EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 2/22/2008

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Men News

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ABA

Roster changes in Halifax -by Gianni Pascucci
The Halifax Rainmen bolstered their roster with the signing of massive teenager James Tyler (7'2''-C-89), and Akeem Clark (6'3''-G-82, college: IUPU-Indianapolis), and waived swingman James Booyer (6'8''-F, college: IUPU-Indianapolis). Tyler and Clark will be in the lineup tomorrow night when Halifax hosts league champions Vermont Frost Heaves at 7:15 p.m.

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ADRIATIC LEAGUE

Union Olimpija extends contract with Marko Milic -by Dragan Jankovski

One of the leading players of Slovenian National Cup holder Union Olimpija, Marko Milic (199-G-77), agreed terms with the club and extended contract for two more seasons. In interview for the Slovenian local newspapers Milic announced that he is planning to play for another 3-4 seasons after what he would like to stay in the club from Ljubljana.


For 17 games in Adriatic league Milic averaged 15 ppg and 4.7 rpg and 2.4 apg while for 14 games in Euroleague he had 15.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 1.5 apg.



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ALBANIA

Kurtoglu top-scores for his team -by Eurobasket News
Albanian Ermal Kurtoglu (207-C-80) and his Efes Pilsen fought bravely but fell just short to Montepschi Siena in overtime of Euroleague. It was the first loss for Efes Pilsen at this stage of the tournament. Efes Pilsen playing at the Abdi Ipekci Sports Hall claimed a narrow 13:12 lead after the opening frame and stretched it to 30:19 in the second term. But Bootsy Thornton scored 6 points in a 9:0 run to erase the deficit to 2 points at 28:30. Eze then tied the scoreline at 30 with seconds past in the third term. Montepschi took over and started to build their lead. Romain Sato capped the frame with a jumper to give the visitors a 49:44 lead after three quarters of action. Scoonie Penn and Ermal Kurtoglu regained the lead for Efes Pilsen early in the fourth term with a couple of treys. The game remained close throughout the fourth period and Terrell McIntyre connected from downtown to make it 69:69 with under a minute to play in regulation. No team was able to deliver at the crunch time and the game moved into overtime. Romain Sato opened the extra period with a three-pointer but it was matched by Drew Nicholas and Scoonie Penn as Efes Pilsen remained in driving seat. Ksystof Lavrinovic once again tied things up at 76 with free throws. Ksystof Lavrinovic got fouled again and converted two more free throws to spur Montepaschi in front. Drew Nicholas failed to deliver, while Bootsy Thornton was accurate to stretch Siena's lead. Efes Pilsen had enough time to get to Siena but missed decisive shots and lost the battle. Ermal Kurtoglu produced 20 points and 7 boards for the hosts. Andre Hutson scored 14 points for Efes Pilsen. Bootsy Thornton had 18 points for Montepaschi.
Claudio Ndoja (198-G/F-85) 's Capo D'Orlando overcame Lottomatica Roma 82:71.

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ARGENTINA

Liga A: Wednesday games -by Facundo Iatzky
Regatas 71-Gimnasia 62
Chuck Robinson (201-F-72, college: E.Carolina) 18 pts and 3 players with 12 each. Diego Prego 16 pts in Gimnasia

Estudiantes 86-Atenas 72
Pablo Gil (188-G-78) 18 pts Mariano Franco 16 pts. James Moore 21 pts in Atenas

Libertad 91- Quilmes 69
Robert Battle (200-C-81, college: Drexel) 25 pts Andres Pelussi 16. Quilmes: Carl Edwards 19 pts

Sionista 76 -Penarol 74
Mariano Byro (196-G-82) 22 pts Mike Robinson and Anton Hall 13 pts each. Roman Gonzalez made 19 in Pena.

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AUSTRALIA

New Zealand Breakers storm past Cairns -by Eurobasket News
Cairns Taipans - NZ Breakers 78:100

The New Zealand Breakers got to a rare road win against Cairns in the playoffs of the NBL. Thus the Breakers advanced to the quarterfinal where they would take on the Brisbane Bullets for a chance to advance to the semis. Cairns meanwhile surprisingly got a stumbling block to their season aspirations. The game was opened by a three-pointer from Stephen Black (186-G-80) to set the Taipans in front. But the Breakers answered with a 15:4 run to grab the lead. Derrick Alston (208-C/F-72, college: Duquesne) scored 6 points during the stretch. Cairns capped the frame with an 8:2 run and the Breakers led 25:24 at the end of the frame. Jared Newson (196-G/F-84, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Tennessee-Martin) returned the lead to the hosts early in the second term and the Taipans maintained the tempo. Stephen Black completed an 18-point haul in the first half and led his side to a 48:45 advantage at the interval. But all the Taipans' hopes went astray in the second half as the Breakers performed a nearly perfect stanza of basketball. Kirk Penney (194-G-80, college: Wisconsin) stepped up for the visitors with 7 straight points early in the third frame and the Breakers tightened up defense. They accumulated a 15:1 rally to open up a double-digit lead. The Taipans fought back for some time before conceding a 7:0 run as the Breakers were up by 9 points after three quarters 75:66. It all went from bad to worse for the home team in the fourth quarter. Cairns' leaders were kept quiet and the Breakers easily ran away to a 17-point distance midway through the final stanza. Cairns never recovered at the late stages and NZ Breakers cheeringly extended their season.
Kirk Penney notched 30 points and 9 boards for the winners. Derrick Alston had 19 points and 12 boards, while Orien Greene (193-G-82, agency: Arik Krayn Services, college: Louisiana-Lafayette) poured in 17 points for the Breakers. Stephen Black scored 20 points to pace the Taipans. Martin Cattalini (202-F-73) and Gary Boodnikoff (200-G/F-79, college: Augusta St.) nailed 13 points apiece in defeat. The Breakers had an overwhelming dominance on the boards 57:36. They sank 48% from the field, while limiting the hosts to 36% accuracy. So now the New Zealand Breakers will take on the Brisbane Bullets on February 23.

Cairns: Stephen Black 20, Martin Cattalini 13, Gary Boodnikoff 13
NZ Breakers: Kirk Penney 30, Derrick Alston 19+12 boards, Orien Greene 17

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AZERBAIJAN

Basak Rasim averages 4.4 points per game in Euroleague -by Eurobasket News
Rasim Basak (202-F-80, agency: Court Side) averages 4.4 points per game in Euroleague for his Turkish Fenerbahce. In the last game the latter were hardly beaten in Spain losing to Tau 84:103. Tau dominated every facet of the game and built a 50:38 lead at the interval. Fenerbahce never recovered after the break and trailed by as many as 18 points heading into the fourth period. Tau eased to an overall win at the and improved to 2-0 record in Group E. Sergi Vidal and Zoran Planinic scored 14 points apiece to lead 7 Tau players to scored in double figures. Igor Rakocevic netted 13 points, while Mirza Teletovic (205-F-85, agency: Beo Basket) and Tiago Splitter nailed 12 points apiece for the winners. Oguz Savas answered with 20 points for Turkish outfit. Will Solomon dropped 14 points in a losing case. Rasim Basak played 9 minutes, had 1 rebound and 2 fouls.

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BELIZE

Lake I Boyz first ever 100+ point game in U-26 Competition history!!! -by David Magana
Last night at the Civic Center in Belize City the regular season in the U-26 tournament continued with two exciting games. The first game in the schedule was not placed since Buttonwood Bay has stepped off the tournament becuase of their loosing record. Buttonwood Bay defaulted their second game in a row and are now disqualified from further competition. All teams still yet to play against Buttonwood Bay will get an automatic win. Belize Bank Junior Bulldogs got an easy game win 20 - 0.
In game two, the game was very trilling as Belmopan Tuff e Nuff lose their third game with less that 3 pts. Due to an amatuer mistake, Tuff e Nuff had possession with seconds remaining but turn the ball over while inbounding on a back court violation causing them to lose the game 59 - 58 to Mesop Guardian Bombers. For the Bombers, Leon Williams (203-F/C-86, college: Ohio) had a double double nigth scoring 17 pts / 12 rebound while Bernard Felix (183-G-85) 13 pts. In a losing effort, Eric 'Rico' Reyes scored 13 pts and had 7 assists while Shane Lino 13 pts.
In game three, Lake I Boyz were on fire throughout the game to post a first ever 100+ point game in the U-26 Competition history over Complex Bombers. The Bombers were humilated as they lost 106 - 48 and made history as one of the worst beaten team in the tournament. For Lake I, Eden Serano (191-F) had a double double night with 25 pts / 16 rebounds while Ashton 'Koolie' Edwards 23 pts (5-3's) / 6 rebounds. In a losing effort, Ernest 'Fiddle' Tench also had double duoble figures, 16 pts / 11 rebounds and Troy 'Toby' Williams 10 Pts / 6 rebounds.

NEXT GAMES --- GRUDGE NIGHT --- Friday 22 February 6:30 pm at Civic Center

Game 1 - Complex Bombers vs Mesop. Guardian Bombers
Complex loss the 1st meeting 60-53. Can they dish out payback and become spoilers in the playoff drive
of the Mesop. Guardian Bombers.

