EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 2/18/2008

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Men News

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ABA

Vermont and Manchester go on in winning -by Gianni Pascucci
The Vermont Frost heaves clearly defeated the Montreal Royal, 108-95 on the road at the Pierre Charbonneau Centre on Friday night. The game ended with a basket by new Frost Heaves signee Ted Skuchas (6'11''-C-83, agency: Warren Sports, college: Vanderbilt) and the Royal, led by Quilninious Randall (6'6''-F-78, college: Northeastern), who scored 17 points, never got closer than five points. The best performers in Vermont were Dokun Akingbade (6'9''-F-84, college: George Washington) with 19 points, Terrance Greene (6'4''-G/F-81, college: Nevada) with 15 and Issa Konare (6'8''-F-80, college: High Point) with 14. Another ABA top team, the Manchester Millrats, dominated the Quebec Kebekwa from start to finish, winning 145-106. The torrid shooting of Mason, Anderson and Young was the main reason of the huge points difference. Anthony Anderson (5'11''-G-81, college: Massachusetts) led Manchester with 30 points, P.J. Young (6'6''-F, college: S.New Hampshire) added 18, Charles Mason (6'8''-F-75, college: Bunker Hill) 16, and Al Stewart (5'10''-G-83, agency: Rice and Rice, college: Drake) 12 points to go with 9 assists. Before the game, the Millrats welcomed the addition to their roster of swingman Dwight Brewington (6'5''-G-84, college: Liberty), who scored 21 in 23 minutes off the bench. Thanks to these two wins and their market moves, Vermont and Machester confirm to be the main teams at the Eastern side of the ABA, and we expect them to go very ahead in the 2008 title race. The season of the Halifax Rainmen, instead, is ending in a disappointing way. This team felt for the sixth time in a row, this time 139-129 to the Boston Blizzard in Boston. Tonight the team meets the Frost Heaves in Barre, and we can forecast another loss.

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ADRIATIC LEAGUE

Partizan remains on top of Adriatic league -by Dragan Jankovski
In derby game of 21st round of Adriatic league Partizan Igokea once again was better than Crvena Zvezda 88-81. The game was played at the front of the around 1.500 spectators who had a yearly tickets because the other tickets for today's game were not on sale. It was maybe the most interesting derby between two eternal rivals in the last two years. The game is decided in the last quarter after 3-pointer by Tripkovic and Palacio's lay-up. After serious defeat in Siena, Partizan's head coach Dusko Vujosevic was satisfied with this win and the fact that black and whites has two wins more than Zadar which gives them right to play without bigger pressure until the end of the regular season.

Partizan got 24 points from PG Milton Palacio (190-G-78, college: Colorado St.) and 13 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists from Dusan Kecman (197-G/F-77, agency: Beo Basket). MVP of the game was Novica Velickovic (205-F-86), who added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Omar Cook (186-G-82, college: St.John's) netted 26 points and 4 rebounds for Zvezda while Mladen Sljivancanin (200-G/F-85) followed him with 18 points and 4 rebounds.


Crvena Zvezda - Partizan Igokea 81-88

Crvena Zvezda: Cook 26 (4 rebs), Sljivancanin 18 (4 rebs), Misanovic 14 (5 rebs)
Partizan Igokea: Palacio 24, Kecman 13 (4 rebs, 5 as), Velickovic 10 (11 rebs)

FMP surprised Zadar in "Jazine", Olimpija outplayed Vojvodina -by Dragan Jankovski
FMP made surprise beating, this season very good, Zadar on the road 84-78. Until Saturday Zadar lost only one game on their home court 'Jazine'. After 6-6 at the beginning FMP, mostly owing to Zoran Erceg, made 14-0 run setting the score on 20-6 and very soon to 28-7. Panthers finished the first quarter with plus 20 but Zadar succeeded to make a turn in 29th minute and later to extend lead on plus 8. FMP didn't give up and took lead again 72-71 with three minutes to go. At the very end FMP's players netted 4 FTs what was enough for the 11th win in Adriatic league. Zoran Erceg (211-C/F-85) added 22 points and 5 rebounds for FMP while Zadar got 20 points and 5 rebounds from Shammell Stallworth (197-F-80, agency: Interperformances, college: USF).

Vojvodina Srbijagas, who has a lot of problems this season, wasn't able to resist Olimpija in Ljubljana. Slovenian Natonal Cup holder made easy win 58-72. Jasmin Hukic (204-G/F-79, agency: Beo Basket) led the winners netting 23 points including 5 rebounds. Ivan Ivanovic (205-F-80, agency: Beo Basket) was better than the others in Vojvodina with 19 points and 5 rebounds.

Hemofarm STADA beat Zagreb on Friday 73-66.


Zadar - FMP 78-84
(11-31,24-13,30-13,13-27)

Zadar: Stallworth 20 (5 rebs), Gecevski 15 (11 rebs), Bruer 12 (4 rebs)
FMP: Erceg 22 (5 rebs), Jeremic 14 (4 rebs), Labovic 12 (7 rebs)


Olimpija - Vojvodina Srbijagas 72-58
(23-14,18-11,14-15,17-18)

Olimpija: Hukic 23 (5 rebs), Rizvic 14 (6 rebs), Dragic 12 (8 rebs, 6 as)
Vojvodina Srbijagas: Ivanovic 19 (5 rebs), Bojovic 11 (6 rebs), Golubovic 8 (8 rebs)

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AUSTRALIA

All set for Playoffs in NBL -by Eurobasket News
The regular season was completed yesterday in the NBL with 8 teams able to book their post season birth. The actual intrigue of the last day of action was the distribution of the places inside the Top 8. The Perth Wildcats took on the New Zealand Breakers in one of the most interesting clashes of the final day of the regular season. The Wildcats extended the winning tradition against the Breakers at the Challenge Stadium rolling to a 98:85 victory. It allowed Perth to finish the season at the 4th spot. The Breakers meanwhile fell to the 7th place and would start their quarterfinal campaign away from home. They face the Taipans on February 21 in the elimination matchup in Cairns. Perth meanwhile will wait for the outcome of another quarterfinal battle between the Blaze and the Crocs to take on the winners. Brisbane Bullets will play against the winner of the Breakers vs. Taipans duel.
The Sydney Kings completed their high-flying regular season on a high note winning against the Melbourne South Dragons 88:81. The teams played in the open air as Vodafone Arena opened its roof to the stars. The South Dragons were eager to add some sweetness to their unfortunate season and dominated early on. They were up by 3 points at halftime and extended the margin to 4 points heading into the fourth period. But the Kings found the way to step in front. Russell Hinder (208-F/C-79, college: Augusta St.) and Dontaye Draper (180-G, college: Charleston) came up with three consecutive trebles for the Kings as they claimed the lead for good in this one. Jason Smith (194-G-74) ended up with 22 points for Sydney. Glen Saville (197-G/F-76) had 15 points, while Russell Hinder notched 12 points for the winners. Matt Burston (210-F/C-82) answered with 30 points for the South Dragons. Sydney registered the 27th win and wrapped up the regular season at 27-3 record winning the last 8 games.

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AUSTRIA

Klosterneuburg defeats Allianz Swans Gmunden -by Eurobasket News
Last night Xion Dukes Klosterneuburg beat Allianz Swans Gmunden 90:81. The hosts opened the game with 21:20 advantage and improved to 23:18 in the second. Gmunden however replied with 20:29 in the third but then again Klosterneuburg won the fourth 26:14 and the game itself. Melvin Creddle (186-G-82, college: Mount Olive) led the winners with 28 points. Calvin Watson (196-G-85, college: N.Texas) netted 17, while Christoph Nagler (193-G-84) and Kevin Leon Martin scored 14 points each. Deteri Mayes (189-G-74, agency: Court Side, college: Murray St.) produced 24 points in the losing effort. The winner improved to 14-11 record and stays 6th. Allianz Swans Gmunden fell at 18-7 and now 2 wins behind from Oberwart Gunners. The next games are planned for today.
The draw of the preliminary round of U20 European championship was performed in Venice, Italy. Division B tournament will take place in Targu Mures, Romania in early August. The teams were distributed in 4 groups with 5 teams in Groups A, B and C and 4 teams in Group D. Two best teams out of each group will advance to the qualifying round. Austria will play in Group C with Slovak Republic, Estonia, Belgium and Switzerland.

Xion Dukes Klosterneuburg - Allianz Swans Gmunden 90:81
Xion Dukes Klosterneuburg: Melvin Creddle 28, Calvin Watson 17, Christoph Nagler 14, Kevin Leon Martin 14
Allianz Swans Gmunden: Deteri Mayes 24, Kevin Johnson (201-F, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Humboldt St.) 19, Matthias Mayer 14

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AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan U20 will play in Group B -by Eurobasket News
The draw of the preliminary round of U20 European championship was performed in Venice, Italy. Division B tournament will take place in Targu Mures, Romania in early August. The teams were distributed in 4 groups with 5 teams in Groups A, B and C and 4 teams in Group D. Two best teams out of each group will advance to the qualifying round. Azerbaijan will play in Group B together with Ireland, Germany, Sweden and Czech Republic. It will be a great experience for the young talents from the country.

