Eurobasket Daily News Report:

EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 2/17/2008

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Men News

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ABA

MHM SPORTS ANNOUNCES LICENSING DEAL WITH ABA FOR OFFICIAL MINI HOOPS -by Bruno Baltazar
MHM Sports announced today that they have signed a licensing agreement with the American Basketball Association to manufacture and distribute official ABA Mini Hoops. The agreement was organized by The Global Advisory Group, a Palm Beach-based management consulting firm.

MHM Sports CEO, Daniel Patel stated, 'We believe that we have a superior product that will sell in the marketplace. The initial response to our product has been overwhelming. We are very excited to be working with the ABA and bringing a quality family product that ABA fans can take to their homes and offices and enjoy.' The agreement also provides for MHM to produce mini hoops for all ABA teams as well as the league. MHM Sports Inc. is a Connecticut based manufacturer and supplier of quality and durable plexiglass mini hoops for home and office use.

ABA CEO Joe Newman added, 'When we were first introduced to the mini hoop, we thought it was a very clever product and one that would fit very well in offices as well as in kids' rooms. Very well constructed and fun especially with one of the ABA mini-balls. We're proud to be a part of this excellent company and their marketing initiative.' ABA fans will be able to purchase mini hoops over the web at www.officialminihoops.com. Future Mini Hoops distribution sites will be announced on the league's Web site.

For more information, contact Daniel Patel, MHM Sports Inc at (860) 538-5188 or email sales@officialminihoops.com.

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BELGIUM

Transfer News -by Peter Buyse

Okapi Aalstar has extended the contract of Matt Lojeski (198-G-85, college: Hawaii) with another year.
At present Lojo is Okapi's leading scorer with 15.8 ppg to go with 4.3 rpg.

Former Mons and Huy players Bin Veron Tabu (183-G-82) has signed in Switserland with Vevey Riviera Basket for the rest of the season.

Played last season in Germany for D2 team Mainz with averages of 11.9 ppg and 3.3apg.

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BELIZE

Junior Bulldogs Still Undefeated!!! -by David Magana

Last Wednesday night at the Civic Center in Belize City The Mesop. Guardian Bombers gave the Future team a lesson winning them by 61-57. The Future are now on a 2 game losing streaking after starting the season 5-0. Here are the stats:
Top Scorers:
Mesop. - Leon Williams (203-F/C-86, college: Ohio) 22 pts / 12 rebounds / 1 assist / 2 blocks / 1 steal
Egbert 'Eggy' Walford 20 pts / 2 assist / 2 steals
Future - Winston 'Air Jun' Pratt 21 pts / 6 rebounds / 2 assist / 1 block / 5 steals
Michael 'Whiskey' Staine 9 pts / 5 rebounds / 2 assist / 1 block / 1 steal

In the second game, Lake I easily defeated Buttonwood Bay by 95-66.
Top Scorers
Lake I - Eden Serano (191-F) 26 pts / 16 rebounds / 4 assist / 2 blocks / 4 steals
Ashton 'Koolie' Edwards 22 pts / 5 rebounds / 4 assist // 3 steals
Buttonwood - Erwin Robinson 22 pts / 8 rebounds / 1 assist / 2 steals
Fred Meighan 20 pts / 18 rebounds / 2 assist / 1 steal

Game three was very exciting featuring the undefeated team of The Junior Bulldogs going against the UB Black Jaguars. This was a back and fort game with the UB Black Jaguars leading at the end of every quarter except the most important one. In the 4th the Belize Bank Junior Bulldogs were ferocious on defense as they tamed the Jaguars outscoring them 16-6 to take the win and remain undefeated.
Top Scorers
Bulldogs - Darwin Leslie (191-F/G-81) 17 pts / 7 rebounds / 2 assist / 1 steal
Ty Bradley (183-G-85) 9 pts / 7 rebounds / 1 assist / 1 steal
UB - Travis Lennon 13 pts / 10 rebounds / 1 assist / 2 steals
Lennox Bowman (180-G) 11 pts / 6 rebounds / 1 assist / 1 steal

UB Black Jaguars Back On Track!!! -by David Magana
Last Thursday night in the Garden City of Belmopan, the home team, UB Jaguars defeated Lake I Boyz in a close game of 72-65. Below are the highlights:
Top Scorers
UB - Stephen 'Muerte' Williams 14 pts / 16 rebounds / 3 assist / 1 block
Travis Lennon 14 pts / 5 rebounds / 1 assist
Lake I - Tyrone 'Joka' Edwards 15 pts / 1 rebound / 5 assist / 1 steal
Delhart 'Deli' Dominguez 14 pts / 2 assist

NEXT GAMES: Monday 18 February 6:30 pm at Civic Center

Game 1 - Belmopan Young Gunz (2-5) vs UB Black Jaguars (6-2)
Game 2 - Mesop. Guardian Bombers (4-3) vs Buttonwood Bay (0-9)
Game 3 - The Future (5-2) vs Complex Bombers (1-6)

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BOSNIA

D1, Postponed games: Zrinjski and Slavija win -by Sead Buljina

In a postponed game of the 17th round, Slavija beat Sloboda Dita 78:71
Slavija: Gvozdenovic 18, Stanic 7, Tomasevic 11, Mladenovic 17, Vukovic 2, Malovic, Demic 23. Coach: Sehovac
Sloboda Dita: M. Milosevic 15, Hrncic 8, Albijanic, Tanasilovic 8, Matic 6, N. Milosevic 9, Jocovic 14, Ross 11. Coach: Muminovic.

In another postponed game, a game of the 13th round, Slavija had no success on the road vs. Zrinjski in Mostar. Zrinjski - Slavija 78:73

Zrinjski: Filipovic 23, Sarenac 12, Norac 8, I. Petric 14, Simovic 8, Brecic 6, Mrsic 7. Coach: Zelenika

Slavija: Gvozdenovic 10, Stanic 5, Tomasevic 8, Mladenovic 12, Damjanovic, Vukovic 4, Malovic, Ivanovic 2, Demic 32. Coach: Sehovac.

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BRAZIL

CISER/ Univille / Joinville firmly in the 2nd place of Nacional Masculino.- -by Ed Goodman
Joinville won over Saldanha da Gama 76-74 and is firm in the 2nd place of the league. Gustavo and Shilton were the best by the winners with 18 and 17 Pts. respectively and Leandro with 21 Pts. by Saldanha.

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BULGARIA

Spartak Pleven wins hard against Balkan -by Valentin Anguelov

Spartak Pleven managed to get a hard, but also important win at home. In Balkanstroy Hall they won against Balkan with a result of 85-83, as that is Balkan's second consecutive loss.

Spartak started the game stronger than their opposition. They played really good, and didn't give Balkan any chance. After dictating the tempo in the first quarter, Pleven lead it 27-12 after 10 minutes of play.

In the second quarter Spartak continued to play good. After gaining momentum in the first 10 minutes, they managed to make the difference bigger and played good. At halftime they had a commanding 20 point lead - 50-30.

Spartak showed their biggest problem in the second half - the fact, that they could not be consistent. Problems started coming in the third period, and in the 27th minute Balkan decreased their losing to 10 points - 60-50. Anyway Spartak woke up and got a 13-point lead after 30 minutes of play - 67-54.

In the last quarter Balkan started climbing back in the score again. Three minutes before the end of the game, the guests were leading 74-75. After that Iliya Stankov scored a 3-pointer, and Spartak was leading again. It was 83-80 with 34 seconds to play. Atanas Radev made it 83-81, and after that Rosen Sofroniev scored only one free throw after being fouled - 84-81. Ivan Lilov reminded of himself with a basket for 84-83, as after that Aleksandar Dyakovski was fouled with 2.5 seconds remaining, but he only scored 1 free throw for 85-83. Pavle Bolkovac tried to score from halfcourt with the buzzer, but he couldn't.

Bozo Barac (208-F/C-79, agency: Interperformances) was the high-point man for Spartak with 23 points. Iliya Stankov and Todor Todorov both had 17, and Hrisimir Dimitrov who was guarded tight scored only 11, but had also 8 points and 7 assists.

For Balkan Dwayne Morton had a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Ivan Lilov added 21 points, and Pavle Bolkovac finished with 14.