Game 2 - Belize Bank Junior Bulldogs vs The Future
Future are still reeling from their 76-70 loss and are out to tame the Bulldogs and give them (Bulldogs)
their first loss of the season.

Game 3 - Lake I Boyz vs UB Black Jaguars
Can Lake I Boyz maintain their heat coming off of the first ever 100+ point game in U26 Competition history
and defend their home court honor against the UB team that beat them in Belmopan 72-65.

Come out and enjoy an exciting night of Basketball..............

The Future Back On Track In U-26!!! -by David Magana
Last Monday night at the Civic Center in Belize City the U-26 Basketball Tournament continued their regular season games. In the first game, Buttonwood Bay lost by default while Mesop. Guardian Bombers took the big W with a score of 20 - 0.
In the second game, UB once again beat Tuff e Nuff 67 - 55. Top scorers for UB were; Farron Lauriano with 15 points, 8 rebounds and Linbergh 'Prince' Graham with 13 pts.
In game three, The Future beat Complex Bombers 87 - 72. For the winning team, Winston 'Air Jun' Pratt got 22 points / 9 rebounds while Leroy Louraino 19 points. Eventhough Lester Cadle (188-G-80) had an excellent night for the Bombers with the first triple double of season, his effort wasn't enough to win the game. In a losing effort, Lester Cadle 27 points (4-3's) / 11 rebounds / and 10 turnovers while Ronald Rivers (183-G-84) 16 points.

Defending Champs Start With a Win In BECOL Tournament! -by David Magana
Last Friday night at the Falcon Field in San Ignacio, Cayo, the BECOL Tournament began with an opening ceremony that featured most of the teams participating in this year's tournament. The tournament began with a U-17 game featuring LA Tigers and Sacred Heart College. The game was very exciting and from the begining the Sacred Heart boys took the lead up to the fourth quarter where they ran out of gas. The LA Tigers continued with their momentum stealing away the win from Sacred Heart by a score of 49 - 44. For the LA Tigers: Elvis Usher Jr. - netted 16 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals, Elliott Bermudez - 12 points and Shelton DeFour Jr. - 8 points and 11 rebounds. In a losing effort, Shimeon Simpson netted 21 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals and Neville Lisbey - 11 points.
In the Senior Division, E -Three Stars, the defending champs, defeated Christ for Life 64 - 54. The pressure the champs applied to the Christ for Life team was too much in the fourth quarter and in the end they scumbed to the champs. For the winning team, Mark O'Brien scored 15 points and 7 rebounds, while Elroy 'Shabba' Willis - 15 points and 3 steals . In a losing effort, Linden 'Tahu' Galvez scored19 points and 8 rebounds, while Mark Gentle - 6 points, 10 rebounds.

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BRAZIL

Paulista League Finals: Franca sweeps Ulbra for the title -by Gustavo Cardoso

After two double digit wins over Ulbra at home, Franca went south to Sao Bernardo for the third match of the final series, yesterday. The Francanos won by 76 to 75 and took the Paulista title once again.


The game was very competitive from the start, different from what was seen on Game 2 when Franca started off with 11-0 run. Ulbra started better in the first, but Franca reacted on the second. In the third the team coached by Jose Neto got things together once again and kept the lead. In the fourth the scoreboard changestook place play after play, and the match was decided in the final seconds.


Diego (15 points) and Vanderlei (15) were the top players for Ulbra. In Franca, Helinho, with 26, and Rogerio Klafke, with 20, were key factors for Coach Helio Rubens .



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CAPE VERDE

Rudolph Named MAAC Men's Basketball Rookie Of The Week For Third Straight Time -by Pedro Gomes
Recognition is his fifth of the season as he shares the award this week

Feb. 18, 2008

Edison, N.J. - Loyola men's basketball freshman guard Brian Rudolph (180-G-88) has been named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Co-Rookie of the Week - the third consecutive week and fifth time he has been acknowledged by the league this season - it was announced today by the conference office.

This is the second time in the five weeks that Rudolph has shared the award, sharing it this time with Fairfield's freshman forward Warren Edney. Niagara's Charron Fisher was named the MAAC Player of the Week for the second straight week.

With the entire league playing just one game over the weekend, Rudolph's exploits against Siena got him the award. His conventional three-point play with 2:25 remaining brought the Greyhounds back from an eight-point deficit. He then assisted on the game-tying three-pointer with eight seconds left to send the game to overtime. In the extra session, the 5-11 guard took over, scoring nine points total, seven of those at the start of the overtime to help Loyola build an eight-point lead with a pair of layups sandwiched around a three-pointer with two seconds remaining on the shot clock. He finished with a career-high 15 points, matched his career best with eight rebounds and handed out five assists. He made five of eight from the field and four of five from the free-throw line.

The Greyhounds have won nine of 12 since Rudolph was reinserted into the starting lineup. Of Loyola's 15 wins, 13 have come when Rudolph was the starter at point guard. He is averaging 6.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists while playing 26.1 minutes per game.

Loyola is back in action tonight when it hosts MAAC co-leader Rider at Reitz Arena, starting at 7 o'clock.

http://loyolagreyhounds.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/021808aab.html

Before Loyola
Helped Bridgton (Maine) Academy to a 30-5 record and third consecutive NEPSAC Championship, earning Most Valuable Player tournament honors ... a three-time New Bedford Standard-Times Player of the Year selection while at New Bedford HS ... averaged 23.9 points and 10.1 assists as a senior, helping his team to an 18-5 record, losing to the eventual champion in the Division I state tourmament ... career-best came with a 39-point effort in a 111-96 win over East Boston ... finished his scholastic career as the only player in that school's history with 1,200 points, 600 assists and 200 steals, averaging 20.8 points and 10.1 assists in 60 games.

Personal
The son of Brian and Kelly-Grace Rudolph, Brian Eric Rudolph Jr. was born on September 17, 1988 ... an only child ... plans to major in Communication-Public Relations at Loyola. Brian's mother Kelly is Cape Verdian.

Jeff Xavier Bio -by Pedro Gomes
The Cape Veridan-American Jeff Xavier (185-G-85, college: Manhattan) transferred to Providence last year from Manhattan College.

*Transfer not eligible for competition in 2006-07.

2005-06 AT MANHATTAN ... Scored six points and pulled down five rebounds in NIT Season Tipoff game at Seton Hall (11/14)... tallied 13 points vs. George Mason (11/26)...recorded 13 points and seven rebounds at Syracuse (11/30)... poured in 25 points in 40 minutes at Rhode Island (12/6)... tallied 13 points and five steals vs. Marist (12/9)... scored a team-high 19 points, adding five rebounds, three assists, and two steals at NDSU (12/18)... received John 'Doc' Johnson award as MVP of the 98th Battle of the Bronx, tallying game-high's with 24 points and six steals in win over Fordham (12/23)... scored 17 points on 7-10 shooting vs. St. Francis-N.Y. (12/30)... tallied 20 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three steals at Iona (1/6)... recorded 18 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals vs. Saint Peter's (1/8)... recorded a career-high tying 25 points (including a career-high 10-10 from the line), a career-high eight assists, and a career-high tying six steals, adding four rebounds vs. Rider (1/13)... scored 16 points vs. Siena (1/15)... tallied 14 points, six rebounds, and three steals at Rider (1/24)... scored 13 points, pulled down a career-high nine rebounds, adding four steals at Siena (1/30)... tallied 19 points, seven rebounds, and three steals vs. Loyola (2/5)... recorded his first collegiate double-double, scoring 19 points and pulling down 11 rebounds at Saint Peter's (2/8)... tallied his second straight double-double with 25 points (21 in the first half) and 12 rebounds at Canisius (2/11)... recorded his third consecutive double-double, scoring 21 points and grabbing a career-high 13 boards in a career-high 45 minutes at Niagara (2/13)... tallied 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists, four steals, and two blocks vs. Long Beach State (2/18)... tallied his fourth straight conference double-double, tallying 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, adding four assists and two steals vs. Fairfield (2/23)... scored a team-high 23 points, adding seven rebounds, two assists and two steals vs. Iona (2/26)... scored 14 points and pulled down seven boards vs. Saint Peter's in MAAC Tournament (3/5)... tallied a game-high 22 points vs. FDU in NIT Opening Round (3/14)... poured in a career-high 31 points, adding eight rebounds and six steals in a First Round NIT win at Maryland (3/18).

