EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 12/15/2008

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Men News

*****************************************************
  ABA   


First weekend results - by Gianni Pascucci
Former NBA All-Star Cedric Ceballos (6'7''-F-69, agency: Edge Sports, college: Cal.St. Fullerton) made his 2008-2009 Maywood Buzz regular season debut performing for 30 pt, 13 rebs and 2 blks to lead the #2 ranked Buzz to a clear, 100-91 win over the Phoenix Fury. The other Buzz best players were Wesley Stokes (6'0''-G-82, college: San Diego St.) (21pts, 11ast and 2 stls), Isaac Burton (6'3''-G-73, agency: Globalsports/Globalevents, college: Arizona St.) (15pts and 3 stls) and Joey Saavedra (6'3''-G-84, college: LA Harbor CC) (12pts and 3stls). The Southeast Texas Mustangs destroyed the Houston Takers on friday night, 106-67. Houston came out scorching hot from the perimeter as they hit three 3-pointers three minutes into the game and raced out to a 14-4 first quarter score, but the Mustangs called time-out and from that point, the domination of the game began. A 26 to 6 run put the Mustangs up 30-20 after the conclusion of the first quarter and the Mustangs never looked back (the score at halftime was 63-36). Currye Todd (6'4''-G-85, college: Lamar) led the Mustangs in scoring with 23 points while Donald Harris (6'5''-F-76, college: Texas Arlington), Jerry Williams (6'7''-F-79) and Lamar Sanders (6'6''-F-84, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Lamar) chipped in 16, 15 and 12 points respectively. The Chicago Steam made a winning debut with a 113-107 victory over the Aurora Force at South Suburban College in South Holland. Eric Smith (6'1''-G-83) outstood in Steam scoring 40 points. It was also the professional debut for smith, who attended Olive Harvey CC before to move to Campbell UNiversity.

The Wild replaces the Outlaws, boosted by "Baby Shaq" - by Gianni Pascucci

The ABA team named West Virginia Outlaws does' t exist anymore. It has been replaced by the West Virginia Wild, owned by Daniel Hicks (6'5''-F-73, college: Concord) and coached by former West Virginia State College player James Layne. The team is boosted on the court by former Marshall University Star J.R. Vanhoose (6'10''-F/C-79, college: Marshall) and by And1 Tour star Hugh Jones (6'3''-F-80), aka 'Baby Shaq, an undersized forward with a 50-inch vertical. The team will make its debut vs. the CBA East Kentucky Miners on Decenber 20. Check the full 2008-09 Wild roster at
http://www.hometeamsonline.com/teams/default.asp?u=WESTVIRGINIAWILD&t=c&s=basketball&p=roster



A guards trio leads the Rockers - by Gianni Pascucci
The Cleveland Rockers started their 2008-09 season defeating two times the Detroit Hoops in a double header the past Saturday and Sunday, winning both games by double digit margins and giving Interim Head Coach Brad Winton (6'4''-G-82) his first two Pro head coaching victories. The Rockers played an up tempo game in which outstood perimetral players Wesley Fluellen (6'5''-F/G-78, college: Robert Morris), Chester Mason (6'4''-G-81, agency: N.E.T., college: Miami, OH), and John Burge (6'2''-G, college: Cleveland St.). The Rockers are in action again this weekend vs. the Aurora Force. Their home court is the MultiPlex Arena, 18909 South Miles Rd. in Warrensville Hts.

Standings
ABA Standings
Northeast Div.
 1. Cleveland R. 2-0 
 2. S.Chicago BS 1-0 
 3. W. Virginia B. 0-0 
 4. W. Virginia O. 0-0 
 5. Westchester P. 0-0 
 6. Montreal M. 0-0 
 7. Jersey Expr. 0-0 
 8. New York I. 0-0 
 9. Aurora Force 0-1 
 10. Detroit Hoops 0-2 
Northwest Div.
 1. Maywood B. 2-0 
 2. Salt Lake S. 2-0 
 3. LA Push 1-0 
 4. Washington R. 1-0 
 5. Alaska Dream 0-0 
 6. Beijing O. 0-0 
 7. San Diego W 0-0 
 8. S.Francisco R. 0-1 
 9. Modesto B. 0-2 
Southeast Div.
 1. Nashville B. 6-0 
 2. Winston-Salem 1-2 
 3. Knoxville T. 1-3 
 4. Kentucky W. 0-0 
 5. Kentucky B. 0-0 
 6. Georgia G. 0-0 
 7. Atlanta V. 0-0 
 8. Bahama PS 0-0 
 9. Kansas City 0-0 
Southwest Div.
 1. South Texas 2-0 
 2. Texas M. 2-1 
 3. Arizona R. 1-0 
 4. Mississippi B. 0-0 
 5. W.Texas W. 0-0 
 6. Gallup T. 0-0 
 7. Las Vegas A. 0-0 
 8. Fury 0-1 
 9. Houston T. 0-2 


*****************************************************
  ADRIATIC LEAGUE   


Krka inks Alijevas - by Zeljko Zule
Krka inked Rolandas Alijevas (192-G-85, agency: Octagon) ex Zalgiris for the rest of season. He averaged 8,5 minutes, 0,7 points (2P 1-3), 0,3 rebounds, 1,0 steals in 3 games of Euroleague, 14,5 minutes, 2,0 points (2P 3-6, 3P 0-2, FT 2-4), 1,0 rebounds, 1,8 assists, 0,3 steals and 0,3 blocks in 4 games of SEB Baltic League and 23,0 minutes, 5,2 points (2P 4-10, 3P 2-11, FT 12-16), 3,4 rebounds, 2,2 assists and 0,8 steals in 5 games of Lithuanian League.

*****************************************************
  ARGENTINA   


Standings - Liga B
Liga Standings
North Region-Northeast
 1. Rocamora 8-3 
 2. Colon SF 7-4 
 3. Alvear 7-4 
 4. Estudian.C. 6-5 
 5. La Union 5-6 
 6. Sport Club 5-6 
 7. Union Fuerza 4-7 
 8. Almagro 2-9 
North Region-Northwest
 1. Banda Norte 9-2 
 2. Brown SV 8-3 
 3. Sportivo 7 J. 7-4 
 4. Anzorena 6-5 
 5. Facundo 6-5 
 6. Barrio Parque 4-7 
 7. Union E. 3-8 
 8. Sargento 1-10 
South Region-Center
 1. Gimnasia VP 11-0 
 2. Velez Sarsfield 6-5 
 3. Rosario Cent. 5-6 
 4. Banco Nacion 5-6 
 5. Racing G. 5-6 
 6. San Martin J. 5-6 
 7. Nautico Hacoaj 4-7 
 8. Gimnasia BR 3-8 
South Region-South
 1. Union Vecinal 7-4 
 2. Huracan 6-5 
 3. Jorge Newbery 6-5 
 4. Deportivo M. 6-5 
 5. Ciud.Bragado 5-6 
 6. Independ.T. 5-6 
 7. El Sureno 5-6 
 8. Atletico Regina 4-7 


*****************************************************
  BELGIUM   


D1 Round: 12 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Antwerp - Oostende 94-80
Antwerp Diamond Giants were too strong for Base Oostende mostly owing to Bryan Hopkins and Brandon Gay. Hopkins netted 30, while Gay drained 26 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Visitors got 21 points and 7 boards from Veselin Petrovic. Antwerp 7-4, Oostende 3-8.

Charleroi - Leuven 64-48
Spirou Charleroi had an easy job against Spotter Leuven stopping it on just 48 points for the game. It means that Charleroi remains at the top of the standings alone with almost perfect 9-1 record. Dwayne Broyles scored 16, while Jerry Johnson delivered 12 points for the winning squad. Leuven didn't have any player with double-digits in scoring (4-7 record).

Aalstar - Gent 94-88
8-2 for Generali Okapi Aalstar and 2-9 for Optima Gent after this game. The winners had 3 players with 20 or more points, but the best one was Matt Lojeski, who collected 24 pts and 7 boards. Kevin Melson and Brandon Freeman posted 24 points each for the loosing side.

Verviers-Pep. - M.Hainaut 73-97
Dexia Mons-Hainaut cruised past VOO Verviers-Pepinster on the road jumping on pretty decent 9-2 in D1. On the other side, the hosts stay on just 2 wins in 11 appearances. Caleb Green, who came off the bench, nailed 24 points and grabbed 11 points for Dexia Mons-Hainaut. Adrian Banks responded with 23 pts and 6 rebs for Pepinster.

*****************************************************
  BOSNIA   


Bosnian League 13 - 12TH round - by Elvir Halilovic

Slavija - Borac Nektar 64:70
(21:17, 14:18, 11:13, 18:22)
ISTOCNO SARAJEVO - SC Slavija; Att.: 200; Ref.: Husaric, Drmic, Coric
SLAVIJA: Vukelic, Jojic 14, Zelenovic, Prasovic 13, Janjic, Damjanovic, Gambiroza 11, Simeunovic, Bozic 2, Kalanj 8, Hodzic 4, Demic 12
Coach: Bogdan Stanojevic
BORAC NEKTAR: Vucic, Janjusevic, Puljko 17, Peterkin 16, Mladenovic 10, Milekic, Djurasovic 11, Richardson 14, Pavlovic, Milinovic 2, Garma, Josipovic
Coach: Milos Pejic

Siroki HT Eronet - Sloboda Dita 83:90
(18:24, 27:28, 21:24, 17:14)
SIROKI BRIJEG - SD Pecara; Att.: 1.000; Ref.: Jovanic, Babic, Ignjatovic
SIROKI HT ERONET: Planinic, Josipovic 14, Milekovic, Naletilic 3, Bubalo, Bilinovac, Siriscevic 22, Dujmovic 5, Spralja 15, Ruzic 8, Price 5, Morban 11
Coach: Josip Vrankovic
SLOBODA DITA: Jakubovic, Jovanovic 18, Halilovic 2, Velimirovic 21, Hrncic 8, Halilbegovic 6, Albijanic 17, Persic 7, Leric 6, Markovic 5, Golijanin, Besovic
Coach: Senad Muminovic

Igokea Partizan - SL IAT Leotar 86:50
(25:12, 22:10, 26:13, 13:15)
ALEKSANDROVAC - SC Nenad Bastinac; Att.: 800; Ref.: Okuka, Maric, Petkovic
IGOKEA PARTIZAN: Carr 5, Vuksanovic 16, Bocka 9, Djerasimovic 13, Djurica 2, Bilanovic 2, Taylor 8, Radic, Mirkovic 15, Topolovic, Kovacevic 9, Matic 3.
Coach: Bajic Dragan
SL IAT LEOTAR: Kovacevic, Setencic, Aleksic, Pelkic 7, Radulovic, Zotovic 4, Vukovic 5, Kordou 2, Markovic 15, Boljkovac 5, Petronic 12, Djordjevic
Coach: Radomir Kisic



Standings - BIH League
D1 Standings
 1. Igokea 10-1 
 2. Zrinjski MC 10-1 
 3. Sloboda Dita 9-2 
 4. BoracNektar 8-3 
 5. Siroki Eronet 6-5 
 6. SL IAT Leotar 6-5 
 7. Slavija 5-6 
 8. Mladost MG 5-6 
 9. Grude 4-7 
 10. Hercegovac 3-8 
 11. Posusje 3-8 
 12. Vitez 2-9 
 13. Novi Grad 0-10 
Will join on later stage:
 1. Bosna S. - 


*****************************************************
  BULGARIA   


CSKA: Sterianopoulos charged from Bulgarian court - by Vladi Lazarova
Dark and stormy clouds are threatening over the sky of CSKA Sofia. The club, which was totally destroyed at the end of the last season and left by all of the Red leaders domestic and foreign, is having deep problems with Bulgarian justice. The president and owner of the team Georgious Sterianopoulos was charged by one of his former players the captain of the squad Georgi Davidov (204-C-76). 32-years old ex-center of Lukoil Akademik and CSKA, who is well known in Bulgarian basketball with his loyalty to The Reds, his big heart and human dignity, won the case against Sterianopoulos. The National Supreme court adjudicated that the Greek businessman, who has a very bad reputation in Bulgarian basketball of a person, who doesn't like to pay, must pay back to 204 cm tall Davidov all of his money with old date. Sterianopoulos owes four full salaries to the player fro the period February-May 2008.
And this is not the only court trouble for Sterianopoulos and his right hand in the demolishing of the biggest club in the country sports director of CSKA Branislav Prelevic. They were convicted by another former player Ludmil Hadjisotirov (189-G-80, agency: AMI, college: Maine), who sued them for five full salaries, from January 2008, until May 2008 and also won in the courtroom. 28-years old ex-leader of the team part ways with The Reds before Davidov, because Sterianopoulos and Prelevic couldnt shut his mouth and branded Udo for rebel of the team in a moment, when nobody in the Red changing-room even remembered when he took his money for the last time.
Bulgarian court enacted, that Sterianopoulos must pay back four salaries to his former captain Davidov and former guard and National team player Hadjisotirov.
The president of the club is defendant in another one case, again from CSKA former employee and his name is more than well known in Bulgarian basketball Rossen Barchovski, head coach of the team in the last 10 years, who was fired without any explanation a month and a half ago. Barchovski is suing Sterianopoulos for 8 salaries for this year and all of his salaries till the end of the contract in 2009, because he has a strong penalty for breaking the deal.
Sterianopoulos and Prelevic, who are keeping even now to ruin the club, not paying their old bills, but not charging from the league and federation, played dirty with two of the agencies from which they signed players last season. They took American guard Mike Henderson (188-G-84, agency: Interperformances, college: Iowa) from 'Interperformances' and didn't pay their commission after that. They took Lavell Payne (203-F-85, agency: AMI, college: Cent.Florida) from AMI and acted the same way.
CSKA is not at the bottom, CSKA is 100 steps under the bottom. The club doesn't have youth teams, doesn't have a gym, because inside is dangerous to practice broken seats, broken and dirty toilets, no hot water and no electricity, broken windows and no heat at all. Because the president doesn't care.With Prelevic he continues to lead like horses in the squad scores of nameless players. The team is playing the official games in another hall, but one of the last times there, when CSKA met Levski Sterianopoulos ordered the doors to be locked and didnt let the youth team of Levski to watch the derby, because the woman, who was selling tickets already left.
Shame on you, gentlemen. SHAME ON, YOU

Rilski Sportist beats Levski again, this time in the NBL - by Valentin Anguelov
After defeating Levski Sofia in the Eurohold Balkan League back on the 5-th of last month Rilski Sportist Samokov did it again, this time in the Bulgarian National Basketball League. Today they won 82-80 and are now 5th in the table at 5-5. Levski is now tied for second with Euroins Cherno More. Both teams have 7-3 record and will meet in Varna next week for their last game of the year.

