EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 2/12/2008

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Men News

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ABA

Other Eastern teams in trouble. -by Gianni Pascucci
The ABA team named First State Fusion, based in Delaware, played its first 2008 ABA game on February 9, vs. the Jersey Express, falling 84-132, more than a month after the last one (another loss from the Express, on December 22, 2007). The website of the Delaware team isn' t yet working, and various other clues make to think to a folding of this team soon. Even the news coming from the Jersey Express tell about struggles to stay on track. Team co-owner Marsha Blount stated some weeks ago to local media that the team should continue operating in 2008-09, but admitted that economic losses have left her and co-owner Jacque­line Halyard open to bringing in new investors to share ownership and costs. The main reason of the Express difficulties hav been tiny crowds, due to the continous cancellation of home games as opponents went out of business. No surprise that this all made it very difficult to continue running the team. To sum up, we have two other teams heavily disappointed by the ABA. Less than one month before the end of regular season, only 9 teams (!!) have played more than 20 games, and only 2 teams played more than 15 games, but one of these two (the Beijing Olympians) played all their 16 games in Singapore, covering the traveling expenses of the opponent teams. We remember that the ABA had announced a 36 games regular season for more than 30 teams in 2007-08. Would you call this a succesful season ?

Former Strong Island Sound players finding success in more stable US Minor Leagues -by Surujh Roopnarine
With the Strong Island Sound suspending operations for the 2007-08 season, players were left with difficult choices to make regarding their futures. Some like Tommie Eddie (6'7''-F/C-82, college: Mississippi) and Raheim Lowery (6'7''-C, college: Dowling) have found success oversees, while others like Greg Plummer (6'4''-G-83, agency: Huss Sport Agency, college: Eckerd) and Abdul Mills (6'3''-G-79, college: Nebraska-Omaha) have stayed in the United States, latching on with the CBA and D-League respectively. Here are the most recent statistics for former Sound players in the US minor leagues this season;
Miguel Millien (6'7''-F-83, college: Idaho St.) (CBA): 17games: 20.7ppg, 6.1rpg, 1.8apg, 54.0 FG%
Greg Plummer (CBA): 12 games: 13.9ppg, 3.9rpg, 2.3apg, 40.8 FG%, 36.5 3PT%
Devone Stephenson (6'8''-F-78, college: Duquesne) (CBA): 2 games: 5.5ppg, 3.0rpg, 26.7 FG%
John Strickland (6'8''-F/C-72, college: Hawaii-Pacific) (CBA): 28 games: 12.4ppg, 5.7rpg, 2.3apg, 52.0 FG%

Abdul Mills (D-League): 23 games: 8.2ppg, 2.6rpg, 3.8apg, 38.5 FG%, 37.1 3PT%
Cory Underwood (6'10''-F/C-80, college: SUNO) (D-League): 14 games: 8.2ppg, 4.3rpg, 41.9 FG%

Vermont blitz Blizzard -by Carl Berman
The Vermont Frost Heaves bolted to a 45-18 lead after the first quarter, then coasted to a 133-103 victory over the Boston Blizzard at the Barre Municipal Auditorium on Saturday afternoon. Dokun Akingbade and Terrance Green each poured in 18 points, while Antonio Burks added 16, Brett Gravitt 15, and Issa Konare and Markus Austin 14 each. Dwayne Lee scored 12 and Erik Nelson 10 in Vermont's balanced attack. Vermont, now 24-4, succeeded on 13 three-point attempts for the game, and placed every player in the scoring column. Terrance Green scored on two straight three pointers and then hit a half court shot at the end of the first quarter to help Vermont out to a 28 point lead.

Jamaal Brooks scored 22 points to lead Boston, whose record falls to 7-15. Charles Easterling (6'2''-G/F-83) kept up his hot play since being acquired by Boston. Easterling, playing on a pulled groin, still managed to rake in 17 rebounds to go along with 21 points. Easterling, regarded to be the top rebounding guard in the ABA if not in all minor league basketball, is averaging 27 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists per game with the Blizzard. He had 39 points and 20 rebounds in the Blizzard's last visit to Vermont.

Texas Tycoons down 3rd ranked Manchester Millrats on the road 123-122. -by Jean-Paul Afif
Manchester, NH: The 4th ranked Texas Tycoons defeated the 3rd ranked Manchester Millrats 123-122 on the road at Manchester this past Saturday February 9th. The Millrats (18-10) hosted the Texas Tycoons (16-1) at home in New Hampshire for a battle of top level ABA power rankings.

Leaving their homes in Texas at 5:30am on the day of the big game for the long cross-country travel, the Tycoons knew they would have to focus in and man up for the evening game hosted by the home team Manchester Millrats. After traveling all day and arriving in New Hampshire, the Tycoons focused in on the task at hand from the start of pre-game warm ups, till the final seconds ticked off the clock to come back home with a strong Win against a good opponent.

'Our focus and mental toughness on the road against a good team paid off with a quality win, our Tycoons team is a family and has really bonded and come together' stated Tycoons Head Coach Jean-Paul Afif

The Tycoons fought hard all game, with a well balanced scoring attack, and tenacious defense to set the tone. Big Man Randall Williams (6'8''-F/C-82, college: Tarleton St.) and guard Mario Kinsey (6'2''-G-82, college: Sam Houston St.) displayed a great inside out game leading the Tycoons on the court, playing every possession with a passion. With 9 Tycoon players suited up for the game, Texas had 7 out 9 players with double digit scoring efforts.

Guard Mario Kinsey led Texas with 22pts, 6 assists and 2 steals, followed closely by fellow guard Melvin Mitchell (6'2''-G, college: Cameron) with 19pts, 4 assists, and 2 steals on 67% shooting from the 2pt field and 60% from the 3pt line in 24 minutes. Forward Randall Williams set the tone for the Tycoons in the paint and on the glass dominating the boards for both teams with 13 rebounds, including 8 offensive, 4 of which were rebound tip dunks, to go with 3 huge, intimidating blocks. Williams was one of 2 tycoons to have a double-double along with Ty Thomas (6'6''-F, college: Concordia-St.Paul) who finished with 15pts, and a solid 11 rebounds to go with 2 assists and a steal.

Guard Dameon Sansom (6'1''-G-75, college: Texas St.-San Marcos) entered the game off the bench knocking down 5 of 8 from the 3pt line (63%) claiming key possessions down the stretch for the Tycoons with his clutch shooting, and free throws to seal the win. Aside from making shots, Dameon showed to be a leader and floor general on the court with no turnovers and 17pts in his 20 minutes of play.

Portugal bound Donald Gray (6'6''-F-84, college: N.Mexico Highlands) filled up a stat sheet with 10pts, 7 rebs, 2 assists, 1 blk, and 2 steals for a solid performance also placing defensive pressure on Manchester all game, along with scrappy guard Steven Dunn, aka Turk. Turk entered the game with relentless defensive pressure, and sparked the Tycoons with his tenacious defensive leadership and presence on the court. Steven Dunn had a extremely efficient 10pts in 11minutes of play to go with 5 rebs, 3 assists, and a steal.

The Tycoons team basketball and defensive intensity posed to much for the Millrats down the stretch, as Forward Taron Hill banged his way in the paint to 8 pts, 6 rebs (4 offensive) and 2 massive blocks, followed by Jonathan Young (6'3''-G-84, college: Schreiner) 5pts, 4 rebs, 2 assists and a steal. Jonathon filled his defensive assignment while in the game with heavy deny defense, and unwavering ball pressure.

The Texas Tycoons are gearing up for the playoffs and the road to win the ABA Championship. The Tycoons hope to dispel and questions about their team players, their quality of play, or strength of schedule with this key 123-122 road win against the 3rd ranked Manchester Millrats.

'As an organization we do our best every year to sort through players and field the best talent Texas has to offer. We feel all of our players are not only high quality professional basketball players, but also quality individuals as well. We know our players have what it takes to play at the next level, but more so than that any player who has on a Tycoon jersey is a Soldier.' Texas Tycoon General Manager Mike Senters .

Visit the Texas Tycoons website at www.txtycoons.com for information about this weekends upcoming games.