FULL STATS FROM THE GAME SPARTAK PLEVEN - BALKAN

by Alexander Sotirov - BulgarianBasket.com

Cherno More Eurohold with nice win -by Lubomir Neshev
Cherno More Eurohold managed to secure an important win in the championship. Playing at home in Varna they defeated Rilski Sportist 88-75.
The game was even at the start as the hosts were having a little advantage. In the 5th minute the score was 17-11 and they continued to keep this difference in the next minutes. At the end of the first quarter Cherno More were in front 27-23.
At the beginning of the second quarter they continued to lead. The visitors were playing well though and managed to take the lead at 33-34 in the 15th minute of the game. In the 18th minute the score was tied 39-39 but in the final two minutes of the half the hosts made a nice 10-2 run that let them take a good lead at the break.
The second half was under the control of Cherno More Eurohold. In the third quarter the were controlling the game and kept a margin of around 10 points. At the end of the quarter they lead by 9 and the visitors still had hope.
That hope ended in the last quarter when the hosts took a 15 - point lead with five minutes to go. So from now on everything was clear and the hosts took a good and important win.
Simeon Tsenov and Bryce Sheldon were the top scorers in this game with 20 points. Augustinas Vitas (210-C-82, college: Birmingham Souther) ruled under the basket as he finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds.
For the visitors from Samokov good games had Santos Martinez and Aleksandar Gruev who finished with 19 and 18 points respectively.

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EGYPT

Gazco 93 Vs 96 Al-Ittihad -by Eslam Mohamed
Club Al-Ittihad of Alexandria escaped from defeat and managed to win the game Against Gasco Club 96-93 after an extra time the match ended in a tie 85-85
Gasco players Surprised Al-Ittihad players and team with a new spirit and performance
Indeed, the first half ended in favour of Gasco 20-8
Al-Ittihad tried to compensation in the second quarter and has already been able to finish this quarter 36-34
In the third quarter Gasco was wining 63-55
In the fourth Al-Ittihad was able to make the game tied by 85-85
and In extra time was able to end the match with a win 96-93
This result despite the absence of the professional player for Gasco Saimeon as well as Mahmoud Abdel Farag -Gasco point guard- in overtime each of Aly Ganayni - Mahmoud Tawfiq - Khalid Mustafa of Gasco and Derek professional player for Al-ithhihad commit five fouls
And Mowafak player of Gasco left the game for injury

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ESTONIA

Kalev clinches the 24th win in KML -by Eurobasket News
Kalev continued their winning run in the Estonian KML. Kalev upset Parnu 90:81 to climb to 24-1 record atop of the ladder. Kalev piled up a decisive lead in the opening frame as they outscored the visitors 23:17. The hosts then tried to control the tempo and maintained the buffer. Parnu were not able to trim the margin and entered the fourth period trailing by 11 points. And though they managed to outduel Kalev in the fourth stanza it was not enough to celebrate victory at the end. Howard Frier (193-G-76, agency: EM-PA, college: Colorado) stepped up with 19 points for Kalev. Valmo Kriisa (190-G-74) contributed 16 points for the winners. Jesper Parve (197-F-80) notched 18 points for Parnu as they fell to 7-17 record.
Meanwhile Pirita consolidated the third spot position with a road win over Rakvere. The hosts got to a slightly better start and accumulated a 26:22 lead after the starting stanza. But Pirita proved strength in the second period outlasting their opponents 27:13 and claiming the lead for good. Joosep Pokla (198-G-86) provided 26 points and 11 boards for Pirita. Ivo Uibukant (197-F-80) delivered 13 points and 6 boards for the winners. James Allen (196-G-79, agency: Court Side, college: Montevallo) scored 21 points and collected 7 boards for Rakvere as they suffered the 21st loss in the season.
Valga Welg cruised past TTU KK 96:74 away from home. Veljo Vares (200-F/G-81) drained 22 points for the winning side. Sharunas Skadas (206-C/F-81, college: Lewis) completed a 17-point haul for Valga Welg. Mihkel Niine (188-G-87) registered 18 points for TTU KK.

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EURO CHAMPS

Eurobasket 2009 Draw is completed in Venice -by Eurobasket News
The next EuroBasket will take place in Poland from 7th through 20th September 2009. So the draw of the qualifying stage in Division A was held today in Italy. Seventeen teams were distributed into 4 groups. Three groups will comprise 4 teams and one will consist of 5 contenders. The top team in each group and three more best-ranked squads will automatically qualify for EuroBasket. One more spot will be raffled off in an additional qualifying tournament.
Group A drawn together Italy and Serbia that will definitely fight for the top spot. Alongside this obvious favorites Bulgaria will try to make impact. Hungary and Finland can also come up with some sort of surprises.
Group B will enjoy the battle of last EuroBasket participants Latvia and Portugal clash together. Macedonia and Estonia will also fight for the lucky ticket.
Group C seems as the toughest possible one. Turkey and France are obvious favorites, while Ukraine and Belgium are ambitious teams that are capable of sensation at this stage.
Group D brought together Czech Republic, Israel, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Great Britain.

Group A: Italy, Serbia, Hungary, Finland, Bulgaria
Group B: Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia, Portugal
Group C: Ukraine, Turkey, France, Belgium
Group D: Isreal, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Great Britain

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FINLAND

KORISLIIGA: YMCA Lahti upset Honka -by Rauno Hurmalainen

Korisliiga, Round 33: YMCA Lahti upset tonight Honka (Espoo) 76-72. Pierre Jallow (203-F-79, college: William Jewell) led Lahti with 26 pts. ToPo (Helsinki) defeated Kauhajoki 95-82, Korihait (Uusikaupunki) beat again Tarmo (Porvoo), when Glenn Stokes was the game MVP with 33 pts. Kataja (Joensuu) won over visitor Pyrinto (Tampere) 95-78. Andre Foreman led again Kataja with 26 pts. Damon Williams had 17 pts and 13 rbs for Pyrinto.

YMCA Lahti - Honka 76-72 (39-43) (Pierre Jallow 26, Vesa Makalainen 11 - Petteri Koponen 20, Jukka Matinen 17).

Torpan Pojat - Kauhajoki 95-82 (53-41) (Elias Kajander 30, Josh Gonner 21 - Mario Porter 24, Darryl Hudson 18/11).

Korihait - Tarmo 99-84 (46-45) (Glenn Stokes 33, Jussi Kumpulainen 19/10 - Mark McCarroll 18/12, Mikael Holme 17).

Kataja - Pyrinto 95-78 (47-40) (Andre Foreman 26, Anssi Kinnaslampi 20 - Damon Williams 17/13, Damion Dantzler 17/10).

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FRANCE

Round 18 Round UP -by Sean Davis
Round 18 Round Up

Paris 55 - 70 Vichy

Hyeres-Toulon 84 - 75 Roanne

Hyeres-Toulon didn't skip a beat after losing their star player Sean
Colston. They cruised to their 9th victory of the season defeating
Roanne by 9pts. Five players scored in double figures and accounted
for 78 of the of the teams 84pts. Vincent Masingue (204-F/C-76) led the way
scoring 18pts and grabbing 13rebs. Laurent Legname (185-G-77) scored the game
high with 19pts. Marc Salyers (205-F-79, college: Samford) scored 15pts for Roanne while only
shooitng 6 of 22 from the field in the loss.

Chalon 95 - 80 Clermont

Clermont jumped out to a 12-0 early lead but it was to little to
early. Chalon got a much-needed victory over last place Clermont by
scoring 95pts on their way to a 15pt victory. Chalon had a balanced
scoring attack with all five starters scoring in double figures.
Xavier Corosine (186-G-85) came off the bench to lead them in scoring with 16pts
4rebs and 6ast. Bryan Bracey added 15pts. Clermont was led by Jerry Johnson (183-G-82, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Rider) and Tony Skinn (186-G-83, college: George Mason) who scored 16pts apiece.

Orleans 79 - 86 Le Havre

Orleans led by 4 going into the 4th qt only to get outscored by 11pts
giving Le Harve their 12th victory of the season. Orleans has
recently had trouble closing out games. The five starters for La
Havre scored 72 of their 86pts. Le Havre was led by Marcellus Sommerville (201-F-82, college: Bradley) with 19pts and T.J. Thompson (178-G-82, agency: SportsTalent, college: George Washington) with 16pts. Orleans was led
by Aloysius Anagonye (203-F-81, college: Michigan St.) game high 21pts. Dustin Salisbery (196-G-84, agency: CAA Sports, college: Temple) and Zeb Cope
added 12pts apiece.

Pau-Orthez 64 - 81 Le Mans

Pau-Orthez held a 7pt half time lead crusing to a victory until the second half started where they got out scored 49-25 to earn their 13th
loss of the season. Le Mans improved to 14-5 and one game out of
first place. Le Mans scoring was balanced with 5 players scoring in
double figures with Raviv Limonad (192-G-84, agency: Arik Krayn Services) scoring a team high 14pts. Alain Koffi (205-C-83) came off the bench to record a double double with 13pts and
11rebs. Deji Akindele had a strong output for Pau scoring 19pts while
shooting 8 of 10 from the field. Antonio Graves (190-G-85, college: Pittsburgh) was the only other
player to score in double figures for Pau with 13pts while shooting
50% from the field.

