EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 2/26/2008

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Men News

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ADRIATIC LEAGUE

FMP made victory in derby against Hemofarm, Vojvodina beat Helios -by Dragan Jankovski
In derby game of 22nd round FMP outplayed Hemofarm STADA at home 79-61. Panthers dominated from the beginning making plus 11 already in the first quarter. Ten minutes later the hosts extended lead to 45-29 and since then there was no doubt about the winner of this game, especially because Rawle Marshall sprained his ankle at the middle of the first quarter and wasn't able to continue. During the game young Milan Macvan of Hemofarm also got the same injury as Marshal, so head coach Nikolic for sure can not count on these two players for the very important ULEB Cup game against Buducnost Podgorica where Hemofarm will try to defend plus 26 from the first game. Bojan Krstovic (194-G-80) led the winners adding 17 points and 4 assists while Hemofarm got the most from center Vladan Vukosavljevic (206-F/C-84, agency: Beo Basket), who shined with 25 points and 7 rebounds.

Crvena Zvezda suffered inconvenient defeat on the road against Zagreb 82-84 so the team from Belgrade will travel to Treviso to defend plus 10 a bit frustrated. In the very interesting finish Cook drained a 3-pointer equalizing the score on 80-80 after what Kovacevic netted two FTs for Zagreb. At the next possession Cook equalized again with 2 FTs. Zagreb had the last offense, Simon missed a shot but Kovacevic made an off rebound. Vladovic attempted from behind the arc to finish the game but he also missed. Zvezda's players couldn't catch the ball neither this time so Antic grabbed it, passed it to Simon who got fouled and was concentrated from the FT line bringing the 7th win for his team this season in Adriatic league. Krunoslav Simon (198-G/F-85) scored 26 points, including 5 rebounds and 4 assists while Ante Tomic (217-C-87) followed him with double-double, 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Luke usually the killing tandem Tadija Dragicevic (205-F-86, agency: Beo Basket), who added 22 points and 6 rebounds, and Omar Cook (186-G-82, college: St.John's), who finished the game with 18 points, were the best in Zvezda.

Vojvodina Srbijagas was better than Helios Domzale in Novi Sad 87-79. Game is decided in the last quarter when the Tulips touched plus 15, 80-65. MVP of the game was strong Vladimir Golubovic (212-C-86) who dominated in the paint registering double-double. Serbian hot prospect netted 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Ivan Ivanovic (205-F-80, agency: Beo Basket) also had a very good night adding 21 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. Helios got 21 points and 10 rebounds from Aleksei Lashkevich (203-F-78). Vojvodina currently has 11 wins and 11 defeats while Helios is on 5-17.

Game Partizan Igokea - Cibona is postponed.


FMP - Hemofarm STADA 79-61
(22-11,23-18,14-10,20-22)

FMP: Krstovic 17 (4 as), Jeremic 13, Erceg 11, Labovic 11
Hemofarm STADA: Vukosavljevic 25 (7 rebs), Pavkovic 7 (4 rebs, 5 as)


Zagreb - Crvena Zvezda 84-82
(26-24,23-24,20-16,15-18)

Zagreb: Simon 26 (5 rebs, 4 as), Tomic 20 (10 rebs, 5 as), Vladovic 10
Crvena Zvezda: Dragicevic 22 (6 rebs), Cook 18, Kikanovic 10 (4 rebs), Bakic 10


Vojvodina Srbijagas - Helios Domzale 87-79
(26-22,21-20,22-17,18-20)

Vojvodina Srbijagas: Ivanovic 21 (4 rebs, 4 st), Golubovic 20 (11 rebs), Bojovic 11 (4 as)
Helios Domzale: Troha 22, Lashkevich 21 (10 rebs), Janza 13

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ARGENTINA

Interperformances- Available Players -by Interperformances
As of today Interperformances is glad to announce that it has placed over 98 percents of its clients. Among the 2 percent of available clients most of them already had a job this season and they are looking now for a second job, having finished their respective season. We still have available great players of the like of former NBA Star Lamond Murray who is finishing his season in China, Rashad Phillips who did not meet the deadline to sign in Sopot and others such as the former Euroleague guard Nathan Erdmann and others that you can check inside our constantly updated web page. A page that will have the updated statistics of each players at the beginning of the next week.

Liga A: sunday games -by Facundo Iatzky
Obras Sanitarias 70-69 central entrerriano
Central was better all the game but in the last seconds Lazaro Borrell (202-F-72, agency: Interperformances) (24 pts) was outstanding. Gabriel Cocha was important too with 21 points despite he fouled out. Kevin Sowell scored 18 for central.
Independiente 99-86 Quimsa
good victory for independiente who try to escape from the bottom of the standings. Nicolas Romano (197-F-87) had maybe the best game of his short career with 26 points. Terry Taylor added 24. Cleotis brown made 25 in a losing effort.
Penarol 87-73 belgrano
neither of the teams played well but Penarol won without problems and keeps going up. Roman Gonzalez (206-C-78, agency: HM Sports Agency) 20 pts and 8 rebs. Q Wadley scored 17 and Marcus Fleming 20 for belgrano.
Sionista 61-71 El nacional
The surprise of the tournament won another hard game. Four players scored 10+ points shining Djibril Kante (201-C-80, college: Indiana St.) with 17 while Antwon Hall led sionista with 19.

Central Entrerriano news -by Facundo Iatzky

Gabriel Diaz got injured and will miss the rest of the season so the team decided sign Fernando Malara (194-F-80, agency: Interperformances). Fernando played in sionista this season.
On the other hand Kevin Sowell (190-G-81) was allowed to play by the Lebanese club and FIBA. It's a good new for central because he is an important scorer.

Central have lost too many games in the last weeks so they will need both players to play in a good level.



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AUSTRALIA

Sydney Kings helm Game 1 against Perth -by Eurobasket News
Sydney - Perth 101:98

The indisputable regular season victors Sydney Kings got to a winning start of their semifinal clash against the Perth Wildcats. They managed to withstood a fierce fourth-term comeback effort from the visitors to survive and take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Shawn Redhage (202-F-81, agency: Warren Sports, college: Arizona St.) scored 4 straight points for the Wildcats to open the encounter. Setting a high tone Perth continued to stay ahead but 15 points from Glen Saville (197-G/F-76) in the opening frame allowed the home side to take over. Dontaye Draper (180-G, college: Charleston) came off the bench to inspire an 11:0 run to help the hosts grab a 27:23 lead after 12 minutes of action. Sydney extended the lead to double figures in the second term before Perth shaved it back to 7 at the interval 46:53. The deficit went down to 3 points early in the third period but not for long. Sydney reacted with consecutive three-pointers from Luke Kendall (193-G-81, college: Metro St.) and Jason Smith (194-G-74) and soon the Kings opened up an 11-point cushion. Sydney stayed calm late in the third and enjoyed a 78:69 advantage after three quarters. The Kings seemed to coast to a comfortable win in the fourth stanza when Perth returned to life. Shawn Redhage and Peter Crawford (193-G-79) fired from downtown to erase the deficit to 4 points at 85:89 midway through the term. However the Kings found the hero to calmly seal the outcome for the hosts. Glen Saville who kept mom for two quarters exploded with three trebles late in the game to ice Perth winning aspirations. Moreover Shawn Redhage was fouled leaving the Wildcats with little offensive options. It all worked well for the Kings as they stepped closer to the NBL Grand Final.
Glen Saville notched 24 points, 7 boards and 4 assists for the Kings. Dontaye Draper contributed 15 points and 5 steals off the bench, while Ian Crosswhite (212-F-82, college: Oregon) scored 13 points for the winners. Shawn Redhage responded with 26 points, 9 boards and 4 assists for the Wildcats. Peter Crawford poured in 21 points in defeat. Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday in Perth.