2004-05 AT MANHATTAN ... Appeared in 29 games, making 17 starts... averaged 7.8 points and 1.4 steals per game... led the team with 48 made three-pointers... played three minutes in collegiate debut vs. South Dakota State (11/21)... scored first collegiate points, converting both ends of a one-and-one with 0.2 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime, and tallied 11 points in 12 minutes at Fairfield (11/30)... tallied six points on two made three pointers in 10 minutes at NC State (12/5)... tallied first career assist vs. Siena (12/9)... recorded first collegiate steal at Arizona (12/21)... scored three points and pulled down four rebounds in 23 minutes at Wichita State (1/3)... scored nine points on three-of-five shooting from beyond the arc in his first collegiate start vs. North Dakota State (1/5)... tallied four points, four rebounds, two steals and one assist vs. Niagara (1/13)... tallied 12 points, five steals, three rebounds, and three assists in 30 minutes vs. Saint Peter's (1/17)... poured in 13 points at Canisius (1/20)... scored seven points, adding five rebounds at Niagara (1/22)... tallied 15 points and four steals in 35 minutes at Rider (1/27)... tallied 19 points, including five trifectas, adding five boards, two assists, two steals, and one block at Siena (2/1)... tallied 11 points vs. Rider (2/11)... recorded 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, and four steals vs. Marist (2/13)... recorded 11 points, three boards, three assists, and three steals vs. Canisius (2/14)... tallied 11 points and four steals at Saint Peter's (2/27)... tallied a team-high 20 points in MAAC Opening Round win over Loyola (3/4)... poured in team and season-high 22 points in season-high tying 35 minutes in MAAC Quarterfinal game vs. Fairfield (3/5)... member of MAAC All-Star tour that toured China... team finished with a 7-0 record, as Xavier averaged 12.0 points per game and led the team with 16 three-pointers made.

HIGH SCHOOL: Named to the All-Tournament Team at the 2004 National Prep Invitational Tournament...Helped St. Raphael Academy capture two state titles his junior and senior seasons...Named Gatorade Player of the Year for Rhode Island in 2004...Recorded nine games with 40 or more points and two games with 50 or more points at St. Raphael...Averaged 26 ppg as a senior and 28 ppg as a junior at St. Raphael...

PROFILE: Name: Jeffrey G. Xavier Birthdate: September 7, 1985 Nickname: Jeff Major: Management Family: Son of Alice and Pedro Xavier. Has four brothers, David, Kenny, Jon and Alex, and two sisters, Stephanie and Tiffany. Favorite Teams: Phoenix Suns, Chicago Bulls Favorite Athletes: Steve Nash, Michael Jordan, Tracy McGrady Hobbies: Playing basketball What I would Like to Do After I Leave Providence: Manage a business

AT MANHATTAN OVERALL STATS
Total 3-Point Rebounds
Year GP-GS Min/Avg FG-FGA Pct FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Off-Def Tot Avg PF-FO Ast TO Blk Stl Pts/Avg
2004-05 29-17 559/19.3 79-179 .441 48-130 .369 20-26 .769 22-55 77 2.7 43-0 23 21 5 42 226/7.8
2005-06 31-30 1080/34.8 179-412 .434 77-220 .350 79-99 .798 49-133 182 5.9 82-3 60 78 7 70 514/16.6
TOTAL 60-47 1639/27.3 258-591 .437 125-350 .357 99-125 .792 71-188 259 4.3 125-3 83 99 12 112 740/12.3


Providence Friars Athletics Men's Basketball
http://friars.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/xavier_jeff00.html

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CENT.AFRICA

Central Africans Abroad -by Eurobasket News
Romain Sato (194-G-81, college: Xavier) together with his Montepschi Siena stays perfect in Top 16 of Euroleague. Turkish Efes Pilsen fought bravely but fell just short to Montepschi Siena in overtime. It was the first loss for Efes Pilsen at this stage of the tournament. Efes Pilsen playing at the Abdi Ipekci Sports Hall claimed a narrow 13:12 lead after the opening frame and stretched it to 30:19 in the second term. But Bootsy Thornton scored 6 points in a 9:0 run to erase the deficit to 2 points at 28:30. Eze then tied the scoreline at 30 with seconds past in the third term. Montepschi took over and started to build their lead. Romain Sato capped the frame with a jumper to give the visitors a 49:44 lead after three quarters of action. Scoonie Penn and Ermal Kurtoglu regained the lead for Efes Pilsen early in the fourth term with a couple of treys. The game remained close throughout the fourth period and Terrell McIntyre connected from downtown to make it 69:69 with under a minute to play in regulation. No team was able to deliver at the crunch time and the game moved into overtime. Romain Sato opened the extra period with a three-pointer but it was matched by Drew Nicholas and Scoonie Penn as Efes Pilsen remained in driving seat. Ksystof Lavrinovic once again tied things up at 76 with free throws. Ksystof Lavrinovic got fouled again and converted two more free throws to spur Montepaschi in front. Drew Nicholas failed to deliver, while Bootsy Thornton was accurate to stretch Siena's lead. Efes Pilsen had enough time to get to Siena but missed decisive shots and lost the battle. Ermal Kurtoglu produced 20 points and 7 boards for the hosts. Andre Hutson scored 14 points for Efes Pilsen. Bootsy Thornton had 18 points for Montepaschi. Romain Sato scored 12 points and now averages 13.5 points per game in Top 16 and has 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game.
Maxime Zianveni (198-F-79) and his AEL outlasted Ukrainian opponents Khimik on every inch of the court and deservedly won the game 70:65 in EuroCup. The game was pretty close early on but just before Milutin Aleksic begun his amazing offensive crescent. Aleksic had 21 points for the winners, who won despite being out-rebounded 42-31.Duane Woodward also had 15 points and four assists in a winning effort. Maxime Zianveni played 15 minutes and made 3 rebounds. he averages 7.3 points per game for his team.

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CUBA

LSB Statistics, Silvestre top rebounder and good scorer -by Alessandro Fontana
SCORER
Allens Jemmott (Matanzas) 24.5
Geoffrey Silvestre (Ciego de Avila) 22.3
HenrY Simon (Guantanamo) 21.3
Andy Boffill (Villa Clara) 21.0
Damian Del Toro (Santiago de Cuba) 20.0
REBOUNDS
Geoffrey Silvestre (Ciego de Avila) 7.0
Yoel Carta (Villa Clara) 6.5
Eliezer Lima (Capitalinos) 6.1
Henry Simon (Guantanamo) 6.0
Yoan Luis (Ciego de Avila) 5.8
ASSISTS
Manuel Area (Santiago de Cuba) 4.2
Alexei Mestre (Camaguey) 3.6
Michael Guerra (Ciego de Avila) 2.7
Alejandro Arcia (Villa Clara) 2.6
Yorman Polas (Camaguey) 2.4
STEALS
Danys Torriente (Matanzas) 4.7
Manuel Area (Santiago de Cuba) 4.1
Michael Guerra (Ciego de Avila) 4.1
Yorman Polas (Camaguey) 3.9
BLOCKS
Leonel Batista (Camaguey) 1.3
Grimay Chacon (Metropolitanos) 1.0
A. Fontana

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EUROLEAGUE

Euroleague: The third time wasn't bitter for the Greens!! PAO - Partizan Igokea 67-65 -by Chris Mammides

Panathinaikos - Partizan Igokea 67-65
(21-23,13-17,15-16,18-9)
It seems that Alfred Hitchcock influenced all the games between Partizan and Panathinaikos as all the three games this season were exactly the same, full of tension, full of excitement, great basketball and the final winner no matter what is Panathinaikos. Last night it was the third time that Partizan touched the 'dream' but couldn't finally grab it. The Serbian and Adriatic league champion reached differences as high as 16 points and with an amazing 9 minutes in the third quarter, were able to eliminate all Obradovic's solution, but a really solid 8-0 in the last minute of the 3rd quarter, made the Serbs to thing twice as PAO started to play much better in the last period with much stronger defence proving once more that Defence is in their blood. But still Partizan had a chance 2:30 before the end of the game extended the lead to 6 points but firstly it was Palacio to miss a lay-up and in the next possession the same player was wide-open but missed the shot from behind the arc.
Panathinaikos's power and familiarity in tough situations appeared in the last quarter and thanks to Hatzivretas, Spanoulis and Batiste, Obradovic's Greens recorded a valuable victory (the first in the round). Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82) led his team (in another game) with 20 points beign the only Green player with double digits. Michael Batiste scored 9 points and 12 rebounds while on the other side Partizan got 13 points from Dusan Kecman

Top scorers:
PAO: Spanoulis 20, Batiste 9 (12 rebs), Diamantidis 9 (4 rebs), Winston 9 (5 st)
Partizan Igokea: Kecman 13, Palacio 11 (4 st), Vitkovac 10 (7 rebs), Tepic 9

In the other Greek interest game, Aris defeated for a second consecutive time, this time it was the Lithuanian Lietuvos Rytas to beat Herbert's yellows with 89-75, with Wright remainign pointless and Massey once more trying for all the team with his 19 points and 10 rebounds, on the otehr hand Kenan Bajramovic (206-F-81) once more was the top performer for the Lithuanians.