Gravelines 81 - 90 ASVEL
Gravelines jumped out to an early 11pt lead to end the 1st qt. ASVEL
battled back to take control of the game earning their 15 victory of
the season keeping pace with 1st place Nancy. ASVEL had three players
score 20pts and 4 players account for 78 of the team's 90pts. Lamayn
Wilson scored 21pts while shooting 9 of 12 from the field. Chevy Troutman (201-F-81, agency: Octagon, college: Pittsburgh) and Robert Conley (198-G/F-77, college: Clayton St.) scored 20pts apiece while shooting 15 of 25
from the field. Uche Nsonwu-Amadi added a double double with 17pts
and 10rebs. Vincent Greir did all that he could do scoring 24pts
shooting 9 of 12 from the field in a losing effort.

Paris-Levallois 55 - 70 Vichy

Paris got embarrassed at home only scoring 55 points and committing 17
turnovers. Vichy cruised to their 11th victory of the season beating
Paris on the road by 15pts. Zach Moss (201-F-81, college: Mountain St.) led the way recording a double
double with 15pts and 11rebs. Dounia Issa (199-F-81, agency: ACMT) also scored 15pts while
shooting an almost perfect 6 of 7 from the field. Taj Gray (206-F-84, college: Oklahoma) was the
only player to show up for Paris scoring 11pts on 5 of 7 shooting from
the field.
<<>><<>>

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GEORGIA

EuroBasket 2009 / OPPONENTS ! ! ! -by Levan Mikeladze

The draws for the EuroBasket 2009 took place in Venice today. So here are the opponents of our National Team.

Group C
1. Slovak Republic
2. Georgia
3. Ireland
4. Sweden
5. Luxembourg

National Team of Slovakia

Dusan Pandula (195-F-84) of Inter Brat. (Slovakia)
Stefan Svitek (203-F/C-77) of Pardubice (Czech Rep.)
Juraj Gavlak (185-G-79) of Geofin (Czech Rep.)
Radoslav Rancik (207-F/C-78, college: St.Cloud St.) of Nymburk (Czech Rep.)
Richard Lesko (204-F-81, college: Ill.-Chicago) of Soproni (Hungary)

Daniel Novak (201-F/G-78) of Inter Brat. (Slovakia)
Robert Nuber (186-G-83) of Albacomp (Hungary)
Martin Sykora (190-G/F-81) of Lucenec (Slovakia)
Gabriel Szalay (215-C-86) of Kotwica (Poland)
Igor Pesta (203-F/C-84) of Nova Ves (Slovakia)

Martin Micka (180-G-81) of Inter Brat. (Slovakia)

National Team of Ireland

Pat Burke (208-C-73, college: Auburn) of Khimki Moscow (RUS)
James Larranaga (195-G-75, college: Bowling Green) of Pepsi (Italy)

Michael Bree (184-G-80, college: Davidson) of Kotwica (Poland)
Chris Bracey (198-F-80, college: W.Texas A&M) of Egaleo (Greece)
Dan Callahan (205-F/C-70, college: Northeastern) of BT Roseto (Italy)

Donnie McGrath (193-G-84, college: Providence) of La Fortezza (Italy)

Marty Conlon (210-F/C-68, college: Providence) of Eldo (Italy)

Baker Dunleavy (196-G/F-82, college: Villanova) of M.Magix (Holland)

Mike Williams (211-C-82, college: Bryant) of Manchester (USA)
Conor Grace (205-F-82, college: Davidson) of Norrkoping (Sweden)
Justen Naughton (205-F-81, college: Cal.St.-Los Angeles) of Sabadell (Spain)
Emmett Donnelly (186-G-78) of St.Vincent (Ireland)

National Team of Sweden

Mats Levin (188-G-77) of Ignis (Italy)

Martin Ringstrom (206-F-81) of PAOK (Greece)
Serkan Inan (198-G-86) of Alpella (Turkey)

Kenny Grant (188-G-82, college: Davidson) of Atlas Stal (Poland)

Fredrik Jonzen (207-C/F-78, college: Oklahoma St.) of Uppsala (Sweden)

Christian Maraker (206-F-82, college: Pacific) of Plus Pujol (Spain)
Oluoma Nnamaka (200-F/C-78, college: Marquette) of Carife (Italy)

Jim Nystrom (194-G/F-82, college: Georgia Tech) of 08 (Sweden)

Olivier Ilunga (185-G-84) of AEL (Cyprus)
Joakim Kjellbom (213-C/F-79, college: N.Arizona) of Sundsvall (Sweden)

Rudy Mbemba (181-G-87) of Solna (Sweden)
Mikael Lindqvist (193-G-83) of Brest (France)

National Team of Luxembourg

Alvin Jones (211-C-78, college: Georgia Tech)
Christian Schartz (184-G-86)
Felix Hoffmann (190-F-87)
Tom Schumacher (188-G/F-87)
Samy Picard (195-F-88)
Tom Schmitz (201-C-82)
Pitt Koster (178-G/F-89)
Christian Weisen (195-F-86)
Peter Rajniak (196-G-81, college: Cal.Baptist)
Jean-Marc Melchior (198-F-84)
Martin Rajniak (205-F-78, college: CSU Bakersfield)
Nelson Delgado (185-G-80)
Jair Delgado (192-F-85)

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GERMANY

Bundesliga Game Day 20: Weekend Results Febuary 16th and 17th! -by Michael Taylor
Bundesliga Game Day 20 tipped off Saturday all over Germany with league leading ALBA Berlin and Artland Dragons capturing key wins atop the table. Walter Tigers Tubingen also earned a critical road win at Jena Saturday night.

Saturday Febuary 16th
Artland Dragons 87 ratiopharm Ulm 84
Lamont McIntosh's NBA range 3pt basket with 40sec to play gave Head Coach Chris Fleming and the Artland Dragons a hardfought 87-84 road win at Sportszentrum Kuhberg in Ulm Saturday afternoon. Ulm's EJ Gallup had two game-tying looks rim out before Konrad Wysocki's desperation three at the buzzer fell short. Ulm started strong taking a 24-23 lead after 1Q and extending it to 44-39 at half. Ulm charged to a 62-54 lead with just under 2min remaining in the 3Q and held a 67-60 lead heading into the 4th. Artland's outstanding team defense made the difference in the 4Q comeback and clutch one on one baskets from Leon Rodgers, Terrence Thomas and Lamont McIntosh sparked the win. Both teams shot 50% from the floor with Ulm outrebounding the Dragons 37-26. Artland buried 10 of 22 threes (45%) compared to Ulm's 6 of 18 (33%) and the Dragons earned the win at the line making 21 of 25 FT (84%) while Ulm converted only 12 of 21 (57%) FT. Leon Rodgers led Artland's attack with 21pt 7reb followed by Lamont McIntosh with 18pt on 4 of 6 threes. Terrence Thomas chipped in 13pt and Chad Prewitt added 11. Kyle Bailey topscored for Ulm with a strong 18pt performance followed by 16pt 9reb from Jeff Gibbs, 14pt from EJ Gallup, 12pt 9reb from Konrad Wysocki and 10pt from Sean Finn. Artland remains atop the Bundesliga with a terrific 16-4 mark while Ulm falls to 9-10.

Koln 99ers 78 LTi Giessen 46ers 67
On a day when a new sponsor was announced for Koln, Head Coach Sasa Obradovic and his men added to the good news with a strong 78-67 home win over LTi Giessen 46ers Saturday at Rheinenergie Dome in Koln. Yassin Idbihi enjoyed a terrific game topscoring with 24pt and an impressive 18reb in the win. Milko Bjelica added 18pt 7reb for Koln and PG Derek Raivio contributed 15pt 5reb 4ast. The teams exchanged runs in the first half with Koln earning a 20-18 lead after 1Q before the 46ers responded to take a 38-36 halftime lead. Koln powered ahead in the 3Q outscoring their guests 24-11 to take a commanding 60-49 advantage heading into the 4th. Rouven Roussler led Giessen with 20pt 5reb and Michael Umeh added 15pt in the loss. Koln outrebounded the 46ers 40-35. Despite their recent issues and playing with a young lineup, Koln continues to drive forward and are now 12-8. Giessen slips to 4-16.

ALBA Berlin 70 BG74 Gottingen 66
Five Berliners scored in double figures to help ALBA Berlin hold off an upsetminded BG74 Gottingen team 70-66 Saturday night at Lokhalle in Gottingen. Patrick Femerling and Julius Jenkins topscored with 14pt apiece while Aleksander Nadjfeji added 13pt, Bobby Brown 12pt and Dijon Thompson 10pt 10reb for Head Coach Luka Pavicevic and his team. ALBA shot 45% from the floor and outrebounded Gottingen 39-33. Berlin started better leading 19-12 after 1Q but Gottingen responded with a strong 2Q to earn a 32-32 halftime tie. ALBA moved ahead in the 3rd taking a 53-48 lead into the 4th. Berlin's depth and experience made a difference down the stretch. Jamar Thorpe led Gottingen with 18pt 5reb and Michael Schroeder added 14pt 8reb. Gottingen shot 41% from the floor but made only 4 of 21 (19%) from three. ALBA improves to 17-4 while Gottingen drops to 7-13.