Sydney: Glen Saville 24, Dontaye Draper 15, Ian Crosswhite 13
Perth: Shawn Redhage 26, Peter Crawford 21

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AUSTRIA

Oberwart Gunners upset Gmunden -by Eurobasket News
The Oberwart Gunners proved the seriousness of their ambitions with a 67:62 road win over the defending champions Gmunden. The current league leaders stepped up early on as they outscored the hosts 21:11 in the opening frame. Gmunden playing without key scorer Deteri Mayes (189-G-74, agency: Court Side, college: Murray St.) struggled to answer and trailed by 12 points at halftime 35:23. Gmunden however revived in the third stanza as Ian Boylan (198-G/F-83, college: Cal.St. Northridge) had a momentum and paced his teammates to a 28:15 rally after the main break. But the spark went cold pretty quickly as Oberwart denied all the efforts by limiting the home team to just 11 points in the fourth period and finalizing an important victory. Jay Youngblood (196-G-84, agency: Strategic Sports, college: Kent St.) provided 18 points for the winners. Marko Moric (207-F-81, agency: World Sport Agency) had 17 points, while Jason Johnson (202-F/C-77, college: Tennessee St.) added 10 points and 14 boards for the Gunners. Ian Boylan delivered game-high 22 points for Gmunden. Florian Schoninger (186-G-82) and Kevin Johnson (201-F, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Humboldt St.) scored 13 points apiece in defeat. The Gunners thus improved to 20-6 record on top of the ladder.
Furstenfeld remained in the second place with an 85:81 win over Arkadia. It was a close battle with neither side able to build a decisive lead throughout the contest. Furstenfeld enjoyed a 48:40 advantage at the interval but it was all in vain as Arkadia erased the deficit in the third quarter. A well-balanced offense allowed the visitors to surge up late in the third stanza and the teams then traded baskets till the crunch time. Furstenfeld were more consistent late in regulation ensuring a tough victory. Shelton Colwell (202-F-80, agency: Court Side, college: Missouri St.) notched 19 points and 10 boards for the hosts. Milan Goljovic (203-F-71, agency: Globalsports/Globalevents) added 15 points and 9 boards for the winners. Davor Lamesic (205-F-83, agency: Interperformances) scored 18 points for Arkadia. Dragan Zekovic (210-F-87, agency: Interperformances) and Benedikt Danek (174-G-86) dropped 15 points apiece as Arkadia fell to 16-10 record.

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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 played since Buttonwood Bay has stepped out of 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..............

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BULGARIA

Bulgarian All star game: Fans voting -by Vladi Lazarova
Bulgarian All Star game this year will be held on 8th March in the new arena in Samokov. Here are the official results from fans voting in round one. In round two the fans will give their vote online for the starting line-ups of two teams.

FANS VOTING
1. Larry O'Bannon (Lukoil): 3324
(191 cm, 1983, USA, 13,6 ppg, 3,4 rpg)
2. Willie Deane (Lukoil): 3042
(186 cm, 1980, USA, 17,5 ppg, 6,5 assists per game)
3. Dwayne Morton (Balkan): 3020
(200 cm, 1971, USA, 16,1 ppg, 7,4 rpg)
4. Pero Antic (Lukoil): 2974
(210 cm, 1981, FYROM, 22,2 ppg, 9,3 rpg)
5. Riste Stefanov (Lukoil): 2788
(198 cm, 1981, FYROM, 12,7 ppg, 4,0 rpg)
6. Bryce Sheldon (Cherno more): 2278
(193 cm, 1983, USA, 17,8 ppg, 1,9 rpg)
7. Tencho Banev (Lukoil): 2048
(210 cm, 1980, 5,7 ppg, 4,6 rpg)
8. Sasha Topcov (Spartak): 1710
(207 cm, 1980, Serbia, 14,2 ppg, 5,0 rpg)
9. Mike Henderson (CSKA): 1658
(188 cm, 1984, USA, 14,0 ppg, 3,8 rpg)
10. Nikolay Varbanov (Levski): 1626
(209 cm, 1985, 4,9 ppg, 4,3 rpg)
11. Lavell Payne (CSKA): 1556
(204 cm, 1985, USA,14,3 ppg, 7,6 rpg)
12. Georgi Davidov (CSKA): 1516
(206 cm, 1976, 11,7 ppg, 5,6 rpg)
13. Todor Stoykov (Lukoil): 1416
(198 cm, 1977, 12,3 ppg, 3,3 rpg)
14. Avgustinas Vitas (Cherno more): 1394
(210 cm, 1982, Lithuania, 13,0 ppg, 8,1 rpg)
15. Hrisimir Dimitrov (Spartak): 1342
(197 cm, 1974, 16,6 ppg, 5,6 rpg)
16. Yulian Radionov (Levski): 1260
(188 cm, 1979, 6,5 ppg, 2,1 assists per game)
17. Asen Velikov (Levski): 1168
(188 cm, 1986, 6,1 ppg, 2,5 assists per game)
18. Ludmil Hadjisotirov (CSKA): 1156
(189 cm,1980, 11,4 ppg, 2,8 assists per game)
19. Ivan Lilov (Balkan): 986
(196 cm, 1988, 18,6 ppg, 4,8 rpg)
20. Hristo Nikolov (CSKA): 778
(200 cm, 1985, 13,6 ppg, 4,9 rpg)

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CHINA

China National Team Assemble -by Robert Wang
CBA season 2007-2008 finished last week.Guang Dong team received their another Championship.CBA will assemble the new China National team on March 7th. Zhu Fang Yu, Du Feng, Wang Shi Peng are still the national players. The full roster would be about 15-16 persons. The players from Guang Dong and Liao ning are allowed to go to CBA report 1 week later after March 7th. The training place would be in the south of China. There are 5 months before Olympic Games for the China National team and they would play about 18 games in some tournament. These games are all settled in China area but not overseas.

Interperformances- Available Players -by Interperformances
As of today Interperformances is glad to announce that it has placed over 98 percents of its clients. Among the 2 percent of available clients most of them already had a job this season and they are looking now for a second job, having finished their respective season. We still have available great players of the like of former NBA Star Lamond Murray who is finishing his season in China, Rashad Phillips who did not meet the deadline to sign in Sopot and others such as the former Euroleague guard Nathan Erdmann and others that you can check inside our constantly updated web page. A page that will have the updated statistics of each players at the beginning of the next week.