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AUSTRIA

Gumnden wins the Austrian Chevrolet Cup -by Eurobasket News
Gumnden triumphed in the Austrian Chevrolet Cup that was held in Austria. At first in the semifinal semifinals, they defeated Arkadia Traiskirchen Lions 73:66 with 26 points from Deteri Mayes (189-G-74, agency: Court Side, college: Murray St.). In another semifinal Furstenfeld reached the final by dumping okoStadt Gussing Knights 98:90 as Anthony Shavies (191-G-83, college: Missouri St.) and Goljovic netted 20 points apiece.
Gumnden defeated Raiffeisen Furstenfeld 76:75 in the Superfinal of both teams. Deteri Mayes was named Final Four MVP scoring 34 points. Peter Hutter (196-F/G-80, agency: Interperformances) added 13 points and Kevin Johnson (201-F, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Humboldt St.) posted 8 points and 15 rebounds for the winning side. Grum and Shelton Colwell (202-F-80, agency: Court Side, college: Missouri St.) scored 18 points each and in the losing effort.

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BELARUS

Mescheriakov wins the Cup in Ukraine and gets MVP award -by Eurobasket News
Yegor Mescheriakov (205-F-76, college: George Washington) collected 12 points and made 7 rebounds in Ukrainian Cup Final for his Azovmash and ges MVP!!! Azovmash Mariupol retained the Cup title as they fired down BC Kiev in the tournament's finale in Sumy yesterday. Azovmash kept in mind the last season's sour loss to their arch-rivals in the Cup Final and looked for revenge. Azovmash was steered a newly signed Slovenian coach Becirovic. Some more changes occurred some time after the start of the encounter as the starting point guard Edny was injured and had to be sidelined for the reminder of the clash. Henderson stepped up for Azovmash and produced a top-shelf performance down the stretch. Azovmash entered the game aggressively and BC Kiev looked pretty hapless offensively in the opening minutes. Archibald scored first 5 points for Azovmash to set them ahead 5:2. Later Buford fired back-to-back treys as Azovmash continued to roll. Yegor Mescheriakov connected from afar and Lischuk added a free throw as Mariupol outfir kept in front. Faison scored 4 points early for BC Kiev as they stayed at a striking distance. Davis capped the first frame with a three-pointer and BC Kiev trailed by just a single point after 10 minutes 16:17. The teams traded buckets for some time early in the second period before Archibald knocked down a trey to ignite an 18:0 run for Azovmash as they accumulated a 38:18 buffer with less than 2 minutes left in the first half. Finally Artur Drozdov broke the scoring deadlock for Kiev team sinking a free throw. Marko Maravic added two more free throws and Drozdov nailed a triple to trim the gap. Henderson however denied the efforts with a massive treble to restore the margin. Artur Drozdov found the way to drain the buzzer-beating trey and sent the teams into the dressing-rooms with Azovmash leading by 13 points.
Davis and Maravic cut the deficit to 9 points midway through the third period. Yegor Mescheriakov and Henderson replied for Azovmash to give their team a breathing space at 49:34. Azovmash wisely maintained the distance and finished the third stanza up by 15 points. Henderson and Buford get things going for Mariupol in the fourth frame. BC Kiev obviously struggled to find their rhythm and were unable to cut in to revive the intrigue. Azovmash looked like winners midway through the fourth frame and it could have cost them a victory. Drozdov and Jeter combined for 9 points to drag BC Kiev within 11 points from the opponents with over a minute to go in regulation. Stack converted a free throw and Maravic connected from downtown for BC Kiev to trail by just 7 points with 44 seconds remaining. Azovmash experienced massive difficulties breaking BC Kiev's full-court press. Nevertheless Henderson converted a hard play and then scored a free throw unwinding the tension. Azovmash withstood all the efforts from their opponents to save the game and celebrated the Cup title.
Henderson topscored for Azovmash with 18 points. Archibald and Buford contributed 14 points apiece for the winners. Artur Drozdov led all scorers with 26 points. Davis provided 11 points in a losing effort for BC Kiev. Yegor Mescheriakov was named the Cup Final Four MVP.

Uladzimir Veremeyenka (208-F-84) won the Russian Cup with Khimky. Unfortunately Belarus player was injurd and could not participate in the final, however his contribution in the games to reach te final was great.In the Cup Final Khimky overcame CSKA that lost the Russian Cup Finals for the first time since 2004. The Army club got 10 points lead but Khimki returned back thanks to the rythm control got the lead and never looked back.It is the first throphy in history of BC Khimki. Next are The Russian Championship and ULEB Cup!

Vitalyur and Grodno had another two great games, but the defending champion proved the superiority in both games at home. In the first game Vitalyur won 81:74 and then triumphed with 59:50 victory. OZAA beat BNTU 93:56 and 88:72, Minsk overcame Lokomotiv 101:74 and 100:65, while Sozh and Temp showed two different games. At first Sozh won 104:44 and then Temp replied with 76:100.

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BELIZE

Exciting Win for UB in the U-26 Tournament!!! -by David Magana
Last night at the Civic Center the UB Jaguars won in a dramatic manner 63-62 over the Complex Bombers. In the closing seconds Ronald 'Rifleman' Rivers hit a clutch 3 plus got fouled. He completed the 4 point play to tie the game at 62. After a couple plays Jorett Jones, of UB, got fouled which sent him to the line with only .5 seconds left in the game. He missed the first but sealed the deal hitting the second for 1 of his 3 points in the game. For the winning team, Stephen Williams (188-G-83) scored 20 pts / 5 rebounds / 2 steals and Travis Lennon 16 pts / 7 rebounds / 1 assist / 2 steals. In a losing effort, Ronald 'Rifleman' Rivers 28 pts (8-3's) / 10 rebounds / 1 steal and Lester Cadle (188-G-80) 15 pts / 7 rebounds / 7 assist / 1 steal.
In the Second game, Belmopan Young Gunz got their first win in the tournament by beating Buttonwood Bay 69-58. Top Scorers: Belmopan - Dorian 'Cheesy' Jones 10 pts / 9 rebounds / 3 assist / 1 block / 1 steal and Albert Garcia 10 pts / 3 rebounds / 2 steals. For Buttonwood - Fred Meighan 12 pts / 11 rebounds / 1 block / 1 steal and Darwin 'Prince' Zuniga 12 pts / 5 rebounds / 3 assist / 1 block / 1 steal.
In game three, the Junior Bulldogs kept their undefeated record as the walk over Mesop. Guardian Bombers by 83-64. For the Bulldogs: Paul Swasey (193-F-82) scored 18 pts / 8 rebounds / 1 assist / 4 blocks and Jacob 'Snake' Leslie 16 pts / 6 rebounds / 4 assist / 1 block / 3 steals. In a losing effort, Bernard Felix scored 26 pts / 2 rebounds / 1 assist / 3 steals and Egbert 'Eggy' Walford 20 pts / 2 rebounds.

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BRAZIL

Around Europe with the Brazilians -by Gustavo Cardoso
Guilherme Guilherme Giovannoni (202-F-80) had 10 points and 5 rebounds on his team's loss to Air Avellino for the Italian Cup Final yesterday evening in Bologna. This is Virtus Bologna's second straight loss at the Cup Final. The man of the match was Devin Smith from Avellino with 18 points.

In Jerusalem, Happoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv also battled for a Cup Title, and once again a Brazilian player saw the title go the other way. Alex Garcia (191-G-80) Maccabi lost by 4 points on Friday night (93-89).

For the 12th round of the local league Maccabi beat as he finished the evening with 11 points in the win versus Ironi Ramat Ganam by the score of 111 to 65.

In Latvia, the Barons of J.P. Batista (206-F/C-81, college: Gonzaga) beat LBL standing leaders Valmiera by the score of 96 to 84 yesterday. On Thursday J.P. Batista had his debut against ASK Bumerangs where he scored 15 points and had 8 rebounds.

On Saturday Lukoil Academic beat Yambol by the score of 104 to 96. Once again no action for Murilo da Rosa (207-C-83).

Univer had back to back wins in Hungary. On Thursday, for the 17th round of Hungary's Division A, it beat Soproni by the score of 107 to 89 with 21 points and 7 rebounds by Jefferson Antonio (207-F/C-83). On Saturday the game was against third place Szolnok, and Univer had another win (89-85) with 8 points by Jefferson.

Yesterday, Ludwigsburg beat Ulm 95 to 84 with 11 points by Michel Nascimento (208-C-78) who started the match. Michel is averaging 10.2 points per game this season and this was his third conscutive double digit game.

In Switzerland, Boncourt lost to league's favorite Fribourg by the score of 99 to 81. Despite the loss Carlao Carlao Ferro (198-F-84) finished the evening as Boncourt's top player with 29 points on a 7 of 11 shooting effort from beyond the arc.