In front of about 1200 spectators at Arena Samokov Stanislav Vaklinov scored the first basket in the game but then his namesake Stanislav Slaveykov hit a three pointer and Levski led from that moment until the very end of the first quarter. The margin went to six, 8-14, but the quarter finished at 20-21 in favour of the visitors.

They continued to have a lead through the middle of the second quarter when Ivan Lilov scored to give Rilski Sportist their second lead of the game at 28-27. Then the teams exchanged leads before the hosts made it a 4-point margin at 40-36. Levski tied the score but then Rilski were in front 44-42 at the break.

At the start of the second half it was very close and Levski regained the advantage at 46-48. In the next two minutes though Rilski Sportist managed a 9-0 run to take their biggest lead at 55-48 with 5'44'' to play in the third quarter. A triple by Petroslav Zafirov and baskets by Stefan Georgiev and Marcus Hall brought Levski right back into the game at 56-55. After the interesting final minutes of the period the hosts went up by 6 but Levski cut it to three with 10 minutes to play.

A three-pointer by Dwayne Morton tied the score for nearly two minutes at the start of the last quarter. Then Travis Peterson started to show his good form while Levski tried to stay in the game thanks to Hall and Slaveykov. With 2'33'' to play Rilski Sportist was in front 78-71 but the visitors made a 6-0 run to cut it to a single point with 42 seconds remaining. Branko Mirkovic and Bogdan Boev both scored twice from the free throw line and with 4 seconds to go Asen Velikov went to the line with his team traling by 3 (82-79). He scored the first free throw and intentionally missed the second one but Leven Belberov grabbed the rebound and Rilski won the game.

For the hosts Peterson finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Leven Belberov added 13 points while Ivan Lilov had 12.

For Levski once again Marcus Hall was the top scorer despite being ill and missing some practices - 18 points. Slaveykov scored 15 and grabbed 5 rebounds, while Stefan 'Toro' Georgiev finished with 13 and 10 respectively for his third double double of the season.

Next week Rilski Sportist visits CSKA in Sofia to try and finish the year in style with a win.

*****************************************************
  CHINA   


Xinjiang Runs Record to 12-1 -- Three-way Tie for Second - by Arthur Volbert
Mengke Bateer scored 28 points as Xinjiang reached 12-1 with a 96-90 triumph over Shanxi Zhongyu. Myron Allen had 23 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Juan Mendez had 14 points and 17 rebounds. Mulati had 14 points and 4 rebounds. Donta Smith had 35 points and 8 rebounds for Zhongyu. Olumide Oyedeji had 17 points, 21 rebounds and 4 assists. Yu Tao scored 10 while Zhai Jinshuai and Wei Mingliang each scored 9.

Dongguan ran its record to 10-3 with a 116-110 overtime victory over Bayi. Harris Michael (198-F-83, college: Rice) had 49 points, 21 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 blocks. Zhang Kai had 29 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. Qiu Biao had 30 points and 9 rebounds. Each played over 50 minutes. Wang Zhizhi led Bayi with 33 points and 8 rebounds. Mo Ke scored 24. Wang Zhongguang had 17 points and 9 assists. Li Ke added 15 and Delehei scored 9.

Jiangsu went to 10-3 with a 103-94 triumph over winless Shanghai. Jameel Watkins had 36 points and 16 rebounds. Yi Li had 23 points and 7 rebounds. Hu Xuefeng had 14 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 9 steals and 8 turnovers. DaJuan Tate had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Shanghai. Peng Fei had 20 points and 8 rebounds. Wang Ligang had 16 points and 7 rebounds. Wang Yong scored 13 and Meng Lingyuan had 10 but shot only 3 for 18.

Guangdong reached 10-3 by defeating Shaanxi 106-101 as Du Feng scored 22. Wang Shipeng scored 17. Jason Dixon had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Tyler Amaya had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Zhou Peng added 13 points. Li Benson had 34 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals for Shanxi. Brandon Robinson had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. He Ben scored 15 and Dai Yong scored 14.

Mack Tuck had 32 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists as Shandong defeated Liaoning 118-112. Priest Lauderdale added 26 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. Sun Jie had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Wang Gang had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Li Xiaoxu had 34 points and 9 rebounds for Liaoning and young Li is rapidly becoming a major star in this league. National team member Zhang Qingpeng added 20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 8 steals. Liu Xiangtao scored 28 points and Yang Ming had 12 points and 6 assists. Import Awvee Storey played 15 minutes and scored 2 points.

Leon Rogers scored 42 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as Jilin beat Qingdao 111-100. Soumaila Samake had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Lu Yan scored 19 and Wang Bo added 16. Amal McCaskill had 30 points and 19 rebounds for Qingdao. Li Guang, another emerging young star, had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 10 assists at point guard. Yu Gaofeng and Sun Shengyue each scored 17. Xie Zhongjie scored 15.

Beijing outscored Tianjin 27-17 in the fourth quarter to gain a 105-102 victory. Dontae Jones led Beijing with 36 points and 12 rebounds. Xie Libin scored 30 points and 8 assists and may be regaining his rookie-of-the-year form from two years ago. David Harrison had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Chen Lei scored 12 and Zhang Yunsong scored 9. Theron Smith had 34 points and 11 rebounds for Tianjin. Liu Hao had 21 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Darryl Watkins had 18 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists. Li Gangfeng had 17 points and 5 assists. Wang Hao scored 12.

Nigel Dixon had 35 points and 8 rebounds as Zhejiang Guangsha blew out Yunnan 124-103. Kasib Powell had 30 points and 10 rebounds. Jin Lipeng scored 24 and Zhang Nan added 22. Yu Junkai added 10. Gabe Muoneke had 45 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists for Yunnan. Keith Closs added 24 points and 13 rebounds. Zhao Anan had 14 points and 4 assists.

Zhejiang defeated Fujian 117-103 as all five starters played over 40 minutes. Young 7-footer Zhang Dayu did not play. Kirk Snyder had 43 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists. Samuel Hoskin had 29 points and 13 rebounds. Ding Jinhui had 24 points and 9 rebounds. Luo Zhi had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Liu Weiwei had 6 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Chris Porter led Fujian with 32 points and 7 rebounds. Gong Songlin scored 30. Matt Frieje had 23 points and 11 rebounds.

*****************************************************
  CYPRUS   


Early season over for Keravnos! - by Nasios Orinos

In a close game last night Keravnos lost to Achilleas by 74-67. This is the 2nd loss for Keravnos in the championship (lost to Etha) and the 5th loss in the last 6 games. This throws the team in the second position on the board and unfortunately places the team in a very difficult spot regarding winning the championship.

Keravnos has given 8 games in the championship so far. It has won Apollonas and APOEL in overtime, has beaten AEK and AEL by 1 and Omonoia and Enad in very close games and lost to Etha and Achilleas. Not forgetting that has lost all 3 European games it has given the last 3 weeks, ending up with a 5-game loosing string.

Bottom line, it has not won an easy game, not a single one!!

This is certainly a not championship team. Many basketball analysts have foreseen that Keravnos will even not make it in the first 4. The question is why?

The answer should lie on why players like Anastasiades, Randojevic, Kosanovic, Smith (Patrick Lee left due to injury) have left the team? But most importantly, why a championship team was left to be destroyed, with promises that a new team was 'supposed' to be built and this never happened. Very kindly, we wish to note to coach Frankias that he has promised to rebuilt the team but he never did.

Many basketball analysts have stated that the 'After Anastasiades Era' was going to be cruel for Keravnos and so far they were not proven wrong. A player like this is not easily replaced. Lets not forget that the team's successful era had originally started in 1998 with the landing of Anastasiades in the team. At that time his signing in the team was considered a huge success and let to very fruitful years. How could anyone believe that by allowing the National Team's Captain (the best defensive player and best shooter on the league) move a main contender, could have seen better days? More over, how can a team like Keravnos that has a tradition in bringing and keeping players, allow last year's best center player (Randojevic) also move to another contender? If you allow these players to go, you should be ready to replace them. And Keravnos was not ready!

Eurobasket.com has mentioned quite a few times that Keravnos will not be a contender for the title unless the team lands an impact center player. Coach Frankias has decided to change last year's approach and play faster, insisting on having in the team only power forwards. Actually, he has in the team more power forwards than expected. We kindly want to say that his approach has failed. It is only enough to mention that Keravnos has never won a championship without a center in the team. And we are wondering how could he change something hat has been proven successful?

There are people who believe that the problem does not lie on the center but on the guard. The truth is that Keravnos has 2 guards in the team, being also true that Woodrich is not in his best shape. Why doesn't coach Frankias use Yiannas and keeps playing with Woodrich? If he simply does not trust him, why having him in the team. After all Yiannas is a National Team player.

How could the current-champions let themselves end up like this?



*****************************************************
  D-LEAGUE   


D-League Round: 15 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Utah - Idaho 74-88
Idaho Stampede demonstrated nice performance against Utah Flash registering the 6th victory this season (6-1). Coby Karl stepped up for the hosts with 20 points and 5 assists. Lance Allred had 16 points and 7 boards, while Luke Jackson added one point less, including 9 rebounds. Dontell Jefferson collected 22 points and 9 rebounds in loss. His team dropped on 2-5.

Anaheim - Bakersfield 86-120
Bakersfield Jam didn't have to work very hard in order to beat Anaheim Arsenal at Bakersfield Rabobank Arena. DeMarcus Nelson, Mateen Cleaves and Nick Lewis nailed 16 points apiece for the hosts. The Arsenal got 18 points from James White. Jam 7-1, Arsenal 2-6.

Ft.Wayne - Erie 82-100
Erik Daniels, who delivered 25 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, paced Erie Bay Hawks to fifth victory of the season (5-2). Chris Hunter and Shawn Hawkins scored 16 points in loss. Hunter had 10 more rebounds beside that. Bay Hawks 5-2, Mad Ants 2-4.

Tulsa - Sioux Falls 91-99
6-2 for the Sioux Falls Skyforce and 2-5 for the Tulsa 66ers after this game. Carl Elliott shined for the winners with 23 points and 5 rebounds. Chris Richard had double-double in defeat, 25 points and 11 rebounds.

Albuquerque - Austin 102-124
124 points by the Austin Toros were more than enough for the fifth victory this season (5-3). Andre Brown was a key player for the winning squad with 25 points and 13 rebounds. David Noel and Will Conroy netted 22 points apiece for the Thunderbirds. Conroy also registered 6 more rebounds and 9 assists. Thunderbirds now have 1-5.



*****************************************************
  EGYPT   


Super League Standings
Superleague Standings
 1. Zamalek 6-0 
 2. Al Ittihad 6-0 
 3. Gezira 5-1 
 4. Geish Army 4-2 
 5. Ahly 4-2 
 6. Somouha 3-3 
 7. Sporting 3-3 
 8. Shorta-Police 2-4 
 9. Gasco 2-4 
 10. Shams 1-5 
 11. Al Olympi 0-6 
 12. Shark ins. 0-6 


Round 6 results - by Sherif Soliman
No surprises in round 6 all big teams got easy wins. Itthad kept their 6th win run over Geish(army) 68-80,this game was held in Army court last night with high number of fans attendance from both sides.Itthad played a very good defensive game changing from man/man to zone defence and keeping the ball under pressure all the time,This made army players commit a lot of turn overs and helping itthad players to score easy lay ups.On the other hand Geish players couldnt make any easy shots last night the only player who helped his team was Ahmed Elgazar who scored more than 25 points last night saving his team from big loss.Amr Abo El Khier(itthad coach) started last night to create a new system in both defence/offence as his team performace is getting better every game.Other results,Ahly 85-73 Shorta,Somouha 70-57 shark insurase,Sporting 68- 50 olympi,Zamalek 101-68 Shams,Gezira 79-59 Gasco.

Brandon Morris signs for Zamalek - by Sherif Soliman
Zamalek signs Brandon Morris (1,86 cm),1983, Guard, Brandon played in Atlitco Welcome in Uruguay last season.Brandon had a great season in Uruguay scoring 25 ppg,6 ass. If Brandon performes with his new team in the Egyptian league they will be to close to win it this season.Zamalek till the 6th round made great games with no loss.Ahmed Adel (assitant coach) told me we needed to cover our guard Wael Badr to keep the level of the team the hole season.Brandon will play his first game next tuesdayBrandon Morris (186-G, college: Wisc.-Green Bay)

*****************************************************
  FINLAND   


FINNISH CUP: YMCA LPR winning fourth time in a row - by Rauno Hurmalainen

YMCA Lappeenranta did it again. The fourth time in a row. The Finnish Cup winner 2008 is also the winner in the years 2005, 2006, 2007: YMCA Lappeenranta.
This time the opponent in the Final was Torpan Pojat (Helsinki). The first half was tight, but YMCA LPR was leading by 15 pts after three quarters. When the 4th
quarter was even 21-21, YMCA LPR won 98-83 (48-44). Quarters: 23-21, 25-23, 29-18, 21-21. YMCA LPR was shooting more and better, winning the rebounds 39-31
and earning the fourth Finnish Cup victory. The winning Team had five players in double figures. The Danish PG Chanan Colman (192-G-84, agency: Arik Krayn Services, college: Chipola J7.4ppg, C) was the game MVP with 24 pts. Demetrius Brown (197-F-83, college: San Jose St.) added 18 pts and Pasi Riihela (199-F-75) had a double-double 17/12. Jouko Jarvinen (188-G-87) was a big surprise with 14 pts. ToPo had three players in double digits. Timo Heinonen (198-F-81) netted 19 and E.J. Drayton (204-F-82, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Charlotte) 18 pts. Isaac Spencer (198-F-78, agency: Tank Sports, college: Murray St.) scored 17 pts.

Finnish Cup Final: YMCA Lappeenranta - Torpan Pojat 98-83 (48-44) (Chanan Colman 24, Demetrius Brown 18, Pasi Riihela 17/12, HL Coleman 14, Jouko Jarvinen 14 - Timo Heinonen 19, E.J.Drayton 18, Isaac Spencer 17).



1st Division Round: 12 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Jyvaskyla - Salon Vilpas 69-92
Salon Vilpas handed Jyvaskyla the sixth loss in the season. Lauri Tiainen stepped up with 23 points for the Vikings. Amani Daanish added 21 points and 12 boards in the win. Joe Jackson responded with 30 points for Jyvakyla.

Ura Basket - Honka 75-74
Esa Kaaja and Armondo Surratt were perfect from the stripe to seal a tough victory over Honka today. Surratt nailed 24 points to lead the winners. Sakari Salminen added 14 points as Ura Basket improved at 3-6 record. Matt Williams replied with 22 points and 12 boards for Honka.