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COLOMBIA

Stalin Ortiz shines in Avellinos lost against Bologna -by Victor Garcia
Stalin Ortiz had one his better games with the Air Avellino, Ortiz scored 16 pts, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished 1 assist, but his effort was not enough and the Air Avellino (2nd place in Lega A) lost against Upim Bologna.
Ortiz fished with 6 of 8 from the field and 2 of 2 from the free throws line, this is just the 8 lost of the Air Avelino in the season, and proves that Stalin belong to the Elite of Basketball

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CROATIA

Zadar drops at 17-5 -by Eurobasket News
Split and Zagreb won the games in Adriatic league, while Zadar lost to Geoplin Slovan.
Zagreb beat Crvena Zvezda 84:82 in Croatia. Cook drained a 3-pointer equalizing the score on 80:80 after what Kovacevic netted two FTs for Zagreb. At the next possession Cook equalized again with 2 FTs. Zagreb had the last offense, Krunoslav Simon missed a shot but Kovacevic made an off rebound. Vladovic attempted from behind the arc to finish the game but he also missed. Zvezda's players couldn't catch the ball neither this time so Antic grabbed it, passed it to Krunoslav Simon who got fouled and was concentrated from the FT line bringing the 7th win for his team this season in Adriatic league. Krunoslav Simon (198-G/F-85) led the winners with 26 points. Ante Tomic (217-C-87) followed him with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.
Zadar lost to Geoplin Slovan 73:78. De Marco Johnson led Slovan with 18 points. Shammell Stallworth (197-F-80, agency: Interperformances, college: USF) had 25 points for Zadar while Corey Brewer (188-G-75, college: Oklahoma) added 12 for the guests. Both teams were tied at 73:73 in the final minute but the hosts ended the game with 5-0 run.
KK Split edged Buducnost 80:72 with 27:20 in the opening quarter. Deian Ivanov (205-C-86) led the winners with 19 points. Peric netted 16 and Marlon Garnett (188-G-75, college: Santa Clara) ended up with 15. Zvezdan Dragojlovic (-75) produced 17 points in the losing clause.
The game between Cibona and Partizan Igokea was postponed due to security issues.

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CUBA

"El Gato" Silvestre rules and Cuban Abroad -by Alessandro Fontana
LSB-Time in Cuba, Ciego de Avila won an important game against Guantanamo with a great Geoffrey Silvestre. 'El Gato' was the MVP of the game with 28 pts (12/21 2pts, 4/12 FT) and 8 rebounds. Capitalinos won easily against Villa Clara with a great Giordano Leguen and Matanzas played another game without Allens Jemmott and They won against Santiago de Cuba 86-58.
Today there will be the 'Big Match' Camaguey-Matanzas. Camaguey has a 13-10 standings and Matanzas a 14-8 standings, Camaguey has to win if They want to qualify for the Second Round of this LSB 2008.
LSB Results:
Metropolitanos- Villa Clara= 114-104 (M= Borlot 26, Simon 19, Dube 14; VC= Boffill 22, Carta 22)
Santiago de Cuba- Ciego de Avila- = 71-99 (S= Martinez 17, Area 13; CAV= Perez 14, Luis 13, Silvestre 12)
Santiago de Cuba- Ciego de Avila= 102-104 (S= Martinez 24, Caballero 16; CAV= Silvestre 24, Perez 19, Luis 16)
Camaguey- Metropolitanos= 96-79 (C= Jimenez 24, Polas 23, Batista 21; M= Dube 15, Simon 14)
Matanzas- Santiago de Cuba= 86-58 (M= Norona 21, Torriente 18, Duarte 10; S= Garcia 11, Echevarria 11)
Guantanamo- Ciego de Avila = 75-78 (G= Elias 21, Simon 17; CAV= Silvestre 28, Guerra 15, Granda 10)
Villa Clara- Capitalinos= 64-82 (VC= Carta 12, Arden 11; C= Alorda 13, Leguen 13, Lavastida 11)
Next games will be on 25th February: Ciego de Avila- Villa Clara; Camaguey-Matanzas; Metropolitanos-Guantanamo and Santiago de Cuba- Capitalinos.

CUBAN ABROAD
Lazaro Borrell palyed a great game in Argentina with his team Obras. Obras won against Belgrano 82-78. For Borrell 17 pts (3/7 2pts, 3/8 3pts, 2/4 FT) and 7 rebounds in 27 minutes.
A. Fontana

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CYPRUS

Play offs: Round 2 - Big Surprise in Larnaca - AEK - Apoel 86-79!! -by Chris Mammides
BMC AEK Larnakas succeeded a great victory over Aspis Apoel Nicosia and there will be a third game (best of three series) in Nicosia. Coach Michael's team was much better in the fourth and most crucial quarter, while this is the first victory after three games this seazon, the last time that AEK beat Apoel is registered in 2002 which is 6 years ago, in a game took place in Larnaca for the regular seazon.Next game will take place in Nicosia at the end of this week. In Kition arean, top performer was AEK's player Marko Kandic (203-F-79)

BMC AEK forces the decider after Kition win -by Nemanja Bjedov
Ivan Miceta (205-C/F-81)'s 35 points for Aspis APOEL was never going to be enough as the stubborn BMC AEK uoset the odds winning 86-79 in the second game of the first round of the playoffs on Monday night at the Kition Athletic Center in Larnaca.

The visitors controlled the game in the first period easily reaching 25-17 lead, but the hosts managed to level the score at 39 going to the half-time break. After trailing by one at the beginning of the last quarter Isaac Burton and Christopher Dunn scored some difficult lay-ups to provide their team with an unlikely victory.

Isaac Burton led BMC AEK with 26 points, while Charis Fantousis added 18. Iakovos Panteli and Marko Kandic had 16 and 10 points respectively.

Balsa Radunovic netted 16 points for Aspis APOEL, while Jo Jo Garcia chipped in with 14.

SOURCE: CyBasketball.com

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ESTONIA

FIBA EUROCUP: Rock and Ural Great tied 1:1 -by Janar Filippov

Ural Great Perm, former superclub from Russia, had a tough time against Estonian champions TU/Rock in Game 2 of FIBA EuroCup quarter-final but managed to take 68:61 victory and force a deciding Game 3. It will be playd in March 4th, in Tartu.


The hosts bounced back from a 75:78 loss in Game 1, starting with a 9:0 spurt in first five minutes. Rock came back thanks to their big men Cusworth and Talts and took the lead in 2nd quarter after a three-pointer from Tsintsadze. Three-pointers by Belov and Zozulin secured a 32:28 half-time lead for the hosts who were led by 11 points from Brindley Wright.
In 2rd quarter, Rock made a 10:2 run thanks to 2 three-pointers by Tein, and went ahead 38:36. Sadly for Estonian team, this was the last happy moment for them today. Ural Great made 3 three-point attacks in 2 minutes, combined an 14:0 run and went up by 12 points. They held a double-digit lead for most of the 4th quarter and back-to-back baskets from Zozulin secured the victory with two minutes left.

Wright led the hosts with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Wisniewski, Zozulin and Plisnic added 10. Cusworth led Rock with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Tein added 13. Rock made 25 three-point attempts.