CSKA holds off Barcelona in Moscow -by Eurobasket News
CSKA - Barcelona 72:55

Russian powerhouse CSKA Moscow overcame a slow start to their Top 16 campaign and gained speed to swoops past Barcelona in Round 2 yesterday. CSKA dominated the game and made the victory look quite casual. The hosts pointed out the advantage early in the encounter keeping the visitors scoreless for about two minutes. Ramunas Siskauskas (197-G-78) netted 4 points to give CSKA a 6:2 lead. Finally Jaka Lakovic (186-G-78) hit from downtown but was well-matched by Trajan Langdon (192-G-76, college: Duke)'s trey. David Andersen (212-C-80) capped the frame with a jumper to seal things at 16:11. Siskauskas opened the second term with 6 more points to extend the margin to 11 points. Jaka Lakovic kept hitting treys as he totaled his third one to bring Barcelona within 6 points from CSKA. Soon Ersan Ilyasova (207-F-87) and Gianluca Basile (192-G-75) dragged the visitors as close as 3 points from CSKA 23:26. David Andersen and Marcus Goree (201-F-77, college: W.Virginia) however finalized the first half at 32:25. Trajan Langdon and David Andersen teamed up for 5 more points right after the break and CSKA started to get away. Siskauskas stretched the gap to 13 points but Ersan Ilyasova and Pepe Sanchez (193-G-77, college: Temple) connected from beyond the arc to trim the difference to 8 points. Later Roger Grimau (196-G-79) and Gianluca Basile notched treys for Barcelona to get within 5 points after 30 minutes. Jaka Lakovic tipped off the fourth term with a jump shot but Theodoros Papaloukas (200-G-77, agency: Interperformances) drilled consecutive buckets to put CSKA away. Trajan Langdon and David Andersen scored and then Ramunas Siskauskas fired from the outside to maintain the advantage. Mario Kasun (213-C-80) worked his way inside the paint to add two points to Barcelona's haul but Theodoros Papaloukas immediately answered with a three-point play to make it 63:51 for CSKA. Barcelona struggled to deliver and moreover the hosts were deadly from charity stripe leaving no chance for the visitors. David Andersen sank 4 free throws, while Viktor Khryapa (204-F/G-82) connected from three-point range to ensure the winning outcome for CSKA.
David Andersen finished the game with 20 points and 8 boards. Ramunas Siskauskas contributed 16 points, while Trajan Langdon scored 10 points for the winners. Jaka Lakovic dropped 11 points for Barcelona. Mario Kasun and Roger Grimau managed 7 points apiece in defeat. CSKA outrebounded the visitors 40:32 including 17:8 offensive boards.
CSKA will travel to Spain to take on Unicaja next week. Barcelona will host Lottomatica Roma on Thursday.

CSKA: David Andersen 20, Ramunas Siskauskas 16, Trajan Langdon 10
Barcelona: Jaka Lakovic 11, Mario Kasun 7, Roger Grimau 7

Lietuvos Rytas fire down Aris -by Eurobasket News
Lietuvos Rytas - Aris 89:74

Almost 10,000 spectators gathered at the Siemens Arena in Vilnius to watch their favorite Lietuvos Rytas drive to the first win at Top 16 stage. Lithuanian team used a stunning first frame to upset Aris and improved to 1-1 record in Group E. Hollis Price (186-G-79, college: Oklahoma) got things going for the hosts with a trey early in the encounter. Mindaugas Lukauskis (198-G-79) scored quick 6 points for Lietuvos Rytas as they accumulated an 11:5 lead midway through the frame. Mindaugas Lukauskis would not stop as he drained a triple soon to give Lietuvos Rytas a 21:9 advantage. Jackson Vroman (208-C/F-81, college: Iowa St.) and Jared Jordan (188-G-84, college: Marist) secured a 27:11 lead for the hosts after 10 minutes of action. Aris tried to change the pace early in the second quarter and with the tempo raising the Greek side managed to trim the deficit to 10 points at 19:29. However Lietuvos Rytas reacted with an 8:0 rally that restored a 37:19 lead for the home side. The teams traded triples late in the quarter and Lietuvos Rytas accumulated a 49:31 lead at the interval. Mindaugas Lukauskis opened the second half with one more three-pointer and later Chuck Eidson (202-F-80, college: S.Carolina) scored 4 straight points to keep Lietuvos Rytas running. Aris could not find the proper defensive tools to hold off striking hosts and trailed by 16 points at the end of the third term. Dimitris Tsaldaris (196-F-80) and Iliadis fired from downtown for Aris at the start of the fourth term to boost up the intrigue. Later Giorgos Kalaitzis (195-G-76) poured in a three-pointer to erase the deficit to just 9 points at 60:69. Chuck Eidson and Vladimir Boisa (209-F/C-81, agency: World Sport Agency) traded three-point plays and then Lietuvos Rytas capitalized on technical foul from Aris to sink a bunch of free throws and climb beyond reach. Mindaugas Lukauskis and Chuck Eidson provided 18 points apiece for Lietuvos Rytas. Kenan Bajramovic (206-F-81, agency: Beo Basket) netted 17 points and grabbed 7 boards for the winners. Jeremiah Massey (202-F-82, college: Kansas St.) responded with 19 points and 8 boards for Aris. Darius Washington (188-G-85, college: Memphis) drilled 11 points in defeat.
Lietuvos Rytas will play against Fenerbahce away from home next. Aris will face Tau Ceramica in a must-win fixture at home.

Lietuvos Rytas: Mindaugas Lukauskis 18, Chuck Eidson 18, Kenan Bajramovic 17
Aris: Jeremiah Massey 19, Darius Washington 11

Panathinaikos - Partizan 67-65 -by Kostas Papadopoulos
After last week's defeat from Efes Pilsen, last night's game against Partizan Igokea was very crucial for Panathinaikos on its way at Top 16 of Euroleague, and especially on gaining the first place at its group. Thus, the win (67-65), even at the very last minutes, will be certainly proved valuable.
Partizan started the game with two early successful 3-point shots, taking a lead (4-11) before the Greens made a 12-0 serie to lead with 5 points (16-11). However, the Serbians didn't upset and recover, basing on their offensive rebounds, and finished the first period at 23-21. Nikola Pekovic (210-C-86, agency: Beo Basket) helped its team at the second period to take a bigger difference (25-32), before V-Span (Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82, agency: Beo Basket)) take his gun and with many successful efforts reduce it at two (34-36). Partizan, though, found the way and broke Greens' defense, finishing the first half at 6 (34-40).
At the third period, Dusko Vujosevic insisted on his zone defense and due to both Panathinaikos' mistakes and unsuccessful shots, but also due to its players' scoring [mainly Milton Palacio (190-G-78, college: Colorado St.) and Milenko Tepic (198-G-87, agency: Beo Basket)], Partizan has been found at +15 on the 27th minute (41-56). Although, any other team may have been upset at that time, Panathinaikos' funs seemed to believe at their team and gave them the appropriate encouragement to reduce the difference. Vasilis Spanoulis found that enough and with the help from Sani Becirovic (195-G-81, agency: Beo Basket) ended the period at only 7 point- difference (49-56) after a 8-0 serie at 1.35 minutes.
It was then defense's time. Panathinaikos strengthened it very much (pressing a lot and enforcing Partizan at making a lot of mistakes) and after 8 minutes Panathinaikos has been found at two points ahead after a successful 3-point shot from Nikos Hatzivrettas (195-G-77), ending a 24-7 total serie. It was then Michael Batiste's (203-F-77, college: Arizona St.) time, who with two successful free throws after a defensive rebound at 19,5 seconds before the end, gave his team a 2-point leadership. He even finished his work with the block on Milenko Tepic 1,9 seconds before the end. Until the end, Partizan didn't manage to make any attempt and the anxiety for everybody of us, being at the court, has finished. Panathinaikos was still alive at the Top-16 battle, staring at the next game against Siena with optimism, knowing its abilities very well.
Periods: 21-23, 34-40, 49-56, 67-65
Panathinaikos: Vasilis Spanoulis 20 (2), Sani Becirovic 8, Kennedy Winston (198-F-84, agency: Priority Sports, college: Alabama) 9, Dimos Dikoudis (207-F/C-77, agency: Court Side) 3, Sarunas Jasikevicius (192-G-76, college: Maryland) 4, Andrija Zizic (207-F/C-80, agency: FCM), Nikos Hatzivrettas 3 (1), Nikola Prkacin (208-C-75) 2, Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) 9 (1), Michael Batiste 9, Fragiskos Alvertis (206-F-74, agency: FCM)
Partizan: Milton Palacio 11, Milenko Tepic 9 (2), Dusan Kecman (197-G/F-77, agency: Beo Basket) 13 (3), Dejan Borovnjak (208-F-86), Uros Tripkovic (197-G-86) 7 (1), Novica Velickovic (205-F-86) 5, Nikola Pekovic 7, Cedomir Vitkovac (201-F-82) 10 (1), Petar Bozic (197-G-78) 3 (1), Strahinja Milosevic (203-G/F-85, agency: Beo Basket), Slavko Vranes (229-C-83)

After the game, Panathinaikos' coach, Zeljko Obradovic , stated that 'if it weren't for the fans, we wouldn't have managed to prevail tonight. The match was a tough one, partly because last Sunday we played against our archrival Olympiacos. What worries me though is the fact that we made the same mistakes we did against Efes Pilsen last week. It was a crucial match and we had to be very focused throughout the forty minutes. But that wasn't what we did. Our group is open, especially after Siena's win. Each team can qualify. Even Partizan'.
On the other side, Partizan's coach, Dusko Vujosevic, gave his 'congratulations to Panathinaikos. Also I want to congratulate my players for their performance tonight. In the decisive moments we failed to score mostly because at these moments some key players were fouled out. I think that the fans had the chance to enjoy a great game and to appreciate our young Serbian players. In addition, my players, on the other hand, had the opportunity to play against the champions of Europe and gain some valuable experience. Regarding our chances to qualify to the next stage, I think that we still can qualify since there are four games left to play'.