Lapua - LoKoKo 108-90
Lapua shot down LoKoKo at home court. Kyle Carhart stepped up with 31 points, 6 boards and 6 assists for the winners. Tyrwone Still contributed 23 points and 8 rebounds as Lapua climbed at 4-5 record. LoKoKo responded with 26 points from Eryk Thomas.

HNMKY - Kauhajoki 77-108
Kauhajoki secured the ninth win in the tournament. Maurice Horton fired 23 points as the league leaders fired down HNMKY on the road. Eric Washington added 20 points and 9 boards for the visitors. Sauli Silvonen dropped 23 points for the hosts.



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  GERMANY   


1.Bundesliga Round: 14 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Brose Baskets - LTi 46ers 79-56
Brose Baskets overcame LTi 46ers 79:56 in Regular Season Round 14. Suput Predrag led the winners with 16 points and Garrett Robert nailed 13. Jeffers Maurice finished the night with 17 points in the losing effort.

TBB Trier - Telekom B. 66-84
Telekom Baskets Bonn moved to the top spot in BBL and now has 10-4 record after 84:66 over TBB Trier. Rowland, Earl led the winners with 13 points, while Frazier Winsome and Johnson Ken had 12 each. Evans George posted 24 points in the losing effort.

EnBW L'burg - ratiopharm 97-91
EnBW Ludwigsburg beat ratiopharm 97:91 on Sunday. Woudstra Brandon top-scored for the winners with 22 points and Jones Brian brought 21. Gibbs Jeff resisted with 28 points and 10 rebounds in defeat.

Noerdlingen - Koeln 99ers 73-61
Noerdlingen sent Koeln 99ers to 3-11 after a 73:61 at home. Westley Omari poured in 19 points for the winners and Jeanty Osvaldo followed him with 18. Terrell Julian produced 13 points for the guests.

Walter Tigers - Goettingen 64-65
Goettingen survived a thriller over Walter Tigers, 65:64 and improved to 8-3 in the league. Bailey Kyle top-scored for the winners with 20 points. Ratkovica Branislav and Haynes Michael had 13 points each for the hosts.

Duesseldorf - ALBA 84-81
Duesseldorf sent ALBA out of the throne defeating them 84:81 at home. Lottich Matt and Bailey Brant dominated the court with 22 points apiece. Nadjfeji Aleksandar resisted with 19 points, while Jacobsen Casey had 15 in defeat.

Pad.Baskets - Bremerhaven 77-68
Pad.Baskets edged Bremerhaven 77:68 as Peavy Nathan led the way with 21 points. Callahan Craig ended up with 14 points in defeat and Elegar Frank collected 13 points and 9 rebounds.

Dt.Bank SKY - EWE Baskets 84-53
The Deutsche Bank Skyliners gave their home crowd an early Christmas present with a rout of the EWE Baskets Oldenburg 84:53. Evtimov Ilian top-scored for the winners with 20 points and King Anthony added 14. Boumtje Boumtje Ruben chipped in 14 for the guests.

NY Phantoms - Art.Dragons 75-66
NY Phantoms beat Artland Dragons 75:66 behind 14 points from Hess Adam. McIntosh Lamont brought his team 13 and Madrich Dirk added 7. Salisbery Dustin and Franklin William scored 14 points each for the visitors.



Artland Dragons hire Tyray Pearson - by Manuel Schust

After Darius Hall (201-C/F-73, agency: Stanley International, college: W.Kentucky) broke his hand a few weeks ago the Artland Dragons Quakenbrueck were looking for a replacement to strengthen their frontcourt. Now they found a familiar face for BBL fans: Tyray Pearson (201-F-80, college: Iowa St.), who spent the 2005/2006 campaign with New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig and the following season with Telekom Baskets Bonn, signed a contract that is valid until february.
Pearson started his professional career in Portugal and had impressive stats. In his first season in Germany with Braunschweig, he averaged 13.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game and lead all players in efficency per game. In a pre-season game for his new team Telekom Baskets Bonn Pearson suffered a achilles tendon rupture and was forced to sit out for several months. He only played 13 games for Bonn and was far from his A-game producing just 5.3 points and 5.4 rebounds.
Last season Pearson joined C.B. Blanes Almeria (Spain-LEB Silver) and had a decent year in Spain averaging 14.3 points and 8.8 rebounds.

Some weeks ago he had a try-out phase with Eisbaeren Bremerhaven, but the team decided to sign Craig Callahan (203-F-81, agency: Octagon, college: NC-Wilmington) instead.



Bundesliga Game Day 14: Results December 12th-14th! - by Michael Taylor
Bundesliga Game Day 14 provided basketball fans with exciting action all over Germany including several upsets and interesting results. Shorthanded Bundesaliga favorite ALBA Berlin was upset by Dusseldorf , Deutsche Bank Skyliners enjoyed a convincing win over Oldenburg, EnBW Ludwigsburg edged ratiopharm Ulm in a great overtime Baden-Wurtemburg Derby game and Gottingen stunned Tubingen with an exciting comeback victory. With Telekom Baskets Bonn road win in Trier, Head Coach Michael Koch and his team are now Tabellenfuhrer.

Friday December 12th
Paderborn Baskets 77 Eisbaren Bremerhaven 68
Nathan Peavy scored 21pt with 5reb and Lavelle Felton added 13pt 4ast in leading Paderborn Baskets to a 77-68 home win over Eisbaren Bremerhaven Friday night at Sportszentrum Maspernplatz in Paderborn. Reggie Golson added 10pt on a perfect 5 for 5 from the floor and Chris Ensminger chipped in 8pt 10reb to the win. Paderborn led 38-37 after a tight 1st half before making a run in the 3rd outscoring the Eisbaren 14-6 to take a 52-33 lead into the 4th. For the game, Paderborn shot 54% while limiting Bremerhaven to 42% from the floor. Paderborn sank 16 of 26 FT (61%) compared with Bremerhaven's 10 of 14 (71%). Bremerhaven was led by big men Craig Callahan's 14pt 6reb and 13pt 9reb from Frank Elegar. A big win for Paderborn and tough loss for Bremerhaven, nearing the halfway point of the season, Head Coach Doug Spradley and his Paderborn team moved to 5-8 on the season while Bremerhaven fell to 1-12.

Saturday December 13th
Deutsche Bank Skyliners 84 Ewe Baskets Oldenburg 53
Ilian Evtimov sank 4 of 5 threes on his way to a team best 20pt leading five Frankfurt players in double digits as the Skyliners beat Ewe Baskets Oldenburg 84-53 Saturday night at Ballsporthalle in Frankfurt. International travel caught up with the excellent Oldenburg team as Frankfurt burst to an 18-4 lead after 1Q. Continuing their surge, Skyliners raced their way to a 42-16 halftime lead effectively ending the game before the second half. Finally healthy and putting their talented pieces together, Frankfurt cruised to the home win leading 64-40 after three before earning the impressive 84-53 result. In the win, Frankfurt shot 53% from the floor making 6 of 16 threes (37%) and 20 of 30 FT (67%) while holding Oldenburg to 33% from the field and 4 for 22 threes (18%). Skyliners outrebounded the Thunderbirds 39-24 and forced 20 Oldenburg turnovers. Anthony King added 14pt 7reb, Konrad Wysocki 12pt 7reb while Pascal Roller and Greg Jenkins chipped in 11pt apiece. Ruben Boumtje Boumtje led Oldenburg with 14pt 6reb, Rickey Paulding had 13pt and Jason Gardner 10pt in the loss. Head Coach Murat Didin and the Skyliners improved to 9-4 while Oldenburg slipped to the same mark 9-4.

Nordlingen 73 Koln 99ers 61
Omari Westley scored 19pt with 5reb and Osvaldo Jeanty drilled 3 of 6 threes to finish with 18pt leading Nordlingen to a hardearned 73-61 home win over Koln 99ers Saturday night at Reiser Sportpark in Nordlingen. Koln controlled play early leading 19-12 after 1Q and the 99ers led until a late 1st half run sparked by 3 straight threes from Osvaldo Jeanty and Danny Gibson brought Nordlingen back into the game giving the hosts a 34-33 halftime lead. Nordlingen's trapping defense keyed a 3Q run as Koln suffered several turnovers and Nordlingen took a 56-50 lead into the 4th. Big shots from Osvaldo Jeanty, Omari Westley and Monta McGee helped Nordlingen extend their lead to 10 as they earned the 73-61 home win. Monta McGee added 15pt 9reb and Danny Gibson 14pt 5ast for Nordlingen while Julian Terrell (13pt), Stefan Nickolic (10pt) and Bjorn Schoo (10pt) reached double figures for Koln. Nordlingen shot 43% from the floor and outrebounded Koln 32-27 in the win. Nordlingen's 20 for 27 FT (74%) was a key compared with Koln's 7 for 14 FT. Head Coach Andreas Wagner and his Nordlingen team improved to 6-8 while Koln fell to 3-11.

NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig 75 Artland Dragons 66
Will Franklin scored 14pt 8ast, Dustin Salisbery added 14pt with 5ast and Jonathan Levy had 13pt 4reb as the NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig backcourt sparked their 75-66 home win over Artland Dragons Saturday night at Volkswagonhalle in Braunschweig. The Phantoms set the tone early building a 25-17 lead after 1Q and increasing it to 42-27 at half. The Phantoms controlled the play in the 2nd half earning the 75-66 home win. Braunschweig shot 44% from the floor and made 20 of 27 FT while forcing 24 Dragon turnovers in the win. Adam Hess led Artland with 14pt and Lamont McIntosh added 13pt in the loss. Head Coach Emir Mutapcic and his Phantoms upped their record to 6-7 while Artland fell to 8-6.

BG74 Gottingen 65 Walter Tigers Tubingen 64
Kyle Bailey drilled 4 of 7 threes to topscore with 20pt leading BG74 Gottingen to an exciting 65-64 comeback win over Walter Tigers Tubingen Saturday night at Tubingen Arena. Tubingen played well early building a 27-17 lead after 1Q and holding a 50-28 halftime lead. Gottingen trailed by 22pts at halftime and were down as many as 14 in the 4Q before staging their exciting comeback. The Violets limited the Tigers to 9pt in the 3rd and 5pt in the 4th to earn the comeback win. Rocky Trice and Charles Lee scored 11pt apiece for Gottingen while Michael Haynes and Branislav Ratkovica finished with 13pt each for Tubingen. The statistically even game saw both teams shoot 36% from the floor and 39% from three in the game. Head Coach John Patrick and his Violets improved to 8-3 while Tubingen dropped to 5-9.

Sunday December 14th
Dusseldorf Giants 84 ALBA Berlin 81
Matt Lottich and Brant Bailey scored 22pt apiece in leading Dusseldorf Giants to an 84-81 upset over ALBA Berlin Sunday evening at Burg-Wachter Costello in Dusseldorf. Also playing well in the strong Dusseldorf team effort Logan Kosmalski finished with 14pt 7reb and TJ Carter had 13pt in the win. ALBA was shorthanded in the game playing without Julius Jenkins, Rashad Wright, Patrick Femerling and Adam Chubb but jumped to an early 26-19 lead after 1Q and held a 45-36 lead at half. Dusseldorf responded with a great 3Q outscoring ALBA 28-18 to take a 64-63 lead into the 4th where the Giants earned their big win. Aleksander Nadjfeji led Berlin with 19pt 7reb while Casey Jacobsen added 15pt, Ansu Sesay 11pt and Steffan Hamann 10pt 7ast. Both teams shot well with both hitting 52% from the floor and ALBA sinking 12 of 29 (41%) from three while Dusseldorf hit 8 for 21 (38%) from beyond the arc. Dusseldorf sank 10 of 11 FT (91%) while ALBA hit 7 of 14 from the line. Head Coach Achim Kuczmann and his Giants evened at 7-7 while ALBA Berlin fell to 9-3.

EnBW Ludwigsburg 97 ratiopharm Ulm 91 (OT)
Brandon Woudstra scored 22pt and made 12 of 14 FT in leading EnBW Ludwigsburg to a 97-91 overtime win over rival ratiopharm Ulm Sunday evening at Rundesporthalle in Ludwigsburg. Along with Woudstra, Ludwigsburg received production from Brian Jones (21pt 4 for 6 threes), Kelvin Gibbs (19pt 10reb), Domonic Jones (16pt) and Dane Watts (14pt 8reb) in the win. Ludwigsburg edged ahead holding a 20-18 lead after 1Q before Ulm made a strong 2Q run to take a 42-34 halftime lead. Ulm's strong run continued as the team built a ten point advantage midway through the 3rd before Ludwigsburg fought back to even the score at 62 going into the 4th. The exciting rivalry played out in a fantastic back and forth flow. Ulm held a 79-76 lead with 30sec to play but missed 2FT. Brian Jones made the game-tying three with 18sec. After a timeout, Ulm's last shot was off and the game went to Overtime. In the extra session, Ulm took the lead early on strong play from Lee Humphrey, Romeo Travis and Jeff Gibbs. But Ludwigsburg's Brandon Woudstra was the key to victory sinking several key FT leading his team to the exciting win. Jeff Gibbs powered his way to a 28pt 10reb double double leading the Ulm attack with help from Romeo Travis (21pt) and Lee Humphrey (19pt 4 for 7 threes). The terrific overtime game saw Ludwigsburg shoot 52% from the floor, make 8 of 21 threes and 23 of 32 FT (74%) while outrebounding Ulm 38-29. Ulm hit 46% from the floor, 7 of 22 from three (31%) and 24 for 34 FT (70%). Head Coach Rick Stafford and his EnBW Ludwigsburg team remained perfect 6-0 at home and upped their record to 8-5 while ratiopharm Ulm saw their 4 game winning streak snapped as they slipped to 9-5.

Telekom Baaskets Bonn 84 TBB Trier 66
EJ Rowland scored 13pt and Winsome Frazier and Ken Johnson finished with 12pt each as Telekom Baskets Bonn used a strong team effort to beat TBB Trier 84-66 Sunday evening at Trier Arena. After an even 18-18 1Q, Bonn moved ahead to take a 40-33 halftime lead. Steadily increasing their margin, Bonn led 58-46 after three before breaking the game open in the 4th. George Evans led Trier scoring with 24pt 5reb while Chris Copeland added 15pt 8reb in the loss. Bonn shot 50% from the floor, made 7 of 18 threes (38%) and 21 of 29 FT (72%) in the win. Head Coach Michael Koch and his team improved to a Bundesliga best 10-4 and move into first place while Trier dropped to 6-8.