Fernando Fischer (190-F-81) had 12 points and 2 rebounds on Sion's loss to Birstal by the score of 73 to 70. After 17 rounds of play Fribourg and Lugano lead the standings. Boncourt is 6th and Sion is 9th.

For the 14th of play in Portugal's Liga UZO, Vagos beat Barreirense by the score of 90 to 83. Bruno Claudino (204-F/C-82) finished the night with 8 points and 2 rebounds for Vagos. Madeira lost to Porto (68-70) with 8 points from Rafael Annunciato (204-F/C-80).

Ginasio lost to Lusitânia (55-61) and there wasn't much Tiago Thiago Labbate (208-C-83) could do to help. He finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Belenenses lost to Ovarense (68-81) with 10 points and 4 rebounds by Anderson Ferreira (203-F-82, agency: CAA Sports, college: Chipola JC).

Market News: Betinho will go through a period of tests in Bologna -by Gustavo Cardoso

This coming Wednesday, young Brazilian guard Jose Nardi Duarte 'Betinho (193-G/F-88), currently playing at Limeira, will fly to Italy where he will test his skills at Fortitudo Bologna for a period of three to four weeks. According to his father, Jose Roberto Duarte, a basketball coach at Limeira, 'people saw him playing at the last U19 Fiba World Championships and the contact was made then'.

At that time Brazil finished at an incredible 4th position behind champions Serbia, runner ups USA, and 3rd place finalists France. Brazil was led by Paulo Prestes and Betinho who averaged over 14 points per game in the tournament.

Betinho is looking to apply for Italian citizenship which will greatly enhance his chances to stay in Europe next season. 'Bologna is going through a rebuilding project and the citizenship for Betinho is crucial', said his father.

After this month of tests the player will return to Brazil to continue playing with Limeira. In June, during the European off season, Jose Nardi Duarte could be another young Brazilian talent heading to the Old Continent.



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CAPE VERDE

Game Results -by Pedro Gomes

Championship Results

2 - 3 February

Saturday, 2 Feb.

ABC (56) - (52) Seven Stars (U20 Men)

3 de Fevereiro

Amor de Deus (40) - (33) Bairro (U16 Men)

Órgaos (35) - (26) EBS (U16 Men)

EBS (51) - (47) Bairro (U20 Men)


9 e 10 February

09/02/08

Bairro (45) x Abc (56 - (U20 Men)

10/02/08

Orgaos(11) x Abc(15) - (U14 Men)

Abc (20) x Bairro(00) - (U18 Men) masc 'Bairro abandoned the game, which was in the last
quarter'.

Ebs (7) x Achada grande (17) - (U18 Men)



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COLOMBIA

Hardy Asprilla signed with Marinos in Venezuela -by Victor Garcia
Colombian forward Hardy Asprilla, has signed to play in the upcoming Venezuelas LPB with Marinos de Anzoategui, Asprilla arrived to Puerto La Cruz las sunday and is already working in the team's preseson camp.
Asprilla was the finals MVP of the last Fed Cup, and is playing as Venezuelan because he born in Sococo -Venezuela, and the move to Colombia with his parents, Asprilla will give to Marinos its energy and strenghtHardy Asprilla (196-F/G-82, college: Cal.St. Fullerton)

From Colombian National Tournaments to the US College hardwoods -by Jair Perea
Even though coming to play in the US is a dream for most players, it is not an easy path for anybody. In the case of Colombian players, they have to overcome a lot to have the chance of success in US Basketball, so I will go over some of the facts that make this such a hard transition.

First, the lack of participation of Colombia's national team and professional team on international tournaments has limited the opportunities for players to showcase their skills in front of scouts, college recruiters and others. Therefore the chance of landing an offer from a NCAA, Junior College, or even a high school or prep institution isn't easy. This is the first obstacle that Colombians have to face when trying to play abroad.

Secondly, in order to be successful, the players have to be able to adapt to the speed, intensity, and detail of US collegiate basketball, not only in games, but also in practices. Gaining physical strength represents one of the initial challenges, getting used to work out in the weight room is a must in order to improve their chances to make it in such a competitive environment

While the process of physical strengthening takes place, players struggle being away from home; not speaking English fluently limits their interaction with coaches and other players. Getting use to early morning workouts, two session practices, classroom activities, and trips with the team also takes a toll on you both physically and mentally, since in most cases players in Colombia are used to tournaments that only take a few weeks, adding to the fact that practices are not as tough and intense as they are in the US. Besides the players have a lot of time to rest and recover between tournaments.

It is clear that Colombia is not at the basketball level of other countries on Latin America, such as Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, or Puerto Rico, but we're taking long strides to get there. It is important to acknowledge the contributions of players that opened the way, the players that are currently representing us, and those players who had the talent and quality to play in the United States, but just never had the opportunity to do so.

Stalin Ortiz Air Avelino won the Italian Cup -by Victor Garcia
Stalin Ortiz played 7 minutes and scored 3 points in the Italian Cup final against La Fortalezza Bologna, and the Air Avelino won the Italian Cup, Green and Smith were the main figures of the surprising AvelinoStalin Ortiz (191-G-81, agency: HM Sports Agency, college: Valparaiso)

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CROATIA

Cedevita Zagreb sign Jason Straight -by Eurobasket
Cedevita Zagreb signed 25-year old American guard Jason Straight (180-G-83, college: Wyoming, Edge Sports). Straight played most recently at BCM Gravelines Dunkerque Grand Littoral (France).

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CYPRUS

A' Division: Keravnos finished at the top of the league in the regular season -by Chris Mammides
Keravnos Strovolou succeeded it 6th road win and finished at the top of the league in the regular season. Keravnos's captain, Giorgos Giorgos Anastasiadis (194-G/F-77, agency: Globalsports/Globalevents) was amazing with 6 three pointers and 22 points proved once more that he is in a great shape even though he is not used in the team as the previous years. Achilleas Kaimakli is the only team in the world that will not be relegated in the second division even though was finished in the last position of the regular season with a record of 2-14, due to the Cyprus Basketball Federations decision!!!!!
The quarters of the specific game were: 21-31, 34-47, 53-67 and 82-86.
Top scorers:
Frederick Achilleas: Bonu 4, Zujovic 14, Stylianou 7, Wallas 4, Zotovic 5, Garner 25, Theocharidis 23 (7 out of 7 three pointers).
Keravnos Strovolou: Stefanovic 3, Pilavas 7, Giorgos Anastasiadis 22, Smith 12, Lee 18, Damianovic 7, Trisokkas 9, Kosanovic 2, Radojevic 6.

Pizza Express Primetel Apollon - Ydra Asfalistiki ENAD 65-57
Quarters: 17-10, 29-30, 49-39, 65-57
Top scorers: Chris Kaskiris (206-C/F-79) 27 points, 13 rebounds, 3 block shots, Hatzitheodosiou 12, Kazoulis 8, Markou 6, Foklas 5, Ierodiakonou 7
ENAD: Achilleos 8, Elhadji 7, Stavrinou 3, Konstantinou 4, Pilakoutas 3, Kupros Koutsokoumnis (180-G-88) 17, Frageskou 11, Ioannou 4.

Omonoia - BMC AEK Larnakas 109-104
Quarters: 21-23, 41-38, 61-58, 89-89. OT 109-104
A great game took place in Nicosia where the home team beat in the extra time the Larnaka team with the NBA like score 109-104
Top scorers were: Davis 17, Jankevicius 17, Zaric 6, Mouhtaris 6, Darrin Fowlkes (198-F-67, college: Butler) 17, Prjstojevic 18, and Stone 28.
BMC AEK: Fantousis 3, Kouzapas 2, Cvetkovic 2, Kuprjanov 3, Isaac Burton (191-G-73, college: Arizona St.) 19, Dann 28 (4), Kandic 18 (4), Panteli 23 (4), Simunovic 6.

Aspis Apoel - Proteas EKA AEL 78-71
Quarters: 26-15, 44-34, 63-47, 78-71
Top scorers:
Aspis Apoel: Van Dorpe 7, Hansen 2, Miceta 3, Jones 19, Lopatka 9, Radunovic 11, Weeller 10, Pantouris 2, Garcia 15
Proteas EKA AEL: Liatsos 7, Zianveni 4, Souchu 4, Aleksic 9, Randle 12, Sudov 15, Ilunga 3, Woodwort 17 (2).