In Game 1, Estonian champions led for the most of the time, showing very disciplined game in both offence and defence, whereas Ural Great tried to score from a long range and had managed to keep the game even only thanks to enormous shooting by Plisnic and successful hunting of offensive rebounds. Rock won the first half 40:37 and made an 11:1 run in 3rd quarter, going ahead 52:42. Three minutes later it was even, 53:53 but a three-pointer by hot-handed Tein took the 3rd quarter 59:54 for the hosts. He started the 4th quarter with another triple and with 7 minutes left to play, Rock led 69:54! But it was not over yet. Wright and Zozulin made most of the damage and with 3 minutes left, Rock led only 73:69. Wisniewski made a crucial 2+1 with 34 seconds left, cutting hosts' lead to three - 78:75. Kullamae missed on the next attack and perm had the chance to tie the game. Luckily for the hosts, Wright missed.

Tein scored 18 for the winners, Tsintsadze added 16, Cusworth and Kullamae 13. Janar Talts cheered the crowd with 6(!) blocks. Plisnic made 5 three-pointers and led his team with 19 points.



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FINLAND

KORISLIIGA: Torpan Pojat lost by 44 pts! -by Rauno Hurmalainen

Korisliiga, Round 34: Monday night, only one (TV)game, where # 1 Team Torpan Pojat (Helsinki) hosting and as the visitor YMCA Lappeenranta.
Yes, all folks saw on TV, that ToPo's game is in disorder right now. Team is missing Jerald Fields a lot. And Team needs quickly a good player to
replace Fields. There are only a few days time to find a new American player. ToPo did not have a slightest chance tonight vs Lappeenranta. The
game was over in 10 minutes. Visitor was better in everything. Rebounds 36-53 and shooting %: ToPo shot treys 9,5% (2/21)! Visitor's Pasi Riihela (199-F-75)
made six treys out of eight shots. Riihela finished with 34 pts.

Torpan Pojat - YMCA LPR 56-100 (22-53) (Iiro Tenngren 20, Josh Gonner 9 - Pasi Riihela 34/10, Ivan Harris 18).



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FRANCE

Player of the Week! Antonio Graves of Pau-Orthez -by Sean Davis


Antonio Graves (190-G-85, college: Pittsburgh) of Pau-Orthez is Eurobasket's France Pro A Player of
the Week for the second time! Graves went off scoring 40 very
important points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in a one-point road victory
over 1st place ASVEL. He also scored 7 of the last 9 points and hit
the game winning free throw with 5sec left to put Pau back in playoff
contention. Graves had an evaluation of 38 and his 40pts sets a
season high for points in a single game. He scored the 40pts on 12 of
19 shooting from the field, 3 of 5 from the 3pt line, and 13 of 15
from the free throw line. Graves is averaging 22.5ppg and 3apg in 7
games this season and in the month of February he averaged 26.5ppg and
should be a contender for player of the month.


Honorable Mention

Antywane Robinson (203-F-84, agency: Priority Sports, college: Temple) of Pau-Orthez had an outstanding game in a road win
over 1st place Nancy. Robinson scored 20pts while shooting 6 of 7
from the 3pt line and some very important baskets at critical points
in the game.

Robert Conley (198-G/F-77, college: Clayton St.) took over for ASVEL and almost led them to a win over
Pau, but fell just short. Conley got in foul trouble early but
bounced back to score 24pts, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.

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FYR MACEDONIA

Feni Industri successful in Bitola -by Todor Chalovski

Feni Industri gan a very valuable victory away from home, in Bitola, beating Swisslion Pelister 80:78 in a game from Round 23 in the First Macedonian league.

Zlatko Gocevski and Donald Cole led the scoring, with 18 points each for Feni Industri.

Champions Strumica 2005, playing without suspended players Miljan Pupovic and Ivan Bosnjak, beat easily Vardar Osiguruvanje 84:67.
Macedonian NT forward Dime Tasovski lead Strumica 2005 with 28 points.

Last season runners up Ferspred Rabotnicki suffer their fourth straight defeat, going down to Amak SP in Ohrid 78:83. Jarrid Frye scored 25, while Vojdan Stojanovski added 22 points for Amak SP.

MZT FON Univerzitet Skopje proved they are in a great form, beating bottom of the league Karpos Sokoli 2000 115:91.
Srdjan Zivkovic scored 26 points for MZT, while home crout favourite Muhamed Thaci scored 24.



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GEORGIA

Shermadini has 141 points in 3 games / Vita won its important game -by Levan Mikeladze
< 'Students' beat Aviators >
Avia convincingly won the first quarter, but after the big break they missed a lot of shots from the perimeter, had problems in defense and finally lost the game VS TSU. Giorgi Kvelashvili (202-F-83) got very important 6 offensive rebounds in the last quarter and was named as the MVP of this match.

< 'VITA'RCA DINAMOS SHINA >
Vita is doing very good and Tomaradze proved that in this round. Mikheil Berishvili (205-F-87, agency: Naiditch Entertainment) played amazing defense and finished the game with 4 block shots. Great play was showed by Giorgi Markhvashvili (190-G-85) as well.

< Gio's Show number 3 >
Giorgi Shermadini (216-C-89, agency: Life Sports) scores 43 points, 21 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 block shots. Despite of that, Jovan Stefanov (208-F-83, college: Ill.-Chicago) with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals, and Zviadi Babiashvili (200-F-78) 29 points and 3 rebounds, beat Maccabi T. No luck for outside shots of Maccabians. Only Shermadini, who hit the mid-range shot in the last second.

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GERMANY

Regionalliga Notes -by Moritz Korff
North
SSV Lok Bernau edged past UBC Hannover 77:76 at home and handed the Tigers the second loss of the season. However, this could have been crucial as league-leader P4two Ballers Osnabrueck earned a 114:106-overtime win at MBC Weissenfels. Thus, Osnabrueck is still on top, but now two points ahead of Hannover. Bernau was led by 24 points of Jermaine Robinson (188-G-81, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Cleveland St.) in the victory. David Arigbabu (203-C-75, agency: Court Side, college: Rhode Island) answered with 23 points for UBC. Osnabrueck's Lamar Morinia (183-G-81, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Montana St.-Northern) led all scores in the encounter against Weissenfels and drilled in 5 threes. He tallied 37 points. His teammate Aaron Fleetwood (206-F-84, college: Delaware St.) added 25, while hosting Weissenfels was paced by Cornell Kairies (193-F-80) (193-F-80) who produced 25 points.
SC Rist Wedel stormed past Central Hoops Berlin 107:78. Six Rist-players finished the game in double-figure scoring, led by Holger Jacobsen (203-C-80) and Kristof Schwarz (186-G-87) with 17 points apiece. Edwin Ofori Attah (192-G-85, college: William & Mary) had 27 points in the losing effort. EBC Rostock dropped to a relegation spot after falling short 80:86 to Oldenburger TB at home. Marco Adamczewski (192-F-81) got his job done from outside and nailed 7 treys. He had 24 points totally, Robert Schmidt (190-G/F-82) had 15 points when his Rostock team suffered the 4th loss in a row. The Itzehoe Eagles earned their 2nd straight victory by holding off SG Wolfenbuettel 98:71. Itzehoe's American trio John Waller (193-F-82, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: ODU), Tony Champion (208-C-80, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Sacramento St.) and Ivan Jenkins (180-G-83, agency: ProSportsCareers, college: Lambuth) combined for 73 points with Waller earning the topscoring honors once again. He had 34 points. Junior Denson (180-G-85, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement) led the Wolfenbuettel attack with 31 points.