Brose Baskets Bamberg 79 LTi Giessen 46ers 56
Brose Baskets Bamberg earned a solid 79-56 home win over LTi Giessen 46ers Sunday evening at JAKO Arena in Bamberg. Predrag Suput led Bamberg with 16pt 7reb and Robert Garrett added 13pt 4reb in the win. Bamberg PG's Filberto Rivera (12pt 3reb 3ast) and Michael Jordan (10pt 4ast) were also productive in the victory. Bamberg took control early with a 25-15 1Q and 49-27 halftime advantage. The 46ers responded with an 18-5 3Q pulling within 54-45 going into the 4th before Bamberg regained command with a 25-11 4th to earn the win. Maurice Jeffers paced 46er production with 17pt 8reb while Johannes Lischka added 13pt 6reb and Robert Maras 11pt 8reb in the loss. Bamberg shot 45% from the floor while limiting Giessen to 39% but held a big advantage in shooting threes making 13 of 32 (40%) compared with 1 for 14 for Giessen. Head coach Chris Fleming and Bamberg upped their record to 7-6 while Giessen fell to 4-10.

Stanley Boateng "For the love of the game" - by Miles Schmidt-Scheuber
Stanley Boateng (183-G-85, agency: Passing Lane) is a 23 year old 183cm guard with a NIgerian/American passport. He has four years of college Basketball experience and is looking for a Basketball job in Germany. In a day and age where money seems to dictate life, there are some who just want to play Basketball for the love of the game.'I am just looking for an opportunity to play so I can start off my pro basketball career. So I am willing to play at the lower division for a cheap salary to begin with'. In the 2006-2007 season he played at the University of Missouri- St. Louis: 27 games: 6.5ppg 2apg, 2rpg, 1.5spg (70% FT, 41% 3FG). Last season he switched to Bellevue (NAIA): averaging 37games: 5ppg, 4apg, 2rpg, 1.5spg. His coach Chris Pilz at Missouri-St Louis spoke highly of him.'Stanley is one of those players that give us a chance to win every night. He understands when to shoot and when to pass'. Stanley is a young, fresh, hungry and a motivated guy who is looking for a job in Germany. The 2 German Regionaliga or possibily the 1 Regionaliga could be the right place for him. If there is any interest from teams that might need help at the guard position, you can reach Stanley via email at niteman9020@yahoo.com. He can give any one interested videos of his Basketball skills

*****************************************************
  HOLLAND   


FEB Results: Round 17 - by Sanders Jackson


Saturday night in FEB action, Hanzevast Capitals win once again in a blowout fashion, this time on the road over Landstede Basketball, while ZZ Leiden wins its second straight and Rotterdam Challengers win in Den Helder.

In the ZBC-hal, strong on-the-ball pressure, hard crashing of the offensive glass and a great inside-outside balance was the name of the game for Hanzevast Capitals, who were in charge from start to finish, winning in a 102-76 blowout over Landstede Basketball. Hanzevast's ball pressure and denials forced Landstede out of their comfort zones and to catch entry passes much further the three-point line. While it did not help Landstede's cause with the absence of Robby Bostain (191-G/F-84, agency: Sports Plus International, college: Furman) (foot injury), Hanzevast did not seem to miss the presence of Rogier Jansen (188-G-84, agency: Court Side) (suspension). Lead guard Torey Thomas (180-G-85, agency: Interperformances, college: Holy Cross) set the tone for Hanzevast, with strong ball pressure that helped turn defense into offense, and with the ability to get in the lane at will, setting himself up for drives or penetrate-kick looks. This also opened up offensive rebounding and postup opportunities for Hanzevast, who took advanatge of Landstede's interior defense, which is their Achilles' heel at this moment. Landstede had trouble getting defensive stops on the inside, and with excellent perimeter shooting and crisp passing, double teams in the post were not an option for Landstede. Landstede managed to remain close at the end of the 1st quarter thanks to the efforts of Frank Young (196-F-84, agency: Pro One Sports, college: W.Virginia) and Gerad Punch (193-G/F-84, college: Furman), who were behind 29-23 at the end of the quarter.


In the 2nd quarter, things got worse for Landstede (and got better for Hanzevast), with Landstede turning the ball over early in the quarter. Hanzevast executed their halfcourt pick-and-roll game to a science, with crisp passing and aggressive drives to the hoop. Role players for Donar such as Aaron Roye (185-G-88, agency: R.H.Consultancy), Bas Rozendaal (212-F/C-86, agency: R.H.Consultancy) and Sander de Roos (195-F-91) also made important contributions for Hanzevast. Two consecutive dunks from Ransford Brempong (203-F-81, college: W.Carolina) off penetration dishes and a three-pointer by sniper Will Whittington (191-G/F-84, agency: 540 Sports, college: Marist) helped Hanzevast to a 57-32 halftime lead.


In the 2nd half it would get no closer than 13 the rest of the way, as Hanzevats continued to dominate on the offensive glass, and Thomas continued to attack off the dribble at will, with each time gaining more success than anticipated. In the end, while both teams had little trouble putting the ball in the basket (Hanzevast 62.8% FG, Landstede 63.3% FG), the difference was that Hanzevast forced Landstede into coughing up the ball 25 times, had also 15 offensive rebounds, including five each by Brempong and Simon Conn (206-F/C-83, agency: R.H.Consultancy, college: Gardner-Webb). Hanzevast also had 35 pts. from the Landstede turnovers and 20 second chance pts. Both Conn and Brempong led six Hanzevast players in double figures with 17 pts each, with both having double-doubles (Conn 11 rebounds, Brempong 10). Thomas added 15 pts. and 8 assists, while Whittington also added 15 with four three-pointers. Young led Landstede with 17. Hanzevast improves to 10-6 and tied for 2nd place in the FEB with Eiffel Towers, while Landstede falls to 8-9.


In Leiden, ZZ Leiden continue to go on the up and up in their recent play, with another strong performance by center Johan Kuijper (217-C-80) en route to winning over Aris Friesland 79-66. The Dutch big man had a double-double of 15 pts. and 16 rebounds, and added 2 blocked shots and 2 steals. Eight of his rebounds also came on the offensive glass. ZZ held Aris Friesland to pedestrian shooting numbers of 40.4% FG and just 5 of 23 from the three-point line. Aris shot also only 9 of 19 from the free throw line and were clobbered on the boards by a 55-42 margin. The win improves ZZ's record to 4-11, while Aris drops its 2nd straight and seventh loss in the past eight games.


In Den Helder, Rotterdam Challengers get back on the winning track thanks to a strong second half performance in its 89-79 road win over BlueStream Seals, spoiling the coaching debut of Remy de Wit. Rotterdam center Martin Iti (213-C-83, agency: Elfus-Siegel Management (ESM), college: N.Mexico St.) was a big lift off the bench for the Rotterdammers, and complimented Chaz Twan Briggs (201-F-80, college: W.Virginia) well on the inside, were a potent duo in the deciding 4th quarter run. Both Iti and Briggs combined for 30 total points, 17 by Briggs. Bobby Walker (188-G-84, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Va Commonwealth) led all scorers with 21 pts. The Rotterdammers move to 9-7, while BlueStream Seals fall to 4-12 with its 3rd straight loss.



PromotieDivisie Scores Week 12: Cangeroes get first win of the season! - by Terry Cooper
Week 12 was the end of teams being winless while other teams maintained their postitions as the end of the first half is almost here. The Cangeroes of Utrecht captured their first win of the season with a buzzer beater to win over the Pigeons 79-77. VBC Akrides edged Leiden2 at home 76-69 while EJ/MG2 won over De Groene Uilen 83-72 to stay in first place. BV Rooi won a high scoring affair over EBBC2 103-92 while GOBA won on the road over Red Giants 85-79. MSV Log in used tough defense in the 3rd quarter to win securely over Punch 76-64. Punch stayed close during the game with great 3pt shooting as a team but the veteran players of Log in maintained composure to pull out the victory. Peter Vader (205-C-80) recorded another double/double (15/15rbs) for the Noordwijkers to maintain second place in the league. With one more game remaining before the break, the top four teams will meet next week to put a ripple in the standings. It's going to be a battle til the break!!!

Week 12 Scores:

VBC Akrides - Leiden2 76 - 69
Punch - MSV Log in 64 - 76
Pigeons - Cangeroes 77 - 79
Red Giants - Goba 79 - 85
De Groene Uilen - EJ/MyGuide2 72 - 83
BV Rooi - EBBC2 103 - 92

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  HUNGARY   


Round 10, saturday's games - by Tamas Deri
Kaposvari KK - Zalakermia ZTE KK 67-78
(28-21, 17-24, 12-19, 10-14)
Kaposvar, Att.: 700, Referees: Hartyani, Kapitany, Jakab
Kaposvari KK: Marciulionis 9/3, Vojvoda 11/9, Larry Welton (196-F, college: Aurora) 20/3, Hoffmann 2, Laszlo Orosz (207-C-71, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 20/3, David, Kiss K. 5/3, Coach: Dzunic Branislav
Zalakeramia ZTE KK: Hinnant 8/6, Watson 14/6, Tamas Kaman (200-F/G-79, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 16/12, Gaspar, Srdjan Helbich (205-F/C-76) 25/3, Zoltan Trepak (210-C-77, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 14/12, Jones, Simon L., Toth 1, Coach: Volgyi Peter


Szolnoki Olaj KK - PVSK Panthers 60-81
(22-14, 10-19, 13-20, 15-28)
Szolnok, Att.: 2500, Referees: Foldhazi, Hegedus, Pozsonyi
Szolnoki Olaj KK: Szabo 9/3, Coleman 15/9, Wilson 16/3, Jurkunas 6/6, Basit 2, Varadi 5/3, Harazin 7, Cseh, Gaal, Coach: Por Peter
PVSK Panthers: Thomas Kelley (188-G-76, agency: Avi Zilberman, college: Michigan St.) 17, Spivey 2, Denes 7/6, Peter Grebenar (211-C-81) 15/3, Bencze 16, Aleksic 6, Toth 4, Czigler, Coach: Stojan Ivkovic
STATS
2pts: 52% - 54%
3pts: 8/29 - 7/15
Free Throws: 4/7 - 8/14
Rebounds: 29 (Harazin, Wilson 7-7) - 35 (Bencze 13)
Assists: 13 (Szabo 7) - 26 (Kelley 11)
Steals: 14 (Harazin, Jurkunas 3-3) - 18 (Denes 5)
Blocks: 6 (Harazin 4) - 4 (Bencze 2)
Fouls: 15 - 11

Dombovar on the first place before the Christmas break - by Tamas Deri
The team of Dombovar was not to stop again and could win against Falco KC Szombathely in a TV-game today.

With this win the surprising team of the season will start the second part of the regular season from the first position after the christmas break. The fans of the team hope to have a more lucky season this year and believe that the team can be in the top four before the playoffs.

It was a great advertisement-game of the mens basketball as both teams had a phantastic shooting performance today 2pts: 60 and 69% , 3pts: 39 and 48 % -, so everybody could watch a very attractive game after lunchtime.

Ferenc Bodi (198-F-77) was the best scorer of the home with 23 points, but also Anthony Dill and Bryan McCullough added 21 and 17. Ciric, Vrsaljko, Horvath and Kalman could also score in double figures from the guests but it was not enough today.

PLANET LEASING-DOMBOVAR KC - FALCO-SZOVA KC SZOMBATHELY 102-91
(26-29, 31-30, 22-18, 23-14)
Dombovar, Att.: 1400, Referees: Bodnar T., Cziffra
DOMBOVAR: Jerome LaGrange (192-G-78, college: Livingstone) 10, Clark 9, Bryan McCullough (198-F/G-83, agency: AMI, college: NC-Asheville) 17/6, Ferenc Bodi 23/9, Anthony Dill (200-F-81, college: Texas St.-San Marcos) 21/3, Balazs Szoke (200-F-76, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 15/6, Deak 7/3, Balogh L., Coach: Balind Jozsef
FALCO: Laszlo Kalman (186-G-72, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 15/15, Hudson 8/3, Andrija Ciric (199-G-80, agency: Beo Basket) 23/9, Denis Vrsaljko (212-C-82) 20, Zoltan Horvath (207-F/C-79, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 19, Borszeki 4/3, Feigl, Lakatos 2, Vida, Coach: Srecko Sekulovic

Standings - A Division
A Division Standings
 1. Dombovar 8-2 
 2. Albacomp 7-2 
 3. Atomeromu 7-2 
 4. Kormend 7-4 
 5. Falco 6-3 
 6. PVSK Panth. 6-4 
 7. Univer KSE 5-4 
 8. ZTE KK 5-4 
 9. Soproni 5-5 
 10. Szolnok 5-6 
 11. Kaposvari 4-5 
 12. Marso-Vagep 2-7 
 13. Debreceni 1-9 
 14. EnterNet-NTE 0-9 


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  IRELAND   


Standings - EBS Superleague
SuperLeague Standings
Conference A
 1. Killester 10-0 
 2. UCD Marian 7-3 
 3. DCU Saints 4-5 
 4. Belfast Star 2-6 
 5. Ulster Elks 1-8 
Conference B
 1. UCC Demons 7-1 
 2. Neptune 5-4 
 3. Hoops 5-5 
 4. Limerick 3-6 
 5. Tigers 1-7 


WEEKEND RESULTS - by Ozell Wells
Friday 12th December
Nivea For Mens SuperLeague
Shamrock Rovers Hoops 76 (J Reed 32, R Grant 20, P Taylor 11) UCD/Hibernian UCD Marian Dublin 82 (D Ryan 26, M Parker 25, B Drumm 20)

Saturday 13th December
Nivea For Mens SuperLeague
Ulster Elks 85 (43) (M Betley 27, C Nagel 17, I O'Boyle 16) Belfast Star 99 (50) (P Thomas 23, K Foley 16, C McVeigh 14)

Limerick Lions Basketball Club 67 (36) (J Green 15, N Campbell 15, S King 12) Neptune Cork 78 (41) (E Millard 18, V James 15, G Noonan 12)

Neptune Cork 88 78 (42) (J Grabowski 21, M Bonaparte 18, P Kelly 13) DCU St.Vincents Dublin 91 78 (40) (M Trimmer 16, E Donnelly 14, J Donnelly 13)

LIMERICK LOSES A TOUGH ONE! - by Ozell Wells
The Limerick Lions lost out tonight against a stronger Neptune side. Neil Campbell (193-G-83) opened up the game with a 2 pointer, which Neptune
quickly responded to. The majority of the first quarter went on in this tit-for-tat fashion until Ed Millard (198-F, agency: 22ft) scored his 3rd three
pointer to create a ten point gap for the visitors from Cork. Poor defense and fast breaks gave Neptune the upperhand as the half ended Lions 36, Neptune 41.