One more thriller defeat for Partizan against big PAO in Athens ! -by Dragan Jankovski

PAO - Partizan Igokea 67-65

Partizan Igokea really doesn't have a luck against green PAO this season. Last night it was the third time when Partizan again was a small step away from the real sensation but it didn't happen. Namely, reining Serbian and Adriatic league champion had plus 6 on the half time against reining Greek and European champion in the middle of Athens. Black and white team reached 49-35 at the half way of the third quarter. PAO started to play much better in the last period but still Partizan had a chance 2:30 remaining in the game to extend lead to 6 but Palacio at the first point missed a lay-up and at the next possesion he was wide-open but unsuccessful from behind the arc. Quality and experience of PAO's players came on the scene and thanks to Hatzivretas, Spanoulis and Batiste Greek giant recorded valuable win, especially after defeat in the first round against Efes Pilsen in Turkey. Ex NBAer Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82, agency: Beo Basket) led his team to this very tough victory netting 20 points and he was the only one who scored more than 9 points in PAO. Michael Batiste (203-F-77, college: Arizona St.) had 9 points and 12 rebounds while on the other side Partizan got 13 points from Dusan Kecman (197-G/F-77, agency: Beo Basket).

Head coach of PAO Zeljko Obradovic after the game said: 'Partizan played much better than us in this game. One of the reasons for our not so good performance is the fact that we played against Olympiakos last week-end and all players concentrated on that game. I want to congratulate them because they succeeded to return into the game after minus 15. Of course I am very grateful to our fans which, like always, helped us a lot tonight.'

On the other Partizan's head coach Dusko Vujosevic was very proud on his players because for the third time this season they played thriller game again big PAO. He also said that Partizan missed a great opportunity to record a win tonight but he stated that nothing is over yet. Partizan didn't play any game at home so far in Euroleague TOP 16.


Panathinaikos - Partizan Igokea 67-65
(21-23,13-17,15-16,18-9)

PAO: Spanoulis 20, Batiste 9 (12 rebs), Diamantidis 9 (4 rebs), Winston 9 (5 st)
Partizan Igokea: Kecman 13, Palacio 11 (4 st), Vitkovac 10 (7 rebs), Tepic 9



Fenerbahce and Efes Pilsen lose in Euroleague -by Eurobasket News
Both Turkish representatives in Euroleague lost their Top 16 battles yesterday. Efes Pilsen fought bravely but fell just short to Montepschi Siena in overtime. It was the first loss for Efes Pilsen at this stage of the tournament. Efes Pilsen playing at the Abdi Ipekci Sports Hall claimed a narrow 13:12 lead after the opening frame and stretched it to 30:19 in the second term. But Bootsy Thornton (194-G-77, college: St.John's) scored 6 points in a 9:0 run to erase the deficit to 2 points at 28:30. Eze then tied the scoreline at 30 with seconds past in the third term. Montepschi took over and started to build their lead. Romain Sato (194-G-81, college: Xavier) capped the frame with a jumper to give the visitors a 49:44 lead after three quarters of action. Scoonie Penn (178-G-77, college: Ohio St.) and Ermal Kurtoglu (207-C-80) regained the lead for Efes Pilsen early in the fourth term with a couple of treys. The game remained close throughout the fourth period and Terrell McIntyre (175-G-77, college: Clemson) connected from downtown to make it 69:69 with under a minute to play in regulation. No team was able to deliver at the crunch time and the game moved into overtime. Romain Sato opened the extra period with a three-pointer but it was matched by Drew Nicholas (191-G-81, college: Maryland) and Scoonie Penn as Efes Pilsen remained in driving seat. Ksystof Lavrinovic (210-C-79) once again tied things up at 76 with free throws. Ksystof Lavrinovic got fouled again and converted two more free throws to spur Montepaschi in front. Drew Nicholas failed to deliver, while Bootsy Thornton was accurate to stretch Siena's lead. Efes Pilsen had enough time to get to Siena but missed decisive shots and lost the battle. Ermal Kurtoglu produced 20 points and 7 boards for the hosts. Andre Hutson (202-F-79, college: Michigan St.) scored 14 points for Efes Pilsen. Bootsy Thornton had 18 points for Montepaschi.
Meanwhile Fenerbahce were hardly beaten in Spain losing to Tau 84:103. Tau dominated every facet of the game and built a 50:38 lead at the interval. Fenerbahce never recovered after the break and trailed by as many as 18 points heading into the fourth period. Tau eased to an overall win at the and improved to 2-0 record in Group E. Sergi Vidal (198-F/G-81) and Zoran Planinic (198-G-82) scored 14 points apiece to lead 7 Tau players to scored in double figures. Igor Rakocevic (191-G-78) netted 13 points, while Mirza Teletovic (205-F-85, agency: Beo Basket) and Tiago Splitter (211-C/F-85, agency: Interperformances) nailed 12 points apiece for the winners. Oguz Savas (208-C-87) answered with 20 points for Turkish outfit. Will Solomon (187-G-78, college: Clemson) dropped 14 points in a losing case.

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FRANCE

ProA/B Trading News -by Chris Spiesser
Paris changes its coach: Jean-Marc Dupraz will end the season on the bench. Ron Stewart who lost the five games he coached so far gets a new task in the club. Dupraz was already on the bench in the capital town as an assistant.

Toulon who called the free Ismaila Sy (192-G-79, agency: Interperformances) a few hours after Colson's Achille's injury hired a new US PG. It will be Daniel Horton (191-G-84, agency: KMG Sports Management, college: Michigan) who played in Turkey and D-League since he graduated from Michigan. Recently he posted 15.5ppg, 3.00rpg and 4.5apg for Albuquerque.

Gabe Kennedy (205-F-81, agency: R.H.Consultancy, college: UAB) who recently left Besancon is training with Limoges where Almonte and Gouez are injured. But following the LNB, he can't play for another ProB team within 45 days.

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GERMANY

2. Bundesliga: Market News -by Moritz Korff
According to the website of the 2. Bundesliga two more roster moves have been made only a couple of days prior to the end of the transfer-period on February 28.
The Kaiserslautern Braves (2. Bundesliga Pro A) added Jeremy Hunt (196-G-83, agency: CAA Sports, college: Memphis) to the roster. The 24-year-old Shooting Guard spent his entire collegiate career at the University of Memphis (NCAA1) and averaged 14.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals per contest as a senior (2006-2007). In November 07 Hunt joined SKS Polpharma-Pakmet Starogard Gd. from the Polish DBE-league, but stayed only for a short time (5 games: 3.4ppg).
Meanwhile, Phillip Freeman (211-C-79, college: Miles) has moved within the 2. Bundesliga Pro B, left the NOMA Iserlohn Kangaroos and is headed to hapa Ansbach instead. Iserlohn hired the Canadian Guard James Hudson (188-G-83, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: The University of Alberta) from 2. Regionalliga-team Recklinghausen recently to fill the second import spot. Freeman is going to replace Mihajlo Pesic (206-F/C-81, agency: Court Side) on the Ansbach roster. The Serbian/Irish Post Player decided to accept the offer of USC Freiburg yesterday. He had come to Ansbach after Konstantin Furman (205-F/C-76) had suffered a torn ACL in January.

Bamberg adds NBA D-League All-Star -by Moritz Korff
The defending German champion Brose Baskets Bamberg (1. Bundesliga) has agreed terms with Dwayne Mitchell (194-G-82, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Louisiana-Lafayette) on a contract for the rest of this current campaign. 25-year-old Mitchell played NCAA-basketball at Auburn and the University Louisiana at Lafayette until 2006. The same year he moved to France and made his first steps in the European game as a member of ProA-side Paris Basket Racing. He had 32 appearances and scored 11.1 points per contest. His other stats in France: 4.3 rpg, 2.4apg, 1.8 spg. Being selected in the first round of the 2007 NBA D-League Draft Mitchell joined Iowa Energy, the affiliate of the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat. Thanks to his performances in the Iowa jersey (31 games: 20.4ppg, 6.4rpg, 3.2apg, 1.6spg) the native of New Orleans was invited to attend this years' D-League All-Star Game recently.

46ers sign veteran Danny Lewis -by Moritz Korff
Danny Lewis (185-G-70, college: Wayne St., MI) has inked a contract with the LTi Giessen 46ers (1. Bundesliga) today. The 37-year-old veteran Point Guard will stay for the remainder of the season. The native of Kalamazoo, MI graduated from D2-school Wayne State in 1993 and began his career as a pro in Mexico. Lewis then spent the following six seasons with the London Towers of the British Basketball League and obtained a British passport in 2001. After leaving the UK Lewis played in Israel, Poland, Russia and Spain. In 2002 he made the All-Israeli Premiere League First Team. During the 2006-2007 campaign Lewis appeared in 34 games of the Spanish LEB and averaged 11.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists as well as 1.1 steals per outing for Palma Aqua Magica.