West
Schwelmer Baskets and SVD 49 Dortmund are still head to head on top of the West-division after both teams came out victorious of their away-games this weekend. Schwelm overcame Salzkotten 77:58. Keith Harris (196-G/F-85, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Oklahoma Christian) netted 24 points, Kristofer Speier (206-F-81, college: Lewis-Clark) added 16, while Daniel Lieneke (200-G-81) put in 20 points for Salzkotten. Dortmund could again count on the scoring ability of Frank Benson (196-F, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Oklahoma Baptist). He finished with 31 points in a 79:73 win over the Bergheim Bandits. Even an outstanding performance of Chris Rodgers (186-G-81, college: Bucknell) who scored 37 points could not prevent the Bandits' loss. The Elephants Grevenbroich rolled over visiting Meckenheim for a 91:67 win and remain in 3rd place. Brian Graves (188-G, college: Catawba) was impressive with 19 points, 15 assists and 7 boards, Matthias Wojdyla (199-F-80) added 15 points in the win. BG Suedpark Bochum earned a narrow 89:86 victory over the NVV Lions Moenchengladbach. Bochum's Parrish Brown (185-G, college: Maryland) scored 27 points, Patrick Abraham (189-F-82) had 16. BSV Wulfen racked up its 5th victory within in the last 6 games and managed to hold off BG Hagen 93:75 at home. Wulfen-playmaker Rashad McSwine (180-G-83, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: St.Joseph, IN) topscored with 21 points, Isaac Jefferson (196-G/F-81, college: Hampton) had 17 points in defeat.

South-West
League-leading ASC Theresianum Mainz picked up a 94:80 win at TV Konstanz and improved to a 18:3-record. Anish Sharda (191-G-82, college: St.Mary) nailed 6 threes and tallied 24 points for Mainz, Michael Comick (191-G, college: Staten Island) and Ilija Ickert (201-C-81) (201-C-81) each added 19 points. Brian Lang (191-G-81, college: S.Nevada CC) answered with a game-high 31 points for Konstanz, Chris Fantroy (201-F-82, college: Tex.A&M-Comm.) scored 17 points in the loss. BC Groer Recycling Weissenhorn underlined its second spot in the league by defeating TSV Gruenberg 85:76 and got 25 points from Raheim Lamb (198-F-80, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Massachusetts), Monyea Pratt (195-F-85, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Stillman) added 17. Gruenberg's Robin Goltze (190-F-84) dropped 25 points, Alexander Atoberhan (189-G-85) had 19. One week after saying goodbye to championship-dreams the Schwenningen Panthers returned to success and held off VfB Giessen 77:68. Marco Schlafke (185-G-82) and Tomislav Topic (206-C/F-78) led the Panthers' point-production with 21 points apiece.
MTV Stuttgart ended a four-game losing streak when defeating Union Shops Rastatt 85:62. Stuttgart's Kresimir Miksa (194-F/G-72) scored a game-high 17 points, Thomas Wrobel (200-F/C) added 15. On the other end of the court Bernd Huebner (203-C-82) collected 16 points. After 5 wins and only one defeat in 2008 so far SG Heidelberg-Kirchheim fell short 69:78 at Kronberg. TS Goeppingen remains in danger of dropping out of the league at the end of the season as the team lost to Treis-Karden (61:72). Victor Morris (185-G-85, college: Cleveland St.) tallied 18 points for Goeppingen, Mensah Taylor (198-F-80, college: Gardner-Webb) scored 31 for Treis.

South-East
FC Bayern Muenchen stayed in a first place in the South-East with 104:74-win over Rattelsdorf. Bayern's David Rotim (197-F-85) poured in a game-high 21 points, Anton Kazarnovski (205-F/C-85, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement) added 18 points. Darryl Sommerset (206-F-84, agency: Weller Sports - Entertainment, college: Cent.Missouri St.) finished the game with 20 points in the Rattelsdorf squad.
Also chasing TG Renesas Landshut claimed another victory and knocked off BC Energie Zwickau 81:68 on the road. Landshut was led by its post-players Arnold Tchiegne (200-F-76) and Brandon Crawford (198-F/C-84, college: Albion) who scored 18 and 15 points respectively. Chris Brown (201-F-83, agency: Profibasketball.de, college: Chattanooga) posted a game-high 27 points for Zwickau. BiG Gotha stays in 3rd place though falling short at HSB Basket Landsberg (86:99). Landsberg's Ali Thomas (188-G-79, college: USF) nailed 6 treys and had 32 points totally, Larry Johnson (191-G-79, college: Niagara) (191-G-79, college: Niagara) netted 23 points, while Phillip Hillstock (202-F, college: Barber Scotia) and Michael Rost (183-G-85) each tallied 26 points for Gotha.
Hrvoje Pervan (203-F-84, college: Mercer) and Mike Moten (203-C-71, college: Rhode Island) each scored 18 points to lead the Baskets Wuerzburg to an 80:69-away win over TuS Jena. Oliver Golla (202-F-81) netted 16 points for the home side. The COOCOON Baskets Weiden improved to a 12:7-record after edging the Dresden Titans 99:96. Weiden's topscorer Stephen Cramer (188-G, college: Hope (MI)) netted 35 points, Jason Boucher (180-G-80, college: Grand Valley St.) added 26 points. Konrad Tota (196-F-80, college: Dickinson St.) connected on 6 3-pointers and scored 36 points for the Titans. The basketball-fans in Dachau saw an exciting game, when the hosting Spurs lost to BG Leistershofen/Stadtbergen 110:115 in double overtime. Dachau got 36 points from Calvin Wooten (186-G-84, college: Oakland), Benny Brendli (186-G-81) nailed 4 triples and tallied 18 points. The winners were led by Luke Kunkel (201-F/C-81, college: Rocky Mountain) with 30 points, Matt Benson (196-F-83, college: Point Loma) and Robert Rieplinger added 23 points apiece. FC Baunach hold off Breitenguessbach II on the road and claimed a 83:60-win. Manuel Bischof (183-G-85) tallied 20 points for Baunach, Angelos Plantzas (176-G-71) contributed 19 points, while Stefan Dinkel (183-G-89) led the Breitenguessbach offense with 26 points (including 6 3-pointers).

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GREECE

Kalafatakis: The new coach of AEL Larisa -by Kostas Papadopoulos
After Kostas Pilafidis resigned yesterday, after AEL's defeat from Olimpiada, many coach's names have been heard for his place. Giorgos Kalafatakis , though, was the one selected for this place. The ex-coach of Panellinios (he has been fired earlier this season) stated after the official agrrement with the team that his major goal until the end of this season is to lead the team back to the wins in order to achieve whatever it gets this season.
On other news from A1 championship, Giorgos Kalaitzis (195-G-76) has been announced as the MVP of the last day of the championship as a reward for his marvellous appearance last afternoon against Panathinaikos and his help (18 points, 2 steals, 5 assists) to Aris to get its first win after 6 games both at the championship and Euroleague

Kalaitzis broke Panathinaikos unbeaten record! -by Chris Mammides

After 16 weeks unbeaten, Panathinaikos lost the game in the Alexandreion Melathron and the deficit between Panathinaikoas and Olympiakos minimised. The reason of this defeat was simply an ex Green player, Giorgos Kalaitzis (195-G-76) was magnificent last night, the experienced ex Panathinaikos player was the MVP of the 17th week after his amazing performance against the permanent champions of Obradovic. Not only his points but his amazing passion, very good defence and truly leading role in Aris's team, Giorgos Kalaitzis was most certainly the man of the game and the man of the week. Giorgos Kalaitzis scored 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 asssits and 5 steals in 30 minutes with nearly perfectly shooting percentages. The final score was 82-75. The quarters of the game were: 23-19, 52-36, 65-63 and the final 82-75. Top scorer of the game was Jeremiah Massey (202-F-82, college: Kansas St.) who added another amazing game in his career, this time the American power forward stopped at 21 point and 12 rebounds with 2 steals and 2 block shots. Wright was also very good with his 20 points. On behalf of the worst team of Panathinaikos only the Lithuanian Sarunas Jasikevicius (192-G-76, college: Maryland) tried to continue the winning tempo of the Triple crowners by scoring 15 points followed by Dikoudis's 14.