The teams seemed more evenly matched during the second half, with neither team really performing to their best. On a few occasions the
Lions caught up and narrowed the gap between the only to lose it again as Neptune pulled ahead. The final quarter was a tense affair as the
Lions struggled to catch up. But, with just four minutes to go, Neptune hit a string of rebounds to secure the march. It ended Lions 67, Neptune 78.

Coach Sasa Punosevac wasnt happy with the result, 'Their two Americans killed, ours didnt! We didnt defend against their Americans in the 1st
half.' He also said that he didnt blame anyone as this was the fourth match without Point Guard Scott Kinevane (173-G-87) 'We've missed Scott for four
weeks now, we needed his fast breaks tonight - thats where Neptune outperformed us'.
courtesy of Limerick Lions Basketball lClub

*****************************************************
  ITALY   


Lega2 Round: 12 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Cimberio VA - Trenkwalder 75-77
Trenkwalder defeated the league leading Varese to narrow the distance between the team to minimum. Nicolo Melli scored 24 points to pace brave Reggio Emilia side. Alvin Young added 19 points in the win. Giacomo Galanda nailed 22 points, grabbed 7 boards and dished out 4 assists for Varese.

Banco Sard. - Pallacan.RO 71-73
Pallacanestro Roseto celebrated a difficult road win over Banco di Sardegna today. Martin Ringstrom and Fabio Ruini came up with 15 points apiece to lead balanced offensive effort from the visitors. Trent Whiting and Jason Rowe answered with 17 points each in the loss.

Edimes PV - Vanoli SO 93-81
Edimes Pavia earned the fourth victory in the championship as they upset Vanoli Soresina at home court earlier today. Paul Marigney fired 26 points to lift the hosts to the triumph. Jeffrey Viggiano and Thomas Mobley had 18 points each for the winners. Troy Bell answered with game-high 28 points for Vanoli.

Aget IM - Fastweb CM 79-78
Aget Imola won the game against Fastweb Casale in overtime. Joseph Bunn knocked down 32 points to lead the way for the hosts. Federico Pugi provided 15 points in the 6th victory for Aget Imola this season. Casale replied with 22 points from Simone Pierich.

Fileni JE - Harem SC 91-84
Fileni Jesi outscored Harem before the home crowd today. Michele Maggioli shone with 24 points and 12 boards for the winners. Ruben Boykin ensured 18 points and 8 rebounds as Fileni improved at 9-3 record to share the top spot with Varese. Scafati answered with 19 points and 8 boards from Joel Salvi.

Carmatic PI - Crabs RN 81-86
Rimini Crabs held off Carmatic Pistoia on the road. Phil Goss tallied 32 points and 9 rebounds to lead the charge. German Scarone contributed 25 points for the winners. Pistoia got 17 points from Elton Tyler.

Prima VE - Enel Brindisi 89-79
Prima Veroli made it six wins in 12 games as they toppled Enel Brindisi today. Afik Nissim topscored for Veroli with 30 points. Ivan Gatto added 22 points for the winners. Raymond Tutt posted 26 points for Enel Brindisi as they slipped at 3-9 record.

Umana Reyer - Basket LI 65-79
Basket Livorno prevailed against Umana Reyer in Venice. Troy Ostler stepped up wth 25 points and 8 boards for the visitors. Jermaine Boyette had 13 points in the sixth win for Livorno. Umana Reyer were not rescued by 20 points from Nathan Green.



SerieA Round: 10 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Montepaschi - Solsonica 96-81
Terrell McIntyre scored 22 points and dished out 11 assists in the tenth straight win for Montepschi. This time the Siena team held off Solsonica at home court. Romain Sato added 21 points for the winners. Vangelis Sklavos answered with 19 points and 11 boards for Solsonica as they fell at 3-7 record.

Lottomatica - Benetton 96-75
Lottomatica eased past Benetton for the fifth win in the season. Andre Hutson came up with 24 points for the winning team. Roberto Gabini delivered 17 points for the hosts. Bobby Dixon responded with game-high 28 points and 8 steals in the fourth loss for Treviso in the season.

NGC Cantu - Angelico BI 87-85
Kevinn Pinkney scored 4 points in the final minute of regulation to secure a tough win for NGC Cantu over Angelico Biella. Sundiata Gaines led the winners with 23 points. Barry Elder added 16 points and 6 boards for Cantu. Joe Smith scored 26 points for Biella in the loss.

Fortitudo - Air AV 71-82
Air Avellino sent Fortitudo at 4-6 record as they bruised them on the road today. Chris Warren knocked down 19 points and grabbed 6 boards for lead his team. Travis Best nailed 17 points as Air Avellino improved at 5-5 record. Darryl Strawberry fired 22 points for Fortitudo in defeat.

Banca Tercas - Armani MI 95-97
Mike Hall scored a late jumper to propel Armani Jeans past Banca Tercas today. David Hawkins nailed 21 points in the sixth win for Armani Jeans. Mike Hall added 17 points and 14 boards for the visitors. Guiseppe Poeta responded with 20 points for Banca Tercas in defeat.

Snaidero - Carife FE 77-65
Snaidero Udine earned just the second win in the season as they outscored Carife Ferrara at home court. Rashad Anderson fired 22 points, while Benjamin Ortner added 19 points to pace Snaidero to the long-awaited success. Harold Jamison secured 19 points for Carife.

Eldo Caserta - La Fortezza 78-68
Eldo Caserta and La Fortezza opened the round with quite unpredictable victory over La Fortezza. Shan Foster nailed 19 points, while Horace Jenkins added 18 and the hosts celebrated just the fourth triumph in the championship. The visitors were not rescued by 19 points and 10 steals from Earl Boykins. Jamie Arnold dropped 12 points in the losing effort.



Caserta upsets Virtus Bologna - by Gianni Pascucci
In the anticipated game of Serie A Round 10, played yesterday night in Caserta, home team Eldo took a very important win, 78-68, over Virtus La Fortezza Biologna, and this happened just when all the observers were rating Virtus as the only team able to challenge Siena for the Serie A supremacy. After that Bologna had ended the first half ahead 38-35, Caserta started a decisive 10-0 rally led by newly arrived Horace Jenkins (186-G-74, college: William Pater.), who scored 9 points in the third quarter and ended the game with 18 points and 13 assists. Bologna tried to come back, but two electric black-outs in the PalaMaggio Arena 'broken the rythm' to the guests. The game top scorer was Shan Foster (198-G/F-86, college: Vanderbilt), who is also our saturday night MVP. He scored 19 points, grabbed 4 rebs and stealed 5 balls for Caserta. Earl Boykins (168-G-76, college: E.Michigan) topped Bologna, scoring he too 19 points, while Jamie Arnold (203-F-75, agency: Avi Zilberman, college: Wichita St.) added 12 pts and 6 rebs in losing effort.

*****************************************************
  JAPAN   


Standings - JBL
JBL Standings
 1. Panasonic 16-4 
 2. Aishin 15-5 
 3. Hitachi S. 11-9 
 4. Toshiba 9-11 
 5. Toyota 9-11 
 6. Tochigi Brex 9-11 
 7. Hokkaido 6-14 
 8. Mitsubishi 5-15 


*****************************************************
  KUWAIT   


Kuwait Clubs's Ahmed Al Mutawa is called home - by Corey Washington

Ahmed Al Mutawa (199-F/C-81, college: Broward CC) is taking some time away from Kuwait Club, but not due to illness or injury, but to take care of some family business!

Mutawa is headed to Istanbul with Bahrain National Team to compete for the '1 spot' in the Gulf Cup. Mutawa and the Bahrain national team will depart Dec 19th for a 10 day Training camp playing a few local clubs in preparation for the Gulf Cup.

The nationals are bannered by star big man Ahmed Al Mutawa, and include a healthy mix of stanch veterans and quick, fearless youngsters, some of whom will be representing Bahrain for the first time. 'I like the group of players coach Walter has chosen to represent Bahrain,' Mutawa was quoted as saying. 'I have worked with him before and I think his style and philosophies on how to play the game are going to be very helpful in making us a stronger team.'

Bahrain, although already featuring an improved national team line-up, will still be overshadowed in the Gulf Cup by defending champions the UAE, and favourites Qatar. 'I think every team has a chance to win, but of course I play to win and I came to Bahrain to help the team win,' Mutawa said. 'If we play hard and execute our plays, our chances are very good. Our team is young and small, but we are quick and everybody can shoot, so our goal is to work with what we have and come back with the cup.'

Players: Ahmed Al Mutawa, Mohammed Hassan, Mohammed Abdulmajeed, Mahmood Ghuloom, Mohammed Hussain, Hussain Shaker, Mohammed Qurban, Khadem Majed, Ahmed Malallah, Ahmed Mirza, Yasser bu Naffour, Sadeq Mahdi, Essa Ebrahim, Ahmed Abdulaziz, Omran Abdulredha, Abdulrahman Tareq, Maytham Jameel, Mohammed Quwayed.

SOURCE: Gulf Daily News



*****************************************************
  LATVIA   


LBL D2 Round: 17 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Keizarm.U21 - Saldus 54-76
Saldus maintained their winning streak as they outscored Keizermesz for the tenth success in the season. Janis Licitis and Edgars Buikis responded with 14 points for the winning team. Armands Osins netted 17 points for Keizarmezs.

Liep.Papirs - Jurmala 68-84
Jurmala overcame Liepaja Papirs away from home. Raivis Logins fired 17 points and collected 12 boards to lead the way for the visitors. Atis Ozols added 16 points for Jurmala as they improved at 7-3 record. Mareks Mejeris replied with 24 points for Liepajas Papirs.

Livani - Kandava 100-97
Livani eked out a narrow win over Kandava at home court. Oskars Kalnins notched 21 points and 6 boards for the winning team. Nauris Maskalans added 14 points as Livani improved at 8-3 record. Girts Celms managed 37 points and 7 assists for Kandava.

Cesis - Valmiera U21 76-55
Cesis held off Valmiera U21 behind 19 points and 9 rebounds from Peteris Licitis. Davis Krastins came up with 18 points for the winners. Aigars Strelis tallied 22 points and 10 rebounds for Valmiera in the 5th loss in the tournament.

ASK/Juniors - Ventsp.Aug. 76-80
Kristaps Kanbergs knocked down 29 points and collected 13 boards to lift Ventspils Augstskola past ASk/Juniors Riga. Davis Lejasmeiers added 14 points in the win. Kristaps Mediss bounced back with 20 points for the Riga outfit.

LU/Ridzene - BA Riga 73-88
BA Riga scored the second victory in the championship as they rolled past LU/Ridzene on the road. Edmunds Dukulis and Davis Gulbis nailed 27 points each for the winners. LU/Ridzene answered with 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for LU/Ridzene in defeat.



*****************************************************
  LITHUANIA   


Player movement - by Evaldas Ceilytkas
Lithuanian champion B.C. Zalgiris-Sabonio Kaunas Kaunas has released American point guard Willie Deane (186-G-80, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: Purdue). He had very nice performance in Lithuanian and Baltic leagues, but very poor performance in Euroleague. In LKL he had averaged: 18.0 ppg, 2.50 apg; In BBL averages are: 16.7ppg, 3.0 apg, but in Euroleague he had only 3.2 ppg, 1.0apg.
In second Lithuanian division former LIthuanian U-18 member Linas Juknevicius (188-G-84) has reached agreement with Zalgiris-Sabonio Kaunas. He began season in Latvian team Liepajas Lauvas, bet was realesed.
Another second division team Silute has signed forward Valdemaras Savostjanovas (201-F-84).

*****************************************************
  LUXEMBOURG   


Standings - DBBL
DBBL Standings
1. Amicale 8-3
2. Sparta 8-3
3. T71 7-4
4. Musel Pikes 7-4
5. Etzella 7-4
6. Contern 6-5
7. Black Star 6-5
8. Residence 3-8
9. Racing 2-9
10. Heffingen 1-10


*****************************************************
  NBA   


NBA Round: 47 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Pacers - Bucks 103-121
Milwaukee Bucks nailed 121 points beating the Indiana Pacers at Bradley Center. TJ Ford shined for the winners collecting 27 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists for 35 minutes. Brandon Rush had 16, while Danny Granger and Jeff Foster netted 14 points apiece. Michael Redd delivered 27 points in defeat, while Charlie Villanueva registered double-double, 26 points and 10 boards. Bucks 10-15, Pacers 7-16.

Warriors - Nuggets 105-123
Carmelo Anthony, who scored 27 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and dished out 6 assists paced the Denver Nuggets to 16th win this season (16-7). The Warriors got 25 points from Jamal Crawford. Warriors 7-17.

Magic - Jazz 103-94
Orlando Magic celebrated vs Utah Jazz on the road thanks to Rashard Lewis and Hidayet Turkoglu, which had 50 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists together. Deron Williams added 17 points and 11 assists for the hosts. Magic 18-6, Jazz 15-10.

Knicks - Kings 114-90
Easy 24-point road victory for the NY Knicks. Al Harrington drained 33 points and grabbed 6 rebounds for 35 minutes. The Kings got double-double from Jason Thompson, 12 points and 11 rebs. Sacramento slipped on 6-18.

Rockets - Clippers 82-95
Sixth win for the Clippers (6-17). At the same time it was the ninth loss for the Houston Rockets (15-9). Zach Randolph posted 30 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for the hosts. Al Thornton had 4 points less. Ming Yao nailed 24 pts and grabbed 13 rebs in defeat.

Cavaliers - Hawks 92-97
Atlanta Hawks crushed Cleveland Cavaliers mostly owing to Michael Bibby, who collected 24 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. LeBron James once again stepped up for his team netting 33 points and also registering 6 boards and 9 assists. The Hawks jumped on 14-9, while the Cavs dropped on 20-4.

Pistons - Bobcats 90-86
13-9 for the Pistons and 7-17 for the Bobcats after this game. AI top-scored for the winners with 20 points. Richard Hamilton had 2 points less. Gerald Wallace answered with 22 pts and 9 rebs for the Bobcats.

Wizards - 76ers 89-104
Elton Brand paced the 76ers to 10th victory of the season draining 27 points and pulling down 9 rebounds. Antawn Jamison had 17 points and 9 boards for the loosing side (4-17).

Nets - Bulls 104-113
Chicago Bulls made it at home improving on 11-12 record. On the other side the NY Nets slipped on 11-11. Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose combined 51 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for the hosts. NY Nets got impressive 39 points and also 6 boards from Vince Carter.

Thunder - Mavericks 99-103
The Mavs celebrated at home vs OC Thunder moving up on 13-9. Visitors faced with 22nd loss in 24 appearances. Dirk Nowitzki was central figure of the game nailing amazing 46 points and grabbing 8 rebounds for 39 minutes. Jeff Green led the scorers in defeat with 25 pts.