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FYR MACEDONIA

Results from Round 17 in the Second league -by Todor Chalovski
Results from Round 17 in the Second league:

OVCE POLE - TETEKS 72:59,
DROGA KOLINSKA NEGOTINO - POP SPORT VSA 80:85,
GOCE DELCHEV - KOZUV 91:64,
VARDAR CENTAR - TORUS 72:79,
PLEJMEJKER KUBUS - ABA 97:78.


Swisslion Pelister victorious in Skopje -by Todor Chalovski
Swisslion Pelister had their first ever win against Fersped Rabotnicki in Skopje, beating their opponents 85:81.
Keoni Watson, Milan Miljkovic and Srdjan Stankovic had a great game.

Amak SP, led by the Americans Willian O'Neal and Jared Frey, beat Strumica 2005.

Feni Industri and Vardar Osiguruvanje were also victorious in this Round.

FERSPED RABOTNICKI - SWISSLION PELISTER 81:85
Result by quarters: 32:22; 14:21; 16:23; 19:19.

FERSPED RABOTNICKI: Stojanovski 10, Brchkov, Veselinovski 12, Filipovic, Janeski, Karakolev 6, Mirakovski 15, Zivcevic 16, Trajkovski 15, Petrushev, Majkic 5, Markovski.
Coach: Marin Dokuzovski.

SWISSLION PELISTER: Petkovski, Watson 27, Bendevski, Savovic, Apcev, Atanasoski, Held 8, Stankovic 22, Djokic 7, Miljkovic 18, Talevski 4, Zaharievski.
Coach: Miodrag Perisic.


AMAK SP - STRUMICA 2005 83:74
Result by quarters: 17:12; 19:17; 19:23; 28:22.

AMAK SP: D. Stojanovski 9, Tasevski 11, Stojanov 6, Frey 31, Cvetnic, Vegov 2, Gjorgoski, Taylor, V. Stojanovski 7, Nedelkov, Nikolovski, O'Neal 17.
Coach: Igor Gacov.

STRUMICA 2005: Bogoev 14, Cvetkov, D. Sokolov 8, Grujic, Tasovski 13, Grncharov 2, Krstevski 3, Bosnjak 8, Pupovic 13, Karamanolev, Latovic 13, Zaev.
Coach: Jordancho Davitkov.


KARPOS SOKOLI 2000 - VARDAR OSIGURUVANJE 73:106
Result by quarters: 16:25; 16:25; 19:32; 22:27.

KARPOS SOKOLI 2000: Kacarski 3, Stojchevski 13, Neshovski 9, Mitkov 2, Ristov 2, Georgievski 25, Zlatkovski, Dishliev 2, Nuri 10, Jovanchev 2, Vasilev 5.
Coach: Milan Naumovski.

VARDAR OSIGURUVANJE: Sazdov 7, Dimchevski 6, Kochov 2, Sovkovski 13, Kralevski 17, Simonovski 11, Nakic 15, Trifunovski, Maric 20, Krstevski 10, Blazevski 8, Mitic.
Coach: Tihomir Matevski.


FENI INDUSTRI - MZT FON UNIVERZITET SKOPJE 81:70
Result by quarters: 19:16; 17:26; 24:12; 21:16.

FENI INDUSTRI: Angelov, Prekovic 13, Basnarkov, Brown 9, Krstev, Radulovic 6, Popovic 14, Gocevski 11, Gjurov 6, Jovovic 11, Mihajloski 10, Samardziev 10.
Coach: Emil Rajkovic.

MZT FON UNIVERZITET SKOPJE: Thaci 14, B. Nikolovski 2, Gjorevski, Zivkovic 23, Ramadan, Hill 9, Konzulov, K. Nikolovski, Smith 9, Milanovski, Agoc 18, Despotovic.
Coach: Marjan Lazovski.

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GEORGIA

Pachulia scores 11 points and has 9 rebounds -by Levan Mikeladze
Houston Rockets 108:89 Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta Hawks lost at Texas against the Houston Rockets 89:108, as Zaza Pachulia (212-C-84) played against Ming Yao (226-C-80) and scored over 10 points. This was one of the better games for Pachulia in the current season. He played 29 minutes, scored 11 points and was 5/12 on field goals. He also finished with 9 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

Zaza Pachulia: 28 games (5 as starter), 4.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.5 assists.

Manu lost in final... -by Levan Mikeladze
In the final of the Ukrainian Cup, Manuchar Markoishvili (196-G-86) and his BC Kyiv were beaten by Azovmash Mariupol 73:63 and thus, were denied of title defense. As for Manu, he went scoreless in 18 minutes of action, missing all five of his field goals and finishing with 2 steals, 1 board and a single dime. Azovmash Mariupol burned BC Kyiv and grabbed the Cup title.

Giorgi Shermadini sets a new seasons record - 41 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists... -by Levan Mikeladze
In the first quarter alone, the center for Avia Tbilisi Davit Imnadze (208-C-85) fouled out in just 8 minutes of action, but he was backed by another tall man, Tornike Niniashvili (202-C-82), who scored 16 points in the first 10 minutes.

As always, Konstantine Tugushi (193-G-84) was one of the best players on the floor, finishing two dimes short of a Superleague record, registered by him earlier in the season.

As for Giorgi Shermadini (216-C-89, agency: Life Sports), the captain of Maccabi Tbilisi led the way with a season Superleague high 41 points and if not his teammates missed shots, he could have finished with a rare triple-double. Finally he made 41 points, 20 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 2 block shots.

Dinamo T. VS TSU / Sanikidze started practices… -by Levan Mikeladze
Dinamo Tbilisi started with great pressure on the perimeter and kept excellent defense. Veteran playmaker Archil Jgenti (185-G-75) grabbed 23 points, 3 assists and 2 steals while Guliver Akhalkatsi (202-C/F-76) and Giorgi Gulisabedashvili (195-G-88, agency: Court Side) added 31 points together.

As for the San Antonio Spurs player Viktor Sanikidze (203-F-86), (He was injured few months ago and stayed in his hometown Tbilisi during the rehabilitation. He recently started practices with Dinamo Tbilisi to get in shape and played its second official game as well. Eurobasket Georgia will publish the interview with Viktor Sanikidze in near future regarding his future destination club as everybody know that his current team Koln 99ers got bankrupt) joined great defensive systems of Dinamo and made two crucial long shots in the last quarter. He finally made 15 points, 14 rebounds, 4 block shots, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Good play was showed by Davit Barbakadze (204-F-82) from TSU Tbilisi, who finished the game with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 block shots but his, as well as Shalva Khetsuriani (197-G/F-83) efforts were not enough for the final win. Dinamo Tbilisi defeated a strong favorite TSU Tbilisi by 8 points.

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GERMANY

Giessen 46ers ink American/French Post Player -by Moritz Korff
The LTi Giessen 46ers (1. Bundesliga) have made an agreement with Bill Phillips (208-F-79, college: St.Joseph's) and signed the 28-year-old for the remainder of the season. Phillips was born in France as the son of a French mother and an American father. In 2001 he was a member of the French National Team while playing college-basketball at Saint Joseph's University. During this past season he appeared in 32 games for the Spanish LEB-side Plus Pujol Lleida and averaged 8.5 points as well as 5.3 rebounds per outing. He left the team in September 2007 after only two games (0 pts, 4 rbs) of this current campaign for personal reasons.

Jena: Coach Harmsen sacked, McCaw promoted -by Moritz Korff
Science City Jena, on last place in the ladder of the 1. Bundesliga, has parted with Head Coach Bjoern Harmsen. Harmsen, who is only 25 years of age, led the team to the first division by winning the championship in the 2. Bundesliga last season and also received Coach of the Year-honors.
Veteran-Forward Sean McCaw (205-F-73, agency: Rasmussen Services, college: S.Utah) was promoted to Head Coach instead. It will be his first coaching job. The 34-year-old American with Austrian passport and 2007 Eurobasket.com All-2.Bundesliga South Bosman Player of the Year will stop his career as a player immediately to work at the helm of the Jena-squad.