In the other games of the 17th week we had the first victory of Coach Dragan Raca and Olympiada Patras over AEL 1964 which created a lot of troubles for the Larissa team, the very crucial victory of Kolossos Rodou over their rivals from Crete, Rethymno, the very important win of Coach Angelou and AEK Athens over Panionios and the road win of Coach Panagiotis Giannakis over his ex team Maroussi. The results and the top scorers were the following:

Olympiada Patras - AEL 1964 81-75

Top scorers: Necovic, Dewayne Jefferson (191-G-79, college: Miss.Valley St.) and Periklis Dorkofikis (206-F-80) 15 per head, Dragan Ceranic (212-C-76) 24 points.

Head Coach Kostas Pilafidis resign just after the game.

Egaleo - Panellinios 87-80

Top scorers: Prodromos Nikolaidis (201-F-78) 23, Anthony Grundy (189-G-79, college: N.Carolina St.) 20.

Kolossos Rodou - Rethymno 85-80

Top scorers: Giorgos Diamantopoulos (195-F-80) 17, David Young (196-G/F-81, college: N.C.Central) 30.

Olympia Larissas - PAOK 80-69

Top scorers: Mike King (193-G-78, college: George Washington) 25, Kutluay 17

AEK - Panionios 72-62

Top scorers: Christos Tapoutos (208-F-82) 18, Giannis Giannoulis (207-C-76) 14

Maroussi - Olympiakos 66-75

Top scorers: Jarod Stevenson (200-F-75, college: Richmond) 19, Costas Vasiliadis (200-G/F-84) 18.



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HOLLAND

MyGuide Amsterdam Too Much For Hanzevast Capitals In 2nd Half -by Sanders Jackson

Saturday's MyGuide Amsterdam-Hanzevast Capitals matchup in the Martiniplaza, was a Jekyll-and-Hyde type game, with MyGuide digging themselves out of a big 1st half hole, keeping their streak intact and winning convincingly 106-93. While MyGuide had a similar start like the Phoenix Suns did on Sunday versus the Detroit Pistons, being down 35-20 at the end of the 1st quarter (59-42 deficit at halftime),clearly the halftime trip to the locker room did the trick, with MyGuide turning into the Pistons and Hanzevast into the Suns the 2nd half, with MyGuide outscoring Hanzevast 31-16 in the 3rd to come within 75-73 at the end of the 3rd quarter, and finishing Hanzevast off in the last quarter with a 33-18 difference. Hanzevast had difficulties with the MyGuide wing combination of Jeron Roberts (194-G/F-76, agency: Gross Zeev ISA, college: Wyoming) and Sergerio Gipson (193-G/F-80, agency: 540 Sports, college: Arkansas) who combined to make 20 of 22 total free throws. Roberts scored a game-high 30 pts., with Gipson adding 24 and Mohammed Abukar (208-F-85, college: San Diego St.) scoring 20. In all, MyGuide shot 63.4% FG, made 9 of 17 threes and shot 27 of 32 from the free throw line. Kevin Melson (199-F-78, college: Wright St.) led Donar with 23 pts. It was MyGuide's 8th straight win and improves its record to 25-4, while Hanzevast falls to 16-12.

Rotterdam Challengers Win On Road In Leeuwarden -by Sanders Jackson

In Leeuwarden Rotterdam Challengers got off to a good start vs. Aris Friesland, leading 26-14 at the end of the 1st quarter and 47-29 at halftime, keeping Aris at bay throughout, going on to win 83-70. Djoenie Steenvoorde (195-G/F-81, agency: R.H.Consultancy) led all scorers with 22 pts., with new recent addition Frank Young (196-F-84, agency: Pro One Sports, college: W.Virginia) adding 17, and Chaz Twan Briggs (201-F-80, college: W.Virginia) adding 12 pts. and 12 rebounds. Lawrence Hamm (198-F-84, agency: Court Side, college: Towson) led Aris with 16 pts. The Rotterdammers forced 24 Aris turnovers. Rotterdam Challengers are now 15-12 and a half-game out of 5th place in the FEB standings.

Landstede Basketball On A Roll, Wins Over Matrixx Magixx -by Sanders Jackson

The team of Landstede Basketball head coach Herman van den Belt is playing excellent basketball lately, are a really hungry team now.

Saturday night in the ZBC-hal, thanks to a good start and solid leadership from leading scorer Darnell Wilson (198-F-85, college: Canisius), Landstede wins its 3rd in a row and 6 of last 8, winning over Matrixx Magixx by the score of 82-73. Wilson put on his hard hat and took his lunch pail, scoring a season-high 32 pts., with 12 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists. Wilson got good help from Robby Bostain (191-G/F-84, agency: Sports Plus International, college: Furman), who added 17 pts. and 5 assists, and Gerad Punch (193-G/F, college: Furman), who added 18 pts. with 4 three-pointers. Antoine Jordan (195-G-83, college: Siena) led Matrixx with 15 pts. Landstede also forced 27 Matrixx turnovers. With the win, Landstede continues its ascent in the FEB standings with a 12-17 record and a half-game from Upstairs Weert in the FEB standings.

West-Brabant Giants Win Thriller In Den Bosch -by Sanders Jackson

West-Brabant Giants are slowly gaining more and more confidence every week.

In the Maaspoort Sunday against defending Dutch champion Eiffel Towers, the West-Brabant Giants did not allow Eiffel to stand in their way for their quest for the Dutch championship, with a strong start helping their cause, weathering the storm in the 4th quarter, winning a 96-92 thriller. West-Brabant had leads of 52-41at halftime, 82-63 at the end of the 3rd quarter and held off a furious Eiffel 4th quarter rally. Patrick Pope (183-G-81, college: St.Augustine) led the Giants with 22 pts., with ' Mr. Double-Double' Devonne Giles (203-F-83, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: Texas Tech) adding his 21st double-double of the season, with numbers of 17 pts. and 10 rebounds. Darrell Tucker (206-F-80, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: USF) led all scorers with 26 pts., with Kees Akerboom (199-F-83, agency: Court Side) adding 21. West-Brabant Giants wins its 6th straight and improves to 21-9.