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BAHRAIN

Sitra Easy Win Over Najma -by Walter Neto
SITRA recorded an emphatic 97-72 victory over Al Najma in the Bahrain Basketball League match last night at the Umm Al Hassam Sports Complex. It was a crucial match for both sides, especially Sitra who were keen to maintain their chances of taking one of the top four positions and a berth in the Golden Square final round.

With this win, Sitra moved up to share Muharraq third place with 22 points from 14 matches, three points behind leaders and reigning champions Al Ahli. Jamel Coachmen of the US led Sitra to their eighth win in the season, scoring 29 points. Other top players for Sitra were Younis Hassan (17 points) and Abdulaziz Abdulbaqi (15). But it was Sitra who dominated the match from start to finish, taking a 57-29 lead at half-time which virtually secured their victory.

Al Najma, on the other hand, went into yesterday's game hoping to continue their recent good run and move away from the bottom of this 10-team table. The team in blue and white jerseys suffered their ninth defeat and are presently taking a joint seventh position with Al Ittihad with 17 points each. Nigeria's Tyril Awere made the bulk of scoring for Al Najma with 33 points. Al Najma were also represented by Sayed Mohammed, Arif Ismail, Ali Abdulhamid and Hussain Mohammed.

Four more matches will be held over the next two days as defending champions Al Ahli and 15-time winners Manama set out as favourites to extend their joint lead today when they clash with Bahrain Club and Al Ittihad, respectively. Muharraq are looking to maintain their third position when they take on Isa Town tomorrow at 5.30pm.

That will be followed by what promises to be a thriller at 7.30pm as sixth-placed Al Hala hope to maintain their recent comeback when they encounter Nuwaidrat who are holding fourth spot.

Meanwhile, Al Najma Club honoured members of its basketball team in appreciation to their recent good results in the league. During a special ceremony, the club also presented special prizes to players Mohammed Al Busta and Hassan Sultan. Al Busta showed excellent discipline during training sessions this season while Sultan was honoured due to his remarkable performance this month.

The function was attended by club's board member Yousif Al Harmi, basketball team head Abdulbasit Al Busta and other team officials. The team, under coach Abdulla Jassim who was recently appointed by the board, showed major development in their performance this season by winning two of their three matches.

SOURCE GDN: RAMI Hulayyel

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BALTIC LEAGUE

Kalev ripped Rock -by Janar Filippov
In SEB BBL Elite Division, BC Kalev/Cramo Tallinn led for the whole game against arch-rivals TU/Rock and won comfortably 85:64. Kalev stays 7th, Rock is 8th in Elite Division.

The hosts started well and led 18:9 in sixth minute of the game. Valmo Kriisa (190-G-74), Mateo Kedzo (207-F/C-84) and Ed Scott (182-G-81, college: Clemson) had scored a three-pointer, already.

Rock came back thanks to brave offensive performances by Tsintsadze (192-G-86). Team-mates followed and three baskets from Brian Cusworth (213-C-84, college: Harvard) decreased the gap to four points - 22:18. It could have been a tie but Rock made only 1/6 free throws in 1st quarter.
In 2nd, both teams struggled offensively. Kalev maintained a lead of at least two baskets. Rock had most of their points from Cusworth who had 15 in 1st half. Dusan Jelic made three difficult shots in a row for Kalev. First half ended 41:34.
Third quarter became a decisive one. Kalev made 12:2 run as a trio of guards - Howard Frier (193-G-76, agency: EM-PA, college: Colorado), Scott and Kriisa turned the tempo too high for the guests. With 4 minutes played in 3rd, Kalev led 55:39, already but there was more to come. Hosts made another 10:2 run behind two three-pointers from Kriisa, and the score was 66:45. The last quarter was a pure formality.

Kriisa scored 19 for the hosts, Kedzo and Frier added 13 and Tanel Sokk 10 points. Brian Cusworth topped all players with 20 points and 9 rebounds, Giorgi Tsintsadze added 18 and Kestutis Sestokas (203-F-76) 12 for Rock.

In Kalev, 8 players scored 6 or more points. Rock made only 1/13 three point attempts and 15/24 free throws.

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BELGIUM

Recap D1 Rd 21 -by Peter Buyse


Good weekend for Oostende who now reclaim the lead in D1. This not only thanks to their win at Gent but also the rather unexpected loss of Mons at Verviers-Pepinster.
Oostende took a blazing start outscoring the home team 0-10 in the first 3 minutes of the game. Gent fought its way back to 13-15 thanks to Freeman, Oefugbu and Miller.
That was the last of the Gent scoring in the first Q which finished at 13-22.
The second quarter saw both teams score in spurts, Gent opened best and got to within 4 pts of Oostende (20-24). Oostende led by McCray and Davis then ran off to 26-37.
It was again Miller, Oefugbu and Rotsaert who brought the home-team to within 5 pts at 34-39. Oostende was able to extend their lead at the half to 36-45.

Oostene took final control of the game at the beginning of the 3rd quarter and quicky took an 18 pt lead (40-58). The visitors never looked back and took the biggest lead of the game with 4 minutes gone in the 4th Q at 59-83.

Gent never really gave up and thanks to scoring by Freemand and Oefugbu got to within 12 pts at the end of the game.

Gent missed John Turek for the second straight game.

Next up for Oostende is the Uleb Cup game vs Kyiv on Tuesday in Oostende.


Nothing seemed wrong for Mons-Hainaut in their game at Verviers. They led 24-28 after the first quarter and held on to that 4 pt lead at the half.

A dramatic 3rq quarter which saw the home team outscore Mons 25-10 changed all that and Verviers held on to the hard fought win 82-76.


The Antwerp Giants who had been struggling lately maneaged to get a nice win over Liege. At the end of a very close game 79-80 and with 0.2 seconds on the clock, Mladen Selularac only made one of 2 Ft's to get Antwerp the overtime period. It only postponed the inevitable since Antwerp outscored Liege 17-4 to take the home win.


No suprised in the other games with Charleroi getting its first win under coach Jacques Stas beating Leuven 78-60.


Okapi Aalstar held on for dear life at Bree but could not stop the home team from getting the win 85-78.


MVP of Rd 21 was Bree's D'or Fischer (211-C-81, college: W.Virginia) 19pt, 13 rebs and 4 blocks.



Charleroi Coaches News -by Peter Buyse

Charleroi has announced Drazen Anzulovic as their new head-coach. He signed a contract for a year and a half with an option for an extra year.
Anzulovic is expected to arrive in Belgium on Monday and should coach his first game against Oostende.
Coached KK and Cibona Zagreb in the past and won 3 championships with Cibona.
Coached Ural Great Perm untill this weekend when he left the team. Coached 2 former Oostende players at Perm in Ralph Biggs, Brent Wright and Vanja Plisnic.


Below is extract from Ural Great Perm website.


Today (Sunday) in the morning the head coach of Ural Great Drazen Anzulovic left the club. On Friday, February 15th, Anzulovic informed the staff of the club about his intension to retire. The club refused to accept the decision. Ural Great regards the departure of the Croatian coach as an unauthorized abandonment of the job.
According to the informal information Drazen Anzulovic received an offer from one of the European top-clubs. And that's the reason for his decision to terminate the contract with Ural Great one-sidedly without clarifying the real reasons.



Charleroi's new forward Matt Walsh also arrived recently and should play this coming weekend vs Oostende too.



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BRAZIL

FLAMENGO and CETAF won their games in Nacional Masculino.- -by Ed Goodman

Flamengo Petrobras had to make their best effort in order to keep their undefeated condition in the league and obtain their 9th win in a row, defeating Universo BRB. Universo tried to be the 1st team to defeat Flamengo but they lost a 10 point lead at the beginning of the 4th quarte. At the end of regulation the score was tied at 92. Flamengo eventually won in overtime 106-102. Marcelinho, with 46 points, was the Flamengo hero. For Universo the best was Ratto with 24 Pts.

In the other game Cetaf/ Garoto/ UVV won over Univates Bira 82-77. Jefferson scored 24 Pts for Cetaf and Thulius scored 18 Pts for Univates.



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BULGARIA

Deane rewarded with new contract extension -by Valentin Anguelov

Just days before the ULEB CUP 32 playoff games begin; the player Willie Deane III (186-G-80, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: Purdue) signed a valuable contract extension with the Bulgarian Club Lukoil Academic that ensures he remains with the club even after the ULEB CUP season unless a NBA or Euroleague team is willing to pay a buyout.

Deane who is the ULEB Cup regular season assist leader and ranks 9th in scoring is proving that he is one of the best point guards in Europe. He may be the best point guard anywhere in the world that is just starting to get some attention.

His agent, Craig McKenzie, of Higher Vision Sports says for BulgarianBasket.com, 'It didn't take me long to figure this out. Willie can shoot the long ball. He can defend. He is quick. He jumps over power position players and dunks. He can pass. What more do you want from a point guard. I won't be surprised to see him in the NBA next season or at least on one of the higher eschelon European Clubs.'


His agent states that he is already fielding calls from NBA teams for the summer. Willie was the last cut this season with Washington Wizards.



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CHINA

Guangdong Goes Up 3-0 -by Arthur Volbert
Today's contest with Guangdong was a must-win game for Liaoning. Liaoning lost.

Guangdong crushed Liaoning 106-83 at Liaoning to take an almost-insurmountable 3-0 lead in the CBA finals. Zhu Fangyu (201-F-83) continued his superlative play with 28 points on 9 of 11 shooting, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. He is making a strong argument for retaining his starting spot at small forward on the Olympic team. Perhaps he is finally realizing the potentential he showed when he scored 14 points against the United States team in 2002 at alleged age 19.

Lamond Murray scored 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Jason Dixon shot only 8 of 19 but had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Olumide Oyedeji had 12 points and 14 rebounds in 42 minutes for Liaoning while Jamal Sampson had only 3 points and 3 rebounds in 8 minutes.

So Guangdong's imports outscored Liaoning's 33-15, though Liaoning's imports had a slight 17-14 rebounding edge. Guangdong's imports clearly were superior today.

Chen Jianghua had another good game and is making a strong argument for inclusion on the Olympic team as instant offense off the bench. He had 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting along with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. He spent about 10 minutes playing as a combo guard alongside Liu Xiaoyu. This is the position that may be his most effective in international competition, perhaps with 6-9 Lakers draftee Sun Yue at point guard.

Bian Qiang was the most effective player for Liaoning with 21 points on 7 of 12 shooting. Liu Xiangtao played 17 minutes and scored 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Yang Ming had 13 points in 25 minutes but Zhang Qingpeng only had 2 points in 34 minutes, missing all 3 of his shots from the floor and committing 5 turnovers.


Liaoning---- 20 23 22 18 83
Guangdong 29 26 26 25 106

Guangdong 106
Lamond Murray 17p+2r+1s+1bl, Jason Dixon 16p+12r+1a+5s, Zhu Fangyu 28p+6r+4a+3s, Liu Xiaoyu 31min+4p+1r+2a+1s+2to, Du Feng 11p+4r+5a+2s, Wang Shipeng 8p+4r+1a, Chen Jianghua 27min+17p+5r+4a+2to
Liaoning 83
Gu Liye 5p+1r+1a, Bian Qiang 21p+2a+1s, Zhang Qingpeng 2p+5r+3a+1s+5to, Li Xiaoxu 9p+4r+1a+2bl, Lu Yao 4p+2r+2a, Olumide Oyedeji 12p+14r+2a+1s+2bl, Yang Ming 13p+1r+2a+3s+0to, Jamal Sampson 8min+3p+3r, Liu Xiangtao 17min+14p+1r

Guang Dong has 1 Step to Champion -by Robert Wang

Guang Dong beat Liao ning at 106:83. Liao ning played at home but struggled for the whole game. It seems that Yang ming can't play at the same level as he was at 3 years ago. He can't organize the team well and he forced the coach to put Zhang qing Peng in. Zhang made some good penetration and helped his team in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. While, Chen Jiang hua has played very well by using his speed, he made some good points under the basket.

The best player for Guang dong was Zhu Fang yu, as he scored 28 points. In Liao ning, Oyedeji Olumide got 14 points and 12 rebounds. But Jamal Sampson only played 8 minutes and got 3 points and 3 rebounds. Liao ning played very hard for the whole game but the team couldn't match Guang dong. It seemed like division 2 team played against a division 1 team. Guang dong only needs to win one more game to become the champion. We will see how liaoning plays next game.



GUANDONG LOOKING TO SWEEP SERIES!!!! -by Ogoh Odaudu
Poetry in motion is the only way one could describe the rythm and metrical pattern that the Guandong Tigers used to further their intentions of clinching the CBA title this season, as they handed down another defeat to Liaoning Panpan this evening in Liaoning. Final scores were 106-83. Guandong, who won all four quarters at 20-29, 23-26, 22-26 and final quarter score of 18-25 are now one game shy of the CBA title. Liaoning who put up a great fight to stay in the game had their efforts thwarted by Zhu Fangyu (201-F-83) who kept the visitors ahead with a bunch of points. He ended up with 28pts and 6rebs. Murray Lamond (201-F-73, agency: Interperformances, college: California) and Chen Jianghua (188-G-89) added 17pts each while Dixon Jason (205-C-73, college: Liberty) scored 16pts and grabbed 12rebs. For Liaoning,Bian Qiang (192-G-79) led scoring with 21pts while Liu Xiangtao (202-F/C-80) who came back after twisting his ankle in game 1 added 14pts. Yang Ming (193-G-87) and Oyedeji Olumide (208-C/F-81) each scored 13 and 12pts respectively. Oyedeji also grabbed 14 boards. Game 4 will be played on the 20th.

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CROATIA

Sibenik leads with 11-3 -by Eurobasket News
Sibenik leads Croatian league with 11-3 record. In the last game of the latest round the team overcame Dubrava 77:72. Sibenik had 13-3 lead that was extended to 25:11 by the end of the opening quarter. Karlo Vragovic was at the helm with three 3-pointers of his own and brought his team to 37:32. In the end the hosts had 74:72 and score three more points for the win. Zoran Vrkic (203-G/F-87) and Jure Roncevic (194-F/G-84) had 17 points each for the winners. Petar Males (202-F-72, agency: Heinrich Sports) scored 13 while Petkovic added 11 points and 9 assists. In another games Alkar Sinj beat Dubrovnik 92:71, Zabok won over Borik 66:65. Osijek 2006 lost at home to Cedevita 60:85 and Kvarner NR beat Slavonski Brod 84:79.
Meanwhile the draw of the preliminary round of U20 European championship was performed in Venice, Italy. Four groups with 4 teams in each were chosen for Division A competition. The U20 European championship will take place in Ventspils, Latvia from August 1 through August 10. Three top teams of each group will advance to the qualifying round, where they will fight for the right to go into the semifinal stage. In Group A Croatia will play with Ukraine, Lithuania and Greece.

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CYPRUS

Limassol powerhouse captures OPAP National Cup trophy -by Nemanja Bjedov
Milutin Aleksic (202-F-82) scored 19 points and Maxime Zianveni (198-F-79) added 17 as Proteas EKA AEL beat Intercollege ETHA 79-75 to claim the OPAP National Cup title on Friday night at the Kition Athletic Center in Larnaca.

The reigning champions propelled to a 27-16 lead at the end of the opening period as Intercollege ETHA's players committed unusually high number of turnovers. However, Kyriakos Adamou's men overcame their initial nervousness in the second quarter and led by Nikolas Papadopoulos reduced their deficit to seven points at 46-39 going to the half-time break. The Nicosia team continued in the same fashion after the interval and with 5:41 remaining to play in the third they were trailing by one at 50-49. Proteas EKA AEL then went on a 10-2 run as they closed the quarter with a twelve-point lead. When it seemed like the game was out of reach, Intercollege ETHA fought back and they cut Proteas EKA AEL's lead to only two points at 75-73 with 1:03 left on the clock. Unfortunately for the Nicosia fans they had no strength to take the lead as the ruling champions held their nerves and deservedly won the first trophy of the season for the eighth time in the club's history.

Aleksic was the MVP of the game with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. Ryan Randle and Vasily Zavoruev had 11 and 10 points respectively.

Davorin Dalipagic led Intercollege ETHA with 17 points, while Gary Ware added 16. Nikolas Papadopolouos had 15, while Bojan Vukadinovic finished the game with 12.

Proteas EKA AEL won the Cup -by Chris Mammides

Proteas EKA AEL beat Intercollege Etha Engomis 79-75 to win the title.

The game was a derby as the Limassol team had total control and it was a matter of changing gears. When AEL was speeding up the difference went sky high, when the Limmasol team was running low in energy (and probably thinking about the crucial game for its European duties) the Engomis team was running after the score. This was thanks to the efforts of Davorin Dalipagic (203-F-76, college: S.Alabama) and Nikos Papadopoulos (197-G/F-81), mostly, as he was 'in' the game untill the end.

The Engomis team showed that it will be a tough nut for any team to play against in the Playoffs as Head Coach Adamos Adamou made some really good transfers and, together with the Cypriot players, Etha showed that it could 'harm' any team in the league.

The MVP of the Cup's final was once again the Serbian guard Milutin Aleksic (202-F-82). Aleksic not only scored 19 points but was the one to show energy and spirit, and with this passion he 'pushed' his team to another title.


The quarters were: 27-16, 46-39, 68-56 and the final 79-75


Top scorers for the two teams were:

AEL: Maxime Zianveni (198-F-79) 17 points, Milutin Aleksic 19 points, Randle 11 points

Etha: Dalipagic 17, Ware 16, Papadopoulos 15


This is the 8th Cup title for the Limassol team!!



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CZECH REP.

Nymburk improves to 28-1 record -by Ondra Simecek

In the games that were played yesterday Nymburk improved to 28-1 record after a road 54:83 win over BK Kondoři Liberec. The first quarter was a disaster for the hosts that lost 2:24. Radoslav Rancik (207-F/C-78, college: St.Cloud St.) led the winners with 23 points. Jan Pastyrik (208-C-83) ended up with 16 points in the losing clause. Kolin beat Usti Labem 98:66, Ostrava overcame USK Praha 77:69. Decin was stronger than Sadska 100:70 and Prostejov won over A Plus 102:74.

In last game o 29th round Mattoni NBL Pardubice won 77-59 over Novy Jicin. Geofin scored first points as last as 6th minute and lost first quarter 30-5. Home team had edge over visitors more than 30 points, but later in the game Pardubice lost concentration and Geofin revised score. Very good performance in winner‘s team demonstrated Kamaldin Gamma (10 pts and 9 rebounds) and Jiri Novotny (16 pts). Robert Sarovic in Geofin's jersey ended up game with 17 points (message from Geofin by Radek Horak)
Czech Republic will play in Group D in the next EuroBasket that will take place in Poland from 7th through 20th September 2009. So the draw of the qualifying stage in Division A was held 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.
The draw of the preliminary round of U20 European championship was performed in Venice, Italy. Division B tournament will take place in Targu Mures, Romania in early August. The teams were distributed in 4 groups with 5 teams in Groups A, B and C and 4 teams in Group D. Two best teams out of each group will advance to the qualifying round. In Group B Czech Republic will play against Ireland, Germany, Sweden and Azerbaijan.



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E.CHAMPS U20

The Draw for U20 European championship is being held in Venice -by Eurobasket News
Yesterday the draw of the preliminary round of U20 European championship was performed in Venice, Italy. Four groups with 4 teams in each were chosen for Division A competition. The U20 European championship will take place in Ventspils, Latvia from August 1 through August 10. Three top teams of each group will advance to the qualifying round, where they will fight for the right to go into the semifinal stage.
So the Groups are as follows:
Group A: Croatia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Greece
Group B: Israel, Georgia, Turkey, Italy
Group C: Latvia, Montenegro, Spain, Bulgaria
Group D: Russia, Slovenia, France, Serbia

Meanwhile Division B tournament will take place in Targu Mures, Romania in early August. The teams were distributed in 4 groups with 5 teams in Groups A, B and C and 4 teams in Group D. Two best teams out of each group will advance to the qualifying round.
Group A: Norway, Portugal, Great Britain, Finland, Macedonia
Group B: Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Czech Republic, Azerbaijan
Group C: Slovak Republic, Estonia, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland
Group D: Netherlands, Romania, Poland, Hungary

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EGYPT

Egyptian federation opens importing players till the end of the season -by Sherif Soliman
At last ,Importing players this season was released till the end of the season. The last date to add a player was the end of Jan this didn't help clubs to finish good deals. It seems that Somouha, Ahly ,Gezira, should benefit from this situation as they couldn't import a player yet. The team who will get a better player will be to close to win the league this season .Derrick Franklin (208-C-81, agency: KMG Sports Management, college: Columbus St.)

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ESTONIA

Kalev ripped Rock -by Janar Filippov
In SEB BBL Elite Division, BC Kalev/Cramo Tallinn led for the whole game against arch-rivals TU/Rock and won comfortably 85:64. Kalev stays 7th, Rock is 8th in Elite Division.

The hosts started well and led 18:9 in sixth minute of the game. Valmo Kriisa (190-G-74), Mateo Kedzo (207-F/C-84) and Ed Scott (182-G-81, college: Clemson) had scored a three-pointer, already.

Rock came back thanks to brave offensive performances by Tsintsadze (192-G-86). Team-mates followed and three baskets from Brian Cusworth (213-C-84, college: Harvard) decreased the gap to four points - 22:18. It could have been a tie but Rock made only 1/6 free throws in 1st quarter.
In 2nd, both teams struggled offensively. Kalev maintained a lead of at least two baskets. Rock had most of their points from Cusworth who had 15 in 1st half. Dusan Jelic made three difficult shots in a row for Kalev. First half ended 41:34.
Third quarter became a decisive one. Kalev made 12:2 run as a trio of guards - Howard Frier (193-G-76, agency: EM-PA, college: Colorado), Scott and Kriisa turned the tempo too high for the guests. With 4 minutes played in 3rd, Kalev led 55:39, already but there was more to come. Hosts made another 10:2 run behind two three-pointers from Kriisa, and the score was 66:45. The last quarter was a pure formality.

Kriisa scored 19 for the hosts, Kedzo and Frier added 13 and Tanel Sokk 10 points. Brian Cusworth topped all players with 20 points and 9 rebounds, Giorgi Tsintsadze added 18 and Kestutis Sestokas (203-F-76) 12 for Rock.

In Kalev, 8 players scored 6 or more points. Rock made only 1/13 three point attempts and 15/24 free throws.

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EURO CHAMPS

Italy will fight with Serbia for Eurobasket 2009 -by Gianni Pascucci
The draw of the Qualifying rounds for the 2009 edition of the Eurobasket tournament has been held yesterday in Venice. Team Italy will compete in the only group made of five teams, and the top ranked opponent drawn is Serbia. The four groups will be as follows:
Group A: Italy, Serbia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland
Group B: Latvia, Portugal, Estonia, Fyrom-Macedonia
Group C: Turkey, France, Belgium, Ukraine
Grpup D: Czech Republic, Israel, Great Britain, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The four winners of every group plus the three best second placed teams will be promoted to the final phase of the competinion, joining the eight teams yet qualified, that are Russia, Spain, Lithuania, Greece, Germany, Croatia, Slovenia and Poland. An additional 16th place will be decided in the so-named Additional Round (scheduled for Augusr 2009). The games of the Qualifying Groups will be played between August and September, 2008.

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EUROLEAGUE

NBA Expansion to Europe is not likely in near future -by Eurobasket News
NBA Commissioner David Stern held an annual press-conference during New Orleans All-Star Weekend. He talked about his ongoing plans for the NBA Expansion to Europe. As we told you before it would possibly include 5 more teams joining the league. David Stern outlined the key problem for the NBA being presented on a wide scale in Europe. It is the absence of NBA-caliber Arenas across the continent. But as there is a movement in that direction with O2 Arenas being built in London and Berlin the idea would reliably come up in the nearest decade. He also pointed out that the NBA is mulling over the possibility of establishing expansion teams in London, Madrid, Berlin and Rome rather than European franchises joining the league. However the idea now stands at the developing stage. It is not about the nearest future that NBA will include European-based franchises in its calendar. But the market insists that one day it should become a reality.

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FINLAND

KORISLIIGA: Tim Kisner to Poland -by Rauno Hurmalainen

American Guard Tim Kisner (188-G-78, college: Cent.Michigan) has left Finland (Honka, Espoo) to Poland (Prokom Trefl, Sopot) for the rest of this 2007-08

season. Kisner played 18 games this season on Honka roster and averaged 8,7 ppg and 3,4 apg. Last season Kisner left Poland during the season and

entered back to Finland and Honka to win in the spring his first Finnish Championship with Honka.



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FRANCE

Pro B - Round 22 : Bourg, the only leader ! -by Maxime Lory

After his easy victory vs Saint-Etienne and the defeat of Rouen, JL Bourg Basket is the new leader. The MVP of the day is Terrance Johnson (196-G-82, college: Cal.Baptist) of Besancon with a top ranking of 35. He scored 36p, shooting 10 of 13 from the 3p range.

JL Bourg Basket (1)* 94-70 Saint-Etienne (4)
Cedric Melicie & Ludovic Chelle combined 40p, 15rbs and 4ast to leaded JL Bourg Basket to the victory. They maked the difference in the third quarter with a 28-13. Thomas Andrieux, for his first game in Pro B posted 5p and grabbed 2rbs.
Cedric Melicie : 27p, 7rbs, 3asts, 1stl
Johan Passave : 14p, 8rbs

Rouen (1) 80-81 Quimper (12)
Big surprise at 'Cotonniers' where the men of Michel Veyronnet was beated by Quimper, only twelfth of the division. From the start to the end, the Breton lead the game with a maximum difference of 15 in the second quarter.
Darnell Williams : 13p, 7rbs, 4asts
Larry Stewart : 19p, 6rbs, 3asts

Nanterre (3) 80-77 Aix-Maurienne (8)
Tigh game between the 2 teams, but Nanterre with a big last quarter, finally win 80-77. The quartet Bradford-Rivers-Moerman-Cisse combined 69p, 22rbs, 7asts to leaded Nanterre to a new victory ! For Maurienne, big game of Jo. McClark with 30p at ranking.
Steffon Bradford : 15p, 10rbs, 2asts, 2stls, 1blk
Jonathan McClark : 20p, 11rbs, 5asts

Evreux (10) 88-82 Poitiers (5)
Leaded by 7 at half time, the men of Remy Valin, thanks to Jerome Monnet and James Mathis catched up his lateness, and win after a big last quarter 88 to 82.
Jerome Monnet : 15p, 4rbs, 4asts, 4stls, 1blk
Pierre-Yves Guillard : 18p, 6rbs, 2asts

Brest (11) 64-67 Limoges (6)
Another win for Limoges after the one of last Tuesday vs Besancon. In spite of the 17p, 5rbs and 3asts of Sherman Gay, the Breton's team lost another time ( 4 of their last 5 games are defeats ) and see the playoffs far away ! For Limoges, Dragan Lukovski scored 13p and dished out 5asts.
Sherman Gay : 17p, 5rbs, 3asts, 3stls, 1blk
Olivier Gouez : 10p, 7rbs, 1blk

Le Portel (16) 86-81 Reims (18)
Chalons (15) 70-78 Saint-Vallier (16)
Saint-Quentin (14) 74-75 Nantes (7)
Besancon (13) 94-68 Boulazac (9)


* before the game



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FYR MACEDONIA

The results of the draw -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.

The draw of the preliminary round of U20 European championship was performed in Venice, Italy. Division B tournament will take place in Targu Mures, Romania in early August. The teams were distributed in 4 groups with 5 teams in Groups A, B and C and 4 teams in Group D. Two best teams out of each group will advance to the qualifying round. Macedonia will play in Group A with Norway, Portugal, Great Britain and Finland.

Mike Wilkinson (204-F-81, agency: Interperformances, college: Wisconsin)'s Khimky consolidated their second spot with a hard-fought 65:64 win over Triumph. Khimky kept Triumph scoreless for about 5 minutes early in the game. Fedor Likholitov broke the deadlock midway through the frame but Khimky still won the starting stanza 14:8. But Triumph quickly recovered in the second quarter and began their way back into contest. Triumph soon ignited a 5:0 run and later Khloponin fired from downtown to put the hosts in front. Mire Chatman and Terrell Lyday soon led Triumph to a 50:35 advantage midway through the third period. Nevertheless Khimky did not surrender and tied the scoreline at 64 with seconds left in regulation. Daniel Ewing got fouled with 1.4 second left in the game and sank one of two free throws to make it 65:64 for Khimky. The ball was handed to Terrell Lyday but his jumper missed the target and finalized Triumph's loss. Kelly McCarty paced the visitors with 12 points and 10 boards. Clay Tucker added 12 points for the winners. Mike Wilkinson collected 4 points and 4 rebounds. Before that Mike Wilkinson won the Russian Cup. Khimky beat CSKA 85:67 in the final.

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GERMANY

Bundesliga Game Day 20: Weekend Results Febuary 17th! -by Michael Taylor
Bayer Leverkusen earned an exciting home win against brose Baskets Bamberg; Ewe Baskets Oldenburg topped Telekom Baskets Bonn; Eisbaren Bremerhaven finished strong against NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig; EnBW Ludwigsburg broke open their game against Trier in the second half; and Deutsche Bank Skyliners played extremely well against digibu Baskets Paderborn. In short, it was an outstanding day of Bundesliga basketball action all over Germany Sunday as Game Day 20 played out.

Sunday Febuary 17th
Eisbaren Bremerhaven 81 NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig 72
Eisbaren Bremerhaven had 5 players in double figures and shot 51% from the floor in a solid 81-72 team win over visiting NewYorker Phantoms Braunschweig Sunday in Bremerhaven. Nate Funk led the way for the winners with 15pt 6reb and 3 of 4 from three. Matt Haryasz added 13pt 7reb, Zygimantas Jonusas 12 and newcomers Anthony Tolliver and Tony Bobbitt 11pt apiece. Braunschweig earned a 23-21 lead after 1Q before Dr Sarunas Sakalauskas and his me rallied to take a 44-38 lead at half. The Phantoms answered in the 3Q pulling within one 58-57 going into the 4th. Bremerhaven sealed the game down the stretch for the hardfought win. John Allen paced Braunschweig with a strong 21pt night and Jason Cain added 12pt 3reb for the Phantoms. Bremerhaven limited their guests to 39% shooting, outrebounded Braunschweig 37-32 and made 19 of 26 FT (73%) to the Phantoms 15 of 23 (65%). Bremerhaven improved to 11-8 while Braunschweig slipped to 11-9.

EnBW Ludwigsburg 99 TBB Trier 75
On the strength of a 26-9 4Q, EnBW Ludwigsburg earned an important road win beating TBB Trier 99-75 Sunday at Trier Arena. Outscoring the hosts 53-25 in the 2nd half, Head Coach Silvano Poropat and his men notched their 2nd consecutive victory. Ronald Ross topscored with 25pt 9reb and Brandon Woudstra added 19pt 5reb 8ast in the win. Coleman Collins contributed 15pt 7boards and Jason Dourisseau finished with 11pt for Ludwigsburg. Caleb Green (18pt 6reb), James Gillingham (16pt) and Josh Almanson (14pt) were productive for Trier. Ludwigsburg upped their record to 10-10 while Trier fell to 4-16.

Ewe Baskets Oldenburg 86 Telekom Baskets Bonn 72
Behind a strong first quarter and a balanced team effort putting five players in double figures , Ewe Baskets Oldenburg beat Telekom Bonn 86-72 Sunday night at Ewe Arena in Oldenburg. Predrag Krunic and his team jumped to a 25-17 lead after 1Q and held a 47-32 lead at half. They maintained their advantage into the 3Q and went into the 4th up 69-52. Rickey Paulding (18pt 5reb 3 of 6 from three), Jason Gardner (16pt 4ast 3 of 4 from three), Jasmin Perkovic (14pt 7reb 4ast), Branimir Longin (11pt) and Reuben Boumtje-Boumtje (10pt 6reb) played well for Oldenburg. Meanwhile, Bonn played without injured All Star Jason Conley for the first time but also did not use recently signed Eddie Basden. PG Miah Davis enjoyed a terrific game topscoring with 27pt on 10 for 11 from the floor and 2 for 2 from three. John Bowler added 20pt including 2 for 3 from three. Oldenburg shot 56% from the floor and made 24 of 34 FT (70%). Bonn shot 49% but made only 12 of 20 FT (60%) and suffered 19 turnovers in the loss. Oldenburg improved to 11-10 while Bonn slipped to 13-7.

Deutsche Banks Skyliners 86 digibu Baskets Paderborn 66
Deutsche Bank Skyliners ran to a 28-16 lead after 1Q and went on to earn an 86-66 road win over digibu Baskets Paderborn Sunday in Paderborn. Tough team defense from head coach Murat Didin's team limited Paderborn to 36% shooting and 4 of 24 from three (16%). Skyliners also outrebounded their hosts 48-31. Frankfurt shot 50% from the field and drilled 11 of 24 (45%) from three. Ilian Evtimov led the Skyliner effort with a strong 26pt 9reb night. Pascal Roller added 16pt on 4-8 three point shooting and Koko Archibong totaled 15pt 8reb on a perfect 3 for 3 from beyond the arc. Derrick Allen added 13pt 6reb 5ast and Ken Johnson produced a 10pt 10reb double double. Tim Black paced Paderborn with 19pt, Marius Nolte 14pt, Nathan Peavy 12 and Steve Esterkamp went for an 11pt 10reb double double. Frankfurt upped their record to 12-8 while Paderborn dropped to 7-13.

Bayer Leverkusen 70 brose Baskets Bamberg 68
Nate Fox made several big baskets in a Leverkusen 3Q run but his tip off his own missed free throw wasted the final seconds as Head Coach Achim Kuczmann and his men beat brose Baskets Bamberg 70-68 at historic Wilhelm Dopatka Halle in Leverkusen Sunday live on BBL.TV. Leverkusen jumped to a 21-11 lead before Bamberg responded with a 22-13 2Q sending the game to half with Leverkusen up one 34-33. Behind Fox's perimeter shooting, Leverkusen charged ahead in the third and took a 54-44 advantage into the 4th. Bamberg ralled down the stretch trimming the deficit with Darren Fenn perimeter shooting, Robert Garrett basket cutting and Predrag Suput post ups. Jared Rainer also made his presence felt on the offensive glass. Rainer's tip pulled Bamberg within two when Bamberg sent Fox to the line with 2 seconds remaining. Although Fox missed both, he alertly tipped the long rebound away to the corner and time ran out. Fox led the winners with 17pt 11reb 5ast 5stl, Brendan Winters added 15pt and Brant Bailey contributed 12 for Leverkusen. Darren Fenn was excellent for Bamberg scoring 18pt with 12reb, Predrag Suput had 16pt and Robert Garrett 15pt 9reb. Bamberg was without Ademola Okulaja on the evening as he rested an injury. The nearly even game statistically showed little difference between the two teams and Leverkusen made one more three pointer and one more free throw in the tough home win. Leverkusen improves to 15-5 while Bamberg falls to 12-6.

Bundesliga Game Day 20: Weekend Results Febuary 16th! -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.

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GREECE

Market news -by Chris Mammides

Anthony Goldwire (186-G-71, college: Houston) agreed to terms with Egaleo. The veteran player will try to get Jaaber's role. Anthony was training with the team the whole week and showed that he is in very good shape. Egaleo will be his fourth team in Greece over the last decade.

Giannis Georgikopoulos (194-G-73) the ex-player of Panathinaikos, is the new Head Coach of P. Faliro. Giannis Georgikopoulos replaced Dimitris Tsolakis who quit his job. Some behind the scenes news says that there are serious problems financially which have to do with his retirement.


Other news

Barcelona could make an offer to Gershon?? according to some Spanish media, the Catalonian team is very close to agreeing to terms with the ex-Olympiakos Head Coach, Pini Gershon.



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HOLLAND

PromotieDivisie Scores weeks 16-18: MyGuide2 upsets MSV! -by Terry Cooper
Week 16 in league play consisted of upsets from lower seed teams as well as top battles that may be seen later in the playoffs. MyGuide2 hosted league leaders MSV Noordwijk. MSV was up by seven points with five minutes left in the game when MyGuide2 scored clutch baskets in the final minutes to win 74-67 and hand the Noordwijkers their first lost of the season. EBBC2 edged Cangeroes at home 70-67 while BV Rooi won over Initial High Five 92-84. Landstede2 defeated Orca's 82-62 while Punch handled de Pigeons 105-65. Finally De Groene Uilen won at home over a tough VBC Akrides team 82-72 while Leiden2 had the week off. Week 17 provided teams to bounce back from the previous week defeats to get back in to the swing of things. VBC Akrides got revenge on EBBC2 with a 92-51 victory at home while Cangeroes won 74-57 over Orca's. MSV took their anger out on Initial High Five with a 84-66 win while Landstede2 defeated Punch 73-59. MyGuide2 scorched De Groene Uilen 92-79 while Leiden2 won convincinly over BV Rooi 94-66. Week 18 was mostly won by the road teams as clubs started making winning streaks of their own. MyGuide2 is on a 3 game winning streak as they edged EBBC2 74-72 while the Cangeroes fought off a fiesty Punch team winning 69-64. VBC Akrides held off last place Orca's winning 72-64 while Initial High Five defeated Leiden2 65-51 at home. BV Rooi edged de Pigeons in a high scoring affair 96-92 while MSV man-handled De Groene Uilen 97-59. The Final Four is beginning to form shape as the number 1 and 2 seeds are almost clinched while other teams are neck and neck to secure the final two spots. It is still early but time is winding down. Stay tuned...


Week 16 Scores:

MyGuide2 - MSV 74-67
EBBC2 - Cangeroes 70-67
BV Rooi - Initial High Five 92-84
Orca's - Landstede2 68-82
Punch - Pigeons 105-65
De Groene Uilen - VBC Akrides 82-72

Week 17 Scores:

VBC Akrides - EBBC2 92-51
Cangeroes - Orca's 74-57
MSV - Initial High Five 84-66
Landstede2 - Punch 73-59
MyGuide2 - De Groene Uilen 92-79
Leiden2 - BV Rooi 94-66

Week 18 Scores:

Punch - Cangeroes 64-69
EBBC2 - MyGuide2 72-74
Orca's - VBC Akrides 64-72
Initial High Five - Leiden2 65-51
BV Rooi - Pigeons 96-92
De Groene Uilen - MSV 59-97

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HUNGARY

All-Star Game: starting five voted -by Tamas Deri

This year the Hungarian Federation organizes the male and female All-Star Game on the 1st of March in Pecs. In the last several years the games were always played between the best players of the eastern and western hungarian teams, but this year the both hungarian national teams will be playing against the League-All-Stars.
The players of the starting five's got voted by the fans on internet (the election run till 12pm yesterday).

LEAGUE SELECTION, MEN'S TEAM
Thomas Kelley (188-G-76, agency: Avi Zilberman, college: Michigan St.) (SZOLNOKI OLAJ KK)
Mike English (194-F/G-82, college: Mo.-Kansas City) (PLANET-LEASING DOMBOVAR)
Eric Freeman (205-C-79, college: Ky Wesleyan) (BODROGI-BAU HODMEZOVASARHELY)
Arnas Kazlauskas (204-C/F-76, agency: Court Side) (FALCO KC SZOMBATHELY)
Du Juan Wiley (206-C-75, college: Michigan St.) (PLANET-LEASING DOMBOVAR)

The coah of the League-Seleciton will be the head coach of No. 1 Team Falco KC, Srecko Sekulovic . HIs assistant will be the coach of the 2nd place team Pecs, Peter Volgyi . The bench players will be elected by the coaches.



Round 19: saturday's games -by Tamas Deri
Without Carl Edwards (left to Argentina), Roland Hendlein (injury) and Ferenc Csirke (sickness), the guests did not have a chance against last season's all-in-one Szolnok. From the home team five players scored in double figures, which was the key of the 30points victory.

SZOLNOKI OLAJ KK - KAPOSVARI KK 86-56
(28-19, 15-15, 25-14, 18-8)
Szolnok, Att.: 2000, Referees: Hartyani, Pozsonyi, Szabo
SZOLNOK: Kelley 13/3, Hollins 14, Molnar A. 10/6, Donatas Sabaliauskas (200-F-75) 20/15, Gobi 6, Tamas Harazin (204-F-85) 10, Viktor Toth (181-G-82) 8/6, Cseh 3/3, Kovacs, Szabo P. 2, Coach: Por Peter
KAPOSVAR: Ceskovic 6, Vojvoda 5/3, Szőke 6, Mike Kinsella (213-C-84, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Marquette) 27/6, Orosz 2, Tomosvary 3/3, Kiss K. 7/3, Kovacs Domonkos, Markus, Coach: Horvath Imre


After a very strong first quarter of the home team Albacomp could win the second and third and tie the game in the 35. minute. However, last night the team of Sopron was leaded by its foreigners again, the four players scored 87 of the teams 97 points, so they still have good chances to reach the playoffs.

SOPRONI SÖRDÖGÖK - ALBACOMP 97-91
(37-18, 14-26, 21-26, 25-21)
Sopron, Att.: 800, Referees: Foldhazi, hegedűs, Toth K.
SOPRON: Karon Bradley (180-G-84, college: Wichita St.) 20/6, Lakatos 2, Jeff Viggiano (198-F-84, college: Massachusetts) 24/6, Richard Lesko (204-F-81, college: Ill.-Chicago) 33/9, Pavel Frana (212-C-77) 10, Boldizsar 1, Vesztergom 4, Pojbics 3, Kortelyesi, Coach: Meszlenyi Robert
ALBACOMP: Balazs Simon (188-G-80, agency: Court Side) 27/6, Cory Bradford (191-G-78, agency: Edge Sports, college: Illinois) 20/12, Velibor Radovic (202-F/G-72, agency: Beo Basket) 18/6, McClendon 8, Bencze 11, Soos, Boozer, David 5, Hanga 2, Coach: Peresztegi-Nagy Akos


As in Sopron even in Dombovar the foreigners were the leaders of the home team. Mike English (194-F/G-82, college: Mo.-Kansas City) had a tripple-double again with 14 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, but even Julien Mills (193-G-84, agency: Warren Sports, college: Ball St.) had a nice double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. With this win Dombovar kept the chance to reach the 2nd place after the regular season.

PLANET LEASING DOMBÓVAR KC-ZALAKERAMIA ZTE KK 86-68
(26-13, 17-13, 24-16, 19-26)
Dombovar, Att.: 1000, Referees: dr. Vigh, Kothay, Szilas
DKC: Mike English (194-F/G-82, college: Mo.-Kansas City) 14, Julien Mills (193-G-84, agency: Warren Sports, college: Ball St.) 20/9, Attila Deak (193-F-77) 12/12, Marco Sanders (202-F-79, college: Point Park) 22, Du Juan Wiley (206-C-75, college: Michigan St.) 14/12, Balogh, Bodi 4, Simon, Molnar M., Vas, Coach: Dzunic Branislav
ZTE: Miskovic 12/6, Walters 2, Hoffmann 4, Tamas Kaman (200-F-79, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 15/9, Reggie Bassette (206-C-77, college: ODU) 22, Simon L. 11/9, Kovats V., Keresztes, Baki, Toth A., Coach: Nikola Lazic

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ICELAND

Four Iceland Express games. -by Siggi Hjorleifsson
Njardvik did not have problem to beat Hamar who needs to winn all four of their last games to have chance to stay in the league. Final score 120 86 for Njardvik. Brenton Birmingham 30. Damon Bailey 25. Hjortur Einarsson 17. For Hamar Roni Leimu 27. Nicholas King 20.

Keflavik 95. Stjarnan 78. Bobby Walker 25 for Keflavik. Jarrett Stephens 27 for Stjarnan.

It's hard to loose, but it's much harder to loose by 1 point and that on a buzzer shot. That happend to Thor tonight when Tindastoll beat them 94-93.
Cedric Isom & Luke Marolt 23 each for Thor. Svavar Birgisson 27. Joshua Buettner 24. Philip Perre 21 for Tindastoll.

Snaefell won the west coast battle tonight by beating Skallagrimur 85-77. Slobodan Subasic (191-G-79, agency: Icebasket) with good game for hometeam 25 pts. Justin Shouse 17. Hlynur Baeringsson 16. Darrell Flake 22. Allan Fall 19 for Skallagrim.

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ITALY

Italy will fight with Serbia for Eurobasket 2009 -by Gianni Pascucci
The draw of the Qualifying rounds for the 2009 edition of the Eurobasket tournament has been held yesterday in Venice. Team Italy will compete in the only group made of five teams, and the top ranked opponent drawn is Serbia. The four groups will be as follows:
Group A: Italy, Serbia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland
Group B: Latvia, Portugal, Estonia, Fyrom-Macedonia
Group C: Turkey, France, Belgium, Ukraine
Grpup D: Czech Republic, Israel, Great Britain, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The four winners of every group plus the three best second placed teams will be promoted to the final phase of the competinion, joining the eight teams yet qualified, that are Russia, Spain, Lithuania, Greece, Germany, Croatia, Slovenia and Poland. An additional 16th place will be decided in the so-named Additional Round (scheduled for Augusr 2009). The games of the Qualifying Groups will be played between August and September, 2008.

Treviso, Avellino and Siena win anticipated games. -by Gianni Pascucci

Benetton Treviso showed some signs of their past brilliance yesterday night in the anticipated game of the Serie A Round 23. Despite the great performance of Gerald Fitch (191-G-82, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Kentucky), who scored 29 points (7/12 in 3 pointers), Benetton prevailed over the home team Tisettanta Cantu 74-72 led by Lionel Chalmers (183-G-80, college: Xavier), who scored 16 points and Mario Austin (206-F/C-82, college: Mississippi St.), who added 15 pts and 7 rebs.

In the other Saturday night game, Air Avellino continued its magic by winning on the road against Biella 82-71 with five players scoring in double figures, led by Alex Righetti (198-G/F-77), with 17 pts and 5 rebounds, while Troy Bell (186-G-80, college: Boston Coll.) scored 17 pts in losing effort for Angelico.

Led by Ksystof Lavrinovic (210-C-79), who scored 18 pts and grabbed 7 rebounds, Serie A tableheaders of Montepaschi Siena destroyed Armani Jeans MIlano on the road in the 'lunch time game', winning 90-79 after having led in th score by more than 20 points. Four other players in Siena ended the game in double digits, the best performer in Armani was Ansu Sesay (206-C/F-76, college: Mississippi), with 24 points and 4 rebounds.
See complete boxscore at www.legabasket.it



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LATVIA

Latvijas Basketball League -by Gunars Gailitis

Latvijas Basketball League

Division II

February, 12

ASK Juniors - RNS-D/Livani 78-86 (17-20; 19-26; 20-17; 22-23)

Freimanis 28, J.Rozitis 16; Baranovskis 18, Kalnins 16, Slesers 13+12as


February, 13


LU/Ridzene - BK Zemgale 61-77 (21-18; 18-17; 13-24; 9-18)


Mizis 18+14reb, Zeidaks 14+10reb, Ei.Tukiss 13; Martins Berkis (198-F-85) 28, Raiskums 17, A.Lagzdins 10





Division

SEB Baltic Basketball League -by Gunars Gailitis

SEB Baltic Basketball League

Elite Division

February, 16

SK Valmiera - Barons/LMT 75-97 (17-19, 13-27, 24-21, 21-30)

Stimac 18, Olivero 15, Cavars 15; Batista 20, Hlebowicki 14, Skele 14, Gustas 14


Neptunas - ASK Riga 79-91 (22-25, 15-26, 23-18, 19-22)


Runkauskas 21, Pridotkas 16, Peciukas 13; A.J. Bramlett (208-C-77) 24, Millage 16, Valters 13


Lietuvos Rytas - BK Ventspils 88-86 (12-20, 28-21, 25-21, 23-24)


Bajramovic 19, Petravicius 15, Slezas 13, Vroman 13; Baxter 18, Vairogs 15, Love 14



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MEXICO

Halcones Xalapa dominate the Southern Division Final series -by Eurobasket News

Halcones Xalapa got to a flying start of their Division Final series against Halcones Cordoba. Xalapa were victorious in the first two encounters and grabbed a 2-0 lead. They are now one step away from the LNBP Grand Finale. The series opened in a highly impressive manner as the teams came up with a sizzling performance. The first half of the matchup turned out to be a real scorcher with neither team giving up an inch. Cordoba managed to clinch a minimum 27:26 lead after the opening frame and extended it to 57:55 at halftime. But Xalapa exploded with 40 points in the third stanza and jumped in front. Cordoba fought for life in the fourth term but the hosts used all of their experience to maintain the lead and celebrated an important 123:115 victory. Jermaine Watson (193-G-81, college: Boston Coll.) notched 33 points for Xalapa. Sam Bowie (198-F/G-75, college: SE Louisiana) added 23 points, while Gustavo Ayon (211-F/C-85, college: San Jose St.) tallied 21 points and 12 boards for the winners. Dallas Logan (193-G-82, college: Northwood) answered with 23 points for Cordoba. Jose Portillo (200-G/F-74, college: N.Mexico Highlands) and Mike Smith netted 21 points apiece in defeat.

Xalapa stretched their winning habit with a 113:91 win yesterday. This time the hosts laid claim early on. They outscored their opponents 35:21 in the starting stanza to build a safe buffer. The gap grew wider in the second stanza and reached a comfortable 25 points at the break. Cordoba struggled to make impact in this one as they trailed by as many as 28 points heading into the fourth term. Xalapa finalized a winning outcome in the fourth stanza and moved closer to the league Final. Victor Mariscal (198-F-72) topscored with 24 points. Jermaine Watson had 22 points, while Mike Johnson (193-G-79) delivered 18 points in a win. Dallas Logan accounted for 24 points, while Mike Smith dropped 18 points for Cordoba.

Game 1

Xalapa - Cordoba 123:115

Xalapa: Jermaine Watson 33, Sam Bowie 23, Gustavo Ayon 21+12 boards

Cordoba: Dallas Logan 23, Jose Portillo 21, Mike Smith 21

Game 2

Xalapa - Cordoba 113:91

Xalapa: Victor Mariscal 24, Jermaine Watson 22, Mike Johnson 18

Cordoba: Dallas Logan 24, Mike Smith 18



CIBACOPA: Mineros signings -by Alejandro Martinez
Mineros de Cananea have agreed the hiring of head coach Victor del Barba. Del Barba is no stranger to cibacopa, as he has guided two different teams to the playoffs in the past two seasons. Del Barba guided expansion team Colorados de San Luis last year to the conference finals, losing in 4 games to Agua Prieta. In addition, the club has announced the return of fan favorite Scott Freymond (188-G-80, college: Cent.Washington. Freymond was part of the 2006 team who went undefeated at home that season. In addition the club has signed former NBA player Leon Smith (209-F-80)and former Guaymas guard Benny West (191-G-82, agency: ProSportsCareers, college: Howard Payne) . On the mexican side, the team has agreed terms with Regional players Jorge Salcedo (194-F-86) and Arturo Velasco (200-F-77). There is one spot open in the roster for a National player, which the club must decide in the next couple of days. All these players have reported to training camp, under the guidance of coach Del Barba.

CIBACOPA: Mazatlan signings -by Alejandro Martinez
Lobos UAD Mazatlan have announced the signings of its three imports for the upcoming 2008 season. The first import is Mugabe Thomas (193-F-80, agency: Naiditch Entertainment, college: Cedarville), who had a sensational season last year with Mazatlan. In addition, the club has agreed to terms with former Frayle de Guasave sensation Larry Taylor (186-G-80, college: Missouri Western) and the return of fan favorite Ron Selleaze (197-F-76, college: CSU Bakersfield). All of these players were reccomended by head coach Lasalle Taylor. On the national side, the club has come to terms with forward Julio Everardo (200-C-81) . Everardo is coming off a solid season with Durango of the LNBP, a team coached by head coach Taylor.

CIBACOPA: Fuerza Guinda signings -by Alejandro Martinez
Fuerza Guinda de Nogales has announced they have agreed to terms with Nogales' 2007 leading scorer Noah Brown (186-G-81, college: Appalachian St.) for the 2008 season. Brown led the team in scoring in the '07 season and is coming off a solid season with LNBP Algodoneros de Torreon. In addition, the team has announced the signing of Center Justin Howard (208-C-81, college: Mercer). Howard played half a season with Nogales in 2006 and will replace previously signed Letheal Cook on the roster. On the regional side, the team has agreed to terms with Forward Jean Gameros (199-F/C). Gameros played for Colorados last season in CIBACOPA. All players have reported to training camp under the guidance of head coach Nathan Mott.

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MOROCCO

Day 14 results -by Nour Amri
IRT's team scoring guard Mustapha Khalfi took charge with only two minute left in the game and hit 2 three-pointer to give his team the lead and the win against local rival FUS. IRT had to work hard for the victory, having been incomprehensively outplayed by FUS in the first half (37-16). FUS players showed much better tactical organisation on the court and IRT's coach Bouzidi had tried unsuccessfully many different defenses (m&m, zone, triangle & 2). IRT players were playing without desire and showed a worrying lack of aggressiveness in defense and lack of ideas in offense, which is still based only on individualities. But right after half time IRT came more and more into the game thanks to a simple and normal 1-2-2 zone press and the lack of experience of FUS young line up. FUS resisted to IRT comeback on the score thanks to Bangoura Mourlaye (18 points, 11 rebounds) but Tunisian player Marouane Kechrid (20 points) took the ball in crunch time and made the decisive baskets to tie the game 2:30 minutes remaining in the game. Then Mustapha Khalfi (19 points) netted is only 3 three-pointer shots of the game and sealed another victory for IRT (65-75).
Despite this lost the inexperienced young and hunger FUS players showed in general a high level of discipline in offense and good consistency in defense, and are promising good results to come.

MAS secured his second place after a home victory over WAC (91-82). The teams exchanged runs in the first half with WAC earning a 14-16 lead after 1Q before MAS players responded to take a 38-36 halftime lead. Things stayed the same until MAS switched to a 2-3 zone defense and created many problems to WAC players. When WAC's coach decided to set a box and one defense in order to stop Alpha Traore good shooting range, Matar M'baye appeared and enjoyed a terrific game topscoring with 24 points and 8 assists. WAC players tried to stop the fire with a terrible unorganised match-up zone defense where Aloui Brahim (4 out of 5 three-pointer) and Hjira's double double (14 points, 14 rebounds) found easily the way to the basket. Michel Lasme topscored for WAC with a strong 21 points performance but was not enough as he did not receive any help from his teammates.

Saturday's other result saw RCA edge past ASS 81-77 and KAC struggling for a win over MET 61-64. TSC recovered from last weeks defeats with a 97-69 strong victory over CMC.

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NAIA

Cal Baptist Lancers ousted -by Stephan Ditgens
LA MIRADA, Calif. — Despite dropping a 58-50 decision to Biola, California Baptist still remains atop the Golden State Athletic Conference in a tie with Concordia. The Lancers (19-4, 11-4 GSAC) shot less than 30 percent (14-for-53) from the floor.

CBU got a team-high 14 points from Marquis Kennedy who went 4-for-9 form the floor and 2-for-4 from outside. Dave Cernin also scored 13 while Mark Roussin added 12.

Danny Jones scored a game-high 17 points for Biola while Rocky Hampton added 14 as the Eagles shot 51.2 percent (22-for-43) from the field.

CBU was out rebounded 40-24, but was able to force 21 turnovers, compared to giving up 13, and was 15-for-18 at the free throw line.

The Lancers led early, 13-6, taking their biggest lead of the half on a Cernin trey. The lead vanished on a 20-6 run by Biola as the Eagles took their biggest lead of the half at 26-19. Roussin cut it to 26-21 at the half with a pair of three throws.

After CBU got within two at 26-24 early in the second half, Biola outscored the Lancers 18-5 over the next nine-plus minutes to take its biggest lead of the game at 44-29.

California Baptist cut it to seven, 49-42, on a 13-5 run that was capped by a Michael Brewer jumper with 3:35 left to play, but the Eagles pushed it back out to 13 with less than a minute to go to seal the fate of the Lancers.

CBU will now host Hope International, Tuesday, at 7:30 p.m.



source: www.cbulancers.com

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NBA

NBDL All Star Game - Saturday -by Darryl Reshaw

The NBDL All Star game is one event in the NBA weekend where the
players give full effort.
Some of these guys will eventually play in the NBA and this game
showcases the best talent in the D-League.
Every year the NBDL has a lot of players who will get called up to
the NBA and some players have been allocated from the NBA to the
assigned D-League franchises.
In the first half the blue team marched to a 53-43 lead with the
quality play from Jeremy Richardson (6'7''-G/F-83, college: Delta St.) with 11 points.
Elton Brown (6'9''-F/C-83, agency: Elfus-Siegel Management (ESM), college: Virginia) dominated the inside play

in the first with a collection of nice post moves to tally 13 points.
In the third quarter the blue team opened up an 87-67 lead with Richardson leading the way.
Elton Brown and Kaniel Dickens (6'8''-F-78, agency: Priority Sports, college: Idaho) looked good for the red team but the blue team had better all around play.
The red team won the game by a 117-99 margin and Jeremy Richardson won the games MVP honors by scoring 22 points.
However Morris Almond (6'6''-F-85, college: Rice) definitely was a factor in the MVP voting as he chipped in 20 points for the winners.
Elton Brown led the red team with an impressive 20 point performance.



Mike Bibby heading to Atlanta -by Eurobasket News
The Atlanta Hawks recharged their backcourt as they acquired Michael Bibby (6'2''-G-78, college: Arizona) in a 5-player deal. Atlanta sent starting point guard Anthony Johnson (6'3''-G-74, college: Charleston), back up guard Tyronn Lue (6'0''-G-77, college: Nebraska), veteran forward Lorenzen Wright (6'10''-C/F-75, college: Memphis), sophomore Shelden Williams (6'9''-F-83, college: Duke) and a 2008 second-round draft pick to the Kings in exchange. Michael Bibby averages 16.7 points throughout 10 years of his NBA career. He missed the start of the current season because of a thumb injury but already managed 15 games in which his stats came up to 13.5 points and 5 assists per game. Michael Bibby was among the only three players in the Kings' history to score 8,000 points and dish out 2,500 assists. The departure of Anthony Johnson and Tyronn Lue means a new role for rookie point guard Acie Law. He is expected to step up as a back-up guard for Mike Bibby and would definitely receive more court time. Texas A&M graduate appeared in 38 games this season nailing 4.2 points and issuing 2.3 assists per game.
Meanwhile the Sacramento Kings continued rebuilding their squad. Michael Bibby and Ron Artest (6'7''-G-79, college: St.John's) were long talked as possible trade aims for many teams in the league. Sacramento acquired Shelden Williams who was averaging 5.5 points and 5.4 rebounds in his rookie year. However his digits fell in the current season and stand now at 2.9 points and 2.9 boards per game. Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue and Lorenzen Wright all have the expiring contracts. The Kings immediately waived Justin Williams (6'10''-F/C-84, college: Wyoming) and Dahntay Jones (6'5''-F/G-80, agency: Priority Sports, college: Duke). Justin Williams scored 1.4 points in 22 games this season, while Dahntay Jones appeared in 25 games netting 3.2 points per game.

NBA Expansion to Europe is not likely in near future -by Eurobasket News
NBA Commissioner David Stern held an annual press-conference during New Orleans All-Star Weekend. He talked about his ongoing plans for the NBA Expansion to Europe. As we told you before it would possibly include 5 more teams joining the league. David Stern outlined the key problem for the NBA being presented on a wide scale in Europe. It is the absence of NBA-caliber Arenas across the continent. But as there is a movement in that direction with O2 Arenas being built in London and Berlin the idea would reliably come up in the nearest decade. He also pointed out that the NBA is mulling over the possibility of establishing expansion teams in London, Madrid, Berlin and Rome rather than European franchises joining the league. However the idea now stands at the developing stage. It is not about the nearest future that NBA will include European-based franchises in its calendar. But the market insists that one day it should become a reality.

NBA All Star Weekend - Saturday -by Darryl Reshaw

The New Orleans Arena had the jazzy blues atmosphere on Saturday
night featuring Dr. John playing that down home type of music.
The arena was full of past and present legends including George
Gervin, Darryl Dawkins and Julius Erving just to mention a few.
The team competition was won by the surprised team of San Antonio
featuring a couple of seven footers of Tim Duncan (6'10''-F-76, college: Wake Fores