Regionalliga Sudwest : Williams left Weissenhorn -by Kristian Santiago
Suddenly, Lorenzo Williams (191-G-84, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Rice) left BC Weissenhorn after the last game, heading towards Slovakia to join a first division-side.
The transfer-deadline is already passed, and Weissenhorn had to react to the departure of a key player.
The management asked Terris Sifford (198-F-83, agency: All-Star Basketball Services, college: Winston Salem), who is still registered with the team , to return to Germany to play the rest of the season.

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GREECE

Panathinaikos - Partizan 67-65 -by Kostas Papadopoulos
After last week's defeat from Efes Pilsen, last night's game against Partizan Igokea was very crucial for Panathinaikos on its way at Top 16 of Euroleague, and especially on gaining the first place at its group. Thus, the win (67-65), even at the very last minutes, will be certainly proved valuable.
Partizan started the game with two early successful 3-point shots, taking a lead (4-11) before the Greens made a 12-0 serie to lead with 5 points (16-11). However, the Serbians didn't upset and recover, basing on their offensive rebounds, and finished the first period at 23-21. Nikola Pekovic (210-C-86, agency: Beo Basket) helped its team at the second period to take a bigger difference (25-32), before V-Span (Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82, agency: Beo Basket)) take his gun and with many successful efforts reduce it at two (34-36). Partizan, though, found the way and broke Greens' defense, finishing the first half at 6 (34-40).
At the third period, Dusko Vujosevic insisted on his zone defense and due to both Panathinaikos' mistakes and unsuccessful shots, but also due to its players' scoring [mainly Milton Palacio (190-G-78, college: Colorado St.) and Milenko Tepic (198-G-87, agency: Beo Basket)], Partizan has been found at +15 on the 27th minute (41-56). Although, any other team may have been upset at that time, Panathinaikos' funs seemed to believe at their team and gave them the appropriate encouragement to reduce the difference. Vasilis Spanoulis found that enough and with the help from Sani Becirovic (195-G-81, agency: Beo Basket) ended the period at only 7 point- difference (49-56) after a 8-0 serie at 1.35 minutes.
It was then defense's time. Panathinaikos strengthened it very much (pressing a lot and enforcing Partizan at making a lot of mistakes) and after 8 minutes Panathinaikos has been found at two points ahead after a successful 3-point shot from Nikos Hatzivrettas (195-G-77), ending a 24-7 total serie. It was then Michael Batiste's (203-F-77, college: Arizona St.) time, who with two successful free throws after a defensive rebound at 19,5 seconds before the end, gave his team a 2-point leadership. He even finished his work with the block on Milenko Tepic 1,9 seconds before the end. Until the end, Partizan didn't manage to make any attempt and the anxiety for everybody of us, being at the court, has finished. Panathinaikos was still alive at the Top-16 battle, staring at the next game against Siena with optimism, knowing its abilities very well.
Periods: 21-23, 34-40, 49-56, 67-65
Panathinaikos: Vasilis Spanoulis 20 (2), Sani Becirovic 8, Kennedy Winston (198-F-84, agency: Priority Sports, college: Alabama) 9, Dimos Dikoudis (207-F/C-77, agency: Court Side) 3, Sarunas Jasikevicius (192-G-76, college: Maryland) 4, Andrija Zizic (207-F/C-80, agency: FCM), Nikos Hatzivrettas 3 (1), Nikola Prkacin (208-C-75) 2, Dimitris Diamantidis (196-G-80) 9 (1), Michael Batiste 9, Fragiskos Alvertis (206-F-74, agency: FCM)
Partizan: Milton Palacio 11, Milenko Tepic 9 (2), Dusan Kecman (197-G/F-77, agency: Beo Basket) 13 (3), Dejan Borovnjak (208-F-86), Uros Tripkovic (197-G-86) 7 (1), Novica Velickovic (205-F-86) 5, Nikola Pekovic 7, Cedomir Vitkovac (201-F-82) 10 (1), Petar Bozic (197-G-78) 3 (1), Strahinja Milosevic (203-G/F-85, agency: Beo Basket), Slavko Vranes (229-C-83)

After the game, Panathinaikos' coach, Zeljko Obradovic , stated that 'if it weren't for the fans, we wouldn't have managed to prevail tonight. The match was a tough one, partly because last Sunday we played against our archrival Olympiacos. What worries me though is the fact that we made the same mistakes we did against Efes Pilsen last week. It was a crucial match and we had to be very focused throughout the forty minutes. But that wasn't what we did. Our group is open, especially after Siena's win. Each team can qualify. Even Partizan'.
On the other side, Partizan's coach, Dusko Vujosevic, gave his 'congratulations to Panathinaikos. Also I want to congratulate my players for their performance tonight. In the decisive moments we failed to score mostly because at these moments some key players were fouled out. I think that the fans had the chance to enjoy a great game and to appreciate our young Serbian players. In addition, my players, on the other hand, had the opportunity to play against the champions of Europe and gain some valuable experience. Regarding our chances to qualify to the next stage, I think that we still can qualify since there are four games left to play'.

Uleb Cup: Panionios beat Pamesa 70-59 -by Chris Mammides
Panionios defeated Pamesa Valencia 70-59 at the opening leg of their ULEB Cup Last 32 series in Athens. Both teams have reasons to be optimistic: Panionios dominated early with a 20-0 run to the bridge the first two periods and led by as many as 19 points, but lost its edge later on. Meanwhile Pamesa struggled, but clawed its way back; leaving it a real chance to get to the Last 16 when it hosts the second leg next Tuesday. Pamesa led in the first few minutes, but Panionios caught fire with a 20-point charge as everyone on the home team seemed to have a hot hand. However Pamesa quickly regrouped and was soon within single figures, though Alexandar Capin made it 38-24 by halftime. The lead would close to 7 in the fourth quarter, but Panionios held on for a respectable advantage heading into the second leg.
Pamesa came out firing and burst in front 2-6 on triples by Williams and Douglas. Giannoulis responded for Panionios with consecutive baskets inside and passionate defence. After the hosts surged into the lead at 11-8, Capin and Newley came up big from downtown and Giannis Kalambokis (195-G-78) added a fade away jumper to boost the margin to 19-8. Pamesa needed a timeout after four scoreless minutes, but the momentum did not shift. Instead, Zoroski knocked down a wild triple to beat the first-quarter buzzer with Panionios fully in charge at 24-8. Giannis Kalambokis opened the second quarter with a driving basket to which Lonny Baxter added a free throw to cap an impressive 20-0 Panionios run with the scoreboard showing a 27-8 advantage. Pamesa was in disarray until House buried a triple that awakened his teammates. The visitors then fed Ruben Garces in the paint and he obliged with scored 5 points that trimmed the difference to 27-16. Antonas Kavaliauskas answered with a tip-in for Panionios, but House bettered that with a flying layup and free throws to make it 29-20. Pamesa was back in the game, although Panionios upped the ante with another triple by Capin at 36-20. Even when Douglas reloaded his gun for a late corner triple, Panionios held a 38-24 lead at intermission.

Douglas turned it on big way in the second half, as he first dished to House for a triple and then unleashed a three-pointer, allowing Valencia to claw its way back to 42-32. Sweet-shooting Sakota gunned from beyond the arc to reclaim a double-digit lead, yet Panionios was out of rhythm offensively. Moreover, the hosts were unable to control the boards and as a result, Pamesa managed, with Williams as its go-to-guy, to cut the lead to 50-43 with a period left to play. Williams opened the final period in style with a triple, but Giannis Kalambokis responded with a gutsy drive and 2 free throws to make it 54-46. Then, Zoroski and Douglas took over, exchanging baskets. Douglas fired in a triple, Zoroski followed with 5 points and Douglas answered back with another 3pointer to cut the deficit to 7. However, the hosts did not lose their composure and remained in the driver's seat. With the clock ticking down and the score at 65-57, Sakota found Newley for a decisive triple that brought the home crowd to its feet. Williams hit a long jumper, as Pamesa was trying now to trim the lead as much as possible, yet a charging foul by Douglas and 2 free throws by Giannoulis allowed Panionios to set the final score at 70-59.

Ivan Zoroski (195-G-79) led Panionios with 15 points, Brad Newley and Giannis Giannoulis (207-C-76) added 12 points apiece and Ioannis Giannis Kalambokis had 10 for the hosts, who won the battle on the glass 36-27. Shammond Williams (187-G-75, college: N.Carolina) scored 18, Ruben Douglas (193-G-79, college: N.Mexico) 17 and Fred House (196-F-78, college: S.Utah) 10 for Pamesa in defeat.