Walter Tigers Tubingen 84 Science City Jena 64
In a key road win, Walter Tigers Tubingen broke open a tight 41-41 game at half with a strong 21-11 third quarter on their way to an 84-64 road win over Science City Jena Saturday night in Jena. Ray Nixon sparked the Tigers with 17pt 7ast 5stl and AJ Moye produced 16pt for Head Coach Tola Ongoren. DeAndrew Hulett (14pt 3 for 5 threes) and Bingo Merriex (13pt 7reb 3 of 5 threes) also were strong for Tubingen. In Sean McCaw's first game as newly named head coach, Jena shot 46% from the floor, outrebounded Tubingen 32-30, dished out a solid 18ast but suffered 19 turnovers. Ajmal Basit topscored with 14pt 8reb and Mark Davis added 11pt 10reb. Tubingen improves to 6-14 while Jena falls to 2-18.

Sunday Febuary 17th
Eisbaren Bremerhaven vs NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig 4pm

TBB Trier vs EnBW Ludwigsburg 5pm

Ewe Baskets Oldenburg vs Telekom Baskets Bonn 5pm

digibu Baskets Paderborn vs Deutsche Banks Skyliners 5pm

Bayer Leverkusen vs brose Baskets Bamberg 5pm BBL.TV

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IBL

STEELHEADS ADD 2 -by John Gary
courtesy oursportscentral.com The Gary Steelheads have added two more players to their 2008 roster. The team has announcedthat Ervin Herring and Phil Watson will be Steelheads this season. Herring a 6-3 guard guard will be making his professional debut with the Steelheads on the heels of a stellar career at CAMAT COLLEGE of St-Joseph.

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IRAN

Mahram get one step closer to the finals -by Houman Bagheri
Mahram's Samad Bahrami poured in 34 points in the 92-90 victory over Kaveh on Thursday. The win advances the sauce-makers one step closer to the finals, where they should meet the winners of 3-out-of-5 challenge between Saba Battery and Zob Ahan. Mahram jumped out to a ten-point lead after the opening quarter and held onto a three-point advantage at the half. Even, the double-double (30pts-12reb) from Omar Sneed was not enough for Kaveh to overpower the red-clads, who finished the job with a sweet win just by 2.

The first game between Saba Battery and Zob Ahan which had already been scheduled to be held on Thursday, was postponed to next Wednesday, Feb. 20th, after BEEM objected over a last-second basket made by Zob Ahan in the play-offs. The vote of the competitions committee was issued finally in favor of Zob Ahan, and the result which had initially led Zob Ahan to the semis, did not change.

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JAPAN

Phoenix rise to Occasion versus Aisin -by Mark Ofel
The OSG Phoenix have new life and continue to put the pressure on the Aisin as the regular season begins to wind down. Coach Kazuo Nakamura urged his team on to a 93 - 68 victory in a packed house of mostly OSG supporters in Kagoshima Prefectural Arena. The two teams will commence their Kyushu tour tomorrow with a game in Miyazaki. The Aisin jumped to an early lead in the first quarter but were soon overcome by the dominant play of Estill inside (20 points, 18reb.) and Hawkins (20 points, 10 assists) controlling the floor. Takuya Kawamura also made it rain a plethora of 3 point shots (5) and finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds. Hawkins has been the general for OSG since his arrival and continually found the open man off of penetration and fast break opportunities. The Aisin missed the much needed Bangura due to a leg sttrain. James Maye led the Aisin with 25 points and 9 boards.

In other games, Panasonic (14 - 16) thrashed Mitusbishi (16 - 14) in Nagoya 96 - 72 while moving within two games for the final playoff spot and the Toshiba Bravethunders beat Rera Kamuy Hokkaido 86 - 65.

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LITHUANIA

Zalgiris loses in Spain -by Lukas Zajancauskas
Basketball drama in Madrid, Real overcome Zalgiris Kaunas 88:85 (16:22, 23:21, 20:16, 26:29). Real Madrid played better in the first quater, they hit 4 three pointers, but Real players struggled at the free throw line. After the first they were ahead 22:16. Marko Popovic (185-G-82, college: S.Idaho JC) and Mamadou N'Diaye (212-C-75, college: Auburn) led a run 9:0, after that Kaunas was ahead by 3. Marko Popovic hit a buzzer-beater, which reduced the deficit to 4 points, 39:43. Thanks to 3 consecutive Marcus Brown (192-G-74, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: Murray St.) three pointers Zalgiris was ahead 54:48, but Real Madrid finished quater with a 7:0 run. 59:59 after the third. The hosts scored 11 unanswered points, which helped them to increase the lead to 11 points. But Lithuanian warrior Jonas Maciulis (200-G/F-85, agency: Interperformances) wasn't prepared to surrender. He initiate a run, then made a three pointer, which made the result 85:86 and Real was ahead only by one. 16 seconds was remaining, but Zalgiris was unable to make a quick foul. Jonas Maciulis got an intentional foul with only 5 seconds remaining. Raul Lopez (182-G-80) made both free throws, Real won 88:85.
Great match for Zalgiris rookie. Mamadou N'Diaye scored 14 points and grabbed 4 rebounds.

Zalgiris : Jonas Maciulis 21, Mamadou N'Diaye 14, Marcus Brown 14.
Real : Louis Bullock (186-G-76, college: Michigan) 17, Felipe Reyes (203-F/C-80) 17, Charles Smith (193-G-75, college: N.Mexico) 15.

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NBA

Is NBA Expansion to Europe possible? -by Eurobasket News
NBA Commissioner David Stern can possibly shake up the whole basketball world today. Numerous sources report that David Stern can announce the idea of NBA expansion to Europe during today's press-conference in New Orleans. With European basketball officials arriving to New Orleans for their annual meeting with NBA management the news of possible addition of 5 more European-based teams to the NBA fill the air. The idea is to add a new European Division with 5 new franchises reportedly located in London, Rome, Madrid, Berlin and Paris. These teams will play 82 regular season games and will fight for playoffs. The idea itself is not a new one as David Stern talked about it previously. But the lack of initiative from European basketball bosses and the absence of NBA-caliber arenas were the key problems stumbling the process. NBA is aiming to expand its business overseas for a long time but Europe was not ready to support the undertaking yet. Meanwhile NBA recently began to develop the Chinese market as they invested the money in an ambitious NBA China project.
But the European market is too tempting for NBA to pass by. London and Berlin were the first to build NBA-style arenas (O2 Arenas in London and Berlin). Madrid and Rome are ready to start construction of two more Arenas that would live up to all NBA demands. It all suits well for the idea of NBA going east. With the same kind of ideas sparking across European football world (English Premier League is considering the possibility of playing their regular season games overseas) it never looks too unreal at the moment. So let's wait and see if David Stern and NBA would make this outstanding move to change the basketball map of the world and erase the borders. We will keep you updated on the latest news concerning the topic.

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POLAND

Deadline in Poland -by Michal Falkowski
In the last day before deadline many Polish teams registered many players and strenghtened their rosters:

PROKOM TREFL SOPOT:
OUT - Rashad Phillips (didn't pass medical examinations), DaJuan Wagner (constantly injured so the club decided to part ways)
IN - Tim Kisner (from Honka Playboys Espoo)

ASCO SLASK WROCLAW:
IN - Jacek Krzykala (at the moment he's injured but the club registered him in the league, moved from Atlas Stal)

ATLAS STAL OSTROW WIELKOPOLSKI:
OUT - Jacek Krzykala (moved to Slask)
IN - Michael Fey (from Zain in Jordan), Reggie Freeman (last time played in Greece, lately he's been tested by TBB Trier), Lukasz Plociennik (a junior)

POLPAK SWIECIE:
OUT - Mario Boggan (he'd been tested but he's been sent home already due to unprofessional behaviour), Seid Hajric (moved to KK Bosnia Sarajevo), Karol Debski (released)
IN: Chris Garner (from Achilleas Kaimakliou), Vladimir Tica (from Crvena Zvezda Beograd)

KOTWICA KOLOBRZEG:
OUT - headcoach Arkadiusz Koniecki (released)
IN - Sebastian Machowski (retired and became a headcoach)

BPS BANK BASKET KWIDZYN:
IN - Michael Hicks (from Mutlu Aku Selcuk Universitesi Konya)

Deadline in Poland -by Michal Falkowski
In the last day before deadline many Polish teams registered many players and strenghtened their rosters:

PROKOM TREFL SOPOT:
OUT - Rashad Phillips (didn't pass medical examinations), DaJuan Wagner (constantly injured so the club decided to part ways)
IN - Tim Kisner (188-G-78, college: Cent.Michigan) (from Honka Playboys Espoo)

ASCO SLASK WROCLAW:
IN - Jacek Krzykala (at the moment he's injured but the club registered him in the league, moved from Atlas Stal)

ATLAS STAL OSTROW WIELKOPOLSKI:
OUT - Jacek Krzykala (moved to Slask)
IN - Michael Fey (from Zain in Jordan), Reggie Freeman (last time played in Greece, lately he's been tested by TBB Trier), Lukasz Plociennik (a junior)

POLPAK SWIECIE:
OUT - Mario Boggan (he'd been tested but he's been sent home already due to unprofessional behaviour), Seid Hajric (moved to KK Bosnia Sarajevo), Karol Debski (released)
IN: Chris Garner (from Achilleas Kaimakliou), Vladimir Tica (from Crvena Zvezda Beograd)

KOTWICA KOLOBRZEG:
OUT - headcoach Arkadiusz Koniecki (released)
IN - Sebastian Machowski (retired and became a headcoach)

BPS BANK BASKET KWIDZYN:
IN - Michael Hicks (from Mutlu Aku Selcuk Universitesi Konya)

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PORTUGAL

Estonia,Macedonia and Latvia in Portugal qualification group -by Bruno Baltazar
If Portugal wanna repeat what they did in the last European they have to defeat Macedonia ( Portugal in the past qualification for the last Euro allready played against this team ,won 1 and lost another game),Estonia(in entire history Portugal played 2 times and lost twice) and Latvia(Portugal defeated them in the European).

Moncho Lopez the portuguese national coach ''Its a group with similiar quality teams ,we have a chance to qualifie,we can win every games in our group''.

The group winner plus the 3 second best teams get a passport to the Euro2009 to be played in Poland.

Group A: Italy, Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungry and Finland

Group B: PORTUGAL, Latvia, Estonia and Macedonia

Group C: France, Turkey, Ukrain and Belgium

Group D: Israel, Czeck Republic, Bosnia-Herzegovin and UK

Portugal starts the qualification in September the 3 in Portugal against Estonia ,then travel to Macedonia (9-6-08), Latvia (10/9) and Estonia (13/9). Portugal play the last 2 games of qualification at home- Macedonia (17/9) and Latvia (20/9).

Miguel Minhava and Joao Santos with serious injurys,Benfica signs Karlton Mins -by Bruno Baltazar
One of the most influent players in Benfica , the international portuguese player Miguel Minhava (197-G-83) fracturated his left foot in a practise and will have a cirurgy he will be out for around 2 months ,meanwille Benfica replaced Michael Gomez for Karlton Douglas Mins(26years old of age) ,this player can play at PG aswell,meaning he also will play at Minhava position.

In Barreirense the portuguese forward Joao Santos that was doing a great season in Barreirense is injured and team says might be a serious injury.

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PUERTO RICO

Humacao Grays plan to make an impact -by Luis Ramirez
With the BSN season on scheduled to start on February 28th, we will try to give you a rundown on each BSN team. We start with the Humacao Grays, who decided to renew their team for this season and they made several important changes, one of these, was the signing of Head Coach Carlos Mario Rivera , a colorful and outspoken coach who is an experienced BSN coach. Rivera is known for being an aggressive coach on defense and likes to play a fast pace game. The Grays will have Ricky Sanchez a 6 foot 11 who has a sweet jump shot and can make the 3 pointer. The Grays will have Jack Michael Martinez as one of their import players; Martinez last played in the BSN with the San German Athletics and had an average of over 18 points a game. They also selected Jaja Richards as their Community Player. Humacao will also sport 3 first time local players who show some promise, these are James Life, Sadell Ayala and Darnell Hinson. With this squad Humacao seems confident that they should be one of the teams to reach the post season. I personally believe that they may have sufficient talent to do just that.

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SERBIA

Vladimir Tica moves to Poland -by Dragan Jankovski
Power forward / center Vladimir Tica (208-C/F-81, agency: Beo Basket) agreed terms with Polish team Polpak Swecie, who is currently on the 6th position in DBE with score 9-9. Tica started the season in Crvena Zvezda Belgrade and in the past he also used to play for Braunschweig, Dexia Mons-Hainaut, Khimik-OPZ Yuzny, Dynamo Moscow Region and Hemofarm Vrsac. Tica won Belgian Cup 2006 with Mons and he was a member of U21 NT which became the champion on World University Games in Benjin 2001.

BC Ergonom Nis named Zivojin Rajkovic as the new president of the club. Rajkovic's main target will be to rescue the team from not so good financial situation.

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SWITZERLAND

Lugano - Vacallo in final ! -by Maxime Lory
Lugano which beated Birstal last Thursday 97 to 82 will play vs Vacallo in final of National Cup. In the third quarter, Lugano posted a 27-17 to make the difference : 73-51, the game was over. Jarred McCurry scored 26p, grabbed 5rbs and dished out 7 asts for Birstal, and Derek Stockalper (196-G/F-84, college: Cal Poly - SLO), for Lugano posted 26p & finished with a top ranking of 31. The final will play the 29th March.

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TPBL

Lake Jackson host big game / Chaparrals hosting West Tx Storm -by Chris Cardenas

Lake Jackson,Tx is the sight of tonights match up between powerhouse JUAREZ/ EL PASO GALLOS DE PELLAE and the LAKE JACKSON,TX LAKERS. Both teams comng in with great records and plenty of firepower to light up the scoreboard. The San Angelo chaparrals try to get back in the win column when they take on a scrappy west tx storm franchise. for more information on tonights games call tpbl league owner chris cardenas @ 325-763-6630

tonights games :

gallos de pellae @ lake jackson lakers 7:30 pm tip off
west texas storm @ san angelo chaparrals 3:00 pm tip off

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TRINIDAD

Diaz Sets Career High Blocks Shots But La Salle Drops NJIT 87-65 in Non-Conference Action -by Don Farrell
PHILADELPHIA, PA- The La Salle Explorers (10-13, 4-5 A-10) led from the get-go and never looked back in a 87-65 win over the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders (0-26) on Wednesday night at Tom Gola Arena.
Sophomore Rodney Green (Philadelphia, PA/ Prep Charter) had a team-high 14 points, six rebounds.
The Explorers started off on a 10-3 run, but the Highlanders knocked down a three-pointer for their first score of the night. Senior Darnell Harris (Baltimore, MD/ St. Frances Academy) responded with a three of his own and a subsequent lay-up. He would finish with 13 points.
Green hit two free-throws to keep La Salle ahead 21-17 at 10:59, and sophomore Kimmani Barrett (Paterson, NJ/ Paterson Catholic) scored his second triple of the night to finish with 11 total points.
Freshman Darryl Partin (Seattle, WA/ Charis Prep) converted a fast break to make it 28-22 at 7:32 and post career-highs of eight points, six boards. NJIT's Nesho Milosevic responded with a three-point play to make it 30-24 at 6:48. Milosevic led all scorers with 21 points.
The Explorers surged ahead with a Harris score, and La Salle went on an 11-2 run to close out the first half up 46-30. La Salle had just six turnovers in the first half, but tallied 18 total for the game- nine of which were in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Harris put another three in the bank up 51-34 in the second half and senior Sherman Diaz (Diego Martin, Trinidad & Tobago) added a career-high six blocks-three of which came in a one-minute span, along with 10 points.
Freshmen twins Terrell Williams (Paterson, NJ/ Northfield Mount Hermon) and Jerrell Williams (Paterson, NJ/ Northfield Mount Hermon) connected for two consecutive dunks as the Explorers took their largest lead of the game 73-46 at 5:44 left in regulation and pulled away to match their win total for all of last season.

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TURKEY

Mersin Send Stefanov To Spain, Sign Reese -by Serdar Ortakuyu
Mersin Bsb agreed terms with Vive Menorca of ACB to send their veteran point guard Vrbica Stefanov (188-G-73, agency: Interperformances) to Spain and ended up signing former Tekel and Besiktas player Aubrey Reese (183-G-78, agency: Interperformances, college: Murray St.). Reese, an effective up tempo guard, is expected to make a quick contribution since he knows the league well. The import guard started the current season in Ukraine playing for Azovmash and joined forces with Mersin side for the remainder of season.

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U.S.VIRGIN ISL.

Elegar's 9th double double of the season -by David Edole
Randy Oveneke's jumper with 1:01 to play gave Drexel the led for good and Scott Rodgers made a pair of free throws in the final minute as Drexel defeated arch-rival Delaware, 62-60. Delaware had a chance for the win, but Herb Courtney's three-pointer as time expired bounced off the rim.

The Dragons (11-16, 4-11 CAA) led by as many as 11 early in the second half as Tramayne Hawthorne scored the first eight point of the second half for the Dragons. Delaware came right back and tied the game when Courtney scored six straight points to make it 52-52. He scored on a short jumper and was fouled and then hit a three-pointer at the 5:18 mark to even the score. The Hens (11-14, 8-7 CAA) tied the game on three more occasions but never led in the second half.

The Dragons shot 59 percent from the floor in the first half and led 32-26 at intermission. Frank Elegar (206-C-86) was 6-for-7 from the floor in the half and had six rebounds to lead the team. The senior finished the game with 22 points and 12 rebounds, giving him his ninth double-double of the year. Evan Neisler came off the bench early as Oveneke had two quick fouls and responded with seven points and three boards. Drexel trailed in the early going but held the Blue Hens off the board for almost five and a half minutes during an 11-0 run.

Elegar finished 10-for-14 from the floor. Rodgers added 16 points and made both of his long-range attempts. Hawthorne was also in double figures with 11 points. All five Delaware starters had at least 10 points. Herb Courtney was the team's high scorer with 13 points and also had nine rebounds.

Drexel shot 52 percent from the floor in the game and was 5-for-7 from behind the arc. The Dragons held the Blue Hens to just 39.6 percent shooting from the floor and the Hens made just four of their 18 long-range attempts.

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URUGUAY

Record for Reynolds with 53 points -by Hector Lopez
Grady Reynolds (198-F-80, agency: Strategic Sports, college: St.John's) reached a record for the Uruguayan League with 53 points netted in 34 minutes playing for Hebraica. His team defeated Welcome 112-76. The previous record was established by Leandro Garcia Morales with 50 points. Reynolds netted 1/2 for three-point shots, 20/24 for two points and 10/16 for free throws. Also grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked 5 shots.

Only one team, Bigua, already advanced for the semifinals -by Hector Lopez
With only one round to finish the regular season, six teams are still with possibilities to fill three spots for the semifinals. Only Bigua is already classified, and Welcome the only one without possibiities. The other positions will be defined next Monday and the candidates are Defensor Sporting, Trouville, Malvin, the last champions, Atenas, Union Atletica and Hebraica. The results for the round played on Friday 15 and the main scorers were as follows:
Hebraica 112 - Grady Reynolds (198-F-80, agency: Strategic Sports, college: St.John's) 53 pints
Welcome 72 Johnny Rodriguez (197-F/C-83) 13
- - -
Atenas 80 - Hakeem Rollins (202-C/F-83, agency: CAA Sports, college: Washington) 17 points 8 rebounds Wendell Gibson (201-F/C-83, college: Hofstra) 16 points 11 rebounds
Union Atletica 75 - Marlon Martinez (204-F/C-77, agency: Duran International) 21 points and 14 rebounds. The other Import player Mark Flavin (211-F/C-82, college: Maine) netted 4 points:
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Bigua 86 - Leandro Garcia Morales (186-G-80, college: Texas A&M) 28, Kevin Young (206-C-84, college: Missouri) 18 points and 11 rebounds, Mark Alan Bortz (208-F-82, college: Buffalo) 17 and 8
Defensor Sporting - David Jackson (196-G-82, college: Penn St.) 25 points, Nathan Mielke (210-F-81, college: Wisc.-Milwaukee) 8 and 11 rebounds
- - -
Malvin 82 - Fernando Martinez (170-G-79) 24, Lee Benson (208-F/C-73, agency: Paris Global Sports, college: Brown Mackie) 21 and 13 rebounds, Kim Adams (203-F/C-82, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Arkansas St.) 6 and 13 rebounds
Trouville 77 - Juliano Rivera (202-C-72) 18, Delano Thomas (203-F-82, college: Shawnee St.) 9 points 7 rebounds, Thurman Zimmerman (196-F/G-83, agency: AMI, college: S.Carolina St.) 8 points.

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VENEZUELA

Tulio Cobos is getting ready! -by Wolfgang Lucena
With 11.5 points per game, 5.7 rebounds and about to receive his diploma degree in general studies, our vinotinto Tulio Cobos (197-C-86) is getting ready for new challenges. The Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, 6'5'' power forward Tulio Cobos (197-C-86) (aka, Baby Shaquille), could be one of those outstanding players for the renovated Venezuela's Mayor National Team. Cobos has been one of those power men for a period of two seasons at NEO. He has an important roll in the basketball team and his statistics are witnesses of it. So far, he is really concern about his college master degree in the new university that he will be enrolling to.

'I love the idea to play for my country in the Mayor National Team. I will be getting ready while the Federation makes the decision to call me'. Tulio Cobos.

Que molleja Cubillan! -by Wolfgang Lucena

One more time David Cubillan (183-G-87) showing out to Venezuela that his blood is Vinotinto, with 13 points, 1 asst, 2 rebounds in just 23 minutes of action during the Friday night's conference game, the maracucho was too much for Pittsburg University. David Cubillan took an important role; he made a pair of three point basket with two minutes remaining to the end of the first half.
The final score was, Marquette University (18-6, 8-5 Big East) 72 points and Pittsburg University (19-6, 7-5) 54 points

The next conference game will be versus St. John's University at New York on Wednesday February 20, 2008 @ 6:00pm

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Women News

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BRAZIL - Women

Ourihnos will play in the Final -by Eurobasket News
Ourihnos made their way through to the CNBF Final. They narrowly edged de Nassau in the Game 3 of the semifinal series to complete overall victory and advanced to the Grand Finale. Ourihnos were widely seen as favorites in the game and proved their status early in the encounter as they outscored the hosts 26:17. When it all seemed doomed for de Nassau the home side sparked with a brave comeback effort. They tightened up defense and adjusted their shooting accuracy to step closer to Ourihnos. The hosts shaved the margin up to 4 points at halftime and continued to trade baskets with the visitors. Tayara Pesenti (180-F-82) and Jaqueline Silvestre paced de Nassau as they headed into the fourth period railing by only 3 points. It all went down to the final seconds but Ourihnos replied on the experience of Iziane Castro (183-G/F-82) and she did not let down her teammates. Iziane Castro accounted for a couple of vital buckets in the crunch time to secure a 71:69 win for Ourihnos. Iziane Castro finished with 27 points for Ourihnos. Lisdeivi Pompa (193-C-74) produced 17 points and 16 boards for the winners. Jaqueline Silvestre and Tayara Pesenti dropped 16 points apiece for de Nassau.
Meawnhile Catanduva stepped closer to the Final with the second win over Sao Bernardo. Catanduva outlasted their opponents 78:76 to grab a 2-0 lead in the series. Sao Bernardo looked dominant in the second and third frames and piled up a 12-point advantage before the final term. But Catanduva replied with a 25:11 rally in the final quarter to cease an important victory. Karla da Costa (173-G-78) notched 25 points for Catanduva. Ariadna Felipe (179-G-83) netted 18 points in a win. Lilian Gonsalves answered with 22 points for Sao Bernardo. Game 3 is scheduled for tomorrow in Sao Bernardo.

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BWBL - Women

Standings

BWBL Standings

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

Barsy Atyrau post the initial win in BWBL season -by Eurobasket News
Barsy Atyrau finally registered their first victory in the BWBL. In Round 13 they travelled to Latvia for a 3-game trip. The first two encounters have been played and brought the first success for Kazakh outfit.
First Barsy Atyrau faced Avantis and suffered a 52:77 loss. The teams were evenly matched in the first half with the hosts grabbing a narrow 30:26 lead at the interval. But Avantis took over after the break. They limited the visitors to 8 points in the third stanza and extended the gap to as many as 19 points. Barsy never recovered and lost the 10th straight game in the season. Anda Eibele (170-G-84) scored 12 points to lead Avantis. Ieva Vitola (189-C-85) contributed 10 points for the winners. Svetlana Serdukova answered with game-high 14 points for Barsy Atyrau. Ekaterina Dvorskaya (199-C-73) had 12 points in a loss.
Barsy Atyrau remained in Riga to take on TTT/Rapa next day. Both teams were at the very bottom of the standings and BArsy Atyrau used the opportunity to record the first victory. It was a closely matched battle with neither side able to dominate. The visitors claimed a 15:14 lead after the first frame and maintained the gap further on. The third quarter became decisive as Barsy Atyrau managed to stretch the lead to 9 points heading into the fourth period and never looked back afterwards. Anastasiya Sevastyanova (168-G-87) paced the visitors with 16 points. Ekaterina Dvorskaya notched 13 points and 7 boards, while Svetlana Serdukova (175-F) added 12 points and 9 boards in a win. Diana Ozolina (180-F-89) nailed 19 points for TTT/Rapa as they fell to 1-11 record.

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E.CHAMPS (W) - Women

Eurobasket 2009 Draw is completed in Italy -by Eurobasket News
The next EuroBasket will take place in Latvia from 7th through 20th June 2009. So the draw of the qualifying stage in Division A was held today in Italy. Nineteen teams were distributed into 4 groups. Three groups will comprise 5 teams and one will consist of 4 contenders. The teams will fight for 9 available spots.

Group A: Germany, Ukraine, Lithuania, Israel, Great Briatain
Group B: Turkey, Finland, Italy, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group C: Romania, Slovak Republic, France, Croatia, Hungary
Group D: Serbia, Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece

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ESTONIA - Women

Tallinna Living and TLU/Volta post wins -by Eurobasket News
Both Tallinna Living and TLU/Volta were victorious in Round 12 of Meistriliiga. Thus Tallinna Living secured their top spot at 16-2 record. TLU/Volta remained just one shy of the league leaders. Tallinna Living played twice during the round and easily surpassed their opponents. They started the action against Tallinna Kalev and thrashed tehm 71:42. Tallinna Living limited the hosts to only 13 points in the first half building an insurmountable 41:13 lead. It was just enough for an overall success. Kerttu Jallai (179-F-90) topscored with 21 points and 15 boards for Tallinna Living. Kati Rausberg (172-G-89) added 14 points in a winning case. Kedru Arbet (185-F-80) answered with 17 points and 13 boards for Kalev. Later in the week Tallinna Living took on Audentes at home and ensured a 96:58 victory. Seven Tallinna Living players scored in double figures. Kati Rausberg led all scorers with 26 points, 7 assists and 5 boards. Triin Teppo (185-C-90) contributed 14 points and 12 boards for the winners. Kaia Kosk (174-G-89) accounted for 24 points for Audentes.
Meanwhile TLU/Volta schooled Audentes 91:43 to improve to 15-3 record. Heila Rosenfeldt (172-G-83) netted 23 points and pulled down 9 boards to pace TLU/Volta. Ashley Wallace (183-C-85, college: Pace) had 20 points for the winning side. Helena Malton (180-G-89) and Marit Maaring (176-G-91) dropped 9 points apiece in defeat. TLU/Volta and Tallinna Living will clash on February 26.

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FINLAND - Women

SM-SARJA: Dionne Pounds netted 32 pts -by Rauno Hurmalainen

SM-sarja, Round 26-27: Dionne Pounds (178-F-84, college: Lamar) netted 32 pts, while her Team PeKa (Kotka) crushed Alku on Saturday at Forssa by 56 pts 58-114.
Pounds was was shooting her treys extremely well (8/10)! YMCA Helsinki lost at home vs Huima (Aanekoski) by 11 pts, when succeeding to score only two pts during the fourth quarter (2-13). Catz (Lappeenranta) visited in Jyvaskyla and defeated HoNsU 67-89. And the fourth victory out of four games came from Espoo, where Espoo Team lost vs BC Nokia 57-66.

FoA - PeKa 58-114 (32-54) (Megan Griffith 16 - Dionne Pounds 32).

YMCA Helsinki - Huima 55-66 (37-35) (Jenni Laaksonen 16/13 - Chrystal Erwin 16).

HoNsU - Catz 67-89 (32-54) (Lizanne Murphy 24 - Elena Reshetko 15).

Espoo Team - BC Nokia 57-66 (29-41) (Siiri Nuutinen 16/15 - Sherry McCracklin 22/13).

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ISRAEL - Women

Round 18th first team -by Gil Goshen

Ramat Hen 76 - Bnei Yehuda 72

For Ramat Hen:
Armintie Price 25 pts, 10 rebs
Taj McWilliams Franklin 25 pts, 13 rebs
Shiri Sharon 12 pts
Edwina Brown & Chen Shtain 6 pts each
Sharon Zeevi & Lena Mustafina 1 pt each

For Bnei Yehuda:
Renee Taylor 27 pts
Sugiery Monsac 22 pts
Dionnah Jackson 12 pts
Rivi Grinboym 6 pts
Chen Segal 3 pts
Tal Salz 2 pts

Tel Kabir 74 - Raanana Hertzeliya 86

For Raanana Hertzeliya:
Mistie Williams 29 pts
Tanisha Wright 27 pts, 12 ast, 10 tos
Abiola Wabara 13 pts
Neda Djuric 6 pts
Noa Ganor 4 pts
Katia Levitzky 2 pts

For Tel Kabir:
Constance Jinks 21 pts
Shaun Gortman 17 pts
Yael Cherkov 15 pts
Michelle Woods 12 pts
Shiri Porat 4 pts

Ramla 80 - Holon 57

For Ramla:
Sherill Baker 20 pts
Shay Doron 18 pts
Michelle Snow 15 pts, 12 rebs
Jackie Johnson 11 pts, 9 rebs
Laine Selwyn & Tali Noy 8 pts each

For Holon:
La'Tangela Atkinson 21 pts, 23 rebs
DeTrina White 17 pts, 11 rebs ( another double double....).
Ivory Latta 15 pts
Shiran Zairy & Hana Haleli 2 pts

Hapoel Tel Aviv 48 - Electra Ramat Hasharon 67

For Ramat Hasharon:
Monqiue Coker 22 pts
Jia Perkins 15 pts
Tatyana Troina 10 pts, 11 rebs
Shimrit Gigi 8 pts
Dada Vilipic 4 pts

For Hapoel:
Tamara Bowie 23 pts, 13 rebs
Shachar Alterman 11 pts
Edneisha Curry 8 pts
Shira Haelyon 6 pts

Mistie Williams (191-C-83, college: Duke)

The regular season end,the playoffs start -by Netanel Dahan

The battle for a ticket to the Upper playoffs end.
Ramat Hasharon
Raanana Hertzliya
Elizur Ramla
Maccabi Ramat Hen
Maccabi Ashdod
And Elizur Holon advance to the Upper playoffs.
yesterday(Thursday) the regular season come to the end,and the playoffs start,in the lower playoffs :
Bnei Yehuda,Maccabi Tel Kabir,Hapoel Tel Aviv.
The 18 round games:
Raanana Hertzeliya 86-Tel Kabir 74.
Score for Hertzeliya:
Mistie Williams 29 pts
Tanisha Wright 27 pts,12 ast
Abiola Wabara 13 pts
Neda Djuric 6 pts
Noa Ganor 4 pts
Katia Levitzky 2 pts

to Tel Kabir:
Constance Jinks 21 pts
Shaun Gortman 17 pts
Yael Cherkov 15 pts
Michelle Woods 12 pts
Shiri Porat 4 pts.

Ramat Hen 76 - Bnei Yehuda 72.
Score to Ramat Hen:
Armintie Price 25 pts, 10 reb
Taj McWilliams Franklin 25 pts, 13 reb
Shiri Sharon 12 pts
Chen Shtain and Edwina Brown 6 points each one,
Sharon Zeevi and Lena Mustafina 1 pt each one.

to Bnei Yehuda:
Renee Taylor 27 pts
Sugiery Monsac 22 pts
Dionnah Jackson 12 pts
Rivi Grinboym 6 pts
Chen Segal 3 pts
Tal Salz 2 pts.

Ramla 80 - Elitzur Holon 57
Score to Ramla:
Sherill Baker 20 pts
Shay Doron 18 pts
Michelle Snow 15 pts, 12 reb
Jackie Johnson 11 pts, 9 reb
Laine Selwyn and Tali Noy 8 pts each one.

To Hulon:
La'Tangela Atkinson 21 pts, 23 reb!!!
DeTrina White 17 pts, 11 reb
Ivory Latta 15 pts
Shiran Zairy andna Haleli 2 pts each one.

Electra Ramat Hasharon 67-Hapoel Tel Aviv 48
Score to Tel Aviv:
Tamara Bowie 23 pts, 13 reb
Shachar Alterman 11 pts
Edneisha Curry 8 pts
Shira Haelyon 6 pts.

To Ramat Hasahron:
Monqiue Coker 22 pts,7 reb
Jia Perkins 15 pts
Tatyana Troina 10 pts, 11 rebs
Shimrit Gigi 8 pts
Dada Vilipic 4 pts.
The playoffs games wil start in monday.

Liron Choen in Spain -by Gil Goshen

THE SPANISH CUP !!!

on the semifinal Liron team CLUB BALONCESTO SAN JOSE WON the game vs. PERFUMERIAS AVENIDA 76:63 !!!!!