*****************************************************
  NCAA1   


Wildcats upset #4 Zags - by Kevin Cochran
Nic Wise (5'10''-G) scored 21 points, including three free throws in the final 31 seconds, and Arizona upset No. 4 Gonzaga 69-64 on Sunday.
Jordan Hill (6'10''-F) added 22 points and Chase Budinger (6'7''-F-88) had 14 for the Wildcats (7-2), who beat a team ranked in the top four for the first time since Nov. 8, 2001, when they beat No. 2 Maryland.

The Wildcats, who led most of the game, outscored Gonzaga 7-2 over the last 2:25, with Hill and Wise scoring all their points.

Austin Daye (6'11''-F-88) had 22 points and Matt Bouldin (6'5''-G-88) added 14 for the Bulldogs (7-1).

The second half was played with the fury of an NCAA tournament game.

Hill broke a 62-62 tie with two free throws with 1:17 to go, then hit a 4-footer over Josh Heytvelt (6'11''-F-86) to put the Wildcats up 66-62 with 36 seconds left.

Bouldin scored on a layup, then Wise iced the game at the free throw line, going 3-of-4 down the stretch.

This was Gonzaga's second straight game against a Pac-10 opponent. But after blitzing Washington St. 74-52 at Pullman on Wednesday night, the Bulldogs struggled to cope with Arizona's athleticism.

They also had to deal with a pro-Arizona crowd at 'neutral' U.S. Airways Center, home of the Phoenix Suns. The arena is only about 90 miles from Arizona's campus in Tucson.

Arizona and Gonzaga met for only the third time -- and the first since the top-seeded Wildcats held off the Bulldogs in a double-overtime thriller in the NCAA's second round in 2003.

The Wildcats took a 35-34 lead at halftime as both teams shot 46.4 percent from the field (13-of-28).

Courtesy: gozags.cstv.com

AJ ABRAMS IS HE A NBA PLAYER? - by Kaliph Ross
There has been several NBA scouts at Texas games this season to scout AJ Abrams and the word I am getting is that he is needs to focus on being a point guard because he is undersized for the the shooting guard position. I agree with that evaluation but, also believe Texas has to us Abrams to their strength which is him scoring the ball. In order for Texas to win games Abrams will at least have to score 20 points for Texas to be competitive. I believe in the perfect situation with the perfect team ex. (Eddie House Boston Celtics) he can make a roster but look for him to get drafted second round and have a career over in Europe ex.(Randolph Childress Shawn Respert).

UCLA COACH BEN HOWLAND GETS WIN NUMBER 300 - by Kaliph Ross
The 14th ranked Bruins pounded on the Blue Demons 72-54 in the John Wooden Classic in Anaheim,California. Jrue Holiday led the Bruins with 14 points 5rebs 6 assists. Koshwal added 12 points 8 rebs in a losing effort. The freshman Holiday showed why everyone is talking about him being a one and done type talent he played both sides of the floor and made some terrific passes and put the team on his shoulders in the second half as they ran away from the blue demons. Jrue Holiday who reminds me of former UCLA Bruin Mitchell Butler also had 5 rebs and 2 steals.

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  POLAND   


1Liga Round: 15 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
AZS Kalisz - AZS AWF K-ce 82-76
AZS Kalisz beat AZS AWF Katowice 82:76 in Regular Season Round 15. Krajewski Michal paced all the winners with 34 points and Olejnik Lukasz added 15. Donigiewicz Artur scored 29 for the guests and Piotrkowski Mariusz netted 25.

Zubry - MMKS DG 73-80
Zubry lost to MMKS DG 73:80 as both teams are 9-6 in the league. Deja Tomasz top-scored for the winners with 17 points, while Zakrzewski Kamil nailed 24 points in the losing effort.

Prokom II - Zastal ZG 53-76
Zastal ZG improved to 8-7 after a road 76:53 victory over Prokom II. Sarzalo Bartosz and Chodkiewicz Marcin top-scored with 18 points each for the winners, whilst Hrycaniuk netted 15 in defeat.

Big Star - Sudety JG 77-65
Big Star is second with 11-4 record after beating Sudety JG 77:65. Mielczarek Krzysztof and Pacocha Lukasz ended up with 13 points each. Czech Jakub nailed 16 points for the visiting team.

MOSiR Kr. - Resovia 82-77
MOSiR is on the throne with13-2 record as they defeated Resovia 82:77 at home. Pluta Piotr led the winners with 24 points, while Malecki Grzegorz had the same number of points in defeat.

Siarka T. - Polonia 2011 82-84
Polonia 2011 is third with 10-5 record that survived a thriller over Siarka, 84:82. Berisha Dardan and Bartosz Mateusz led the winners with 21 points apiece. Marciniak Michal nailed 22 points in the losing effort.

Stal SW - Znicz Basket 78-68
Stal SW edged Znicz Basket 78:68 behind 25 points from Andrzejewski Tomasz. Dloniak Jakub produced the same number of points for the visiting side.

Sokol L. - LKS Lodz 67-78
Sokol was defeated by LKS Lodz 67:78 as Prostak Tomasz and Dluski Jakub had 16 points each for the winners. Mroczek-Truskowski Adrian finished the night with 16 points for the losing side.



DBE Round: 16 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Anwil - Kotwica 80-93
Anwil lost to Kotwica 80:93 in Regular Season Round 16 in Poland. Hamilton Kevin top-scored for the winners with 25 points and Kikowski Pawel followed him with 23. Pluta Andrzej ended up with 31 points in the losing effort.

Gornik W. - Znicz J. 103-81
Gornik overcame Znicz 103:81 in the game of the bottom teams. Barro Ousmane and Waczynski Adam paced all the winners with 16 points each, while Stefanski Marcin had 15. Celej Tomasz finished the night with 22 points for the guests.

Polonia - Polpharma 77-87
Polpharma had a road win over Polonia 87:77 to stay on throne with 11-3 record. Hicks Michael poured in 18 points for the winners and Tuljkovic Mujo collected 16 points and 10 rebounds. Adams Tommy posted 20 points in the losing effort.

AZS Koszalin - Turow 70-68
AZS Koszalin brought an upset for Turow with 70:68 at home. Mojica Javier led the winners with 18 points, whilst Reese George had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Roszyk Krzysztof nailed 18 for the guests as Turow fell at 10-4.

PBG Basket - En.Czarni 67-65
PBG Basket left the last spot in the league after beating Energa Czarni 67:65. Wojcik Adam led the winners with 20 points to 3-11 record. Kedzo Mateo produced 23 points in the losing effort.



*****************************************************
  ROMANIA   


Div.A Round: 12 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Otopeni - Ploiesti 73-81
Mike Jones nailed 18 points to propel Ploiesti past Otopeni. The winners occupied the top spot in the ladder leaving Otopeni one win behind at the fourth. Darius Hargrove added 16 points for the winners. Adrian Blidaru had 21 points for Otopeni in defeat.

Rovinari - Dinamo B. 84-81
Rovinari climbed onto the second spot in the standings as they eked out a tough win over Dinamo Bucuresti. The hosts trailed by 3 points before the final stanza but came up strong in the final minutes to secure the ninth success in the season. Porter Troupe led the charge with 20 points. Louis Darby contributed 19 points for the winners. Chris Reaves responded with 18 points for Dinamo.

Craiova - CSU Brasov 75-84
CSU Brasov upset Craiova on the road for the seventh victory. Enes Hadjbulic knocked down 24 points, while Ionut Dragusin added 17 points and 17 boards to lead Brasov. Branislav Tomic responded with 25 points for Craiova in the loss.

Gaz Metan - Rapid B. 73-38
GAZ Metan thrashed Rapid Bucuresti at home court. Zeljko Bubanja nailed 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the home team. Tudor Dumitrescu secured 16 points for the winning side. Sandu Bogdan had 16 points for Rapid as they dropped at 0-12 record.

CSU Atlassib - Mures 102-84
CSU Sibiu earned the eighth win in the season as they held off Tirgu Mures at home court. Bryant Matthews exploded with 35 points to lead the way for the hosts. Brandon Johnson contributed 21 points, 10 boards and 7 assists in the victory. JuJuan Cooley replied with 19 points and 8 assists for Mures as they suffered the 8th defeat.

Timisoara - U.Mobitel.CN 77-72
Timisoara remained in the leading position as they toppled UMobitelco in the key matchup of the round. Nenad Markovic scored 23 points as the hosts posted a well-deserved win. They piled up a 7-point buffer before the final stanza and then withheld all the comeback efforts from UMobitelco. Milos Pesic added 17 points and 8 boards in the win. Matthew Gibson notched 20 points for the visitors.



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  SLOVENIA   


Turow of Saso Filipovski signs Drobnjak, Gorica targets Trivunovic - by Jan Flac
Dragisa Drobnjak (200-F-77, agency: Beo Basket) announced he will continue his career in Turrow in Poland under very well acknowledged Slovenian coach Saso Filipovski . He signed till the end of the season (source: kosarka.si).

Nova Gorica is negotiating with Mitar Trivunovic (196-G-77, agency: 011 Sports), but also some other Slovenian clubs are interested in this player. .

Krka inks Alijevas - by Zeljko Zule
Krka inked Rolandas Alijevas (192-G-85, agency: Octagon) ex Zalgiris for the rest of season. He averaged 8,5 minutes, 0,7 points (2P 1-3), 0,3 rebounds, 1,0 steals in 3 games of Euroleague, 14,5 minutes, 2,0 points (2P 3-6, 3P 0-2, FT 2-4), 1,0 rebounds, 1,8 assists, 0,3 steals and 0,3 blocks in 4 games of SEB Baltic League and 23,0 minutes, 5,2 points (2P 4-10, 3P 2-11, FT 12-16), 3,4 rebounds, 2,2 assists and 0,8 steals in 5 games of Lithuanian League.

*****************************************************
  TURKEY   


Standings - TB2L
TB2L Standings
Group A
 1. Trabzonspor 7-2 
 2. Edirne Genclik 7-2 
 3. Bornova 7-2 
 4. Pamukkale 6-3 
 5. Genc Telekom 6-3 
 6. Vestel 5-4 
 7. FMV Isik 4-5 
 8. Akcakoca P. 4-5 
 9. Orman 3-6 
 10. Eyup 2-7 
 11. Bursa B-bol 2-7 
 12. TED Istanbul 1-8 
Group B
 1. Tofas 9-0 
 2. ITU 7-2 
 3. Gelisim 7-2 
 4. Duzce Genclik 6-3 
 5. Genc Banvit. 5-4 
 6. Canakkale 5-4 
 7. Beykoz 5-4 
 8. Yesilyurt 3-6 
 9. Pertevniyal 3-6 
 10. Ankara Basket 2-7 
 11. Usak 2-7 
 12. Mulkiye 0-9 


Standings - TBL
TBL Standings
 1. Efes Pilsen 9-1 
 2. Galatasaray 9-1 
 3. T.Telekom 7-3 
 4. Fener.Ulker 7-3 
 5. Banvit 7-3 
 6. Aliaga 6-4 
 7. Mersin 5-5 
 8. Darussafaka 5-5 
 9. Antalya 5-5 
 10. Selcuk Uni. 4-6 
 11. Karsiyaka 4-6 
 12. Besiktas 4-6 
 13. Oyak Renault 4-6 
 14. Erdemir 2-8 
 15. TED Koleji 1-9 
 16. Kepez Bld 1-9 


CASA TED Ankara Kolejliler easily beat Pinar Karsiyaka : 71-63 - by Baha Kurtulus

After desperate nine weeks,Casa TED Kolejliler Ankara downed Pinar Karsiyaka in Ankara.
Casa TED Ankara Kolejliler made its first win in regular season with the new coach Hasan Ozmeric
and its supporters, Die4you. Five players scored in double digits in CASA TED, Erek Hansen (211-C-82, college: Iowa) finished the game with 18 points and 8 rebounds, Kevin Bell collected 11 points,4 rebounds and 4 assist for the winners, Leon Williams collected 12 points 17 rebounds, Gerald Brown netted 22 points in defeat.

CASA TED ANKARA KOLEJLILER (71): Ozgur Adiguzel 8 (2 reb., 4 as.), Caner Oner 3 (2 reb.), Alper Ozcan (1 reb., 1 as.), Caner Erdeniz 12 (1 reb., 1 as.), Onder Kulcebas 5 (6 reb., 2 as.), Kevin Bell 11 (4 reb., 4 as.), Volkan Cetintahra (1 reb.), Quan Prowell 11 (3 reb., 2 as.), Erek Hansen 18 (8 reb., 2 as.),

PINAR KARSIYAKA (63): Gokper Gen (1 reb.), Leon Williams 12 (17 reb., 1 as.), Hakan Koseoglu 8 (1 reb., 6 as.), Omer Kahyaoglu 3, Valentin Pastal 3 (1 reb., 1 as.), Ralph Mims 11 (6 reb., 2 as.), Michael Benton 2 (11 reb., 2 as.), Gerald Brown 22 (2 reb.), Erhan Yetim 2 (2 reb., 1 as.)

1.Period:13-9
2.Period:22-21
3.Period:20-12
4.Period:16-21



*****************************************************
  U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS   


Virgin Islands HS Preview - by David Edole
Before I begin to write about the best ballers in the Virgin Islands for the upcoming season I have to tell you a secret. The best baller in my eyes is not even participating in varsity action. He is still in middle school. Sekayi Petersen had an amazing summer leading the Virgin Islands to a silver medal in the 16-under Caribbean Basketball Championships. The 14 year old not only dominated the event but also sent college coaches in a frenzy. One coach stated that he was too good to remain in the Virgin Islands when they found out his age.
But I digress. This season the same top five teams will battle for the territory championship. Charlotte Amalie is the favorite because they return player of the year in Ryan Mills and most of his supporting cast. I ranked Educational Complex or fools gold second on the amount of talent. Every year I place them in the top two and they find a way to blow it. Central High should get strong play from Irayn Williams, Taaron Jones and Lamar Bough. Eudora Kean could be the surprise team if Prince Mills shows any kind of improvement. And my beloved Country Day rounds out the top five. It is a rebuilding year for the Tigers but they do have an Oreilly on the roster.
Any one of the other teams could surprise. Antilles is in rebuilding mode. Sts. Peter and Paul still have big man Michael Venzen and Charles Moorehead is still in no mans land (St. Josephs).


1. Charlotte Amalie: Deshaun Holliday (F, 6-3, Soph.), Merwin Potter (G, 5 -10, Jr.), Charles Pemberton (F, 6-3, Jr.), Mchail George (G, 5-10, Sr.), Adis Elliot (G, 6-1, Jr.), Kishawn Fleming (G, 5-4, Soph.), Akeem Fleming (6-5, C, Sr.), Shamal Caines (G, 5-10, Sr.), Ryan Mills (G, 6-0, Jr.)
Comment: In order to be the man you have to beat the man is the sentence most teams in the territory will have to live by this season. To take the number one spot you have to beat Charlotte Amalie. And that will be a tough task this season. The Chicken Hawks return last seasons player of the year in Ryan Mills and have gotten stronger with recent additions. Merwin Potter has improved over the summer and may have a break out season. Water Island Charles Pemberton will be a beast on the boards. I was surprised to see him on the football field. This guy is built like a house. Akeem Fleming, a baseball stand out, will man the middle and Mchail George will be the steady hand at the point guard position. Off the bench Adis Elliot will provide deadly three-point shooting and ultra athletic Deshaun Holiday will provide the high lights!

2. Educational Complex: Kyle Sylvester (F, 6-2, Sr.), Edwin Ventura (F/C, 6-4, Soph.), Rashidi Price (C, 6-5, Jr.), Timothy Sneed (G, 5-10, Sr.), Kymani Smith (5-9,G, Sr.), Chris Sealy (G, 6-0, Jr.), James Sneed (G, 5-10, Jr.), Shakeel Williams (G, 5-11, Sr.), Salim Ross (G, 5-10, Jr.), Darnell Williams
Comment: Will the real James Ne Ne Sneed please stand up? Cut down on the drama and show the territory who is the best player in varsity basketball. Your teammates will follow you to the end. Support them even when they mess up. Be a leader. NeNes maturation process began over the summer when he shined with the Virgin Island junior team. He atoned for most of his mistakes in the previous year. If Ne Ne disciplines himself Complex has a team that should travel. Senior Kyle Sylvester returns to give the Barracudas a steady hand. Sylvester played on the junior national team two years ago and was named to the all-star team. Sylvester works the glass and has a great jump shot. The athletic Timothy Sneed is also in the line up. He is the older brother of Ne Ne. American export Rashidi Price should be the teams starting center. Price is big but prefers jump shooting than banging inside. Edwin Ti-Ti Bread Ventura will also help on the boards. Ventura is more of a point-forward. Chris Sealy and Salim Ross are talented players and both will come of the bench. Darnell Williams may be that missing piece that put this thing together but as off press time it is not sure if he went out for the team. Williams is a bruiser, he and Timothy Sneed were terrors at the junior varsity level.

3. Central High: Irayn Williams (6-2, Sr., G/F), Lamar Bough (G, 6-0, Sr.), Taaron Jones (G, 6-0, Jr.), Reno Motta (F, 6-2, Soph.), Kadeem Jones (G, 5-7, Soph.), Stephen James (Sr., G/F, 5-10), Shomari Ellidge (Sr., 5-11, F) Jonathan Fontanelle (5-11, Fr., G),
Comment: Central will have to revert to the old Carib way of life. Press, press and more press. The team is not a big team. The biggest player on the team is Irayn Daddy Stylee Williams. Williams is a talented guard who was trusted into the post last season. His numbers were not good so most wrote him off. During scrimmaged the old Williams returned. He would grab a rebound drive the court and dish a no look pass. That is the Williams Central has been waiting on. Lamar Bough will handle point and shooting guard duties. Bough has the size and speed to create mismatches. Taaron Jones will provide athleticism and three-point shooting. That trio all played on the junior national team two years ago in Dominican Republic. We have to play up temp and spread the court, said Head Coach Alvarn Jarvis. We have more than enough guards to keep pressure all of the time. The Heady Kadeem Jones will be one of the guards a lot is expected from along with Jonathan Fontanelle. Reno Motta and Shomari Ellidge will try to play big! I expect them to spread the floor like Golden State warriors and take advantage of mismatches.

4. Eudora Kean: Jefferson Faustin (G, 5-10. Sr.), Michael Davis (G/F, 6-4, Sr.) Shaquil Bruno (G, 6-0, Jr.), Brian Hodge (6-2, F), Prince Mills (F, 6-5)
Comment: Coach Joel Fleming may have a surprise team here if players do what is expected in the off-season. WORK! Jefferson Faustin is an outstanding shooter. He may have to play some point this year but Kean would benefit from him playing the two-guard position. All around player Michael Davis returns. The 6-4 F/G rebounds, plays defense but did he work on his outside shooting? Big Prince Mills will rebound and take up a lot of space. However, did he work on his offensive game? Will he be aggressive? Shaquille Bruno was named to the All Star team. Did any one notice? Did he play? It is time for the Rays to really compete with Charlotte Amalie for the St. Thomas District.

5. Country Day: Semaj Hodge (G, 5-11, Sr.), Michael McDonald (F/G 6-4, Jr.) Brandon Oreilly (G, 5-9, Jr.), Charles Sealy (Fr. 6-2), Alex Krauw (5-10, G, Sr.), Ferdinand Decambra (G, Sr.), Jeffery Moorhead (5-11, Jr.), Aaron Siefer (G, 5-8, Jr.,),
Comment: According to coach Lenny Redwine the Country Day Tigers are in rebuilding mode. If it was up to him every year will be a project. CDS does have some talent and one major cog in the machine is Michael McDonald. The 6-4 forward will have to do a lot this year. Score the basketball, defend the goal and collect donations at the door. McDonald has help in form of Brandon Oreilly and Charles Hill Sealy. Oreilly does what all Oreillys do shoot the basketball. Sealy the younger brother of Akeem Mountain Francis and Joaquim Slope Francis. Sealy inherited the same jumping ability as his brothers. Alex Krauw has some speed and Aaron Seifer is trying to keep the Siefer name out there. If he is half the shooter his sister was CDS might have found a way to keep the middle open for McDonald. Leading scorer Semaj Hodge is in limbo and could join the team later on in the season.

6. Antilles: Mathew Berry (6-0, Sr., F) Andrew Cassazza (5-9, Jr., G,) McKenzie Shaw (G, 6-0, 11th), Darnell (6-2, Fr., F)
These are not your parents Antilles Hurricanes. There is no Kaylen Gregory and/or Omari Peterkin walking through that door. I dont think this team on paper scares Charlotte Amalie and Eudora Kean. The Hurricanes will have to depend on McKenzie Shaw but can he pull it off? Andrew Cassazza and Mathew Bery will flank Shaw. Where is Agai Gregory? I know he is in the ninth grade. I hope he is not scared of Varsity action.

Manor-SDA: Not much is known about the team coached by Bailey. But seventh day Adventist and Manor school have combined for the first time in history. Manor does have senior 6-4 forward Osel Edney.

Sts. Peter and Paul: Eugene Farrell squad will compete. They have big Michael Venzen (6-4, Jr., F/C) on the team. (

Complex B: Complex B are players that can play but not good enough to make the A team. This team may have enough talent to compete with the middle of the road teams.

St. Joseph's: Coach Applewaite has a talented player in Charles Morehead (G/F, 6-2, Sr.). Morehead played well in mens summer league this past summer but has no help. If he had help he would have competed for player of the year honors. One-man cant win a championship but he will have several HIGH LIGHTS this year.

All Saints: Will they have a team? I dont know

St. John Gift School: Nothing much is know about the only private school on St. John. They will try their best to stay out of the cellar.


Preseason player of the year: Kyle Sylvester, Educational Complex
First Team
Iaryn William, Central High
Ryan Mills, Charlotte Amalie
Kyle Sylvester, Educational Complex
Merwin Potter, Charlotte Amalie
Charles Pemberton, Charlotte Amalie

Second Team
Charles Moorehead, St. Joseph
Lamar Bough, Central
Jefferson Faustin, Eudora Kean
Michael McDonald, SDA-CDS
James Sneed, Educational Complex

STT-IAA
CAHS
Eudroa Kean
Antilles
Sts. Peter and Paul
All Saints
St. John School


STX -IAA
Complex A
Central
Country Day School
Complex B
SDA-Manor
St. Joseph

*****************************************************
  UKRAINE   


UBL Round: 22 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
BC Odessa - Hoverla 103-81
BC Odessa easily handled Hoverla at home court for the 14th success in the season. Justin Love nailed 20 points, grabbed 9 boards and dished out 6 assists to lead the hosts. Wayne Wallace added 17 points and 10 boards for the winners. Tate Decker responded with game-high 24 points for Hoverla.

Cherkasy - Ferro-ZNTU 86-81
Cherkasy returned on top of the table as they held off Ferro-ZNTU at home court. Vladislav Dragoljovic nailed 26 points and 8 rebounds for the hosts. Jason Fontenet responded with 18 points for Ferro-ZNTU as they fell at 7-12 record.

Budivelnyk - Dnipro 120-67
Budivelnyk overwhelmed Dnipro in Kyiv to jump onto the 5th spot in the ladder. John DeGroat knocked down 31 points for the winners. Tomas Delininkaitis added 18 points and 7 assists for the winners. Dnipro responded with 15 points and 7 boards for Dnipro.

DniproAzot - Kryvbasbasket 83-88
Kryvbasbasket sneaked past DniproAzot on the road. Jarrett Howell dropped 20 points to lead Kryvbasbasket to the 14th win in the season. Kitwana Rhymer and Viktor Kondratovets had 14 points each for the winning side. Jerel Allen scored 16 points and grabbed 7 boards for DniproAzot as they fell at 4-15 record.

Gryfony - Polit.Lviv 78-93
Politekhnika-Halychyna quicky rebounded after an overtime loss to Odessa in the previous round to knock down Gryfony in Symferopil. Aliaksandr Pustahvar notched 28 points to lead the action. Anton Ageev added 18 points in the winning case. Jane Petrovski answered with 20 points for Gryfony in defeat.



*****************************************************
  UNITED KINGDOM   


Tigers, Eagles & Thunder Secure Wins - by Andy Webb
The Everton Tigers completed a successful weekend as they won their second game in as many nights in beating the PAWS London Capital by 67-103 to depose the Scottish Rocks at the top of the BBL Championship table.

Andre Smith (203-F-85, college: N.Dakota St.) inspired the Tigers with 32 points, whilst Josh Gross had 18 and London native Olu Babalola had 13.

The win was just short of their 38-point winning margin over the Capital earlier in the season, and the Londoners are condemned to bottom place in the BBL Championship after losing their last nine games. Head Coach Milek Jivens said,

'We started off even at the beginning of the game, but Everton managed to adjust to us in the second quarter and Andre Smith took over the game. We lost sight of what we were trying to do and by the time that we started making shots in the fourth quarter, the game was over.'

It was broken open in the second quarter as the Tigers restricted their hosts to just 12 points, whilst scoring 29 of their own, and the lead would not fall below double-digits from that point.

Meanwhile, the Newcastle Eagles returned to form and maintained the pressure on the top as they moved into second place with an 81-108 defeat of the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.

The Eagles have a good record in the East Midlands and this was their fifth straight win on the Riders' patch; it was the fourteenth time they have beaten the Riders in the last sixteen meetings, spanning back almost four years.

Lynard Stewart shot 9/12 to lead all scorers with 20 points. It was a second quarter flurry of three-pointers that put the Eagles in charge as they shot 6/7 and didn't look back after Trey Moore, Reggie Jackson, and Fab Flournoy scored triples on consecutive plays to give them a 36-42 lead.

Elsewhere, the Worthing Thunder won their third straight game and propelled themselves up into the playoff positions as they beat the Worcester Wolves 121-111.

In an astonishingly high-scoring game they broke through the century mark in the third quarter and held a strong 109-87 lead. However, the Wolves came back into it with a 19-2 surge in the fourth quarter but, strangely for this game, neither side scored regularly in the last five minutes as the Thunder saw the game out.

Head Coach Gary Smith said,

'We pulled out the win in the end. Worcester didn't stop and you can never beat them by thirty or forty because they will always make a run at you. The danger is when you play not to lose, rather than playing to win, and that's what we got into in the fourth quarter. But we re-grouped in the last two minutes and concentrated on playing solid defence, and that's where other teams would have crumbled.'

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 81 (23,43,60) (Wierzbicki 19, Martin 11, Swanson 11)
Newcastle Eagles 108 (22,51,77) (Stewart 20, Jackson 19, Moore 18)

The Newcastle Eagles moved up to second in the BBL Championship table as they beat the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders by 81-108 at the John Sandford Centre.

The Eagles have won the last six games between the sides and fourteen of the last sixteen games stretching back almost four years. The Eagles have also won the last five games in the East Midlands.

On this night, it was Lynard Stewart that led the scoring with 20 points, after shooting 9/12, and he was supported by 19 from Reggie Jackson and 18 from Trey Moore. Bradd Wierzbicki led the Riders once more with 19 points.

The early exchanges provided no clues for what was to come as the Riders raced into a 14-4 lead behind 6 points from LaTaryl Williams. However, the Eagles came straight back as Stewart made 6 of his own and they tied the game at 16-16, but the Riders still led 23- 22 after the first ten minutes.

The Eagles found their range in the second period and netted six out of seven three-pointers on their way to taking a 43-51 half time lead. A 30-30 tie was broken as Moore, Jackson, and Fab Flournoy hit triples on consecutive plays for a 36-42 lead. Moore then added another three with the final possession of the quarter.

The Riders kept the game close in the third quarter as, with 2:30 remaining, a Matt Martin three-pointer made the score 60-69. However, the Eagles closed the period with the last 8 points to lead 60-77 going into the decisive stanza.

The hosts would not get close as Newcastle's lead peaked at 78-105 after Phil Missere fouled out of the game and his protestations led to a series of technical fouls that meant the Eagles spent most of the latter stages on the free-throw line.

PAWS London Capital 67 (21,33,49) (Gariba 29, D. James 21, S. James 8)
Everton Tigers 103 (26,55,78) (Smith 32, Gross 18, Babalola 13)

The Everton Tigers completed back-to-back wins to move to the top of the BBL Championship table after they overcame the PAWS London Capital by 67-103. It is the second time that they have beaten the Londoners this season; tonight's win was just a little short of the 38-point margin with which they won back in October.

Andre Smith led the scoring once more with 32 points for the Tigers, with Josh Gross on 18 and Olu Babalola on 13. Ibrahim Gariba led the Capital with 29 points.

After edging a tight first quarter by 21-26, the Tigers took charge of the game in the second stanza as they won it by 29-12 to take a commanding lead that would not be threatened for the remainder of the game. Smith and Gross shared 26 points in the first half, with Duane James doing all the work for the Capital as he had 18 at the break.

London did not get close in the second half as Smith scored 12 third quarter points for Everton and Olu Babalola came into the game with 9 points. The Capital looked to one man as Gariba picked up the mantle and scored double-figure points in both the third and fourth quarters.

The defeat condemns the Capital to bottom place in the BBL Championship table, having lost their last nine games. Head Coach Milek Jivens said,

'We started off even at the beginning of the game, but Everton managed to adjust to us in the second quarter and Andre Smith took over the game. We lost sight of what we were trying to do and by the time that we started making shots in the fourth quarter, the game was over.'