2. Bundesliga Pro B: Highlights of Gameday 20 -by Moritz Korff
Play of the Day: Midwin Francis (198-F-82, college: Northeastern St.) - Freiburg: 18 pts, 12 rbs, 10 as, 4 bs, 4 st

Points: Mihajlo Pesic (206-F/C-81, agency: Court Side) - Ansbach: 32

Rebounds: Andreas Hornig (212-C-80, agency: LimeLight, college: Murray St.) - Kirchheim: 20

Assists: David McCray (188-G-86) - Kirchheim: 11

Steals: Midwin Francis: 4

Blocked Shots: Midwin Francis: 4

For all stats and scores please visit the official website of the 2. Bundesliga: click

2. Bundesliga Pro A: Highlights of Gameday 20 -by Moritz Korff
Play of the Day: Monta McGhee (202-F-79, agency: AMI, college: Lewis) - Cuxhaven: 27 pts, 3/7 3P, 6/6 FT, 14 rbs, 4 as. 2 st, 1 bs

Points: Matt Witt (183-G-84, agency: Court Side, college: E.Kentucky) - Schalke: 31

Rebounds: Jordan Sabourin (212-C-81, college: Oakland) - Bremen: 16

Assists: Danny Gibson (180-G-84, college: S.Indiana) - Cuxhaven: 6

Steals: Brandon Jenkins (190-G-85, college: Louisville) - Lich: 5

Blocked Shots: Bryant Nash (198-F-82, college: Kansas) - Heidelberg: 5

For all stats and scores please visit the official website of the 2. Bundesliga: click

Regionalliga Notes -by Moritz Korff
North:
More than 1000 fans had come to Hannover to witness the clash of the top-teams in the North-division. #1 P4two Ballers Osnabrueck were hoping for the 15th consecutive win of the season, but were handed their first loss as #2 UBC Hannover overcame the guests 79:75. Tim Haley (188-G-82, college: Chico St.) drained 4 threes and finished the game with 20 points, Will Bonner (201-F-83, college: Chico St.) and Jan-Peter Prasuhn (198-G/F-82) each added 14 for the UBC Tigers. The Ballers' attack was led by Lamar Morinia (183-G-81, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Montana St.-Northern) who scored a game-high 27 points (including 5 treys), Aaron Fleetwood (206-F-84, college: Delaware St.) had 18 in defeat.
Meanwhile, SSV Lok Bernau assured its third place by holding off the Itzehoe Eagles 95:70. Jermaine Robinson (188-G-81, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Cleveland St.) shot 7 threes and tallied 27 points for Bernau, Sebastian Trzcionka (197-F-79) added 20 and Jason Boone (198-F/C-85, college: New York U.) had 19. John Waller (193-F-82, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: ODU) paced the Eagles with 28 points in the loss. Great defensive play and another double-double of Stacy Pearson-Taylor (198-F-83, college: Bemidji St.) led the way for SC Rist Wedel in a 74:64-triumph against Oldenburger TB. Pearson-Taylor finished with 19 points and 16 rebounds, playmaker Kristof Schwarz (186-G-87) added 12, while Joleik Schaffrath (206-C-88) led the OTB-attack with 21 points. The Aschersleben Tigers edged past Magdeburg 87:83 and got 26 points from Eddie Jackson (183-G-84, agency: Weller Sports - Entertainment, college: Pittsburg St.). Bryan Harrison (188-G-84, agency: Weller Sports - Entertainment, college: Georgia Coll.) followed with 19, while Peter Van Rij (206-C-76, agency: Court Side, college: Charleston So.) netted 22 points for Magdeburg in the loss. The most impressive individual performance of the day was made by Junior Denson (180-G-85, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement) in his debut for SG Wolfenbuettel. The Guard topscored with 45 points in a road win (97:86) at EBC Rostock.

West:
Top team Schwelmer Baskets easily held off the Bergheim Bandits 90:67 and remained on the leading position as Matthew Reid (185-G-84, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Cameron) scored 26 points for the winning team and Keith Harris (196-G/F-85, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Oklahoma Christian) followed with 17. Bergheim's Chris Rodgers (186-G-81, college: Bucknell) dropped 29 points in the losing effort. Also runner-up SVD Dortmund grabbed a win as the 49ers defeated the NVV Lions 90:80. Dortmund's Frank Benson (196-F, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Oklahoma Baptist) was impressive with 35 points and 12 rebounds, his teammate Gary Johnson (188-G-82, college: Cent.Florida) nailed 6 triples to tally 20 points, 7 assists and 5 boards. Third ranked Elephants Grevenbroich edged BSV Wulfen 81:80 in a thrilling encounter. Chris Wooldridge (198-F, college: Catawba) made the decisive shot from the line for the Elephants who were led in scoring by Brian Graves (188-G, college: Catawba). He finished the game with 21 points. Tim Thompson (185-G-81, college: N.Mexico Highlands) had 23 points in defeat, Robert Franklin (195-F-81, college: N.Mexico Highlands) added 22, including 4 treys. In another close match-up BG Suedpark Bochum defeated BBV Hagen 93:90. Bochum's Parrish Brown (185-G, college: Maryland) was unstoppable and netted 37 points, while young Fabian Gentgen (191-G-87) put in 24 points for BBV. Daniel Lieneke (200-G-81) led all scores with 29 points as his Benslips Baskets Salzkotten edged 83:81 past BG Hagen, that got 4 threes and 23 points totally from Michael Wasielewski (187-G-82).

South-West:
ASC Theresianum Mainz racked up a 94:62-away win at Lich II to maintain on the top-spot in the South-West-division. ASC-Guard Anish Sharda (191-G-82, college: St.Mary) was one of three in double figures and scored 22 points. Michael Comick (191-G, college: Staten Island) had 21, Edjuan Green (203-F-82, college: Texas A&M) 19. The chasing Schwenningen Panthers used a total team effort to overcome Union Shops Rastatt 81:65. Brandon Adair (196-F-85, college: Va.Wesleyan) led the Panthers with 22 points, Tomislav Topic (206-C/F-78) and player/coach Michael Heck (193-G/F-71) each finished with 15. Rastatt's Zoran Seatovic (191-G-72) and Bernd Huebner (203-C-82) had 15 points apiece. It looks like both Mainz and Schwenningen are ready for the battle of the giants, when these two top-teams are going to meet in Mainz next Saturday.
Lars-Eric Menck (200-F-78) nailed 5 shots from beyond the arc and tallied 26 points to guide TV Konstanz to a 78:72-trimuph over TuS Treis-Karden. Mensah Sadikki Taylor (198-F-80, college: Gardner-Webb) produced 20 points in the loss, Michael Chojnowski (G) had 19. The three American players of BC Groer Recycling Weissenhorn combined for 62 points and led their team to success (85:66) in the home game against MTV Kronberg. Monyea Pratt (195-F-85, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Stillman) topscored with 23 points in the win, Lorenzo Williams (191-G-84, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Rice) added 20 and Raheim Lamb (198-F-80, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Massachusetts) 19, while Sebastian Koehnert (187-G-83) led the Kronberg-attack with 19 points. SG Heidelberg-Kirchheim achieved the highscore of the day as the 'White Chocolate' dominated MTV Stuttgart and earned a 116:95-win on the road. Marlo Saunders (196-F-84, agency: IceBasket, college: Texas-PB) scored 28 points (5 threes) in his first league-game for TS Goeppingen, a 97:87-win over TSV Gruenberg. Saunders' fellow countryman and teammate Victor Morris (185-G-85, college: Cleveland St.) netted 20 points, Robin Goltze (190-F-84) had 24 points for Gruenberg. In another game DJK/MJC Trier topped the Giessen Pointers at home (79:71). Mario Hubert (198-F/C-80) scored 18 points for Trier, Clint Driftmier (208-C-83, college: Central) and Alex Goolsby (190-G-87) added 16 apiece.