Liron agency GG BASKETBALL had amazing game and led her team : she played 35 minutes , 27 points, 3/9 ( 33 % ) from the 2 points, 5/7 ( 71 % ) from the 3 points. 4/4 ( 100% ) from the free line.
6 ast. 4 rb evaluation 28 !!!!! On Sunday they will play the final vs. CIUDAD ROS CASARES VALENCIA ( the champion and the cup holder ).
Last week CLUB BALONCESTO SAN JOSE won the league game vs, Valencia .....Liron Cohen (173-G-82)

Round 18th results. -by Gil Goshen

Ramat Hen 76 - Bnei Yehuda 72

For Ramat Hen:
Armintie Price 25 pts, 10 rebs
Taj McWilliams Franklin 25 pts, 13 rebs
Shiri Sharon 12 pts
Edwina Brown & Chen Shtain 6 pts each
Sharon Zeevi & Lena Mustafina 1 pt each

For Bnei Yehuda:
Renee Taylor 27 pts
Sugiery Monsac 22 pts
Dionnah Jackson 12 pts
Rivi Grinboym 6 pts
Chen Segal 3 pts
Tal Salz 2 pts

Tel Kabir 74 - Raanana Hertzeliya 86

For Raanana Hertzeliya:
Mistie Williams 29 pts
Tanisha Wright 27 pts, 12 ast, 10 tos
Abiola Wabara 13 pts
Neda Djuric 6 pts
Noa Ganor 4 pts
Katia Levitzky 2 pts

For Tel Kabir:
Constance Jinks 21 pts
Shaun Gortman 17 pts
Yael Cherkov 15 pts
Michelle Woods 12 pts
Shiri Porat 4 pts

Ramla 80 - Holon 57

For Ramla:
Sherill Baker 20 pts
Shay Doron 18 pts
Michelle Snow 15 pts, 12 rebs
Jackie Johnson 11 pts, 9 rebs
Laine Selwyn & Tali Noy 8 pts each

For Holon:
La'Tangela Atkinson 21 pts, 23 rebs
DeTrina White 17 pts, 11 rebs ( another double double....).
Ivory Latta 15 pts
Shiran Zairy & Hana Haleli 2 pts

Hapoel Tel Aviv 48 - Electra Ramat Hasharon 67

For Ramat Hasharon:
Monqiue Coker 22 pts
Jia Perkins 15 pts
Tatyana Troina 10 pts, 11 rebs
Shimrit Gigi 8 pts
Dada Vilipic 4 pts

For Hapoel:
Tamara Bowie 23 pts, 13 rebs
Shachar Alterman 11 pts
Edneisha Curry 8 pts
Shira Haelyon 6 pts

Mistie Williams (191-C-83, college: Duke)

Round 18th Leaders -by Gil Goshen

POINTS

1. M. Williams 29.0
2. R. Taylor 27.0
3. T. Wright 27.0

REBOUNDS

1. L. Atkinson 23.0
2. T. Booye 13.0
3. T. McWilliams 13.0

ASSISTS

1. T. Wright 12.0
2. N. Kolodny 8.0
3. J. Johnson 5.0

EFFICIENCY

1. M. Williams 34.0
2. T. Booye 33.0
3. T. McWilliams 30.0

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KAZAKHSTAN - Women

Barsy Atyrau post the initial win in BWBL season -by Eurobasket News
Barsy Atyrau finally registered their first victory in the BWBL. In Round 13 they travelled to Latvia for a 3-game trip. The first two encounters have been played and brought the first success for Kazakh outfit.
First Barsy Atyrau faced Avantis and suffered a 52:77 loss. The teams were evenly matched in the first half with the hosts grabbing a narrow 30:26 lead at the interval. But Avantis took over after the break. They limited the visitors to 8 points in the third stanza and extended the gap to as many as 19 points. Barsy never recovered and lost the 10th straight game in the season. Anda Eibele (170-G-84) scored 12 points to lead Avantis. Ieva Vitola (189-C-85) contributed 10 points for the winners. Svetlana Serdukova answered with game-high 14 points for Barsy Atyrau. Ekaterina Dvorskaya (199-C-73) had 12 points in a loss.
Barsy Atyrau remained in Riga to take on TTT/Rapa next day. Both teams were at the very bottom of the standings and BArsy Atyrau used the opportunity to record the first victory. It was a closely matched battle with neither side able to dominate. The visitors claimed a 15:14 lead after the first frame and maintained the gap further on. The third quarter became decisive as Barsy Atyrau managed to stretch the lead to 9 points heading into the fourth period and never looked back afterwards. Anastasiya Sevastyanova (168-G-87) paced the visitors with 16 points. Ekaterina Dvorskaya notched 13 points and 7 boards, while Svetlana Serdukova (175-F) added 12 points and 9 boards in a win. Diana Ozolina (180-F-89) nailed 19 points for TTT/Rapa as they fell to 1-11 record.

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NCAA - Women

LSU handles top-ranked Tennessee -by Eurobasket News
LSU denied a 19-point deficit to post an impressive 78:62 win over the top-ranked Tennessee. LSU thus remained the only SEC team without a single loss and improved to 21-3 record. Tennessee meanwhile suffered their 2nd loss in the season and slipped to 22-2 record. The Lady Vols opened the game with a massive 21:2 run but the Lady Tigers were not taken aback. They trimmed the gap to 3 points at halftime 30:33 and jumped out to a 5:1 start of the second half to surge ahead 35:34. The Lady Tigers never looked back and using the multiple mistakes from Tennessee sealed the winning outcome at the end. Sylvia Fowles (6'6''-C-85) contributed 17 points and 14 boards for LSU. Erica White (5'3''-G-86) notched 16 points for the winners. Candace Parker (6'4''-F/C-86) answered with 26 points for the Lady Vols. LSU came up with 60% accuracy from the field in the second half and limited their counterparts to only 28%.
Marah Strickland (6'0''-G) nailed career-high 20 points as 5th-ranked Maryland routed Boston College 78:51. It was the fourth straight success for Maryland as they improved to 10-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and 26-2 overall record. The Terrapins trailed 2:7 early in the game but quickly adjusted their shooting and administer a 45:28 advantage at halftime. The Eagles were unable to revive the intrigue in the second half and Maryland eased to yet another win in the season. Ashleigh Newman (5'10''-G) provided 15 points, while Laura Harper (6'4''-F/C-86) added 13 points and 10 boards in a win. Stefanie Murphy (6'4''-F/C) and Carolyn Swords (6'6''-C) responded with 10 points apiece in a losing effort.
North Carolina came up with a 90:82 win over Virginia to stay at 23-2 record. Erlana Larkins (6'1''-F-86) fired 21 points and 18 boards to pace the Tar Heels. LaToya Pringle (6'3''-F/C) topscored with 28 points for North Carolina. Lyndra Littles (6'1''-F-87) shot 22 points for the Cavs as they dropped to 18-7 record.

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SWEDEN - Women

Telge overcomes Solna in top-ladder battle -by Eurobasket News

Solna - Telge 66:73

Telge reached Solna in the Damligan standings after they edge the Vikings away from home. It was a key clash in the Damligan schedule and attracted almost 2000 spectators. The Vikings were up by a single victory in the standings and hoped to extend the distance after the game. But Telge never allowed them to do so. They claimed the initiative right from the start and soon clinched a 21:13 advantage. Solna could not adjust their defense and shot poorly from the field. Telge capitalized and stretched the margin to 10 points at halftime 39:29. The hosts gradually discovered the needed tempo and began cutting the deficit. But Telge wisely stayed in front and entered the fourth period leading by 5 points. Solna tried hard however were denied a comeback attempt as Telge impressively secured the 16th win in the season. Frida Eldebrink (174-G-88) paced the winners with 21 points. Josefin Olheim (176-G/F-86) contributed 14 points, while Elin Eldebrink (174-G-88) came up with 13 points for Telge. Michaela Livijn (184-C-81) and Jurgita Kausaite (178-G/F-70, college: Emporia St.) had 13 points apiece for Solna. Christy Bacon (182-G/F-80, college: Wyoming) and Anna Hoglund (178-G-82) produced 12 points each in a loss. The Vikings outrebounded their opponents 37:26 but struggled in accuracy converting only 36% from the field. Telge sank 48% of field goals. The teams are now knotted at 16-2 record atop the ladder. Solna will next visit Brahe Basket, while Telge will take on the Norrkopings Dolphins at home.

Solna: Michaela Livijn 13, Jurgita Kausaite 13, Christy Bacon 12, Anna Hoglund 12
Telge: Frida Eldebrink 21, Josefin Olheim 14, Elin Eldebrink 13

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U.S.VIRGIN ISL. - Women

Richards named athlete of the Week -by David Edole
Akeema Richards of Western HS was named Girl athlete of the Week by the Baltimore Sun Newspaper.
The junior point guard led the Doves to two big wins last week to assure her team a spot in the Baltimore City title game. In a 74-46 victory over Digital Harbor on Feb. 5, Richards finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and four assists. In the Doves' 54-44 win over then-No. 4 City on Friday, she shot 64 percent from the field and finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and four steals in a game for first place in Baltimore City's Division II. Averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds, Richards thrives on being the team's catalyst and leader. Also a standout shortstop on Western's softball team, Richards is ranked ninth in her class with a 4.0 grade point average.
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