Source: Ulebcup.com

Euroleague: The third time wasn't bitter for the Greens!! PAO - Partizan Igokea 67-65 -by Chris Mammides

Panathinaikos - Partizan Igokea 67-65
(21-23,13-17,15-16,18-9)
It seems that Alfred Hitchcock influenced all the games between Partizan and Panathinaikos as all the three games this season were exactly the same, full of tension, full of excitement, great basketball and the final winner no matter what is Panathinaikos. Last night it was the third time that Partizan touched the 'dream' but couldn't finally grab it. The Serbian and Adriatic league champion reached differences as high as 16 points and with an amazing 9 minutes in the third quarter, were able to eliminate all Obradovic's solution, but a really solid 8-0 in the last minute of the 3rd quarter, made the Serbs to thing twice as PAO started to play much better in the last period with much stronger defence proving once more that Defence is in their blood. But still Partizan had a chance 2:30 before the end of the game extended the lead to 6 points but firstly it was Palacio to miss a lay-up and in the next possession the same player was wide-open but missed the shot from behind the arc.
Panathinaikos's power and familiarity in tough situations appeared in the last quarter and thanks to Hatzivretas, Spanoulis and Batiste, Obradovic's Greens recorded a valuable victory (the first in the round). Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82) led his team (in another game) with 20 points beign the only Green player with double digits. Michael Batiste scored 9 points and 12 rebounds while on the other side Partizan got 13 points from Dusan Kecman

Top scorers:
PAO: Spanoulis 20, Batiste 9 (12 rebs), Diamantidis 9 (4 rebs), Winston 9 (5 st)
Partizan Igokea: Kecman 13, Palacio 11 (4 st), Vitkovac 10 (7 rebs), Tepic 9

In the other Greek interest game, Aris defeated for a second consecutive time, this time it was the Lithuanian Lietuvos Rytas to beat Herbert's yellows with 89-75, with Wright remainign pointless and Massey once more trying for all the team with his 19 points and 10 rebounds, on the otehr hand Kenan Bajramovic (206-F-81) once more was the top performer for the Lithuanians.




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HUNGARY

Round 19: Kormend could win in Pecs -by Tamas Deri

Kormend could beat Pecs in a very top game tonight in their own arena. Kormend lost only one game in 2008 (13th of January in Hodmezovasarhely) yet, after a very bad start of the season (4-10), won five games in a row.

PVSK-EXPO CENTER PECS - POLAROID-LAMI-VED KÖRMEND 85-90
(22-25, 24-19, 14-24, 15-22)

Pecs, Att.: 3.000, Referees: Palla, Adam, Kiss
PVSK: Kutasi 5/3, Nick Williams (192-G-83, agency: Beo Basket, college: Cincinnati) 14/9, Gabor Denes (197-F-82) 16/12, Toth 6, Lapov 10/3, Wittmann, Peter Grebenar (211-C-81) 18, Czigler 2, Dragan Aleksic (196-G-70, agency: Beo Basket) 14/6, Coach: Stojan Ivkovic
KORMEND: Marton Fodor (191-G-81, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 12/6, Ferencz 8/6, Rudolf Trummer (196-F-78, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 13/9, Ocitti 9/3, Vavra 12, Jermaine Thomas (187-G-84, agency: 540 Sports, college: La Salle) 12/6, McCants 5/3, Gergely Fodor (193-G-77, agency: Globalsports/Globalevents) 19/12, Coach: Dragoljub Krivacevic



All-Star game: roster of League-Selection is complete -by Tamas Deri
The roster of the League-Selection, which team will play against the Hungarian NT, is complete. As we published some days ago the starting five will be like following:
Thomas Kelley, Mike English, Eric Freeman, Arnas Kazlauskas and Du Juan Wiley. The head Srecko Sekulovic and his assistant Peter Volgyi decided to invite following players to the event:
Nikola Aliakseyeu (212-C-78, agency: Globalsports/Globalevents, college: Buffalo) (FALCO KC)
Erno Sitku (208-C-72, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) (NYKK)
Zalan Meszaros (190-G-74) (ASE)
Akos Horvath (194-G/F-81, agency: FCM) (UNIVER)
Dragan Aleksic (196-G-70, agency: Beo Basket) (PVSK)
Cory Bradford (191-G-78, agency: Edge Sports, college: Illinois) (Albacomp)
Julien Mills (193-G-84, agency: Warren Sports, college: Ball St.) (Dombovar)

Market news -by Tamas Deri

One day before the deadline some teams signed foreigner players to try to make the rosters stronger.


As Andrius Jurkunas is still not fit and able to play the management of Szolnok decided to bring in a new power forward. Marqus Ledoux (203-F-80, college: Tulsa) just signed his contract this morning and practiced already with his new team twice. Ledoux played last season in Hungary for Kormend, where he was one key player, averaged 12 points and 6.5 rebounds in 30 minutes on the court. His achilles got cut in the 3rd game of the 1/4finals against Albacomp and could not finish the season. He had a very hard and long rehabilition in the United States and got fit in december, when signed in Austria, with the first division team of Gussing. He played there 10 games and averaged 10.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 27 minutes per game.

In yesterday's night game against Kormend Wittmann felt on the floor, and broke his hand. He will be not able to play at least for 6-8 months, so the management had to find a replacement very quickly. They decided the sign Srdjan Jovanovic (194-G-76), who is a well-known player in our country, as he played in Kecsekemet before. This season he started in Poland with Polpak, but left and just arrived in Hungary today.



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IBL

Kellog Company Supports BC KNIGHTS YOUTH TICKET PROGRAM -by John Gary
courtesy oursportscentral.com Kellog Company has again teamed up with the Battle Creek Knights to present Kellogs Kids. Through Kellogs kids area youth will have the opportunity to attend Knights games this season. Five hundred tickets will be allocated by the knights to nonprofit organizations serving youth.

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JAMAICA

NDC in three-way tie for conference lead -by Leonard Whyte
South Euclid, OH (2-21-2008) - A fired-up Notre Dame College (NDC) defeated Malone College 81-64 last night to pull into a three-way tie for first place in the American Mideast Conference (AMC) North Division. NDC, 13-14 overall and 6-3 in AMC, led by as many as 35 points in the second half before cruising home for their third straight victory. Sophomore center Karim McFarlane produced 14 points and 12 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season and fifth in a row.

McDonald's All-American Rosters announced -by Leonard Whyte
Miami, FL (2-21-2008) - Forward Samardo Samuels of St. Benedict's Prep and combo guard Tyreke Evans of American Christian High, rated the No. 1 and No. 2 basketball players respectively, in the Class of 2008, were named to the East team for the 31st annual McDonald's All-American game to be played at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 26 at 9:30 p.m. EST on ESPN. Proceeds from the game will go to Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC(R)) of Eastern Wisconsin and its Ronald McDonald House(R) program.

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JORDAN

Round 1 of Final 4 -by Mohammed Malas
Zain and Orthodox were the winners in the opener of Final 4 yesterday in Prince Hamza Hall in Amman....

Zain 93 - Al Riyadi/Aramex 79 (Qs: 25-15, 46-34, 74-48 & 93-79)

Glen Summerall (193-G-80, college: Cal.St.-San Bernar.)'s 2nd game with the team was successful and helped his team alot to find some solutions from outside the arc following the injury of both Sam Daghlas and Rasheim Wright, Glen scored yesterday 24 points and 11 rebounds to make good support to Nate Johnson (17 points) and Zaid Al Khas (17 points), Moussa Al Awadi played with Zain after he was back from a loan in Al Wihdat.

In the other side, Andre Laws and Demetris Montgomry (22 points) played their 1st game with Al Riyadi and did well with veteran Hussam Lutfi but without big help from their other teammates.

Orthodox 88 - Arena 75 (Qs: 24-17, 45-38, 65-55 & 88-75)

Orthodox made a good beginning in the game and that turned to control most of the time with a comfortable lead following the success of Chris Campbell (23 points), Ayman Idais (20 points), Naser Bassam (19 points) and Kelly Wise (19 points) despite some good work from Mark Strickland (22 points), Zeid Abbas (17 points) and Josh Cooperwood (17 points) but those 3 did'nt found their colleagues in the team with the needed effect and that led to a red end.

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KOSOVO

Kosova - Albania under the patronage of Prime Minister Thaci -by Edona Shabani

The first interstate sports event in the history of Republic of Kosova, will take place on Thursday 21.02.2008.

The match between Republic of Kosova and republic of Albania will be played in both categories women, starting on 6:00 pm, men starting on 8:00 pm and it will be under the patronage of Prime Minister of Kosova Mr. Hashim Thaci. Basketball Federation of Kosova invites all kosovar fans to fill the Sports and Youth Hall in Prishtina with National flags, state flags and also the flags of all states that support Kosova.

Sourse: www.basketbolli.com



Both National Teams will Honor the Meritorious of Indipendence -by Edona Shabani
The members of NT of Albania and Kosova , who on Thursday will be playing a historic match, the first interstate match after the declaration and recognition of the Republic of Kosova, during their stay in Kosova will honor the meritorious of independence of Kosova.