Worthing Thunder 121 (38,68,109) (Patton 28, Ivanovskis 19, Bargeman 18)
Worcester Wolves 111 (27,57,87) (Paez 40, Brown 21, Funn 19)

The Worthing Thunder beat the Worcester Wolves 121- 111 to record three straight wins in the BBL Championship for the first time in their history. The win, in a game between two sides that are scrapping for playoff positioning, helped them up into seventh place in the table.

Anthony Paez scored an impressive 40 points in vain for the Wolves, whilst the home side were led by 28 points from Ryan Patton, 19 from Janis Ivanovskis, and 18 from Colby Bargeman.

The hosts came out the stronger in a very high scoring first quarter, as an early 11 consecutive points, highlighted by three-pointers from Patton and Dan Midgley, saw them into a 16-4 lead. The Wolves recovered with a 16-6 run, led by player/coach Skouson Harker, to narrow the gap to single digits at 32-27. However, they would not score again in the last minute of the first quarter and trailed 38-27 after the Thunder scored seven triples in the first ten minutes.

Neither side made any further headway in the second stanza, although the long-range shots kept dropping as the sides shared nine three-pointers in the period. The Thunder pushed the lead out to 60-46 after 5 straight points from Ivanovskis with two minutes to go. Paez and Dan Wardrope then embroiled themselves in a shootout as the former made three three-pointers and the latter hit two of his own in the last 1:38 before the teams went into the locker room at 68-57.

The home side asserted their authority in the third quarter and, amazingly, broke through the century mark with 3:21 left to go. They started with a 6-2 run as Bargeman scored two baskets, and over the next five minutes they would outscore the Wolves by 19-7, with Woods scoring 6 and Ivanovskis 5, to lead 91-68. They went over 100 with a 13-2 run that was capped by another Midgley triple and weathered a 13-3 close from the Wolves to take a 109-87 lead into the final quarter.

The Wolves threatened a comeback in the fourth period as they opened with an Uzkuraitis three-pointer sparking an 8-0 opening. That run extended to 19-2, and included 8 points for Paez, as the Wolves got it back to 111-106 with 4:45 remaining. However, in a bizarre ending to such a high-scoring game, the Wolves would only score 5 points in the remainder, with the Thunder holding out as Patton made 5 of their 10 points down the stretch.

Worthing's Head Coach Gary Smith said,

'We pulled out the win in the end. Worcester didn't stop and you can never beat them by thirty or forty because they will always make a run at you. The danger is when you play not to lose, rather than playing to win, and that's what we got into in the fourth quarter. But we re-grouped in the last two minutes and concentrated on playing solid defence, and that's where other teams would have crumbled.'

Tigers Win Top of Table Clash - by Andy Webb
Everton Tigers won the battle of the title contenders at Greenbank Sports Academy as they overcame a 10- point second quarter deficit to beat Scottish Rocks 86- 76.

The win moves Tigers into second place on their own, just two points behind the Rocks - Everton have three games in hand on their rivals from north of the border.

Tigers led 21-18 after ten minutes, but slipped 29-39 behind with 2:30 left in the second quarter. However, a 10-0 run over the next 30 seconds, with 8 from Olu Babalola (198-F-81, college: Clemson) brought the home side back into the match.

Andre Smith and Babalola then combined after the interval to put Tigers 63-54 heading into the fourth quarter. Everton stretched their lead out to 13 during the final stanza with 79-72 being the closest Rocks got to getting back into the game.

Everton Tigers 86 (21,39,63) (Babalola 21, Smith 17, Gross 15)
Scottish Rocks 76 (18,41,54) (Yanders 19, Murray 15, Parry 11)

Everton Tigers moved into second place in the BBL as they won the battle of the title contenders at Greenbank Sports Academy beating Scottish Rocks 86-76.

The Tigers were made to work hard though as they overcame a 10-point second quarter deficit to seal the victory. Ola Babalola paced the Everton offence with a game high 21-points while Rob Yanders 19 led Rocks effort.

After an even first quarter which ended 21-18 in the home team's favour the match was broken open by the Rocks with a 21-8 run to take the score out to 29- 39.

Chi Lewis-Parry contributed 8, Randy George 6 and Yanders 5 to the burst as the visitors assumed command. However, a 10-0 run over the next 30 seconds, with 8 from Olu Babalola brought the home side back into the game with the half ending 39- 41.

The third quarter saw Rocks go back up by five (39-44) before a 21-6 tear by Tigers handed the initiative to Everton. Once Andre Smith had given Tigers the lead at 45-44 there was no looking back for Tony Garbelotto's players with Richard Midgley's free throw closing the quarter 63-54.

Tigers stretched their lead out to 13 during the final stanza with 79-72 being the closest Rocks got to getting back into the game. Rob Yanders three was too little too late for Sterling Davis' team.

*****************************************************
  URUGUAY   


The Governement said it will no intervene the FUBB - by Hector Lopez
The Uruguayan Government has not taken any decision to intervene the Federacion Uruguaya de Basketball (FUBB), said the Tourism and Sports Ministry. In an official statement, the ministry said thar previous annoucements were a 'communications error'. The FUBB had been verbally announced of the intervention on Friday. Immediately the president Luis A Castillo decided to close the offices and to cancel all basketball activities from Monday 15. Last nigth Castillo said to Latinbasket that the minister Hector Lescano had been in touch with him explaining the situation. Two clubs, out of near 50 affiliated to the FUBB had made a denunce against the validity of the last elections carried out in May 2008.



*****************************************************

Women News

*****************************************************
  FINLAND - Women  


Espoo wins cup - by Esko Saarinen
Espoo Team won women's cup today at Vantaa. The opponent Huima from Aanekoski, was leading in the first part, but even in the half time Espoo leaded 44-41 and the final results were 75-67 to Espoo. This was the third time Espoo was in the cup final, but this is the first win. Two years ago Espoo lost the final just for Huima. Best players in Espoo team were the point player Megan Griffith (16/3) and Whitney Allen (17/7). Also Finnish players Susanna Rinta, first match after being injured, (13/3) and Siiri Nuutinen (13/7) were in good playing humor. Also Ashley Hayes was in high performance. Espoo took the final lead on third quarter, but Huima did not surrender. The winning was final just one minute before finnish as Huima's player Erneisha Bailley took a personal fail and after that also a technical fail. Espoo took ten points lead and that was enough. Huima best players were Sanna Jamsen (9/6), Kenya Robinson (18/7) and Erneisha Bailey (12/8)

*****************************************************
  LEBANON - Women  


Standings - Women League
Premier League Standings
1. Homentmen A. 2-0
2. Antoura 1-1
3. Antranik 1-0
4. Al Riyadi 1-0
5. Homentmen B. 0-2
6. Al muttahed 0-1
7. Anibal 0-1


*****************************************************
  NAIA - Women  


WBCBL TRYOUT INFORMATION for recently graduated NAIA Players! - by Lucius Jones
The Columbus Hidden Gems of Central Ohio are holding their initial tryout in early February. With 15 roster spots per team to fill and 10 of those still being wide open, this is a legit opportunity for some quality people and players to begin a professional career. Columbus Hidden Gems is going to be one of the few teams to pay their players as well as being one of the few to not ask for any membership fees or dues. This WBCBL has placed 60 players overseas in professional jobs in its 5 year existance. Visit: http://www.wbcbl.com for information on the entire league and http://www.ballcharts.com/wbcbl_chg for the specific team information.
'Our mission is to have the most competitive team as possible and to aggressively pursue professional placement for each and every player on the team. We are actively seeking additional sponsors in this effort and any inquiries and/or sponsorships would be greatly appreciated.'

*** TRYOUTS!!!! ***

Columbus Hidden Gems

Sat, Feb 7th 2009

3:30pm - 6:00pm

Lazelle Woods Rec Ctr
8140 Sancus Blvd
Westerville, Oh 43081

$40.00 - PO Box 26582 Columbus, Oh 43226

Shelly Simpson - Dir of Player Personnel
614-271-9190
bugsmomforever@yahoo.com
or
Lucius Jones - Head Coach
614-330-1861
ljones16@insight.rr.com

*****************************************************
  NCAA2 - Women  


WBCBL TRYOUT INFORMATION for recently graduated NCAA Players! - by Lucius Jones
The Columbus Hidden Gems of Central Ohio are holding their initial tryout in early February. With 15 roster spots per team to fill and 10 of those still being wide open, this is a legit opportunity for some quality people and players to begin a professional career. Columbus Hidden Gems is going to be one of the few teams to pay their players as well as being one of the few to not ask for any membership fees or dues. This WBCBL has placed 60 players overseas in professional jobs in its 5 year existance. Visit: http://www.wbcbl.com for information on the entire league and http://www.ballcharts.com/wbcbl_chg for the specific team information.
'Our mission is to have the most competitive team as possible and to aggressively pursue professional placement for each and every player on the team. We are actively seeking additional sponsors in this effort and any inquiries and/or sponsorships would be greatly appreciated.'

*** TRYOUTS!!!! ***

Columbus Hidden Gems

Sat, Feb 7th 2009

3:30pm - 6:00pm

Lazelle Woods Rec Ctr
8140 Sancus Blvd
Westerville, Oh 43081

$40.00 - PO Box 26582 Columbus, Oh 43226

Shelly Simpson - Dir of Player Personnel
614-271-9190
bugsmomforever@yahoo.com
or
Lucius Jones - Head Coach
614-330-1861
ljones16@insight.rr.com

WBCBL TRYOUT - Professional Basketball Opportunity for recently Graduated NCAA D2 Players! - by Lucius Jones
The Columbus Hidden Gems of Central Ohio are holding their initial tryout in early February. With 15 roster spots per team to fill and 10 of those still being wide open, this is a legit opportunity for some quality people and players to begin a professional career. Columbus Hidden Gems is going to be one of the few teams to pay their players as well as being one of the few to not ask for any membership fees or dues. This WBCBL has placed 60 players overseas in professional jobs in its 5 year existance. Visit: http://www.wbcbl.com for information on the entire league and http://www.ballcharts.com/wbcbl_chg for the specific team information.
'Our mission is to have the most competitive team as possible and to aggressively pursue professional placement for each and every player on the team. We are actively seeking additional sponsors in this effort and any inquiries and/or sponsorships would be greatly appreciated.'

*** TRYOUTS!!!! ***

Columbus Hidden Gems

Sat, Feb 7th 2009

3:30pm - 6:00pm

Lazelle Woods Rec Ctr
8140 Sancus Blvd
Westerville, Oh 43081

$40.00 - PO Box 26582 Columbus, Oh 43226

Shelly Simpson - Dir of Player Personnel
614-271-9190
bugsmomforever@yahoo.com
or
Lucius Jones - Head Coach
614-330-1861
ljones16@insight.rr.com

*****************************************************
  POLAND - Women  


Results of game 13 december A2 Italian League - by Jordan Losi
Memar Reggio Emilia 71 - Tecno Allarmi Cervia 70. http://www.legabasketfemminile.it/frame_lega.asp?risultati
How is the best way to celebrate your birthday?maybe scoring the free throws when 6 seconds left for win the game!
It's not a joke..it's what Magdalena Kozdron (173-F-80) (173-F-80) did yesterday!It was very hard game where no one of both team had more than 5 points of advantage..always point by point.
20 seconds left the result was 70-70 and the ball in hands of Kozdron and the defence to don't let her score made foul.She missed the first shot but she scored the second,enough to win the game and to carry team on 5th place on ranking.For Magdalena 24 points in 35 minutes with 12-14 free throws, 6-13 2 points, 0-3 3 points, 6 rebounds,5 lost ball,4 steals and 23 valutation.

Cantina Sociale Broni 57 -Pilot Italia Biassono 53. http://www.legabasketfemminile.it/frame_lega.asp?risultati
Very important win for Broni that with this win reached on ranking Biassono,to keep to fight for 8th place to arrive on playoff.
Katharina Fikiel (193-F/C-87) 6 points in 26 minutes with 2-3 free throws, 2-3 2 points, 0-2 3 points, but 8 rebounds, 6 lost,2 steals and 3 assist, and 5 valutation.

*****************************************************
  ROMANIA - Women  


Standings - Women
D1 Standings
 1. Targoviste 11-0 
 2. Alexandria 11-0 
 3. Arad 8-3 
 4. Govora 7-4 
 5. Sf.Gheorghe 7-4 
 6. Satu Mare 6-5 
 7. Cluj Napoca 6-5 
 8. Oradea 6-5 
 9. Rapid 5-6 
 10. Craiova 5-6 
 11. Iasi 2-9 
 12. S.Studentesc 2-9 
 13. Olimpia 1-10 
 14. Alba Iulia 0-11 


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  RUSSIA - Women  


A Superleague Round: 9 (Regular Season) - by Eurobasket News
Spartak SP - Spartak V MR 81-101
Spartak Moscow Region posted the 8th straight win in the season. They rallied past Spartak Saint Petersburg on the road. Diana Taurasi nailed 18 points to pace the visitors. Sue Bird added 16 points and 7 assists, while Tatiana Shchegoleva tallied 15 points and 8 boards in the victory. Svetlana Makhlina responded with 21 points for Spartak Saint Petersburg.

Spartak V MR - Spartak SP 101-77
Spartak Moscow Region secured the second win over Spartak Saint Petersburg in just two days. This time the league leaders celebrated at home. Sylvia Fowles managed 25 points for the winners. Diana Taurasi added 14 points for the hosts. Svetlana Makhina contributed 16 points for Spartak Saint Petersburg.

UMMC - CSKA 50-73
CSKA proved all the woes are left behind as they thumped UMMC in Ekaterinburg for the eighth straight win in the season. Janel McCarville nailed 18 points and grabbed 9 boards for the winners. Maria Stepanova answered with 10 points for UMMC.

Slavyanka - Dynamo M. 66-102
Dynamo Moscow earned the fifth win in the season as they cruised past Slavyanka on the road today. Belinda Snell knocked down 22 points to lead the way for Dynamo. Anete Jekabsone-Zogota added 16 points for the winners. Yuliya Kiseleva had 16 points and 12 boards for Slavyanka in the loss.



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  TURKEY - Women  


Standings - TBBL
TBBL Standings
 1. Fenerbahce 8-0 
 2. Mersin 7-2 
 3. Besiktas 6-2 
 4. Samsun 6-2 
 5. Galatasaray 5-3 
 6. TED Kayseri 4-4 
 7. Tarsus Bld 3-5 
 8. Ceyhan 3-5 
 9. Botas 2-7 
 10. Cankaya 1-7 
 11. Burhaniye bld. 0-8