South-East:
FC Bayern Muenchen continued its impressive performances of the last weeks and stormed past the Wuerzburg Baskets to a 103:72-win at home. Anton Kazarnovski (205-F/C-85, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement) was one of six Bayern-players to finish the game in double-figure scoring. The Israeli Center had 23 points, Tony Thomason (188-G-85, college: Minn.St.-Mankato) followed with 16, Antonio Lang (190-G-86) had 15, Claus Weiss (192-G-85) and David Rotim (197-F-85) each scored 14 and Mirko Virijevic (201-F-81, college: Freed-Hardeman) put in 11 points. Wuerzburg's Hrvoje Pervan (203-F-84, college: Mercer) answered with 29 points (including 4 treys). Second ranked TG Renesas Landshut kept the pace and defeated the COOCOON Baskets Weiden 99:84 on a road-trip. Jon Simon (180-G-84, college: Colgate) topscored with 25 points, Justin Allen (183-G-83, college: S.Utah), Brandon Crawford (198-F/C-84, college: Albion) and Jochen Losch (204-C-81) each added 17 in the win. The leading scorer of the division, Weiden's Stephen Cramer (188-G, college: Hope (MI)), produced 26 points, newly added Jason Boucher (180-G-80, college: Grand Valley St.), who returned to Weiden after three years in the USA, had 23 points in his comeback. 30 points of Chris Brown (201-F-83, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Chattanooga) lifted BC Zwickau to a 91:79-victory over HSB Landsberg that was led by Ali Thomas (188-G-79, college: USF) who drilled in 6 threes to tally 26 points. Meanwhile, the Dachau Spurs earned a 86:75-win over the Dresden Titans to make a step away from the relegation spots. As usually Calvin Wooten (186-G-84, college: Oakland) led Dachau's offense and chipped in 22 points, Wolfgang Domaschka (195-G/F) supported him with 19 points. Titans' topscorer Konrad Tota (196-F-80, college: Dickinson St.) got in foul trouble early, he finished the game with 15 points, Andre Spalke (190-G-82) added 14. Erik Land (203-F-90) led Breitenguessbach II to a 87:75 over Leitershofen/Stadtbergen. The youngster dropped 31 points, while Kyle Kunkel and Robert Rieblinger (183-G-79) each had 15 points in defeat. The Gotha Rockets held off TuS Jena 60:47 in a low-scoring derby. Michael Rost (183-G-85) netted 15 points for Gotha, Bjoern Blossey (180-G-87) and Florian Reinhardt (201-F-88) finished with 11 apiece for Jena.

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GREECE

General Market news -by Chris Mammides
Ibrahim Jaaber (188-G-84, college: Pennsylvania) the top scorer of the Greek league, the MVP of the 15th week and the top performer of Egaleo AO left Egaleo AO and joined the Italian league and Roma. The young rookie had 22.4ppg, 4.3rpg, 4.2 apg, and 2.8 spg in the 15 games with Egaleo AOs's jersey. Coach Thanasis Skourthopoulos will try to find anotehr point guard to 'cover' as much loss as possible.

Mike King (193-G-78, college: George Washington), the ex Iraklis player will replace A.J. Guyton (187-G-78, college: Indiana)

Chris Hugaz (200-F-68) is the assistand Coach of Nenad Markovic in Panionios bench

B' Division

Antonis Baxevanis, the ex Makedonikos Head Coach replaced Giannis Karadimos in G.S. Ermis Shimatariou

Makedonikos agreed terms with head coach Giorgos Diktapanidis

A1: Match Day 15 - Panathinaikos celebrated its 100 years with 103 points! -by Chris Mammides
Panathinaikos - PAOK 103-73
The captain of Panathinaikos was the MVP of the game as he scored 17 points in less than 20 minutes proving once more that his technique (three point shooting) is really unique. The experienced forward celebrate the 100 years of his team as a real leader, leading his team to another great victory, this time against Flevarakis's PAOK. 12,000 Green fans visited OAKA to celebrate with Obradovic's team the birthday of Panathinaikos which became 100 years old. The game doesn't stands any criticism as the score is telling the whole picture and nothing but the truth. Top scorer was Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82) with 25 points followed by Fragiskos Alvertis (206-F-74) with 18 points

Egaleo - Panionios 101-99 (RT 92-92)
WAOOO!!! What a game! Egaleo beat in an overtime game, the team of Panionios in a game which 200 points were scored from the two teams. Coach Skourthopoulos team beat Markovic's team in an NBA like, game. The 2000 fans really enjoyed an amazing game between two great teams. Ibrahim Jaaber in his last game with Egaleo's jersey (according to the behind the scene news, he will be joining the Italian league and Bodiroga's Roma) and as an epilogue with Egaleo he scored 30 points helping his team to 'survive' another season as the Egaleo team is remaining mathematically in A1 for another season. Great game from the Greek captain Kallinikidis, who added for his team other than his passion, 8 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Very good game from Chris Bracey who scored 7 of his 11 points in the extra time covering 100% the empty spot of Prodromos Nikolaidis successfully. On behalf of Panionios Sakota, Cappin and Ivan Zoroski (195-G-79) creating a magic triplet but their 22, 12 and 23 points were not enough to overcome Egaleo's home court. Lonny Baxter (203-C-79, college: Maryland) is a valuable tool in Markovic's hands and he will be helping the team undoubtedly…

Maroussi - Rethymno 79-78
Anotehr great game took place in Maroussi where Markopoulos's team beat Pedoulakis's team and knocked the islanders closer than ever to the A2 as with only 2 victories in the first 15 games and with Kolossos reaching the 5 wins….. Top scorer for Marousi was Prodromos Haralambidis (190-G-89) and Milisjavlevic with 18 and 17 points respectively while from Rethymno, top scorer were Topic and David Young (196-G/F-81, college: N.C.Central) with 16 points each.

In the other games the results were:

Olympiada Patras - AEK 68-76
Kolossos Rodou - AEL 1964 76-69
Olympia Larissas- Panellinios 58-74
Olympiakos - Aris 81-61

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HUNGARY

Market news -by Tamas Deri
ZTE KK and Marko Piplovic (206-F-76, agency: Interperformances) agreeded not to extend player's contract until the end of the season. Croatian forward spent two weeks in Hungary and played two games in the Hungarian Cup and one in the Championship.

ATOMEROMU SE invited american guard Cedric Brooks (185-G-80, agency: Rasmussen Services, college: Pittsburg St.) for a tryout. Brooks was last year the top scorer of the second league in Germany, started this season in the second division of France. He will be arriving tomorrow to Budapest and have his first practice with his now team in the evening.

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IBL

Explosion announce start of training camp -by Trask Frost
Monroe, WA—The Snohomish County Explosion Basketball Team will be running a two week training camp starting February 11, to finalize their roster for the 2008 season, which tips-off March 1.

Explosion GM Brad Sturlaugson announced that returning players Rashaad Powell, Justin Murray (6'6''-F-81, agency: Tank Sports, college: Washington St.), Donald Watts (6'4''-F-77, agency: Court Side, college: Washington), Jamaal Miller, Justin James, Corby Schuh, Chris Weakley, Mike Jones, David White, and Rod Perez are competing alongside new prospects for roster spots.

'We have a great core group of players from last year returning to camp, said Sturlaugson. 'We have invited some new faces to camp to see how they would fit in with the Explosion.'

Top new prospects include former University of Washington star G Jamie Booker, C/F Jackie Jones from Oklahoma University, and G Chris Keller from Northwest University.

The roster will be finalized by February 21.

The Explosion season tips-off at the Monroe Sports Arena on Saturday, March 1. Opening tip will be at 7:15pm, with the doors opening at 6pm. The first 500 fans through the door will receive a Magnetic Schedule.

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IRAN

A Basket Full of Surprises for an American Player in Iran -by Houman Bagheri
Mike Jones is an American basketball player in the Iranian basketball league. He has been playing professional basketball for 9 years, most of it outside his home country. In the four years he played in France, two were spent in the first division. This is his first season in Iran, a country whose people and culture have given him a shock to kick start his games from a sure point.

Why did you choose to come to Iran?

Well, I got a number of offers from France and Turkey. And the one from Iran was the best, so I decided to come here.

What was your perception of Iranian basketball then?

I knew there was a pretty good league. I know Gabe Mouneke, one of the guys who played here last season with Saba Battery. He told me a lot of good things about Iran and I just wanted to try something different. But I did not know what to expect. And I am happy to be here now.

How do you compare the league in Iran with others you've already played in?

The league in Iran is pretty good but not as good as the ones in Europe, yet. However, looking into the future, I believe it's going to be pretty good and I am glad I'm a part of it now.

How was your idea about the country itself?

I was a little bit nervous at first, but once I got here I realized that the people were very friendly, totally different from the picture I had from the news. I have made a lot of friends and I think I'd really like to stay and play here for a few years.

Now that you are here in the country, has the initial image you had of Iran changed in any way?

Yes, when I arrived I did not think the people were going to be this friendly. The image you get in the media in the United States is angry and mad people, but it's nothing like that once you get here, so it was a pleasant surprise.

What about your social life over here, do you find it limited in any way?

Yes, social life is limited for me, over here. But I am occupied with my job. Here, you ought to focus on basketball and actually, that does make the players better.

So, how do you fill in your spare time in Iran?

Reading books and surfing the internet ten hours a day instead of two.

What about sight seeing? Have you been able to travel around the country?

Not really. We went to Isfahan and it was very nice, but I haven't had more time for sight-seeing.

Have you found any similarities between the Iranian and American cultures?

Just that everybody likes to have fun and have a good time, in both countries. I can't think of anything else in common right now.

Has anything ever shocked you here?

Yes, eating Kebabs everyday and the way people drive over here. That is crazy. I drove in Turkey and I thought if I could drive in Turkey, I could drive anywhere in the world, but I won't ever drive here.

Can you tell us a bit about Turkey and your time there playing basketball?

The Turkish basketball league is very good and real physical. I think that in Iran they let you play physical too. But the league in Turkey is a bit better right now.

What is your view about Iranian basketball now that you are a part of it?

It's good now but in 3 or 4 years it is going to be a much better and stronger league. There are a lot of foreign players here, and there are also good Iranian players. The Iranian league is now one of the big powers in Asia would be even more secured in future.

And what about the weak-points?

The weak-points are with the gyms here. A couple of them are good but other gyms are bad. In some of the gyms we play on a concrete floor and this is bad for the knees. I think if there'd be better gyms, the league could become much better.

What about the Iranian spectators who come to watch the matches?

I think they love basketball. Like in BEEM, the spectators are very good. We have good spectators at our gym too. They just love basketball and they like to see good games.

Have you ever had the chance to talk to them?

Yes, after the games they always want to shake hands. I have taken a couple of pictures with them too.

How has the Iranian basketball or playing here been a challenge for you?

It's been a challenge because Omar and I have been living in this hotel for like three months. You need your own apartment to go back to after a game and relax. Living in a hotel is kind of difficult for us.

But almost all clubs provide their players with apartments?

Most clubs do, but ours hasn't.

Did you ever ask for an explanation?

Yes, we pointed out that it was stated in our contracts, but for a reason that we do not know of, we are put in a hotel which has been kind of hard to deal with. The other things are OK.

Have you ever had any problem over the payments?

No. But, the hardest thing for us is sending the money home, because from Iran you can't send money to the U.S. directly and it often takes a week or even longer. If transactions were faster, it would make us feel a lot better.

Did you encounter any obstacles while communicating with your coach or team-mates?

No. The coach speaks good English. Our trainer Ali and most of the guys on the team speak English and can understand you if you speak slowly. However, I have been trying to learn Farsi and it's a very difficult language to learn. My team-mates have been really nice and they have been trying to teach me Farsi. Now, I can say hello, I am feeling well and how are you in Farsi.

Is there anything special you might have learnt from Iranian culture?

I think the people are pretty honest for the most part; just nice people. In America you've got to know a person for a bit of time before he becomes nice to you, but here the people just want to be nice, right away.

Do you think you would come back again to Iran if you receive a good offer?
If I am offered a nice contract, I'll definitely come back.

When you return to the U.S. how may your experience here change your life over there?

When I speak to my parents, they always ask me if everything is OK and safe here. But when I go back I will tell them that things are not like what you hear or see on the news. So I think, one thing I would say to the people when I go back home is that the people in Iran are very nice and nothing like what they make of them on the news.

Well, what do you predict for Iran's national Basketball team after it qualified for the Olympic Games?

I think it's very good that Iran has qualified. Two of the players in the Olympics team are from my own team, Kaveh. They are very good players. Iran has got a lot of good players, so once the basketball IQ improves the league will get a lot better.

Do you think that sports bring countries with conflicts together? Can we have dialogue through sports?

That's just like a safe haven. With sports different people can have fun and not worry about the issues that create a gap between them. I think people will have a different idea of the Iranians once they see them in the Olympics and see that they are just like everyone else in the world.

Thank you Mike and hope you enjoy your time here for the rest of the season.
Thank you.

Houman Bagheri
FIBA Official Correspondent in Iran

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ITALY

Lega2-19th Day -by Gabriele Fioretti
Some surprising results in this week. Novara (Brandon Bowman (204-F-84, agency: David Lee services, college: Georgetown) at 22) won at Pavia (Thomas Mobley (195-F-81, college: Charleston) 27 pts). Soresina (J.R. Reynolds (188-G-84, agency: Arik Krayn Services, college: Virginia) 30 scored) destroyed Rimini (Rashad Bell (200-F-82, college: Boston U.) at 19 pts) and also Jesi (Michele Maggioli (212-C-77) 29 pts with 12/12 from the 2pts) won the derby against Fabriano (21 by Antonio Meeking (203-F-81, college: Louisiana Tech)). Casale (six players between 17 and 8 points) get an important and tough victory against Caserta (Raymond Tutt (194-G-75, agency: World Sport Agency, college: UCSB) at 21 pts). 20 pts by Harold Jamison (204-C-76, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Clemson) led Ferrara to an easy victory against Montecatini (Mike Nardi (186-G-85, college: Villanova) 20 pts and could leave to Napoli). 13/18 from the field and 36 pts by Alvin Young (191-F-75, agency: SportsTalent, college: Niagara) gave an exciting success to Reggio Emilia against Sassari (Russell Carter (193-G-85, college: Notre Dame) 26 pts). 28 pts by Tim Pickett (193-G/F-81, agency: Interperformances, college: Florida St.) weren't enough for Imola to win at Veroli (Tyrone Grant (202-F-77, college: St.John's) at 19 scored). Another great win for Livorno (five players in double figure) at home on Pistoia (16 by Ronald Davis (190-G-82, college: Wisc.-Milwaukee)).
Edimes PV-Ignis Novara 68-79
Vanoli Soresina-Coopsette RN 108-77
Indesit Fab-Fileni Jesi 77-95
Fastweb Casale-Pepsi Caserta 85-75
Carife FE-Agr.Glo.Mont. 86-71
Trenkwalder RE-BancoSardegna 84-82
Prima Veroli-Aget Imola 76-67
TDShop.it LI-Carmatic PT 91-58
See complete boxscores at www.legaduebasket.it

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JAMAICA

Samuels leads St. Benedict's to victories in Prime Time Shootout -by Leonard Whyte
Newark, NJ (2-11-2008) - High school phenom Samardo Samuels and his St. Benedict's Prep teammates are walking around campus lighter this morning after the 6' 9' forward equaled his season-high with 30 points to lead his team to a 68-62 victory over St. Patrick High in the Prime Time Shootout tournament on Saturday night. St. Benedict's (#3 in USA Today's Top 25) was scoring its first victory over St. Patrick (#13 in USA Today's Top 25) in six games. Samuels returned last night to score 23 points as St. Benedict's won its second game of the tournament scoring a resounding 77-63 triumph over Our Savior New American High. The winners are now 21-1 on the season.

Samuels named McDonald's All-American -by Leonard Whyte
Newark, NJ (2-11-2008) - Samardo Samuels has been named a McDonald's All-American, and will play in the annual high school all-star game on March 26, 2008 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Samuels is ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the nation in the ESPN 150 and the Scout.com Class of 2008 rankings. The McDonald's All-American Team is the best-known of the American high school basketball All-American teams. Many of the biggest stars in American basketball have been McDonald's All-Americans. The list of past team honorees includes Baron Davis, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Webber, Magic Johnson, Grant Hill, Paul Pierce, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Garnett, Amare Stoudemire, Jason Kidd, and Dwight Howard.

Tulsa too much for Southern Miss -by Leonard Whyte
Tulsa, OK (2-11-2008) - Jerome Jordan converted a layup near halftime to give Tulsa University their biggest lead of the game (25 points) after Southern Mississippi University missed 15 of its first 17 shots, then went on to score an easy 78-63 win in a Conference USA game last night. The Tulsa defense then kept Southern Mississippi at bay, allowing them to get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way. Jordan finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks as Tulsa improved to 11-10.

Cedarville succumbs to Walsh again -by Leonard Whyte
North Canton, OH (2-11-2008) - Cedarville University ran out of steam near the end after all but erasing a 24-point second half lead and succumbed to league-leading Walsh university 87-82 last night in a crucial American Mideast Conference (AMC) South Division game. Cedarville, 16-7 overall and 6-4 AMC, were losing to the NAIA Division II No. 3 Walsh (21-3, 9-1 AMC) for the second time in three weeks, and did so in similar fashion. The Jamaican trio of Christopher Walker, Daniel Rose, and Ricardo Alliman combined for 39 points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks. Individually, Walker came off the bench to score 17 points while Rose added 14 points and five blocks.