AGENDA OF VISITS

On 21.02.2008 Thursday

At 10:00 Visit of the Zahir Pajazit monument

At 10:15 Visit the grave of President Rugova

At 10:30 Visit martyrs graveyard in Prishtina

At 11:00 Visit the memorial complex 'Adem Jashari' Prekaz.

On 22.02.2008 Friday

At 11:00 Visit memorial complex of 'Lidhja e Prizrenit'


Source: www.basketbolli.com

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LATVIA

Latvian Basketball League -by Gunars Gailitis

Latvian Basketball League

Division I

February, 19

Liepajas Lauvas - Bumerangs/Gulbene/ASK 84-82 (25-25; 25-17; 16-21; 18-19)

Jevgenijs Kosuskins (202-F-77) 24, Jurevicus 24, Ansons 11; Rudzitis 20, Poznaks 17, Rauza 14


VEF Riga - SK Valmiera 93-87 (17-21; 20-31; 26-12; 30-23)


Maksim Sheleketo (204-F-87) 37, Aleksejevs 14, Kolesnikov 14; Amolins 17, Nash 15, Olivero 14, Jankauskas 12, Stimac 12



Latvian clubs in Eurocups -by Gunars Gailitis

ULEB Cup

Last 32

Lukoil Academic (BUL) - BK Ventspils 67-64 (16-17; 18-16; 18-22; 15-9)

Antic 17+11reb, Canak 13, Stoykov 11, Mujezinovic 10; Baxter 15, Akingbala 12+10reb, Vitols 11, Love 11


FIBA EuroCup


Quarter Final Round. First game


Barons/LMT - KK Zagreb 67:58 (13:14, 16:19, 23:13, 15:12)


Armands Skele (192-G-83) 25, Hlebowicki 13, Alexander 10+10reb; Vladovic 13, Simon 10, Zadarevi 9



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LEBANON

Results from Round 7 -by Asia-Basket Lebanon
In the 7th round of the Lebanese league , Riyadi managed to maintain is unbeaten record with another win in the last minutes in the game that joined him to Blue Stars, Blue Stars who played without foreign players showed a great basketball, the game finished 66-72 .

In the second game Moutahed is showing round after round its progression and showed a very organized basketball against Antranik who played with a new face after the sudden move by replacing the team scorer Marcus Brown by a new player B.J. Spencer. The game finished on the score of 88-67.

In the third game Feytroun is continuing its good performance and had a good game against Sagesse , Feytroun under the commands of Coach Elie Nasr had a very good 3 quarters in which they urged Sagesse players to regroup in the 4th to secure a very important game for the maintain in the top of the table. The game finished on the score of 82-106.

In the last game of this round Anibal had a big surprise for the Basketball Fans with a very important win against Champville on the score of 98-97 in the dying seconds of the game .

Feytroun - Sagesse: 82-106

Best Scorers:

Feytroun: Aaaron Haynes (23pts)

Sagesse: Sabah Khouri (29pts)

Q1:23-27 Q2:17-16 Q3:22-36 Q4:20-27



Moutahed - Antranik: 88-67

Best Scorers:

Moutahed : Darren Kelly (28pts)

Antranik: Nadim Souaid (24pts)

Q1:22-18 Q2:19-15 Q3:23-19 Q4:24-15



Champville -Anibal: 97-98

Best Scorers:

Champville: Jarred Merrill (36pts)

Anibal: Danny Barhoum (26pts)

Q1:18-21 Q2:30-22 Q3:16-27 Q4:33-28



Blue Stars -Riyadi : 66-72

Best Scorers:

Blue Stars: Jean Abed El Nour (16pts)

Riyadi: Ramy Akiki (18pts)

Q1:17-14 Q2:19-14 Q3:14-24 Q4:16-20

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LIGA SUDAMERIC.

Union Atletica will not play the South American League -by Hector Lopez
Union Atletica rejected an invitation to play the South America League, the local Federation announced today. Union was invited afetr Malvin, the last LUB champion. also said they will not participate. 'We are looking the situation to decide which team will play', said Alberto Ward General Secretary of the Uruguayan Federation. The team selected will have to play Group C in Corrientes from Feb 29 to March 1st. , against Regatas (Argentina) Sol de America (Paraguay) and Deportivo Tachira (Venezuela). Tachira is replacing a Brazilian team, Minas Tenis, due to internal problems in their country. Another Uruguayan team, Trouville will organize Group B, in Montevideo, with Libertad Sunchales (Argentina) Flamengo (Brazil) and Millonarios (Bolivia) from Feb.25 to Feb 29.
The group A will be played from Feb. 22 to Feb 24, in Caracas, with Boca (Argentina) Universo (Brasil) Regatas (Peru) and Cocodrilos (Venezuela). Two teams of each group plus the two best thirds
will play quarter finals.

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LITHUANIA

Lietuvos Rytas fire down Aris -by Eurobasket News
Lietuvos Rytas - Aris 89:74

Almost 10,000 spectators gathered at the Siemens Arena in Vilnius to watch their favorite Lietuvos Rytas drive to the first win at Top 16 stage. Lithuanian team used a stunning first frame to upset Aris and improved to 1-1 record in Group E. Hollis Price (186-G-79, college: Oklahoma) got things going for the hosts with a trey early in the encounter. Mindaugas Lukauskis (198-G-79) scored quick 6 points for Lietuvos Rytas as they accumulated an 11:5 lead midway through the frame. Mindaugas Lukauskis would not stop as he drained a triple soon to give Lietuvos Rytas a 21:9 advantage. Jackson Vroman (208-C/F-81, college: Iowa St.) and Jared Jordan (188-G-84, college: Marist) secured a 27:11 lead for the hosts after 10 minutes of action. Aris tried to change the pace early in the second quarter and with the tempo raising the Greek side managed to trim the deficit to 10 points at 19:29. However Lietuvos Rytas reacted with an 8:0 rally that restored a 37:19 lead for the home side. The teams traded triples late in the quarter and Lietuvos Rytas accumulated a 49:31 lead at the interval. Mindaugas Lukauskis opened the second half with one more three-pointer and later Chuck Eidson (202-F-80, college: S.Carolina) scored 4 straight points to keep Lietuvos Rytas running. Aris could not find the proper defensive tools to hold off striking hosts and trailed by 16 points at the end of the third term. Dimitris Tsaldaris (196-F-80) and Iliadis fired from downtown for Aris at the start of the fourth term to boost up the intrigue. Later Giorgos Kalaitzis (195-G-76) poured in a three-pointer to erase the deficit to just 9 points at 60:69. Chuck Eidson and Vladimir Boisa (209-F/C-81, agency: World Sport Agency) traded three-point plays and then Lietuvos Rytas capitalized on technical foul from Aris to sink a bunch of free throws and climb beyond reach. Mindaugas Lukauskis and Chuck Eidson provided 18 points apiece for Lietuvos Rytas. Kenan Bajramovic (206-F-81, agency: Beo Basket) netted 17 points and grabbed 7 boards for the winners. Jeremiah Massey (202-F-82, college: Kansas St.) responded with 19 points and 8 boards for Aris. Darius Washington (188-G-85, college: Memphis) drilled 11 points in defeat.
Lietuvos Rytas will play against Fenerbahce away from home next. Aris will face Tau Ceramica in a must-win fixture at home.

Lietuvos Rytas: Mindaugas Lukauskis 18, Chuck Eidson 18, Kenan Bajramovic 17
Aris: Jeremiah Massey 19, Darius Washington 11

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NBA

Jason Kidd and Shaquille O'Neal start for new teams -by Eurobasket News
Yesterday was rich for big appearances in the NBA as Jason Kidd (6'4''-G-73, college: California) and Shaquille O'Neal (7'2''-C-72, college: LSU) donned the jerseys of their new teams for the first time. Shaquille O'Neal finally debuted for Phoenix as he started for the Suns against the Los Angeles Lakers. Shaquille O'Neal was obviously eager to make his debut an outstanding one by edging his long-time arch-rival Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) in the one of the most exciting clashes of the season. But Kobe Bryant had his own thoughts on that. He drained game-high 41 points to pace the Lakers past soaring Phoenix. Shaquille O'Neal came up with 15 points and 9 boards in 29 minutes of action. Pau Gasol (7'0''-F/C-80) added 29 points, while Lamar Odom (6'10''-F-79, college: Rhode Island) accounted for 22 more in the Lakers win. Amare Stoudemire (6'10''-F-82) registered 37 points and pulled down 15 boards for the Suns as they suffered their 17th defeat and were matched by the Lakers in the ladder. The Lakers were up by 115:108 with just over 5 minutes left in regulation. But Shaquille O'Neal scored 6 points in a row to drag Phoenix within a single point 114:115. Bryant answered with a jumper but Shaq hit a free throw for the Suns to keep close. Kobe Bryant would not stop with another jump shot but Steve Nash (6'3''-G-74, college: Santa Clara) responded with two free throws to make it 117:119. Finally Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol scored 4 points in a row and the Lakers ran away with a victory.
In the meantime Jason Kidd started for the Dallas Mavericks as they travelled to New Orleans. It did not help the Mavericks though as Chris Paul (6'0''-G-85, college: