets Bamberg. The team signed Mithat Demirel (181-G-78) only a couple of weeks ago, which made it even more difficult for Dickel to receive playing time in the Bamberg backcourt. That's why he asked the club-officials to cancel the contract.

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GREECE

News -by Serafim Karaiskakis

For one more time Lewis Sims (203-F/C-73, agency: Strategic Sports, college: New Orleans) caused problems with his behavior and for second time the management decided to let him go.The first time coach Kalafatikis said in the press after a game that he wants Sims out from the team because he was causing problems to teammates but the coach was fired and Sims remained, now with coach Zouros the result after a short period was the same, the new coach did not want the player in the team. Sims negotiates now with Spartak St.Petersburg, the Russian team will loan Damir Markota (209-C/F-85) and they search in the market for his substitute.

Panellinios trying to sign Jurica Golemac (209-F-77) from Paris-Levallois.

Paok and Olimpiada Patras want Jared Reiner (211-C-82, agency: Priority Sports, college: Iowa).The Iowa graduate after few games in NBA is in Murcia now. Tanoka Beard (205-F/C-71, agency: Arik Krayn Services, college: Boise St.) proposed also.


Zalgiris made offer to AEL Larissa to get Tadas Klimavicius (204-F-82, agency: Interperformances).


*The scheduled for this weekend Pfizer Greek All Star game postponed due to the sudden death of archbishop Christodoulos. The new date will be announced soon from ESAKE.




A1: Match Day 14: PAOK beat Olympiakos 81-80! -by Chris Mammides
PAOK - OLYMPIACOS 81 - 80
In the greatest game of the 14th week, Flevarakis's PAOK beat Gershon's Reds and made another positive step towards the new target of his team which is no other than the highest possible position by the end of the regular season. An amazing game from the Greek veteran power forward, Nikos Nikos Kouvelas (203-F-73) who scored 20 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist together with his unstoppable passion lead his team-mates to a great victory over the nearly 4 times in budget, team of Olympiakos.
Top scorers were:
PAOK: Nikos Kouvelas 20 points, Mamoutou Diarra (200-F-80) 16 points and Dimitris Verginis (194-G-87) 14 points
Olympiakos: Jackson 33 points, Greer 25 points and Vasilopoulos 12 points

PANELLINIOS - MAROUSI 73 - 75
With a doubtful lay-up after the end of the game, from the veteran Nikos Boudouris, Marousi of Head coach Markopoulos succeeded an amazing road win in Coach Zouros home court.
Top scorers:
Panellinios: Argyropoulos 15 points, Grundy 17 and Papaioakeim 14
Marousi: Charalambidis 26 points, Milisavlievic and Kaimakoglou 13 points each

ARIS - Olympiada Patras 75 - 66
Aris faced some real problems against Raca's team which shows some signs for a comeback, with the adding of a good American player, the Patras team has many chances for a positive comeback in the second round.
Top scorers:
Aris: Wright 15 points, Washington and Mottola 12 each and Tsaldaris 10
Olympiada Patras: Jefferson 27 points and Nesovic 12

AEK - EGALEO 81 - 70
Coach Aggelou's AEK was not able to cover the 13 points of the first round and could have some troubles if by the end of the regular season the two teams finished with the same points.
Top scorers
AEK: Tapoutos 24 points, Vassiljevic 17 points and Wesson 15
Egaleo: Jaaber 18 points, Nikolaidis 15 points and Marjanovic 11 points

PANIONIOS - KOLOSSOS RODOU 89 - 65
Markovic's Panionios thrashed the 'injured' team of Kolossos with 24 points difference with 6 players having double digits. The teamwork in Panionios was more than obvious as none of the players scored more than 14 points and none of them played more than 22 minutes.
Top scorers:
Panionios: Georgallis 14 points, Zoroski 13 points, Kavaliauskas and Newley 12 each
Kolossos Rodou: Pinnock 19 points, Todic 18 points and Taylor 12 points

AEL - OLYMPIA 75 - 62
In the Larissa derby AEL 1964 doubled the victories over Olympia Larissas as Coach Pilafidis's team comprehends all the possible systems of Coach Bartzokas team. The difference though, is quite plasmatic as few minutes before the end the result was only 4 points for the home team and with an amazing 7-0 took the highest lead at the end of the game.
Top scorers:
AEL 1964: Teague and Klimavicius 14 points each and Keys 8 points
Olympia Larissas: Kuburas 17 points, Kurtovic and Tsiaras 13 points

Rethymno - PANATHINAIKOS 74 - 89
Coach Pedoulakis team played magnificently against the triple crowners but.. the level of the two teams is really dissimilar, it is worth mentioning the fact that the American Young could give the necessary help needed to the Cretans, to help them and 'save' them from the troubles. Furthermore, an amazing game from the young talented center Ian Vougioukas who beat in many personal 'air fights' both Zizic and Batiste. Jasikevicius and Diamantidis had 6 assists each.
Top scorers:
Rethymno: Young 21 points, Vougioukas 15 points and 10 rebounds
Panathinaikos: Spanoulis and Batiste 20 points each while Becirovic scored 10 points each.

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HOLLAND

MyGuide Amsterdam Win In Leiden Over Shorthanded ZZ Leiden -by Sanders Jackson

In the Vijfmeihal in Leiden on Saturday night, MyGuide Amsterdam had to face a hard-luck ZZ Leiden team that had American starters J.S. Nash (188-G-83, agency: Court Side, college: Oregon St.), Donald Wilson (193-G-84, agency: Court Side, college: Portland) and Nick Curtis (202-F-83, agency: Court Side, college: USC) missing in action due to injuries, so was a foregone conclusion that the current FEB leaders made shortwork of ZZ, with the game pretty much decided after the end of the 1st quarter, winning eventually by the score of 91-83. MyGuide led by as much as 73-49 at one point during the game. Tamien Trent (183-G-82, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Fairleigh Dickinson) led all scorers with 23 pts., with Sergerio Gipson (193-G/F-80, agency: 540 Sports, college: Arkansas) adding 16 pts. and 5 assists and 4 steals, and Peter Van Paassen (210-C/F-78, agency: Court Side, college: St.Bonaventure) adding a double-double of 14 pts. and 13 rebounds. ZZ's Johan Kuiper (217-C-81) had a strong game, leading ZZ with 19 pts. and 9 rebounds. With the win, MyGuide are now 20-4 and extend their lead in the FEB by a 4 1/2 game difference, while ZZ falls to 10-13.

Rotterdam Challengers Win 7th In Row, Win In Nijmegen -by Sanders Jackson

The Rotterdam Challengers are not to be challenged at this moment in the FEB.

Saturday night in the Horstacker, Rotterdam kept Matrixx Magixx on their heels throughout the first three quarters, and responded well when Matrixx Magixx started to make their move, doing what needed to be done to get the win, en route to winning its 7th straight and defeating Matrixx 72-67. The Rotterdammers forced Matrixx to shoot 44.1% FG and 7 for 27 from the three-point line, as well as shooting themselves 58.8% FG and dominating the glass at a 43-33 difference. The Rotterdammers had 2 players with double-doubles, Chaz Twan Briggs (201-F-80, college: W.Virginia) (14 pts., 15 rebounds) and Sullivan Sykes (193-G/F-81, college: St.Joseph, IN) (13 pts., 10 rebounds). Briggs also swatted away 3 shots. Matrixx's Chris Copeland (203-F-84, agency: 540 Sports, college: Colorado) led all scorers with 20 pts. with also 11 rebounds. The win improves Rotterdam's record to 13-8, while Matrixx falls to 14-10.

Eiffel Towers End Losing Skid, Defeat Upstairs Weert -by Sanders Jackson

In the Maaspoort on Saturday night, defending Dutch champions Eiffel Towers broke their four-game winning streak with a 93-84 win over reeling Upstairs Weert. A strong 2nd quarter made a big difference for Eiffel. Kees Akerboom (199-F-83, agency: Court Side) had the radar locked in for Eiffel, scoring a game-high 26 pts, including 5 three-pointers, leading five Eiffel players in double figures. Upstairs' Ashley Champion (198-F-81, college: Chattanooga) was a one-man wrecking crew, scoring a game-high 33 pts., and snatching down 13 rebounds, with Trey McDowell (188-G-85, college: Louisiana Tech) adding 26 pts. Eiffel also won the battle of the boards with a 46-36 advantage. Eiffel are now 14-7, while Upstairs drops to 11-12 and its 4th straight loss.

Landstede Basketball Win In Tight Battle Over Den Helder Seals -by Sanders Jackson

Saturday night in the ZBC-hal, coming off a big Thursday home win over defending Dutch champion Eiffel Towers, despite poor shooting Landstede Basketball wins its second game in the week, this time over Den Helder Seals, by the score of 64-60. Not many teams can win a game shooting only 29.3% FG, but Landstede managed it. The Landstede team turned the ball over only 7 times, shut down Den Helder Seals top post scorer Bradley Strickland (206-F/C-85, agency: Court Side, college: Evansville), holding him to only six points, and their 4th quarter defensive stand did the trick. Robby Bostain (191-G/F-84, agency: Sports Plus International, college: Furman) was not to be denied, scoring a game-high 25 pts., including 4 three-pointers, 4 assists and 5 steals. J.R. Duffey (201-F/G-84, agency: Court Side, college: Niagara) and Dane Bradshaw (193-G-84, agency: Court Side, college: Tennessee) both led Den Helder with 14 pts. each. Landstede moves to 8-15, while Den Helder falls to 3-19.

Shorthanded Hanzevast Capitals Pull Out Big Road Win Over West-Brabant Giants -by Sanders Jackson

In Bergen-op-Zoom on Sunday night, despite missing four key players (Khymer, Zdravkovic, Meijer, Morales), Hanzevast Capitals overcame a tough start (16-4 deficit six minutes into the 1st quarter), hung tough throughout the first half, before making their breakthrough in the 3rd quarter, holding on to win a close battle over West-Brabant Giants by the score of 87-85. Hanzevast were led in scoring by Alton Mason (185-G-77, agency: Court Side, college: Arizona St.) and hot Raoul Heinen (196-G-80, agency: Court Side, college: George Mason) with 20 pts. each. Mason also dished out 6 assists and Heinen was 6-6 from the field. In all, Hanzevast had five players in double figures, shot 58.5% total from the field, including 61.1% in the 2nd half, and also made 27 of 32 FT's. Hanzevast also shut down West-Brabant PG Patrick Pope (183-G-81, college: St.Augustine), holding him to only 7 total pts. and five turnovers. Devonne Giles (203-F-83, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: Texas Tech) led West-Brabant and all players with a double-double of 22 pts. and 11 rebounds. Hanzevast snapped a three-game losing streak to improve its record to 12-9, while West-Brabant, who had their five-game winning streak snapped, fall to 15-8.

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HUNGARY

Bodrogi Bau: new foreigner on the roster -by Tamas Deri
Because of a long holiday of the Romanian Basketball Federation the letter of clearance of the new foreigner arrived last friday. Daniel Babut (202-C-83), the 24 years old romanian forward played this for Gaz Metan Medias in his country but left in January and signed with Hodmezovasarhely. He played already his first game in Hungary and scored 10 points on saturday in Dombovar.

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IRELAND

KILLESTER WINS SUPERLEAGUE CUP! -by Ozell Wells
Dart Killester Dublin tamed the Abrakebabra Tigers with an outstanding team performance led by Patrick Kelly (191-F-80) who was also awarded the Most Valuable Player while topping the scoring board with 19 points to lift the Men's SuperLeague National Cup title. 'We are just delighted to win, it was such a tough game, it's the toughest game we've had all year,' said Kelly. 'It was fantastic, they make you play very hard, they're a tough team and physical, so we're delighted to have won it.

'Tigers have been outstanding this season so to beat them and in particular in a final is something to savour. They fought back towards the end but our guys weren't going to let it slip today so we are delighted that the cup is coming back to DART. We have put a great run together in recent months and today's performance shows just what talent we have in the squad.'

The Dublin side was always in control of the match from the start and raced into an early lead with excellent baskets coming courtesy of Michael Bonaparte (196-F-82, agency: IceBasket, college: Coll.of the Ozarks) while his counterpart Michael Goj (198-G/F-81) three pointer gave them a 13-4 lead midway through the first quarter.

The Tigers led by Kieran Donaghy (198-G/F-83) finally got into their rhythm but at that stage Killester had a commanding lead with some excellent offensive play from Bonaparte, John Behan and Arnuad Dahi and finished the first quarter with a 29-19 lead.

However the national cup holders came out in the second quarter fighting to hold onto their title when they outscored their opponents by 17-9. Abrakebabra Tigers's fightback was led by the American Carl Hadley (193-F, college: Sam Houston St.) and their captain Michael Quirke (198-C-80) whose play around the boards was superb.

With less than ten seconds left on the clock Abrakebabra Tigers's Greek player Paris Katsimpas' magnificent three pointer cut his team's deficit down to four points as they went into the interval trailing 35-31.

Donaghy came to the fore with an outstanding three pointer but Killester's Goj responded with three successive baskets to hold onto their slender lead as both teams cancelled out each others scores.

With just over two minutes left on the clock in the third quarter Abrakebabra Tigers, courtesy of Quirke, drew level before taking a 52-50 lead into the fourth and final quarter. But Killester and Kelly stood up when it counted most and slowly clawed their way back into the game with excellent offensive play from Dahi and superb defensive play from Kelly.

The Dublin team regained the lead midway through the quarter and never relinquished it as they battled right down to the wire to finally bring the Cup back to the capital for the first time in seven years to the delight of their supporters.

Courtesy of Basketball Ireland



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ISRAEL

Hapoel Jerusalem-Besiktas, Elan Chalon -Akasvayu Girona -by Eurobasket News
ULEB Cup Elimination round draw was just held in Barcelona and sixteen pairs were chosen to decide on the 16 lucky ones to go through. The series will consist of two games and the winners will be decided on aggregate score. The first elimination round is scheduled to tip off on February 19. The return leg will be played on February 26. Top 16 round should be played on March 11 and 18. Then the competition will enjoy Final Eight tournament scheduled for April 10-13 in Turin, Italy.
Israeli Elan Chalon will face Akasvayu Girona from Spain. Akasvayu is the only one of the four top-seeded Spanish teams that is a newcomer in the competition. Hapoel Jerusalem will play against Turkish Besiktas JK Cola Turka that posted the first unbeaten record in competition history. Turskish team finished the group stage with 10-0 record in Group B.
In Round 11 Maccabi Tel Aviv had a road win over Galil Elyon 84:90. Marcus Fizer (203-F-78, college: Iowa St.) led the winners with 22 points. Yotam Halperin (196-G-84, agency: Arik Krayn Services) netted 19, while Esteban Batista (208-F/C-83) scored 16. Gil Mossinson produced 21 points in the losing effort.

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ITALY

Lega2-17th Day -by Gabriele Fioretti
Pavia defeated easily Jesi (22 pts by David Moss (196-F-83, agency: SportsTalent, college: Indiana St.)) with a great game played by the team. Caserta won on the road at Livorno (17 by Jermaine Boyette (188-G-78, agency: SportsTalent, college: Weber St.)) thanks to 19 scored both by Raymond Tutt (194-G-75, agency: World Sport Agency, college: UCSB) and Arthur Johnson (206-F/C-81, college: Missouri). Casale (Taquan Dean (193-G-83, college: Louisville) at 26 and Otis George (205-C-81, agency: Beo Basket, college: Louisville) 25+14) on the road came back to success at the overtime at Fabriano (Luis Flores (188-G-81, college: Manhattan) 24 pts and Alex Bougaieff (208-C-77) 18+17). Rodney Elliott (202-F-76, college: Maryland) (21+10) led Montecatini to success against Novara (Hassan Adams (193-G-84, agency: David Lee services, college: Arizona) at 22 pts). 22 scored both by Omar Thomas (195-F-82, college: UTEP) and Rashad Bell (200-F-82, college: Boston U.) weren't enough for Rimini that lost at home against Sassari (26 by Franko Bushati (188-G-85)). 30 points by Andre Collins (183-G-82, college: Loyola, MD) gave victory to Ferrara on Pistoia (Janis Porzingis (201-F-82, agency: Stanley International) 18 pts). 26 by J.R. Reynolds (188-G-84, agency: Arik Krayn Services, college: Virginia) and 25 by Silvio Gigena (200-F-75) led Soresina on defeating Imola (Tim Pickett (193-G/F-81, agency: Interperformances, college: Florida St.) at 17 scored). 5 players in double figure led Reggio Emilia to victory against Veroli on sunday night tv game.
Edimes PV-Fileni Jesi 96-72
TDShop.it LI-Pepsi Caserta 67-80
Indesit Fab-Fastweb Casale 97-98
Agr.Glo.Mont.-Ignis Novara 83-70
Coopsette RN-BancoSardegna 91-99
Carife FE-Carmatic PT 82-64
Vanoli Soresina-Aget Imola 91-81
Trenkwalder RE-Prima Veroli 78-64
See complete boxscores at www.legaduebasket.it

Last transactions -by Gianni Pascucci
Armani Jeans Milano agreed to terms with Drake Diener (196-G-81, agency: Priority Sports, college: De Paul), who inked a contract till June 2009 and will join the team immediately, leaving Pierrel Capo d'Orlando. Will Conroy (187-G-82, college: Washington) should make him room in roster, coming back to USA. Benetton Treviso and TDShop.it Livorno reached an agreement for the loan of Tommaso Fantoni (203-F-85, agency: Players Group), who will play in his old team till the end of the current season.

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KOREA

KBL Entering Its 5th Round Of Play -by Rick Ross
36 Games are in the history Books with 18 Games remaning and then Play-Off's,
Dongbu Promy has led the entire season with 1st place and KT&G takes the 2nd spot
Promy with a record of 28-9 and KTG 22-14, SAMSUNG & KCC Tie for 3rd both having identicle
Records of 22-15 while LG Sakers claim the 5th spot with a record of 21-16.
SK Knights round the top 6th place with 20-17 record while ET BlackSlam - KTF - Mobis and Orions
Round out the 7-8-9 10 positions.

4 Games On Tap ........! Feb 1st

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KOSOVO

President Belegu finnished his visit in UEA -by Edona Shabani
After a few days visit as the guest of the United Arabian Emirates Basketball Association, the president of BFK, Mr. Erolld Belegu finished his visit in Dubai.

During his stay there, the president of BFK except meeting his homologue Mr. Ismail Gargavi he also met with many other officials from this Association as well as officials from the Federations and Clubs that participated in the 19th tournament 'International Dubai Tournament in Basketball' which took place form 21 until 26 of January.

With the officials of the host Federation and also participating Federations Mr. Belegu agreed to collaborate in the spheres where all they have common inters.

Both Presidents of Basketball Federation Belgu and Garagavi during the lunch served for the heads of participating delegations, as a sign of good cooperation they exchanged symbols of Federations respectively Associations they represent.

Source: www.basketbolli.com

Friendly Match between Sigal Prishtina - MZT (Macedonia) -by Edona Shabani
On Tuesday, January 29, 2008 on 19:00 pm will take place a friendly international match between Sigal Prishtina and MZT from Skopje (Macedonia).
This match will be played in the Youth and Sports Hall In Prishtina and it will be directed by Faton Kurshumliu, Daut Mehmetiu and Alban Vula.

Source: www.basketbolli.com

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LEBANON

Results of Round 3 -by Asia-Basket Lebanon

In the first game of the second round Antranik met Riyadi , The game was a very close one till the last 3 minutes when Riyadi's players managed to win the game at the score of 77-64.
In the second game Sagesse had to wait for the second half to secure the game against Anibal who had a very big start , Sagesse with the support of their big number of fans knew how to come back and to secure the game in the end on the score of 95-83.
In the Third game Blue Stars came from way behind after being behind by 20points in the game against Champville and managed to win the game after outscoring Champville in the 4th quarter 37 to 13.The game finished at the score of 93-83.

Antranik - Riyadi : 64-77
Best Scorers:
Antranik: Marcus Brown (18pts)
Riyadi: Ismail Abed El Menhem (21pts)


Q1:21-20 Q2:16-20 Q3:14-14 Q4:13-23

Sagesse - Anibal : 95-83
Best Scorers:
Sagesse: Kevin Johnson (28pts)
Anibal: Kevin Sowell (36pts)


Q1:16-25 Q2:27-22 Q3:29-13 Q4:23-23

Blue Stars - Champville : 93-83
Best Scorers:
Blue Stars: William Brown (35pts)
Champville : Jarred Merill (25pts)


Q1:16-33 Q2:23-17 Q3:17-20 Q4:37-13



Results from Round 4 -by Asia-Basket Lebanon


In the first game of the 4th round in Zahle Anibal had a very important game against Blue Stars , the first half of the game reflected the importance for the home team .The game was a very close one till the last quarter when Blue Stars players managed to win the game at the score of 98-83.
In the second game Champville who was 1-2 before this game had to face Feytoun who was 0-3 , The guest team had a new player Aaron Haynes for this game who showed good signs , he finished the game with 22pts ,16rebs,4stl,5ast,2blk.The game was had the dominance of Champville in the first half and the score at the half was 45-30.In the third Feytroun regrouped and played a better basketball , the game finished at the score of 94-74

Anibal - Blue Stars : 83-98
Best Scorers:
Anibal: Kevin Sowell (34pts)
Blue Stars: William Brown (30pts)


Q1:22-29 Q2:21-18 Q3:27-29 Q4:13-22

Champville - Feytroun : 94-74
Best Scorers:
Champville : Jarred Merrill (27pts)
Feytroun: Aaron Hyanes (22pts)


Q1:20-16 Q2:25-14 Q3:27-22 Q4:22-22



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MEXICO

Gallos win both against Midland -by Charles Elwes

Past saturday in the Texas Professional Basketball League ( TPBL)
Gallos de Cd. Juarez played against the actual champion Midland Heat
in wich Gallos fans went to the arena with a nice attendance to cheer there
Gallos. In a quiet easy game for the local team beat a Midland Heat who made the
trip with only 7 players and dint hold the up tempo game of the Gallos.
The final score was 112 to 95 for the Juarez squad in wich the best player

for the Heat was Ray Williams (178-G-85, college: Salisbury St.) with 26 pts.

For Gallos was Leonard Owens (198-F, college: UTEP) with 33pts.


In sunday's game Gallos beat a tired Midland Heat by a score of 112 to 85.

The Heat had there best players in Ira Cross (198-F, college: E.New Mexico)and the

same Ray Williams (178-G-85, college: Salisbury St.) with 16 points each. For Gallos

was Toraino Johnson (194-F/G-80, college: Utah St.) with 21 and

Juan Escalante (180-G-81) with 16 pts.


And in other news Gallos signed center Nantambu Willingham (208-C/F-73, college: Connecticut)

who played both games , in wich he helped get rebounds and some points of the bench.


Gallos still remain undefeated in the TPBL with 6 wins in 6 games , and continue there road

to the championship , with all players from Cd. Juarez and 5 more imports.



Xalapa Pulls Even, Santos Sweeps -by Justin Brink
The best team in the LNBP wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. On Saturday, in the game one of the opening round of the Southern Division playoffs, the Halcones came out a bit soft, couldn't quite catch up to the confident Panteras and paid for it with a game one loss; at home. Yesterday, Xalapa came roaring back to even the series 1-1 with a convincing 107-80 game two win. For more LNBP first round results, click here.

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NBA

Lebron James outduels Kobe Bryant in LA City -by Eurobasket News
LeBron James (6'8''-F-84) came to LA with a strong message to Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78). He once again proved who has been the reigning King across the league for last years and led Cleveland to the fifth straight win over the Lakers and Kobe. LeBron James accounted for 41 points to lead all scorers. He also held Kobe Bryant to just 1/7 from the field in the final quarter when James switched to guard the Lakers' guard. It all went down to the crunch time in this one with the Cavs leading by 3 points. The LA Lakers had a ball and 9 seconds to save the day. But LeBron James forced Kobe Bryant to skip the final shot as the time expired. The Cavs thus celebrated their 24th win in the season. LeBron James added 9 boards and 4 assists to his stats. Zydrunas Ilgauskas (7'2''-C-75, agency: Interperformances) posted 16 points and 11 boards for the winners. Kobe Bryant registered 33 points, 12 boards and 6 assists for the hosts. Lamar Odom (6'10''-F-79, college: Rhode Island) had 14 points as the Lakers fell to 27-15 record. Cleveland lost their power forward Anderson Varejao (6'9''-C-82) with an injured left ankle. He landed painfully midway through the third stanza and was helped off court. He will undergo MRI today.
In the battle of the powerhouses in the East Orlando nearly overcame Boston 96:93. Hidayet Turkoglu (6'9''-F-79) came up with an impressive last-second three-pointer to put up the Magic for good. The Celtics were weakened by the absence of Kevin Garnett (6'10''-F-76) who was sidelined with an abdominal strain. The Celtics showed some heroics as they got rid of a 16-point deficit in the second quarter and tied things up at the end of regulation after Ray Allen (6'6''-G-75, college: Connecticut)'s trey. But then it was Hidayet Turkoglu turn to take the floor as he knocked down a wild triple to put the Magic fans on their feet. Hidayet Turkoglu finished with 27 points for the Magic. Dwight Howard (6'10''-F-85) added 18 points and 16 boards for Orlando to go 28-18 in the ladder. The Celtics were paced by 24 points and 9 boards from Paul Pierce (6'7''-F-77, college: Kansas). Ray Allen contributed 17 points in a loss.

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NPBL

Hudson Valley re-signs top scorer -by Gianni Pascucci
After the free agent tryouts held in December, twenty-five players were invited to the Hawks 2008 training camp which begins in February. On February 18, 2008, the Hudson Valley Hawks, reigning champions of the National Professional Basketball League, will announce their season roster. However, there is one player, who has already secured his spot in the Hawks 2008 starting line-up. Willie Coleman (6'0''-G-72) (nicknamed 'Brother') is the first and only player to be offered a pre-training camp contract by the Hudson Valley Hawks. Coleman signed with the Hawks last week as their starting shooting guard. The Kawks willl face for sure a stronger competition in 2008. With the addition of the Elmira Bulldogs, formely of the American Basketball Association and now part of the NPBL family, and 3 new NPBL teams, the Virginia Avengers, Maryland Bay Raiders, and New York Strike Force, fans can prepare themselves for a rousing 2008 NPBL season.

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PHILIPPINES

RP National Team head tactacian to coach again in PBA -by Hector Santos
The unceremonious exit of the Talk n Text Phone Pals in the 2007-08 Smart PBA Philippine Cup has cost Derrick Pumaren his job. Club management of the club announced Monday there wouldn't be another tour of duty for the veteran coach.

Taking over the coaching reins of the talent-laden but underachieving ballclub is national coach Chot Reyes, who becomes the franchise's 8th head coach since joining the PBA in 1997.

'The management today announces that the contract of coach (Deric) Pumaren, which expires in February 2008, will not be renewed,' read a TNT statement released to the media.

Ricky Vargas, Talk n Text's representative to the PBA Board, expressed management's appreciation and gratitude to Pumaren for the contribution he has made to the team. Pumaren steered the Phone Pals to the Finals of the 2006-07 Fiesta Cup and to one third place finish during his 4-conference stint with TNT.

Pumaren's tenure with the Phone Pals came under fire - as predicted - in the aftermath of the club's frustrating defeat to former TNT cornerstone and resident center Asi Taulava and the ninth-seed Coca-Cola Tigers in the wildcard of the ongoing conference.

On November 27, Pumaren dealt the 6-foot-9 Taulava to Coke in exchange for center/forward Ali Peek - a deal that turned out to be disadvantageous to TNT because it affected the team's chemistry.

Pumaren was also criticized after the Phone Pals, who were one game away from clinching the club's second championship, eventually lost in seven games against Alaska Aces in the last year's Fiesta Cup.

'Coach Pumaren is the epitome of a real professional and a gentleman. We wish him the best of luck,' Vargas said.

The decision to replace Pumaren appeared to sit well with team manager Frankie Lim, who said: 'We all look forward to working with coach Chot in the coming PBA seasons.' (PBA Online)

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PORTUGAL

Liga UZO round 13 -by Luis Rocha
A good round, nice games. Barreirense made the surprise of the round winning over Porto. After some foreign players signings, Barreirense is stronger, usually they prefer to use young portoguese players coming from their junior teams, but this year those players failed to help the team and they add some foreign who are finally getting the team going, they made things much to dificult to Porto and get out of the match with a good win by 90-94. Ovarense showed herself with their new coach Manuel Povea and won easily against Lusitania (old team of Molinero) 91-75. Belenenses once again failed to beat Vagos, it was (as the others...) a close and intense game but at the end things went to Vagos way 82-81. Finally CAB couldn't beat Ginasio. It was a close game but something is yet missing in CAB. They showed their last signing Rob Summers (213-C-84, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: W.Virginia), who played well (13 points, 7 boards) but Ginasio keep on going steadily, final result 78-83. The MVP of the week goes to Barreirense's Darrell Harris (208-C-84, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: Rhode Island), he scored 24 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, gave 3 assists and also put 3 blocks. Great performance from a player who is lacking some consistency to be more decisive not only for his team but also to build a solid career.

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PUERTO RICO

Humacao chose Ja Ja Richards. -by Alessandro Fontana
Humacao chose Ja Ja Richards in the BSN Draft 'Sorteo Comunitarios' 2008. In this season the BSN teams can line up two import players + 1 'comunitarios' (a player who comes from Rep. Dominicana, Venezuela, Cuba, Virgin Island, Haiti, Dominica, Bahamas, Mexico and all the countries of the Caribbean Sphere.)
Ja Ja Richards was the first choice of this Draft. Richards comes from US Virgin Islands, He is an expert center who is playing in this season the Liga de las Americas with Miami Tropics . He is a 'journey-man', He played also in Turkey (Mersin), Philippines (Cola Tigers), Uruguay, Brazil and Ukraine. In 2005 He played in BSN for Coamo with 6.1 ppg and 8.2 rpg in 22 games. The second choice of this Draft was Diego Guevara who was chosen by Vaqueros de Bayamon. Guevara is a venezuelan play-shooting guard. Last season He played in Venezuela with Delfines de Miranda with 14,3 ppg.
The Draft:
1- Humacao - Ja Ja Richards (US Virgin Islands)
2- Bayamon- Diego Guevara (Venezuela)
3- Guynabo- Kevin Sheppard (US Virgin Islands)
4- Mayaguez- Carl Krauser (US Virgin Islands)
5- Caguas- Antonio Garcia (Panama)
6- San German- Victor Avila (Mexico)
7- Carolina- Pasò
8- Ponce- Eddie Elisma (USA- Rep. Dom)
9- Guayama - Amaury Filion (Rep. Dominicana)
10- Fajardo- Omar Quintero (Mexico)
11- Arecibo- Karel Rosario (USA- Cuba)
12- Santurce- Victor Mariscal (Mexico)
A. Fontana

Boricuas Abroad -by Alessandro Fontana
BORICUAS ABROAD
In Turkey, Besiktas won against Mutcu Aku 100-95, MVP of the game was 'The Wizard' Rick Apodaca with 18 pts (6/7 2pts, 2/3 3pts) for Christian Dalmau 5 points and 8 assists.
In Spain, Fuenlabrada was defeated by Tau Vitoira 98-61. Peter John Ramos played 16 minutes with 8 pts (3/7 2pts, 2/2 FT) and 4 rebs. Malaga won against Polaris Murcia 73-70, Daniel Santiago scored only 2 pts (1/5 2pts) and 5 rebs in 13 minutes. In Poland, Turow won against SPEC Polonia 82-74. Andres Rodriguez scored 13 pts with 7 assts. Polpharma was defeated by Polpak 77-68, Donald Copeland scored 11 pts with 6 assts. In Germany, Paderborn defeated Jena 84-70. Nathan Peavy (He was chosen at the third place by Vaqueros Bayamon in BSN Draft 2008) scored 9 pts (2/7 2pts, 5/8 FT) + 6 rebs in 24 minutes. Nathan Peavy is having a good season in Germany with 9.2 ppg and 4.2 rpg.
In NBA, Dallas won against Denver90-85, Jose Juan Barea played 7 minutes with 0 pts (0/3 2pts, 0/1 3pts) and 1 assist. Orlando won an hard game against one of the strongest teams of this NBA season the Boston Celtics. Orlando won 96-93. Carlos Arroyo played in the starting-five 32 minutes with 2 pts (1/2 2pts 0/3 3pts), 4 rebs and 4 assts.
A. Fontana

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SERBIA

A league, round 14: Hosts against visitors 3-3 -by Dragan Jankovski
Round 14 of Serbian A league didn't bring any big surprises. Mega Aqua Monta remains on top with record of 11-3 while Swisslion Takovo and Radnicki 034 Group have 10-4. Ergonom is struggling and have only one win so far. They are already determined to be going in Serbian B league next season.

The most exciting game was played in Leskovac where Sloga grabbed win against Zdravlje Actavis 82-81. Swisslions Takovo recorded the easiest win beating Novi Sad visitors 84-66.

The MVP of the round 14 was Rajko Kljajevic (204-F-85, agency: Interperformances) of Radnicki 034 Group. The second place is reserved for Vukasin Aleksic (185-G-85, agency: Beo Basket) of Swisslions Takovo while the third is young prospect Uros Nikolic (207-F-87) of Mega Aqua Monta.


Novi Sad - Swisslions Takovo 66-84
(12-13,19-21,13-30,22-20)

Novi Sad: Radenkovic 19 (6 rebs), Zolotic 12 (6 rebs), Tomasevic 9 (4 rebs)
Swisslions Takovo: Aleksic 24 (4 as, 5 st), Marjanovic 19 (4 st), Vlaskovic 14


Zdravlje Actavis - Sloga 81-82
(19-16,14-17,26-22,22-27)

Zdravlje Actavis: Marojevic 23 (9 rebs), Bogavac 23 (7 rebs), Lucic 14 (6 rebs)
Sloga: Pejovic 18 (5 as), Mijovic 16 (6 rebs), Dasic 16 (5 rebs)


Napredak Rubin - Mega Aqua Monta 80-86
(19-22,16-14,18-21,27-29)

Napredak Rubin: Markovic 22 (4 rebs, 4 as, 4 st), Miletic 20 (8 rebs), Milicevic 16 (5 rebs)
Mega Aqua Monta: Nikolic 23 (12 rebs), Markovic 21 (5 rebs), Dragicevic 15 (6 rebs)


Masinac - Radnicki Invest Inzenjering 95-81
(26-18,28-18,19-17,22-28)

Masinac: Mirkovic 17 (6 rebs), Habus 16 (4 as), Sinadinovic 15
Radnicki Invest Inzenjering: Popovic 16 (4 rebs), Rajkovic 15 (4 rebs), Zarkovic 13 (5 as)


Ergonom - Radnicki 034 Group 79-89
(16-28,20-18,24-21,19-22)

Ergonom: Koprivica 22 (6 rebs), Piplovic 19 (8 rebs), Radosavljevic 10
Radnicki 034 Group: Kljajevic 31 (6 rebs), Pesic 22 (8 as), Beader 16


Vizura - Borac 83-72
(20-16,26-19,21-19,16-18)

Vizura: Vuksanovic 27 (5 rebs), Karic 14 (7 rebs, 6 as)
Borac: Radisavljevic 18 (4 as), Markovic 14, Maric 10

Lower leagues: Results of round 14 -by Dragan Jankovski
B league, round 14:

Vujic Metalac - FMP 2 89:74
(22:25, 14:12, 24:21, 29:16)

Proleter Naftagas - Sloboda 97:71
(28:20, 18:31, 24:06, 27:14)

Vrbas - Tamis Petrohemija 91:103
(17:24, 30:32, 22:23, 22:24)

Crnokosa - Beograd 87:86
(30:17, 26:20, 13:26, 18:23)

Zeleznicar - Kikinda 57:75
(05:21, 13:12, 21:21, 18:21)

Vojvodina Zlatiborac - Prva Petoletka 80:76
(23:11, 08:15, 27:25, 22:25)

Beovuk 72 - Kotez Bambi 92:87
(31:27, 26:13, 13:26, 22:21)



Third league - North:

Topola - Radnicki (Bg) 68:95
(15:18, 22:25, 12:31, 19:21)

Grocka - Zemun Lasta 73:69
(20:18, 16:10, 17:25, 20:16)

Sport Key - Polet Keramika 71:69
(22:26, 21:14, 11:16, 17:13)

Partizan 2 - Viva Basket 87:77
(19:21, 21:19, 21:17, 26:20)

Superfund BP - Srem 91:68
(25:18, 16:13, 23:25, 27:12)

FKL Temerin - Mladost (Ze) 87:93
(21:23, 24:23, 24:19, 18:28)

Radnicki (Ob) - Spartak 129:72
(33:17, 30:20, 41:17, 25:18)



Third league - South:

Novi Pazar - Bor RTB 70:73
(22:15, 11:17, 21:19, 16:22)

Jablanica - Maraton Atlantik 59:81
(23:16, 09:20, 12:24, 15:21)

Goc - Krusevac 76:71
(25:15, 24:20, 15:14, 12:22)

Nis - Mladost (Ca) 71:80
(16:35, 09:15, 23:12, 23:18)

Pirot - Napredak Maksi-Ko 64:70
(19:15, 12:17, 11:13, 22:25)

Mladost (Za) - Prokuplje 97:70
(27:15, 24:17, 24:15, 22:23)

Svilajnac Kompo - Zlatibor 80:76
(14:13, 16:26, 23:15, 27:22)

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SLOVENIA

Spesic juts misses triple-double -by Zeljko Zule
Krka opened the game with a 30-11 spurt and early in second half scored 12 straight points as defeated Luka Koper 102-87. TJ Sorrentine finished with 22 points and 6 assists and Davor Marcelic netted 19 points. Koper made all 23 free throws. Vladimir Panic posted 20 points and Dusan Virijevic 15. Zlatorog in first quarter shot amaizing 93percent (13-of-14) for an 104-80 raod win over Alpos Sentjur. Lance Harris made his first 8 shots and finished with 27 points on shooting 11-of-13, Ante Masic had 24 points and 7 rebounds and Salih Nuhanovic added 19 points. Srboljub Nedeljkovic led the home team with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Zagorje defeated TCG Mercator 105-97. Nejc Glavas served 36 points on shooting 12-of-17 and handed out 8 assists and Igor Spesic (204-F/C-83) just missed triple-double with 21 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists. TCG Mercator gost 23 points from Jure Erzen, 22 from Simon Finzgar and 18 from Sasa Ljubenovic who grabbed 9 rebounds. Elektra led as many as 19 points in first quarter and thrashed Kraski zidar Jadran 95-71. Drazen Bubnic scored 22 points and Zan Vrecko added 17 while Miroslav Juric was Kraski's only scorer in double digits with 26 points.

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SPAIN

Week 18: Stevei Johnson MVP LEB-Silver and Jermaine Turner MVP LEB-Bronze -by Daniel Fernandez

Stevie Johnson (198-F-78, college: Iowa St.) (Caja Rioja) was the MVP in the 18th round in the Adecco LEB Silver with 32 of efficiency. CB Illescas is leading LEB Silver with a great balance (15-3). Jermaine Turner (195-F-74, college: Dowling) (CB Tijola) was the MVP in the Adecco LEB Bronze with 43 of efficiency. Gestiberica Vigo and Rayet Guadalajara are leading LEB Bronze with 13 wins and 4 loses.

Week 18: TOP 5 by Effiency LEB Silver

Stevie Johnson (198-F-78) (Caja Rioja): 32 (27pt + 5rb)

Ramon Espuna (206-C/F-84) (CB Tarragona): 30 (20pt + 13rb)

Tyray Pearson (201-F-80) (CB Almeria): 29 (14pt + 15rb)

Jason Blair (201-F-79) (Plasencia): 25 (24pt + 2rb)

Dominick Martin (208-C-83) (Plasencia): 24 (13pt + 13rb)

Week 18: TOP 5 by Efficiency LEB Bronze

Jermaine Turner (195-F-74) (CB Tijola): 43 (31pt + 9rb)

Josep Mestres (208-F/C-85) (AB Esplugues): 30 (15pt + 14rb)

Jeff Mallory (213-C/F-83) (Cajasur): 28 (25pt + 10rb)

Derek Stribling (198-F-82) (AB Esplugues): 26 (22pt + 6rb)

Jan Martin (203-F/C-84) (Real Madrid B): 26 (20pt + 7rb)



Russell in Estu till the end of the season -by Francisco Martinez
Walker Russell (183-G-82, college: Jacksonville St.) has signed a contract with MT Estudiantes for the remainder of the season. The blue club has signed the player to reinforce the perimeter positions with a guard who was playing in the D-League.

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TAIWAN

Pure Youth makes strong bid to top four -by Chris Wang
Jan. 27
dmedia 96-72 BOT
dmedia: Ouyang Jin-hen 42p(14-24 FG, 8-8 FT), J. Sanders 20p+21rb+7a+3blk
BOT: Chien Ming-fu 16p, Chang Jung-hsuan 15p, Hsu Chi-chan 13p+10rb

PY 82-78 Dacin
PY: Chien Jia-hong 33p(10-21 FG), Wu Jian-long 13p+8rb, Lin Jin-ban 13p, Zuo Tsun-kai 11p
Dacin: Chen Tse-wei 16p, Lin Yi-huei 16p, Su Yi-chieh 11p

TB 84-77 Yulon
TB: Yang Chin-min 20p+7rb, Ho SHo-jen 18p, Lin Chih-jay 2p+8rb+9a, Wu Dai-hao 12p+9rb
Yulon: Chen Hsin-an 20p+12rb+8a, Lee Hsueh-lin 23p, Lu Cheng-ju 13p

Jan. 26
PY 107-100 TB
PY: Chien Jia-hong 35p(14-25 FG)+8rb, Zuo Tsun-kai 33p(10-17 FG), Chen Shi-jay 11p+6rb+8a+4s
TB: Ho Sho-jen 19p+8rb, Lin Chih-jay 17p, Wu Dai-hao 18p+8rb, Lo Shin-liang 16p

Yulon 86-79 dmedia
Yulon: Chou Shi-yuan 30p, Chen Hsin-an 21p+9rb, Lee Hsueh-lin 19p
dmedia: J. Sanders 28p+13rb+7a

Dacin 62-51 TM
Dacin: Wang Chih-chun 12p, Lin Yi-huei 12p, Su Yi-chieh 9p+7rb+7a
TM: Hsu Tse-shin 13p+7rb, Hsu Wei-shen 11p+7rb, Wu Yong-jen 11p

Jan. 25
Dacin 70-66 BOT
Dacin: Chen Tse-wei 13p+8rb, Lee Fong-yong 13p+8rb, Chang Chi-feng 13p
BOT: Hsu Chi-chan 15p+7rb, Chien Ming-fu 15p, Lin Chih-long 10P=8rb

dmedia 70-58 TM
dmedia: Ouyang Jin-hen 18p, J. Sanders 15p+18rb, Lin Kwan-lun 13p, Wu Jia-long 12p
TM: Wu Yong-jen 17p, Hsu Wei-shen 16p

SBL weekly observations -by Chris Wang
It's been a week full of surprises, upsets and high-scoring individual performances in the SBL. Let's take a look back at the week that was:

The emergence of Pure Youth
Believe it or not, Pure Youth has won five of its last six games. It is now 7-11 and challenging Dacin's No. 4 spot in the standings.

The primary reason for this unexpected emerge was Chien Jia-hong. The 196cm center had two 30-plus games during the week, scoring a career-high 35 points in the 107-100 win over Taiwan Beer and followed with a 33-point performance the next night, an 82-78 victory over Dacin.

It seemed that Chien, who was suspended for punching opponents earlier this season, has walked out of the shadow of the suspension and focused on his game. The surprise was Chien, who was primarily an inside player, slowly added a perimeter game to his arsenal and is now comfortable launching shots from the outside.

Chien's high school classmate Zuo Tsun-kai also bagged a career-high 33 points in the TB game. Zuo, who has been known for his offensive talent since junior high, has finally found his confidence and consistency.

Short-handed Dinos
Taiwan Beer beat Yulon again Sunday, but they wouldn't laugh if they were smart enough. Winning by only seven with four Dinos starters sitting out with injuries was definitely not something to happy about.

Yulon's starting center Tsun Wen-din has been nursing his knee injuries for weeks. Same goes to starting point guard Chen Chih-chun, the heart and soul of the team. Yang Che-yi (shoulder) and Lee Chi-yi (ankle) also sat out the game.

Oh, Ouyang!
One more explosive scorer in the last week ¡V dmedia forward/guard Ouyang Jin-hen, who came out of nowhere to surprise everyone with his 19.2 point per game scoring average this season, which ranked him as the No. 2 scoring leader behind only Chen Hsin-an (20.8ppg).

Ouyang tallied a career-high 42 points Sunday in a 96-72 win over Bank of Taiwan, shooting 14-of-24 from the field and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

I wonder what dmedia head coach Wu Jian-kuo had done to motivate Ouyang this season. The 28-year-old was seen as the next big thing as a combo guard throughout his high school career but has been disappointing in the A-League and the SBL. Anyway, he has been a different player this year. And it's always good to see a story like that.

Yen is back
Yen Shin-shu was back with the SBL after spending four years in the entertainment business and a short stint in the Chinese CBA. Yen, who plays for Taiwan Beer, had two points and two assists in five minutes Saturday.

It was not too long ago that Yen led all players in assists in the Asian Championship. After four years in the show business, the fans still expect the 31-year-old guard to be as good as he was, evidenced by those screaming sound (of girls...) from the courtside.

Yen should be able to direct TB's halfcourt offense once he regains his fitness. However that gives TB a problem. Will Yen replace Chen Shih-nian as the starting point? Can backup PG Hsu hao-cheng fiind any playing time after Yen's arrival?

By the way, I always think that Hsu should be TB's starting point guard, not Chen.

Low attendence
SBL attendence hit a new low Saturday with only 102 tickets sold. Yes, 102 fans bothered to buy tickets for a triple-header! Didn't the league say it has established solid reputation with four years of hard work and is looking at a bright future?

In fact, the attedence record has not been doing well for a while ever since the league moved the main stadium from downtown Taipei to Sinjhuang, Taipei County as the TPEC Gym, the main arena SBL has been playing for the last four years, is still under construction.

People said Sinjhuang was too far away from Taipei City and it's not convenient for fans to get there. Maybe. However, when the regular season games were played in Taichung for two weeks earlier, the attendence number also dropped dramatically in the second week.

That probably tells you the SBL has a lot of issues for concerns other than its image problem.

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TANZANIA

Basketball Tourney Starts March 25 -by Carlos Pereira
The National Basketball League (NBL) starts on March 25 in Tanga, the Tanzania Basketball Federation (TBF) secretary general, Lawrence Cheyo has announced.
Regional club champion teams are expected to compete in the week-long championship.
Cheyo named six clubs that have gained an automatic qualification to compete in the championship after excelling during last year's edition held in Dodoma.
The clubs are JKT, Savio,Oilers, Dodoma Spurs, Bees and Mzinga.
Title holders for men are Savio while JKT Stars will defend their title for women.

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TURKEY

Cetin Yilmaz To Leave Beykoz -by Sinan Kocak
TTnet Beykoz Coach Cetin Yilmaz resigned stating that he enjoyed working at the club but decided to leave due ethical reasons. Being one of the important coaches of Turkish Basketball, he coached many clubs and leading them to championships. Assistant Okan Cevik is the new head coach.

Uleb Cup Matchups For The Turkish Teams -by Sinan Kocak
According to the Top 32 Drawn, Besiktas Cola Turka, finished the first round with a histrocial 10-0 record, will play Hapoel Jarusalem from Israel while Galatasaray Cafe Crown facing Asvel from France and Turk Telekom against Unics Kazan from Russia. The fisrt games will be played on February 19th and the latter on February 26th.

Dickle Back To Turkey -by Sinan Kocak
New Zealand National Team Point Guard Mark Dickel (187-G-76, college: UNLV) is returning to Turkey for the fourth time to play for Mutlu Aku Selcuk Uni. after leaving the German League Champion Brose Basket Bamberg. He played for Fenerbahce in 2002-03 & 2003-04 and averaged 19.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 8.7 assists in 2004-05 at Erdemirspor Belediyesi. In 14 BBL league games with Bamberg, Dickel averaged 3.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 17 minutes of action.

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U.KINGDOM

Fury on the lookout for new players -by Dave Ryan
After a disapointing weekend which saw them lose heavily against Reading Rockets before going down in the basement battle against Coventry Crusaders, West Anglia Fury have decided to release both import players Lamar Hull (176-G, college: Davidson) and Charles Whitfield (197-F-81, agency: Vision Sports Management, college: Avila).
Coach James Bamfield 'With the team rock bottom i couldn't see us turning things around so rather than treading water i decided we needed to make a change'. With the deadline just days away Fury are now looking for EU or british players with the emphasis on leadership at the point guard position. Bamfield 'We can provide accomodation and have a small amount of coaching available but would also like to look at anyone willing to travel from other areas.'
Fury must move fast as the deadline is Thursday, anyone interested should email klfury@hotmail.com

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U.S.VIRGIN ISL.

Freeman signs with Helios -by David Edole
Helios Domzale of the Slovakian Basketball 1A League signed Reggie Freeman (198-G/F-75, college: Texas) for the remainder of this season. Freeman started this season in Greece where he played for Ago Rethimno Almeco and averaged 8.7ppg, 2.7rpg in 6 games. The two sides parted ways last week and he looks forward to playing in Slovakia. Freeman has played all over Europe, he spent last season playing in Italy for Upea Capo D'Orlando where he averaged 11.9ppg, 3.9rpg, 1.4apg, 1.3spg in 25 games. During his career he played for ITU Istanbul (Turkey), Cibona Zagreb, FMP Zeleznik Beograd, KK Crvena Zvezda Beograd, BC Nis Vojvodina Novi Sad, B.C. Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania), ASVEL, and Roseto.

CENTROBASKET 2008 -by David Edole
The 2008 Centrobasket Tournament will be played in Cancun, Mexico during the first week of July. The Virgin Islands Men's team, ranked 36th in the world, is scheduled to play in the event along with Puerto Rico (12), Dominican Republic (30) and Cuba from the Caribbean region. The defending champion Panama (29), host Mexico (28), Costa Rica and El Salvador from the Central American region.
As usual the top three teams will advance to the tournament of Americas with a chance to play in the World Basketball Championship.
The Virgin Islands settled for the silver in Centrobasket 2006 after knocking off Puerto Rico in the semifinals at the buzzer on a long three point shot by Jason Edwin.

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UKRAINE

Ukrainian teams found out their opponents -by Eurobasket News
ULEB Cup Elimination round draw was just held in Barcelona and sixteen pairs were chosen to decide on the 16 lucky ones to go through. The series will consist of two games and the winners will be decided on aggregate score. The first elimination round is scheduled to tip off on February 19. The return leg will be played on February 26. Top 16 round should be played on March 11 and 18. Then the competition will enjoy Final Eight tournament scheduled for April 10-13 in Turin, Italy.
Azovmash Mariupol will face Zadar from Croatia and will for sure have a real battle with it. In Adriatic league Zadar stopped Partizan's streak that consisted of 15 consecutive wins. Moreover Zadar reached 13th win in the row and 16-3 in the league. Corey Brewer (188-G-75, college: Oklahoma) top-scored with 18 points for the winners. Jere Macura (204-F/C-80, college: Notre Dame) and Jure Lalic (212-C-86) did a great job defending Pekovic in the first quarter, when Zadar recorded as many as eight steals. Pankracije Barac (196-G-81) drained two 3-pointers for a 43:27 Zadar lead heading into the second half.In the third quarter Serbian team reduced the gap a bit and won the quarter 9:13. A 18:14 in the last quarter let Croatian team the success in the game. With an entire city backing them, Zadar is ready for more, and will get tested by Azovmash.
BC Kyiv will play against Telindus Oostende from Belgium. Telindus Oostende has the responsibility to represent Belgian basketball in the elimination rounds but has overcome a very tough regular season group toughened and ready to battle for more. Belgian team leads the National league with 13-4 record.

*****************************************************
ULEB CUP

Top 32 draw is completed in Barcelona -by Eurobasket News
So the ULEB Cup Elimination round draw was just held in Barcelona and sixteen pairs were chosen to decide on the 16 lucky ones to go through. The series will consist of two games and the winners will be decided on aggregate score. The first elimination round is scheduled to tip off on February 19. The return leg will be played on February 26. Top 16 round should be played on March 11 and 18. Then the competition will enjoy Final Eight tournament scheduled for April 10-13 in Turin, Italy.
So the Top 32 matchups will clash together:
Dynamo Moscow - Slask Wroclaw
Ventspils - Lukoil
BC Kyiv - Oostende
Turow - Nymburk
Akasvayu - Elan Chalon
Buducnost - Hemofarm
Turk Telekom - Unics
Triumph - Artland Dragons
Joventut - Gmunden
Khimky - Koeln 99ers
Zadar - Azovmash
Pamesa - Panionios
Besiktas - Hapoel
Benetton- Crvena Zvezda
Galatasaray - Asvel Basket
Gran Canaria - KK Bosna.

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ZIMBABWE

Bulawayo Hosts Basketball Event -by Carlos Pereira
Basketball enthusiasts are in for a treat this year, as Bulawayo hosts the inter-provincial championships for the first time in eight years.

The tournament kicks off on 28 February at the Bulawayo Club for the Disabled. Bulawayo Province are the defending champions.
Daniel Mombeshora, the Bulawayo Basketball Association vice-chairman (technical department), told Standardsport last week preparations were already in full swing, although they were still battling to secure sponsorship.
'It is good that the tournament is being held in Bulawayo as we last hosted the event eight years ago,' Mombeshora said. 'Our teams are already preparing for the tournament and the main aim is to retain the title.'
Last year the tournament, held in Harare, was sponsored by a South Africa-based company, Mag Petroleum, which is yet to commit itself to this year's event.
A fundraising event has been scheduled for 3 February, where BBA vice-chairman in charge of promotions, Joe Mujuru, would be the host.
Mujuru said at least $12 billion would be needed to host the tournament, adding potential sponsors had made enquiries.
'The problem we have at the moment is that one of the potential sponsors wants to be the only sponsor for the tournament,' he said. 'But we are still negotiating as we are aiming to have more than one sponsor.'



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Women News

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AUSTRIA - Women

AWBL enjoys the start of qualifying round -by Eurobasket News
The AWBL regular season just wrapped up with the games of Round 14. And it did not take long for the qualifying round to get under way with its first encounters. Powerbasket Wels opened up the action against Klosterneuburg and drove to an 86:67 victory. The teams kept it close throughout the first frame as visiting Wels managed to pick up a 2-point lead at the end 19:17. Wels maintained the gap in the second frame and enlarged it to 7 points at the interval. And though the hosts tried hard to deny the deficit they were unable to succeed. Wels proved the strength after the break sealing a comprehensive win at the end. Dana-Ranae Jones (183-F/C-81, college: S.Mississippi) poured in 22 points for Wels. Radwan scored 16 points for the winners as they claimed the 6th win. Agnes Roth (186-F-86) answered with 18 points for the hosts as they remained with 2 victories in the ladder.
The Flying Foxes easily overcame the Vienna 87 away from home to remain atop of the standings. The Flying Foxes accumulated a 42:23 lead at halftime looking pretty convincing in the first half. They limited the hosts to just 6 points in the third stanza and piled up a 37-point advantage heading into the final term. Vienna 87 had little to say in the fourth period as the Foxes finalized their winning start of the qualifying round. Yaneth Arias (188-F-82) netted 22 points to pace the Flying Foxes. Martina Remler (185-F/C-75) contributed 20 points in a win. Agnes Meisinger (178-F-80) knocked down 18 points for Vienna 87.

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BARBADOS - Women

Garrison set on regaining dominance in Girls' final -by Justin Marville
Despite missing former standout and national shooting guard Sade Clarke this year, the two-time defending double crowned champs Garrison Secondary entered this season of the WIBISCO Shirley School Girls' Basketball tournament as the clear cut pre-season favourites after not losing a game in over two years while retaining at least three of their senior players, including reigning two-time MVP Tiffany Husbands.

But their 'queenly' status took an early dent once the tournament began as the St. Michael School boldly announced their arrival by handing the defending champions a humbling 43-38 defeat in the confines of their own Dayrell's Road home court in the very first game of the regular season.

The Martindale Road lasses then went on to showcase their title intentions by routing the rest of the competition, including a 60-22 semi-final thrashing of Alexandra on Friday, to enter Wednesday's league final as the number one seeds.

Now, for the first time ever, Garrison enter a major school girls' final with no real assurances of lifting the silverware.

But don't tell that to the reigning champs, or even to the rest of their competition.

After that shocking defeat at the hands of their southern rivals, the two-time double crowned queens also made light work of the remaining schools left in their path, concluding with a similar 63-27 rout of Queen's College in the semis, setting up the highly anticipated rematch of the season opener's late game thriller at the Barbados Community College.

But Garrison coach Orlando Roach does not believe this contest will be as close this time around.

'We should win the game comfortably…at least by double digits' stated a highly confident Roach.

'Basically, we were not ready when we first played them and I must admit we underestimated St. Michael but I believe we still should have won that game. We are a different team now though, even throughout the season our girls were not motivated to play but I can see a different approach to the game now.'

Roach also cited some injury problems as part of the reason for his team's slow start to the season but went on to say that he is seeing glimpses of the old Tiffany Husbands and figures once she is in shape that she would create problems for any team.

However, the most successful coach at the girls' level still credits St. Michael for having a very good team and is aware of the danger the side presents if allowed to get out in their favoured transition game.

'We have to focus on their running game. [Tamisha] Flatts and the other tall girl [Nadia Rose-Hinds] love to run and get out in the open court but it should be more difficult for them to score once we slow them down in a half court game' according to Roach.

'They have a very good team but we are just the better side.'

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BELARUS - Women

Olimpia stamped their authority in Baltic League -by Eurobasket News
In Grodno Belarus saw again 1 win and 1 loss for the local teams. Olimpia stamped their authority on the game beating LTU j. team 102:52. Olimpia took the score out to 23:12 midway through the opening period. They continued to stretch their lead, and a 21:19 tear in the second took the score out to 44:31. The second half saw the home side enjoy runs to maintain their lead. Tatiana Lihtarovich (176-G-88) paced the winners with 22 points. Olga Kopylova (187-F-82) netted 14, while Filonchik scored 13. Galdikaitė produced 20 points in the losing effort.
Arvi stole another win from Grodno upsetting BC Minsk-2006 69:82. A 13:22 in the opening quarter was the good start for the visitors that stretched their lead later in the game. Belorussian team could reply only with 26:20 in the last quarter. Andrea Bills (188-C-83, agency: LBM Management, college: Oregon) paced the winners with 27 points. Moore and Briedytė supported her with 15 apiece. Natalia Krauchuk (185-F-73) and Ramanava produced 10 points for the hosts.

Olimpia - LTU j. team 102 : 52 ( 23 : 12, 21 : 19, 29 : 8, 29 : 13 )
Olimpia: Tatiana Lihtarovich 22, Olga Kopylova 14, Filonchik 13
LTU j. team: Sigita Galdikaite (183-F-90) 20, Autukaitė 11, Kaminskaitė 6

BC Minsk-2006 - Arvi 69 : 82 ( 13 : 22, 15 : 20, 15 : 20, 26 : 20 )
BC Minsk-2006: Natalia Krauchuk 10, Ramanava 10, Tiamezhnikava 8
Arvi: Andrea Bills 27, Moore 15, Briedytė 15

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BULGARIA - Women

The battle of the best! -by Eurobasket News
Lukoil Neftochimic beat Dunav Econt in the last game of the round and finished the first part of it on the top place. After 61:66 in the first game Lukoil Neftochimic advantaged with 69:53 victory. The hosts started as if they had to and finished the first quarter at 19:14. Dunav Econt bounced back with 13:17 to reduce the score at the half. The third quarter brought much success for the hosts as they spurted with 18:7 in it. Radostina Slavova (186-F-86) nailed the winners with 19 points. Katya Kordova and Dimana Makarieva followed her with 11 points each. Roksana Yordanova (184-G-84) top-scored with 14 points in the losing effort.
Another two games had a great scenario as well. Montana 2003 overcame Slavia 83:81 with 27 points from Tsvetomila Petrova (188-F-82). Nadezhda Simeonova nailed 22, while Zheni Dimitrova added 15. Hristina Deyanova netted 22 points for the visitors.
Beroe 2007 did not allow NSA Delta to celebrate the only win in the league and stole 73:76 win. The opening quarter showed 20:20 and then the guests were lucky to go for the lockers with 42:44. A 13:25 in the third quarter gave the visitors a good opportunity to finish with a win. Elena Petrova (183-F-74) poured in 26 points for the winners. Neli Pasheva chipped in 19 and Zhaneta Zhelyova added 17. Kristina Nikolova (174-F-86) was the top-scorer in the round finishing with 31 points.


Lukoil Neftochimic - Dunav Econt 69 - 53
Lukoil Neftochimic: Radostina Slavova 19, Katya Kordova 11,Dimana Makarieva 11
Dunav Econt: Roksana Yordanova 14, Anna Rimpova (183-F-82) 11,Petya Djambazka 9

Montana 2003 - Slavia 83 - 81
Montana 2003: Tsvetomila Petrova 27,Nadezhda Simeonova 22,Zheni Dimitrova 15
Slavia: Hristina Deyanova 22, Lilyana Ilieva (191-C-88) 14, Tonka Tencheva 11

NSA Delta - Beroe 2007 73 - 76
NSA Delta:Kristina Nikolova 31,Gergana Koleva 16,Maria Ranguelova 10
Beroe 2007: Elena Petrova 26, Neli Pasheva 19, Zhaneta Zhelyova 17

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BWBL - Women

Standings
BWBL Standings
1. Tim-Scuf 12-0
2. Arvi 11-1
3. Laisve 9-2
4. Berezina 9-3
5. Cesis 7-4
6. RGUOR 7-5
7. Olimpia 7-5
8. Audentes 5-5
9. Lemmink. 5-6
10. Ol.-NAEK 5-7
11. TLU/AJ 3-7
12. Avantis T. 2-9
13. TTT/Rapa 1-10
14. Lintel 118 1-11
15. Barsy Atyr. 0-9


The favorites push the tempo -by Eurobasket News
Another huge round waived to the teams from Baltic League and cleared out the picture in the standings.
TIM-SCUF reached 12-0 record beating Tallinna Living in Kiev 76:71. The game however was tough for the favorite that even trailed in the opening quarter. The things got better later in the game and it seemed it would be an easy end of the game. But Tallinna Living proposed 12:24 in the last quarter to bring the intrigue in the end of the game. Luckily for the Ukrainian team the game was over at 76:71. Yelena Savina (186-F-84) led the winners with 20 points. Yegorova ended up with 17 points, while Dorogobuzova posted 16. Viive-Kai Rebane (184-F-89) top-scored for Estonian team with 28 points.
In another game that was held in Kiev Olimp-NAEK brought another win for Ukraine beating TLU/VOLTA 61:58. That game was even more interesting that the first one and had different scenario. At first Ukrainian side went on a 25:14 lead, but then TLU/VOLTA replied with 15:21 in the second. The second half was dedicated to the tough defensive game and as a result both teams scored 44 points in 20 minutes. Olimp-NAEK remained in front and won 61:58. Olga Kryshtal (175-G-86) paced the winners with 17 points. Mykhailenko nailed 16 and Buryak added 7. Katrin Olmari (184-F-75) led the way for the Estonian squad with 13 points.
In Grodno Belarus saw again 1 win and 1 loss for the local teams. Olimpia stamped their authority on the game beating LTU j. team 102:52. Olimpia took the score out to 23:12 midway through the opening period. They continued to stretch their lead, and a 21:19 tear in the second took the score out to 44:31. The second half saw the home side enjoy runs to maintain their lead. Tatiana Lihtarovich (176-G-88) paced the winners with 22 points. Kopylova netted 14, while Filonchik scored 13. Galdikaitė produced 20 points in the losing effort.
Arvi stole another win from Grodno upsetting BC Minsk-2006 69:82. A 13:22 in the opening quarter was the good start for the visitors that stretched their lead later in the game. Belorussian team could reply only with 26:20 in the last quarter. Andrea Bills (188-C-83, agency: LBM Management, college: Oregon) paced the winners with 27 points. Moore and Briedytė supported her with 15 apiece. Natalia Krauchuk (185-F-73) and Ramanava produced 10 points for the hosts.
Kaunas saw two victories of the local teams as Laisvė and Lemminkainen upset Latvian teams. Laisvė scored another crucial win over TTT Rapa. Laisvė held the early advantage and finished the first quarter at 27:20. TTT Rapa did not give up and tied the second quarter at 21 for both teams. Latvian trio controlled the third stanza. Sandra Cizauskiene (188-C-72) nailed 16 points to lead all the winners. Brovkienė and Marmienė followed her with 15 each. Liga Surkusa (194-C-91) and Vente top-scored for Latvian squad with 15 points apiece.
A massive third quarter performance formed the backbone of Lemminkainen thumping 99:75 home win against Avantis/Turiba.The advantage was rammed home in the second quarter as Lemminkainen were once again. The only task they did not solve was not reaching 100 points. Avantis/Turiba won the last quarter 18:21 and saved two numbers for the hosts on the board. Staugaitienė,Usaitė and Solopova posted 18 points each. Anda Eibele (170-G-84) top-scored for the guests with 24 points, while Zarina added 11.

TIM-SCUF- Tallinna Living 76 : 71 ( 23 : 25, 18 : 11, 23 : 11, 12 : 24 )
TIM-SCUF: Yelena Savina 20, Yegorova 17, Dorogobuzova 16
Tallinna Living: Viive-Kai Rebane 28, Raussberg 23, Puu 8

Olimp-NAEK - TLU/VOLTA 61 : 58 ( 25 : 14, 15 : 21, 10 : 11, 11 : 12 )
Olimp-NAEK: Olga Kryshtal 17, Mykhailenko 16, Buryak 7
TLU/VOLTA: Katrin Olmari 13, Rosenfeldt 12, Wallace 12

Olimpia - LTU j. team 102 : 52 ( 23 : 12, 21 : 19, 29 : 8, 29 : 13 )
Olimpia: Tatiana Lihtarovich 22, Kopylova 14, Filonchik 13
LTU j. team: Sigita Galdikaite (183-F-90) 20, Autukaitė 11, Kaminskaitė 6

BC Minsk-2006 - Arvi 69 : 82 ( 13 : 22, 15 : 20, 15 : 20, 26 : 20 )
BC Minsk-2006: Natalia Krauchuk 10, Ramanava 10, Tiamezhnikava 8
Arvi: Andrea Bills 27, Moore 15, Briedytė 15

Laisvė - RS TTT Rapa 95 : 72 ( 27 : 20, 21 : 21, 22 : 17, 25 : 14 )
Laisvė: Sandra Cizauskiene (188-C-72) 16, Brovkienė 15, Marmienė 15
RS TTT Rapa: Liga Surkusa 15, Vente 15, Gailite 13

Lemminkainen - Avantis/Turiba 99 : 75 ( 28 : 24, 23 : 17, 30 : 13, 18 : 21 )
Lemminkainen: Daina Staugaitiene (182-G-80) 18,Usaitė 18, Solopova 18
Avantis/Turiba: Anda Eibele 24, Zarina 11, Veinberga 10

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CZECH REP. - Women

Tabor gains the first win -by Eurobasket News
Tabor stunned third-ranked Valosun to register the initial victory in the ZBL. It never looked like a winning journey for the hosts early in the game as Valosun expectedly grabbed the lead. Lucie Kysilkova (160-G-82) nailed a three-pointer and Miloslava Svobodova (188-C-84) added a jumper to give the visitors an 11:5 advantage. Tabor however managed to keep it close throughout the first frame and trailed by just 4 points after 10 minutes. Hejdova scored 12 points in the second frame to enlarge the gap to 10 points for Valosun at the interval 40:30. But Tereza Vorlova (186-F-86), Petra Pospisilova (180-G-84) and Tereza Kuthanova (178-F-87) ignited a 9:2 run for the home team early in the second half as the difference was cut to just 3 points. Later Tereza Kuthanova completed a three-point play to trim the deficit to just a single point at 47:48. However Andrea Belanska (176-F-73) and Barbora Danihlikova (180-F/C-82) gave some breathing space to the visitors as they restored a 6-point distance at the end of the third period. Petra Pospisilova opened the final stanza with a long bomb and Zuzana Ondrejova (190-C-85) hit a jump shot to make it 54:55. Andrea Belanska kept Valosun ahead for some time but just to see Tereza Vorlova convert 4 straight points as Tabot surged ahead 62:60 midway through the frame. The lead then changed hands for 4 times and Valosun trailed by one point with 56 seconds left. Zuzana Ondrejova hit two free throws to extend the margin to 3 points with 27 seconds remaining in regulation. Miloslava Svobodova nailed a basket to narrow the gap to minimum but it was as close as Valosun could get. Tabor withstood the final seconds and celebrated a long-awaited and quite surprising victory. Zuzana Ondrejova provided 16 points and 6 boards for the hosts. Petra Pospisilova and Tereza Kuthanova contributed 13 points apiece for Tabor. Andrea Belanska dropped 16 points, while Romana Hejdova (181-F-88) and Miloslava Svobodova had 14 points each as Valosun fell at 9-4 record.
The leaders claimed quite predictable wins. Gambrinus routed Sparta Praha 111:64 in Brno. Hana Machova (182-F/G-79) led her teammates with 20 points and 6 assists. Eva Viteckova (190-F-82) netted 18 points in a win. Nicole Louden (172-G-83, college: Auburn) responded with 21 points in defeat. USK Praha outscored Trutnov 93:57 at home court. Lindsay Whalen (173-G-82, college: Minnesota) paced the winners with 20 points. Karavayeva responded with 17 points for Trutnov.

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DENMARK - Women

Horsholm crashes Vaerlose to keep the lead -by Eurobasket News
The Horsholm 79ers dismantled Vaerlose to secure their spot on top of Dameligaen ladder after 14 rounds. The teams were polar in the ladder with Vaerlose occupying the bottom spot in the ladder. And the game proved the difference. The 79ers limited their opponents to less than 10 points in three quarters of action to build a 56:24 lead heading into the final period. The hosts eased to an overall victory which highlighted their 11-2 record. Kristine Jensen provided 20 points and 9 boards for Horsholm. Maja Gerlyng-Hansen (179-G) added 12 points for the winners. Chelsea Luhta answered with 8 points and 11 boards for Vaerlose. Anne-Sofie Mortensen (178-G/F) and Tenna Aastrup (186-83) scored 9 points apiece in the 12th loss for the visitors.
SISU ensured the striking distance to Horsholm as they bumped Aabyhoj 72:55 at home court. The outcome was mainly decided in the stunning first quarter for Aabyhoj. SISU opened the game with full speed and notched 28 points to pile up a 16-point lead 10 minutes into the game. Aabyhoj struggled to find the right pace and the gap grew to 19 points at the interval. The home team slowed down thereafter but still managed to cruise to a confident win at the end. Sarah Lini (183-F-82, college: Colorado) was impressive with 29 points and 9 boards for SISU. Louise Gronemann (184-F-84, college: Denver) contributed 13 points, 7 boards and 7 assists in a winning case. Emilie Hesseldal (185-F-90) dropped 15 points in a loss. SISU improved to 11-3 record just behind Horsholm in the standings. Aabyhoj are at the 6th spot with 4-9 record.

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ESTONIA - Women

Savina carries Ukrainian side to 12-0 record -by Eurobasket News
TIM-SCUF reached 12-0 record in BWBL beating Tallinna Living in Kiev 76:71. The game however was tough for the favorite that even trailed in the opening quarter. The things got better later in the game and it seemed it would be an easy end of the game. But Tallinna Living proposed 12:24 in the last quarter to bring the intrigue in the end of the game. Luckily for the Ukrainian team the game was over at 76:71. Yelena Savina (186-F-84) led the winners with 20 points. Inna Yegorova (173-G-82) ended up with 17 points, while Dorogobuzova posted 16. Viive-Kai Rebane (184-F-89) top-scored for Estonian team with 28 points.
In another game that was held in Kiev Olimp-NAEK brought another win for Ukraine beating TLU/VOLTA 61:58. That game was even more interesting that the first one and had different scenario. At first Ukrainian side went on a 25:14 lead, but then TLU/VOLTA replied with 15:21 in the second. The second half was dedicated to the tough defensive game and as a result both teams scored 44 points in 20 minutes. Olimp-NAEK remained in front and won 61:58. Olga Kryshtal (175-G-86) paced the winners with 17 points. Maria Mykhailenko (181-G-87) nailed 16 and Buryak added 7. Katrin Olmari (184-F-75) led the way for the Estonian squad with 13 points.

TIM-SCUF- Tallinna Living 76 : 71 ( 23 : 25, 18 : 11, 23 : 11, 12 : 24 )
TIM-SCUF: Yelena Savina 20, Inna Yegorova 17, Dorogobuzova 16
Tallinna Living: Viive-Kai Rebane 28, Raussberg 23, Puu 8

Olimp-NAEK - TLU/VOLTA 61 : 58 ( 25 : 14, 15 : 21, 10 : 11, 11 : 12 )
Olimp-NAEK: Olga Kryshtal 17, Maria Mykhailenko 16, Buryak 7
TLU/VOLTA: Katrin Olmari 13, Heila Rosenfeldt (172-G-83) 12, Wallace 12

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ITALY - Women

Italian market moves -by Carlo Grilli
Banco di Sicilia Ribera, in the fight to avoid relegation, fired coach Gianni Tripodi and signed coach Francesco Paolo Anselmo.
On the player side, Fiera di Roma released Lisa Carrol (175-G-83, college: Fordham) and signed Milica Beljanski (185-F-83), former Taranto and Cavezzo; Italmoka Pozzuoli released Marika Zanardi (175-G-81), which agreed terms with ambitious Liomatic Umbertide (A2 South).

Serie A1, day-16: stats and results -by Carlo Grilli

Banco di Sicilia Ribera - Pool Comense 100 - 75
(24-20, 48-37, 73-60)
BANCO DI SICILIA RIBERA: Farris S. 2 (1/4), Duffy M. 16 (2/2, 3/4), Favento S. 3 (0/3, 1/1), Bona G. , Riccardi E. 5 (1/2, 1/2), Jami Montagnino (173-G-85, college: Tulane) 9 (3/5, 0/3), Perfetti C. 10 (1/2, 2/2), Pys'Mennik O. 31 (7/14, 5/7), Razmaite D. 15 (6/7, 0/1), Morrison Jara Z. 9 (2/4). Coach Anselmo Paolo Francesco
POOL COMENSE: Bouderra F. 15 (5/9, 1/1), Fassina M. dnp, Bestagno E. (0/1), Fabbri V. 6 (1/1), Slavcheva G. 16 (4/13, 2/2), Turner L. 7 (2/2), Invernizzi M. 5 (1/2, 1/1), Hall V. 13 (3/7, 2/4), Zampella A. 6 (3/6, 0/2), Sarni S. 7 (2/3, 1/1). Coach Ricchini Roberto

Famila Wuber Schio - Umana Venezia 75 - 51
(22-15, 38-31, 53-35)
FAMILA WUBER SCHIO: Consolini C. , Moro E. 7 (0/3, 2/3), Butler D. 9 (0/2, 2/2), Donaphin B. 13 (6/10), Tassara S. (0/2, 0/2), Masciadri R. 11 (4/6, 1/3), Ngoyisa B. 2 (1/1), Kathrin Ress (193-F-85, college: Boston Coll.) 12 (5/10, 0/1), Ciampoli F. , Macchi L. 21 (1/5, 3/4). Coach Orlando Sandro
UMANA VENEZIA: Pegoraro M. dnp, Sottana G. 3 (0/4, 1/6), Modica F. 12 (2/5, 1/6), Johnson S. 4 (2/7, 0/2), Sanford N. 12 (4/9), Andrade M. 7 (3/5, 0/1), Nadalin J. 2 (1/8), Romagnoli A. dnp, Vujovic A. 11 (2/5, 2/6), Zampieri A. dnp. Coach Riga Massimo

Fiera di Roma - Italmoka Pozzuoli 68 - 53
(15-17, 37-33, 47-42)
FIERA DI ROMA: Di Battista F. 7 (2/4, 1/4), Servillo M. dnp, Hodges D. 12 (3/8, 0/8), Cinili S. 2 (1/2), Mendes Da Silva T. dnp, Machanguana C. 19 (7/12), Lichnerova J. 4 (1/5, 0/1), Beljanski M. 9 (3/8, 1/1), Scimitani S. (0/1), Claudia Gattini (180-G-79) 15 (7/8, 0/3). Coach Incecchi Sandro
ITALMOKA POZZUOLI: Paparo N. , Ferazzoli I. dnp, Franchetti M. 3 (1/2), Minervino M. (0/1), Grima H. 19 (7/11, 0/2), Linguaglossa E. dnp, Cirov T. 10 (4/4, 0/2), Grasso A. 8 (2/7), Andjelic N. 4 (1/2, 0/3), Dixon T. 9 (4/12, 0/1). Coach Palumbo Carlo Fulvio

Gescom Viterbo - New Wash Montigarda 69 - 48
(17-14, 34-27, 54-40)
GESCOM VITERBO: Kouznetsova S. 4 (2/4, 0/2), Santucci L. 7 (2/3, 1/1), Bonafede M. 2 (0/2), Brunelli G. (0/1), Smith B. 8 (4/14), Maslowski M. 18 (6/13), Limoura L. 12 (3/7, 2/5), Valentina Siccardi (182-G/F-82) 18 (4/7, 2/3), Gorla L. (0/1), Crepaldi C. dnp. Coach Agresti Claudio
NEW WASH MONTIGARDA: Gatti G. dnp, Colico R. 13 (3/4, 2/4), Zanotti E. dnp, Fazio M. 14 (5/11, 0/2), Rossi C. (0/2), Smith D. (0/2), Dimitrova E. 4 (1/5, 0/2), Albertazzi S. 7 (2/4, 1/2), Ruzickova M. 2 (1/7), Lawless E. 8 (3/9, 0/2). Coach Fossati Fabio

Lavezzini Parma - Carispe La Spezia 50 - 43
(14-6, 21-27, 36-31)
LAVEZZINI PARMA: Maiorano M. 3 (1/3, 0/3), Stabile S. 5 (0/1, 0/1), Paparazzo E. 4 (2/8), Zanoni I. 6 (3/3), Battisodo V. (0/1), Martina Rejchova (195-C-83) 13 (5/6), Van Malderen L. (0/2, 0/1), Mahoney M. 13 (3/11, 2/2), Zanon M. 4 (1/5, 0/1), Screen J. 2 (1/4, 0/2). Coach Scanzani Maurizio
CARISPE LA SPEZIA: Bestagno M. dnp, Corradini L. (0/4, 0/1), Pastore C. 2 (1/4), Callens E. 2 (1/3, 0/2), Templari E. , Newton C. 7 (1/8, 1/4), Bagnara B. 5 (2/4, 0/3), Vukovic V. 2 (1/5), Sarti R. 16 (6/8, 1/1), Willis C. 9 (4/9). Coach Papini Giovanni

Phard Napoli - Acer Priolo 58 - 50
(14-14, 25-24, 38-36)
PHARD NAPOLI: Bargigli C. dnp, Paterna S. , Cirone M. 13 (3/7), Mauriello P. (0/2, 0/2), Barnes A. 7 (3/9), Gentile I. 2 (0/1), Jekabsone L. 9 (2/6), Yasemin Horasan (190-F/C-83) 8 (4/10), Richter D. 3 (1/1, 0/1), Holland-Corn K. 16 (6/9, 1/3). Coach Molino Nino
ACER PRIOLO: Gianolla A. 7 (2/5, 0/1), Bonfiglio S. dnp, Palie S. 6 (3/7), Milazzo O. (0/1, 0/2), Seino T. 6 (3/7, 0/1), Sciacca B. 3 (0/2, 1/3), Pascalau F. 15 (5/8), Meneghel R. 7 (2/4, 1/3), Accolla E. dnp. Phillips T. 6 (2/5). Coach Coppa Santino

Germano Zama Faenza - Levoni Taranto 66-67

(22-14, 40-37, 53-49)

GERMANO ZAMA FAENZA: Eric M. 18 (1/4, 4/9), Franchini M. 5 (1/3, 1/4), Ramon E. 10 (3/5, 1/5)), David I. 15 (5/8), Casadio G. , Jokic D. 8 (3/6), Bandini E. dnp, Knezevic A. (0/2), Dos Santos C. 10 (4/7, 0/1), Morsiani L. dnp. Coach Rossi Paolo

CRAS BASKET TARANTO: Balleggi M. 2 (1/5), Claudia Corbani (182-G-78) 2 (1/1), Greco M. 7 (3/5), Bello M. 4 (0/2, 1/4), Sauret Gillespie A. 14 (6/8, 0/2), Summerton L. 2 (1/5), Prado F. (0/1), Frohlich L. 10 (4/7, 1/2), Brunson R. 22 (10/15, 0/2). Coach Corno Aldo



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LATVIA - Women

Not enought strength against Lithuanian squads -by Eurobasket News
Kaunas saw two victories of the local teams as Laisvė and Lemminkainen upset Latvian teams. Laisvė scored another crucial win over TTT Rapa. Laisvė held the early advantage and finished the first quarter at 27:20. TTT Rapa did not give up and tied the second quarter at 21 for both teams. Latvian trio controlled the third stanza. Sandra Cizauskiene (188-C-72) nailed 16 points to lead all the winners. Brovkienė and Marmienė followed her with 15 each. Liga Surkusa (194-C-91) and Liga Vente (189-F-91) top-scored for Latvian squad with 15 points apiece.
A massive third quarter performance formed the backbone of Lemminkainen thumping 99:75 home win against Avantis/Turiba.The advantage was rammed home in the second quarter as Lemminkainen were once again. The only task they did not solve was not reaching 100 points. Avantis/Turiba won the last quarter 18:21 and saved two numbers for the hosts on the board. Staugaitienė,Usaitė and Marina Solopova (178-G-90) posted 18 points each. Anda Eibele (170-G-84) top-scored for the guests with 24 points, while Zarina added 11.

Laisvė - RS TTT Rapa 95 : 72 ( 27 : 20, 21 : 21, 22 : 17, 25 : 14 )
Laisvė: Sandra Cizauskiene 16, Brovkienė 15, Marmienė 15
RS TTT Rapa: Liga Surkusa 15, Liga Vente 15, Gailite 13

Lemminkainen - Avantis/Turiba 99 : 75 ( 28 : 24, 23 : 17, 30 : 13, 18 : 21 )
Lemminkainen: Daina Staugaitiene (182-G-80) 18,Usaitė 18, Marina Solopova 18
Avantis/Turiba: Anda Eibele 24, Zarina 11, Veinberga 10

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LITHUANIA - Women

Lithuania sees off one loss in four games of BWBL -by Eurobasket News
Kaunas saw two victories of the local teams as Laisvė and Lemminkainen upset Latvian teams. Laisvė scored another crucial win over TTT Rapa. Laisvė held the early advantage and finished the first quarter at 27:20. TTT Rapa did not give up and tied the second quarter at 21 for both teams. Latvian trio controlled the third stanza. Sandra Cizauskiene (188-C-72) nailed 16 points to lead all the winners. Brovkienė and Marmienė followed her with 15 each. Liga Surkusa (194-C-91) and Vente top-scored for Latvian squad with 15 points apiece.
A massive third quarter performance formed the backbone of Lemminkainen thumping 99:75 home win against Avantis/Turiba.The advantage was rammed home in the second quarter as Lemminkainen were once again. The only task they did not solve was not reaching 100 points. Avantis/Turiba won the last quarter 18:21 and saved two numbers for the hosts on the board. Staugaitienė,Usaitė and Solopova posted 18 points each. Anda Eibele (170-G-84) top-scored for the guests with 24 points, while Zarina added 11.
Olimpia stamped their authority on the game beating LTU j. team 102:52. Olimpia took the score out to 23:12 midway through the opening period. They continued to stretch their lead, and a 21:19 tear in the second took the score out to 44:31. The second half saw the home side enjoy runs to maintain their lead. Tatiana Lihtarovich (176-G-88) paced the winners with 22 points. Kopylova netted 14, while Filonchik scored 13. Galdikaitė produced 20 points in the losing effort.
Arvi stole another win from Grodno upsetting BC Minsk-2006 69:82. A 13:22 in the opening quarter was the good start for the visitors that stretched their lead later in the game. Belorussian team could reply only with 26:20 in the last quarter. Andrea Bills (188-C-83, agency: LBM Management, college: Oregon) paced the winners with 27 points. Moore and Briedytė supported her with 15 apiece. Natalia Krauchuk (185-F-73) and Ramanava produced 10 points for the hosts.


Olimpia - LTU j. team 102 : 52 ( 23 : 12, 21 : 19, 29 : 8, 29 : 13 )
Olimpia: Tatiana Lihtarovich 22, Kopylova 14, Filonchik 13
LTU j. team: Sigita Galdikaite (183-F-90) 20, Autukaitė 11, Kaminskaitė 6

BC Minsk-2006 - Arvi 69 : 82 ( 13 : 22, 15 : 20, 15 : 20, 26 : 20 )
BC Minsk-2006: Natalia Krauchuk 10, Ramanava 10, Tiamezhnikava 8
Arvi: Andrea Bills 27, Moore 15, Briedytė 15

Laisvė - RS TTT Rapa 95 : 72 ( 27 : 20, 21 : 21, 22 : 17, 25 : 14 )
Laisvė: Sandra Cizauskiene 16, Brovkienė 15, Marmienė 15
RS TTT Rapa: Liga Surkusa 15, Vente 15, Gailite 13

Lemminkainen - Avantis/Turiba 99 : 75 ( 28 : 24, 23 : 17, 30 : 13, 18 : 21 )
Lemminkainen: Daina Staugaitiene (182-G-80) 18,Usaitė 18, Solopova 18
Avantis/Turiba: Anda Eibele 24, Zarina 11, Veinberga 10

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PORTUGAL - Women

Round 12 and 13 results -by Eurobasket News
Round 12 and 13 were played with 1 day rest between them and brought the favorite 13th win. Olivais beat Esgueira/OLI 81:54 in Round 12 and Ovarense 83:46 in 13th. ESSA/Barreiro is second in the league with 11-2 record. In Round 12 the team overcame CD Povoa/MonteAdriano 71:44 and then CP Natacao 88:59 in the 13th.
Meanwhile Patricia Penicheiro (180-G-74, college: ODU) played the last game in Euroleague this season as her TTT Riga did not advance to the next round. Napoli collected just their 2nd win in the FIBA Euroleague competition however it was a costly one. Napoli did not allow TTT Riga to advance to the next stage dropping them to 3-7 record in Group A. Latvian team was tied with Villeneuve at 3-6 record before the final round. After the news came from France about Villeneuve winning their battle against Fenerbahce TTT Riga must win to hope for qualification to the next round. But their hopes were crashed by Napoli. It was worked pretty well for TTT Riga early in the game. Ieva Tare drained two three-pointers in the opening frame and the visitors led 13:10 after 10 minutes of action. Iciss Tillis, Elizaveta Kityzina and Ieva Tare put their names on the scoring list at the start of the second frame as TTT Riga grabbed a 20:10 lead. Elizaveta Kityzina converted a free throw with just over 3 minutes played in the quarter to give TTT Riga a 25:12 advantage. But Napoli found the right answer as Dorothea Richter sank a trey and Kedra Holland-Corn (173-G-74) poured in a jumper to clip the margin to 5 points. Ieva Tare completed a three-point play, while Kedra Holland-Corn responded with two free throws to ice it at 27:33 for TTT Riga at the interval. The nervousness affected the game of the visitors as they could not score for almost 4 minutes in the third stanza. Napoli surged ahead on Mauriello's jump shot. Dace Krumina netted a three-pointer to retain TTT Riga advantage however not for too long. Yasemin Horasan dropped a jumper, while Kedra Holland-Corn fired back-to-back trebles to accumulate a 51:42 cushion for the hosts. Ieva Tare opened the final period with another trey to keep TTT Riga alive. But shortly after Kedra Holland-Corn and Stefania Paterna opened up a double-digit lead for Napoli. TTT Riga searched desperately for the ways to erase the deficit. Patricia Penicheiro posted 4 straight points and TTT Riga trimmed the margin to 60:64 with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation. Iciss Tillis knocked down a jump shot and Micaela Jacintho connected from beyond the arc as Latvian side clinched a 65:62 advantage with 79 seconds on the clock. Yasemin Horasan was deadly from free throw line to reestablish Napoli's lead, while Dace Krumina wasted TTT Riga possession with a bad pass. Kedra Holland-Corn was fouled and got to the line to sink a free throw and extended the gap to 2 points. Micaela Jacintho missed her attempt to tie things up and Kedra Holland-Corn deepened the distance to 3 points. Patricia Penicheiro still had a chance to force overtime but her desperate trey went off mark. Kedra Holland-Corn accounted for 22 points to lead Napoli. Adia Barnes and Yasemin Horasan delivered 13 points apiece for the winners. Dace Krumina topscored with 17 points for TTT Riga. Ieva Tare contributed 15 points in a losing effort.

Round 12
(26/01/2008)
Ovarense 54 - 83 Gesfunny / Vagos
Esgueira/OLI 54 - 81 Olivais/Freitas&Sobra
Uniao da Madeira 57 - 63 BoaViagem-Angra-Acore
CAB Madeira 69 - 74 Alges
Santarem B.C. 53 - 82 CP Natacao
ESSA/Barreiro/Tley 71 - 44 CD Povoa/MonteAdriano

Round 13
(27/01/2008)
Esgueira/OLI 39 - 61 Gesfunny / Vagos
Ovarense 46 - 83 Olivais/Freitas&Sobra
CAB Madeira 66 - 77 BoaViagem-Angra-Acore
Uniao da Madeira 49 - 82 Alges
ESSA/Barreiro/Tley 88 - 59 CP Natacao
Santarem B.C. 69 - 78 CD Povoa/MonteAdriano

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UKRAINE - Women

Savina carries Ukrainian side to 12-0 record -by Eurobasket News
TIM-SCUF reached 12-0 record in BWBL beating Tallinna Living in Kiev 76:71. The game however was tough for the favorite that even trailed in the opening quarter. The things got better later in the game and it seemed it would be an easy end of the game. But Tallinna Living proposed 12:24 in the last quarter to bring the intrigue in the end of the game. Luckily for the Ukrainian team the game was over at 76:71. Yelena Savina (186-F-84) led the winners with 20 points. Inna Yegorova (173-G-82) ended up with 17 points, while Dorogobuzova posted 16. Viive-Kai Rebane (184-F-89) top-scored for Estonian team with 28 points.
In another game that was held in Kiev Olimp-NAEK brought another win for Ukraine beating TLU/VOLTA 61:58. That game was even more interesting that the first one and had different scenario. At first Ukrainian side went on a 25:14 lead, but then TLU/VOLTA replied with 15:21 in the second. The second half was dedicated to the tough defensive game and as a result both teams scored 44 points in 20 minutes. Olimp-NAEK remained in front and won 61:58. Olga Kryshtal (175-G-86) paced the winners with 17 points. Maria Mykhailenko (181-G-87) nailed 16 and Buryak added 7. Katrin Olmari (184-F-75) led the way for the Estonian squad with 13 points.

TIM-SCUF- Tallinna Living 76 : 71 ( 23 : 25, 18 : 11, 23 : 11, 12 : 24 )
TIM-SCUF: Yelena Savina 20, Inna Yegorova 17, Dorogobuzova 16
Tallinna Living: Viive-Kai Rebane 28, Raussberg 23, Puu 8

Olimp-NAEK - TLU/VOLTA 61 : 58 ( 25 : 14, 15 : 21, 10 : 11, 11 : 12 )
Olimp-NAEK: Olga Kryshtal 17, Maria Mykhailenko 16, Buryak 7
TLU/VOLTA: Katrin Olmari 13, Heila Rosenfeldt (172-G-83) 12, Wallace 12