Florida Southern keeps Barry winless in conference -by Leonard Whyte
Lakeland, FL (2-11-2008) - Florida Southern College continued their torrid three-point shooting and drilled 14 from behind the arc last night to hold off Barry University 78-75 in a Sunshine State Conference (SSC) encounter to remain tied for first place in the Conference with Tampa University. FSC (18-6, 9-2 SSC) went deep on five straight possessions in the second half to ensure Barry would leave Lakeland the same way they got there - winless in the SSC. Andrei Grant finished with six points and eight rebounds as he closes in on the magic mark of 500 rebounds for his career at FSC. Barry, who lost to FSC for the second time this season, was led once again by Jamaican Karega Tucker with 23 points.

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KUWAIT

Al Jahraa sign Curtis Williams -by Eurobasket
Al Jahraa agreed terms with 31-year old American power forward Curtis Williams (205-F/C-77, college: Louisiana Tech). Williams played most recently at Provincial Osorno (Chile). Williams has a huge experience playing pro basketball on 4 continents. It will be his 13th league he plays in. Most of his professional career he spent in Latin America. He was very close to sign in Venezuela for Trotamundos. However Venezuelan pro league (LPB) has the rule which prevents to sign import players with another team if they already played in the league less than 2 years ago. So he choose the contract in Kuwait. He is familiar with the area as he previously played in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

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LATVIA

Latvian LBL All-Star Game -by Eurobasket
February, 9 in Riga: East - West 121:121 (30:34, 35:28, 26:30, 30:29)
East: Broyles 18, Berkis 17, Millage 15, Stimac 15, Jeromanovs 13, Poznaks 12, Sheleketo 12, Bankevics 7, Valters 5, Jahovics 3, Bramlett 2, Slesers 2.
West: Akingbala 26, Love 15, Baxter 14, Ansons 12, Gustas 12, K.Berzins 9, Skele 9, Helmanis 8, Jurevicus 8, Alexander 4, Vitols 2, A.Berzins 2.

Game MVP: Akin Akingbala (208-F-83) (BK Ventspils)
3 point contest winner: Uvis Helmanis (204-F-72) (BK Ventspils)
'Slam dunk' contest winner: Jimmy Baxter (198-G-80) (BK Ventspils)
Woman 3 point contest winner: Ieva Veinberga (180-F-84) (Avantis/Turiba)
Coach contest winner: Vladimirs Kiselovs (Cesis/Remarks)

East:
Curtis Millage (185-G-81) (ASK Riga)*
Sandis Valters (193-G/F-78) (ASK Riga)*
Dwayne Broyles (196-F/G-82) (ASK Riga)*
Gatis Jahovics (200-F-84) (ASK Riga) *
A.J. Bramlett (208-C-77) (ASK Riga)*
Vladimir Stimac (206-C-87) (SK Valmiera)
Ingus Bankevics (195-G/F-85) (SK Valmiera)
Edgars Jeromanovs (186-G-86) (VEF Riga)
Maksim Sheleketo (204-F-87) (VEF Riga)
Janis Poznaks (205-F-83) (Bumerangs/Gulbene/ASK)
Martins Berkis (198-F-85) (BK Zemgale)
Edijs Slesers (187-G-85) (RSN-D/Livani)
Coach: Ramunas Butautas (ASK Riga)
Coach: Ainars Bagatskis (SK Valmiera)

West:
Armands Skele (192-G-83) (Barons/LMT)*
Jimmy Baxter (BK Ventspils)*
Uvis Helmanis (BK Ventspils)*
Kaspars Berzins (211-F/C-85) (Barons/LMT)*
Akin Akingbala (BK Ventspils)*
Demetrius Alexander (204-F/C-75) (Barons/LMT)
Aigars Vitols (194-G-76) (BK Ventspils)
Giedrius Gustas (190-G-80) (Barons/LMT)
Klavs Ansons (202-F/C-83) (Liepajas Lauvas)
Mareks Jurevicus (198-F-85) (Liepajas Lauvas)
Arturs Berzins (204-C-88) (BK Keizarmezs)
Justin Love (189-G-78) (BK Ventspils)
Coach: Karlis Muiznieks (Barons/LMT)
Coach: Gasper Okorn (BK Ventspils)

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LEBANON

Round 6 scores and results -by Asia-Basket Lebanon
In the 6th round of the Lebanese league , The big battle of the past years between Blue Stars ( 4-1) and Sagesse (3-1) finished for the home team in Fouad Chehab Stadium , Sagesse won the game on the score of 79-64.

In the second big confrontation, Feytroun(1-4) continued its good performance under the commands of coach Elie Nasr and managed to secure a very important game against Antranik(1-3) on the score of 87-74.

In an other game in Zahle , Moutahed(3-1) came back with another win after beating Anibal(0-5) on the score of 73-52.Zahle missed in this game Kevin Sowell who left the team without any notice .

In the last game of this round Riyadi(4-0) welcomed Champville(2-3) , the game was a very promising ne in the first half and especially in the first quarter when Champville had a 13 point lead .But the Arab Champions used their big experience and managed to come back in the game and to win it on the score if 116-95.

Sagesse - Blue Stars : 79-64

Best Scorers:

Sagesse: Micah Brand (19pts)

Blue Stars: Jean Abed El Nour (19pts)

Q1:28-12 Q2:14-17 Q3:14-19 Q4:23-16



Antranik - Feytroun : 87-74

Best Scorers:

Antranik : La Shawn Malloy (29pts)

Feytroun: Georges Keidi (24pts)

Q1:28-26 Q2:08-17 Q3:22-23 Q4:16-21


Anibal - Moutahed : 52-73

Best Scorers:

Anibal : Simon Daoud (14pts)

Moutahed: Roy Samaha (22pts)

Q1:12-24 Q2:19-17 Q3:13-20 Q4:08-12


Riyadi - Champville : 116-95

Best Scorers:

Riyadi : Joseph Vogel (29pts)

Champville: Jarred Merrill (29pts)

Q1:25-38 Q2:32-21 Q3:29-15 Q4:30-21

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LITHUANIA

Zalgiris released M.Bradley -by Lukas Zajancauskas
B.C. Zalgiris Kaunas declined their contract with Michael Bradley (208-F/C-79, college: Villanova). The American center averaged 7 points and 4.9 boards in Euroleague, 10 points, 4.8 boards in LKL and 6.8 points, 6 boards in BBL. He will be replaced by Mamadou N'Diaye (212-C-75, college: Auburn)

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LUXEMBOURG

Musel Pikes thrash Sparta to open play-off stage -by Eurobasket News
Musel Pikes opened the second round of DBBL with a confident win over the defending champions Sparta. The hosts stunned their opponents in the starting 10 minutes outscoring Sparta 30:15. The visitors never recovered and the margin grew to 21 points at the interval. Sparta struggled to find the way back into contest and trailed by an insurmountable 23 points heading into the fourth term. Musel Pikes eased to an overall win at the end. Samy Picard (195-F-88) notched game-high 31 points. Raoul Dentzer (182-G-87) contributed 17 points for the winners. Larrie Smith (195-F-75, college: Tennessee Tech) scored 17 points for Sparta. Tom Wagner (181-G-79) added 12 points in defeat. Musel Pikes outrebounded the visitors 34:32 and forced those to as many as 18 turnovers.
Meanwhile Amicale were victorious in the first game of the second stage of the championship as they defeated Contern 78:51 at home. Contern got to a flying start as they accumulated a 21:11 advantage after the first frame. But the home side quickly rebounded and took over in the second quarter. Amicale shot down their opponents 21:5 and claimed the lead for good. Amicale never looked back after the break compiling 46 points in the second half and finalizing a comprehensive victory. Christopher Jones (184-F-90) secured 21 points to pace Amicale. Travis DePree (201-F/C, college: Albion) tallied 16 points and 11 boards for the winners. Eric Jetzt came up with 19 points for Contern. Yves Braun knocked down 15 points in a loss.
Etzella celebrated a 107:69 win over Residence. Marcus Kennedy (193-F-84, college: Montevallo) fired season-high 45 points for the winners.

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MONTENEGRO

MNT1B : Basketall Club BUDVA new champion of MNT1B divison for season 2007-2008 -by Dragan Scepanovic

Four Round before end of competition in MNT1B division Basketball Club BUDVA MEGA PROMET form Budva after win in 14 Round in derby game against BC KOTOR 73-50.Best in team of BC Budva was one again Filip Goranovic whit 15 points and 6 rebound .BC Budva have score 14-0 in season 2007-2008.In season 2008-2009 BC BUVA win play in MNT1A Opportunity League.


No.

Name and previous BC

Position

Born

4.
STOJANOVIC PETAR

185, G