Den Helder Seals Snap Losing Streak, Win Over Upstairs Weert -by Sanders Jackson

Saturday night in Den Helder, Den Helders Seals snapped a seven-game losing streak, thanks to hot three-point shooting, including a hot 3rd quarter that gave them the upper hand throughout, winning over reeling Upstairs Weert by the score of 106-94. Den Helder made 13 of 24 three-pointers. J.R. Duffey (201-F/G-84, agency: Court Side, college: Niagara) scored 24 pts. to lead Den Helder, with Robert Kulawick (191-G-86) and Bradley Strickland (206-F/C-85, agency: Court Side, college: Evansville) adding 16 pts. each. Den Helder are now 4-24.

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IBL

SLAM ADD 3 EX-Vikings -by John Gary
courtesy oursportscentral.com The Bellingham Slam have strengthened their roster for the 2008 IBL season with the addition of three players that will be familiar faces to Whatcom COUNTY BASKETBALL fans . Forward LUkAS Henne and guards RYAN diggs and Paul Hafford have signed to play for the Slam this season. Making the announcement was Slam General manager Bob Hofstter.

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INDIA

Southern railway lifts title -by Anil Kumar
One thought life without star international Geethu Anna Jose would be would be tough for Southern Railway. But P.Anitha and Renjini Peter rose to the occasion nicely as the Chennai side defeated Mumbai's Western Railway 76-58 and won the women's title in the 14th YMCA all-India basketball tournament at the floodlit Nehru Stadium court here on Sunday evening. Geethu, who has given Southern Railway some big wins in the national circuit, is now playing in the Big-V professional league in Australia.

Though the final score this evening offered a one-sided picture, the league decider was close till half-time with Southern leading by just two points — 38-36 — at that point. But the Chennai side raced ahead soon after the break, with Anitha driving in smartly and scoring with some nice under-baskets. There was a nice rhythm and many shrewd moves in Southern's play, including a few bounce passes which caught the Western defence napping.

S. Kokila did a smart distribution job while Renjini was impressive with the rebounds. Anitha also kept Western's star Lincy Joseph on a tight leash and as the teams entered the final quarter, Southern had built up a 20 point lead.

The results: Women: League decider: Southern Railway, Chennai 76 (Renjini Peter 17, P.Anitha 23, Shyamala 18) bt Western Railway, Mumbai 58 (Reshmi Chengappa 18, Lincy Joseph 14).

Saturdays late matches: M en: Semifinals: Central Excise, Kochi 77 (Sunny Thomas 18, Eudrick Pereira 18, S.S. Deepu 13) bt Indian Bank, Chennai 63 (Amarnath Gopi 20).

Women's league: Southern Railway 40 (Anitha 11) bt Kerala 22 (Seena Joseph 11).

MEG enters final -by Anil Kumar
Lloyd Antony was in fine nick as defending champion Madras Engineering Group (MEG) crushed Army Service Corps 86-54 in an all-Bangalore encounter and entered the men's final of the 14th YMCA all-India basketball tournament at the Nehru Stadium here at Kottayam on Saturday.

In Sunday's final, MEG will play the winner of the semifinal between Indian Bank (Chennai) and Central Excise (Kochi).

In the women's section, Chennai's Southern Railway will meet Western Railway (Mumbai) in the league decider.

The results: Men's semifinal: MEG (Bangalore) 86 (Lloyd Antony 22, Tinu Joseph 13, Peter John 23) bt ASC (Bangalore) 54 (G.R.L. Prasad 17).

Friday's matches: League: Men: Group ‘A': MEG 83 (Tinu Joseph 23, Peter John 23, C. Sreedharan 20) bt Central Excise (Kochi) 64 (Sunny Thomas 30, Eudrick Pereira 17).

Women: South Western Railway (Hubli) 33 (Anu Mathew 15, Rajeshwary 10) bt Kerala 25.

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ITALY

Serie A Week 24: Upim beats Avellino seven days before the derby -by Luca Bianchin
Six days to the derby, Virtus and Fortitudo approach this key week with different feelings. Upim won in Avellino, defeating the hottest team in Serie A thanks to Stefano Mancinelli (202-F-83) and Horace Jenkins (186-G-74, college: William Paterson), able to combine for 34 points, while La Fortezza lost at home against a good Pesaro, that trailed even by 12 during the second quarter. Bad news for Virtus, bad news for Lottomatica: Roma lost the game (by 8 in Rieti) and the third place. For the fifth time in the season, no bad news for Varese, that found the perfect duo with Delonte Holland (201-F-82, college: De Paul) and Jaime Lloreda (201-F-80, agency: HM Sports Agency, college: LSU), top scorers in serie A for the week. Holland had 32 points, Lloreda added 26 and 19 rebounds: Cimberio prevailed over Angelico Biella after one, tough overtime. The challenge to avoid relegation, however, still seems very (too?) hard. In the other games of the week, Montepaschi Siena won the 22nd game easily defeating Legea Scafati with a 30-8 run in the second quarter, while Snaidero on Sunday night scored 100 points to beat Capo d'Orlando. Taking a look to the standings, playoff race reveals more and more interesting: Biella, Milano and Fortitudo divide the seventh spot with a 12-12 record.

Interperformances - Available Players. -by Interperformances
As of today, Interperformances is glad to announce that it has placed over 98 percents of its clients. Among the 2 percent of available clients most of them already had a job this season and they are looking now for a second job, having finished their respective season. We still have available great players of the like of former NBA Star Murray Lamond (201-F-73, agency: Interperformances, college: California) who is finishing his season in China, Rashad Phillips who did not meet the deadline to sign in Sopot and others such as the former Euroleague guard Nathan Erdmann and others that you can check inside our constantly updated web page. A page that will have the updated statistics of each players at the beginning of the next week.

Lega2-21th Day -by Gabriele Fioretti
German Scarone (190-G-75) and Omar Thomas (195-F-82, college: UTEP) scored 23 each but Rimini didn't win against Caserta (Randolph Childress (190-G-72, college: Wake Forest) at 26). Fabriano get success on Soresina (J.R. Reynolds (188-G-84, agency: Arik Krayn Services, college: Virginia) at 22 scored) thanks to 27 scored by Luis Flores (188-G-81, college: Manhattan). All the starting five in double figure, but Livorno lost at home against Ferrara (Francesco Foiera (207-C-75, agency: Interperformances) at 16 pts). Five players in double figure gave victory to Pavia on Montecatini (Mike Nardi (186-G-85, college: Villanova) at 20 pts). Novara (Hassan Adams (193-G-84, agency: David Lee services, college: Arizona) at 28 scored) resist at Sassari (Brent Darby (185-G-81, college: Ohio St.) 25 pts) until the ovetime when the team coached by Demis Cavina gain the victory. Janis Porzingis (201-F-82, agency: Stanley International) scored 22 but weren't enough for Pistoia that lost at Veroli (17+8 by Tyrone Grant (202-F-77, college: St.John's)). 28+14 by Otis George (205-C-81, agency: Beo Basket, college: Louisville) and Casale keep on running, while Jesi (David Moss (196-F-83, agency: SportsTalent, college: Indiana St.) at 15) is stopped by Reggio Emilia (Alvin Young (191-F-75, agency: SportsTalent, college: Niagara) at 14 scored).
Coopsette RN-Pepsi Caserta 82-92
Indesit Fab-Vanoli Soresina 80-75
TDShop.it LI-Carife FE 80-87
Edimes PV-Agr.Glo.Mont. 97-75
BancoSardegna-Ignis Novara 90-85
Prima Veroli-Carmatic PT 70-68
Fastweb Casale-Aget Imola 89-83
Trenkwalder RE-Fileni Jesi 76-58
See complete boxscores www.legaduebasket.it

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JAMAICA

Valpo survives double-overtime thriller against Miami (Ohio) -by Leonard Whyte
Valparaiso, IN (2-24-2008) - Freshman guard, Michael Rogers, took advantage of his first career start to record a career-high 10 points as Valparaiso University outlasted Miami (Ohio) University 99-94 in double overtime on Saturday night in a game broadcasted live on ESPN Classic. Rogers was very efficient in his 29 minutes as he went 4-of-6 from the field, including 1-of-2 from three-point range, and 3-for-3 from the free throw line. He also grabbed five rebounds. Valpo improved to 16-12 overall.

Tulsa extends winning streak to five games -by Leonard Whyte
Tulsa, OK (2-24-2008) - Center Jerome Jordan continues to be a force in the middle for the University of Tulsa and on Saturday night he produced another double-double (10 points and 13 rebounds) to help Tulsa win their fifth straight game, a 77-58 victory over Presbyterian University. Tulsa moves to 15-10 win the win. Jordan also had three blocks to raise his season total to 82 which is just four blocks shy of tying the school's single-season record.

Notre Dame earns share of AMC North Division title -by Leonard Whyte
South Euclid, OH (2-24-2008) - Notre Dame College (NDC) defeated Daemen College 84-72 on Saturday night to untangle a three-way tie atop the conference and earn at least a share of the American Mideast Conference North Division title in just the seventh year of its basketball program. After the game, NDC players cut down the nets in celebration of the feat. Center Karim McFarlane finished with nine points and forward Paul Spencer added six points and six rebounds for NDC who evened its overall record at 14-14 and improved to 7-3 in conference play.

Florida Southern clinches SSC title -by Leonard Whyte
Winter Park, FL (2-24-2008) - Andrei Grant and Florida Southern College (FSC) went from worse to first in just one season as they defeated Rollins College 80-76 on Saturday night to clinch the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) regular season title after finishing dead last one year ago. FSC became the first team in the 33-year history of the conference to have such a dramatic turnaround in just one season. This was the first league title for FSC since sharing the title in 2004, and their first out-right title since 2001. Rollins entered the game ranked #1 in the nation in three-point field goals made per game, and Florida Southern came in at #5, and when it was over both teams combined to sink 27 shots from beyond the arc. FSC (21-7, 12-3) plays its final regular season game on Wednesday against Tampa University.

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LIGA SUDAMERIC.

Libertad Sunchales and Flamengo won in day 1 -by Hector Lopez
Robert Battle (200-C-81, college: Drexel) netted 26 points and grabbed 15 reboudns leading Libertad Sunchales to beat Trouville 88-70 for the day 1 of the group B of the South American League. For Libertad Andres Pelussi added 20 points and for Trouville Thurman Zimmerman scored 19. The Argentinian team scored 31-17 in the third quarter to take the neccesary lead to defeat Trouville. Flamengo, from Brazil beat Millonarios, from Bolivia 121-43. For Flamengo Eduardo Machado (-F) (Duda) scored 22 points and Marcelinho 19. Libertad will play Flamengo and Trouville- Millonarios Tuesday.
FLAMENGO - 121 - Marcelinho 19, Helio 17, Wagner 6, Fernando 15, Fred 6, Duda 22, Maicon 11, MArcellus 4,Colonese 6, Alirio 15
MILLONARIOS 43 - Ichazu 0, Montellano 0, Espinoza 0, Torrez 0, Triver 16, Abratansi 13, A. Espana 4, Martinez 7, Mendoza 3, G. Espana 0, Vaquera 0
- - -
LIBERTAD 88 - Landoni 7, Moldu 10, Benitez 6, Muller 2, Pelussi 20, Ginobili 8, Saglietti 9, Battle 26.
TROUVILLE 70 - Rivera 12, Izuibejers 13, Trasante 8, Perez 6, Borges 5, Marichal 0, Aguilera 2, Campora 0, Bouzout 4, Zimmerman 19, Thomas 1

Malvin accepted to play the South American League -by Hector Lopez
Malvin from Montevideo agreed to play Group C of the South American League, hosted by Regatas Corrientes from Argentina, announced Hugo Couto, presidente of the Uruguayan League. Last week Malvin announced the team will not participate. But after several talks with the main officials from Malvin, they chand their minds and will be travelling on Wednesday, Couto said. Other teams will be Deportivo Tachira (Venezuela) and Sol de America (Paraguay).

LSB 2008 - Group A: Cocodrilos (VEN) ends undefeated, Boca in second place -by Francisco Vega

Caracas, Venezuela.- Cocodrilos de Caracas (Venezuela) ended at first place of Group A in Liga Sudamericana 2008, after successfully earning a triumph over Boca Juniors (Argentina) in matchday 3 at Naciones Unidas Park, with a final scoreboard of 91-79. Meanwhile, Universo BRB (Brazil) maintained options to advanced as one of the best lucky loosers squads in third place with a comfortable 120-68 victory over Regatas de Lima (Peru).

Cocodrilos de Caracas 91 - Universo BRB 79


COCODRILOS (VEN)= 91 (14+26+22+29)
, Kelley McClure (186-G-74) 20 points, Victor David Diaz (195-F-68) 14 points, Juan Herrera (197-F-81) 6 points, Luis Bethelmi (200-C-86) 12 points, Kevin Freeman (201-F-78) 4 points (Starting Five). Henry Paez (184-G-70) 14 points, Jesus Centeno (190-G-85) 0 points, Kevin Palacios (203-F/C-84) 15 points, Kenji Urdaneta (188-G-85) 3 points, Jhoyfer Diaz (196-F-87) 0 points, Rosmel Blanco (205-C-76) 0 points, Boris Urbina (195-G/F-84) 3 points. Coach: Nestor Salazar


BOCA JUNIORS (ARG)= 79 (19+14+24+21)

Gustavo Orona (196-G-75) 7 points, Luis Cequeira (180-G-85) 2 points, Leonardo Gutierrez (200-F-78) 18 points, Devon Ford (193-G-77) 20 points, Gabriel Fernandez (204-C-76) 3 points (Starting Five) Alejandro Alloatti (203-F/C-84) 11 points, Jamal Robinson (196-F/G-73) 7 points, Fernando Funes (193-G-83) 10 points, Juan Sartorelli (190-G-83) 1 point, Raymundo Legaria (178-G-80) 0 points, Federico Aguerre (203-F/C-88) 0 points, Leonel Schattmann (194-G-87) 0 points. Coach: Gabriel Picatto



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LITHUANIA

Interperformances Available Players. -by Interperformances
As of today, Interperformances is glad to announce that it has placed over 98 percents of its clients. Among the 2 percent of available clients most of them already had a job this season and they are looking now for a second job, having finished their respective season. We still have available great players of the like of former NBA Star Murray Lamond (201-F-73, agency: Interperformances, college: California) who is finishing his season in China, Rashad Phillips who did not meet the deadline to sign in Sopot and others such as the former Euroleague guard Nathan Erdmann and others that you can check inside our constantly updated web page. A page that will have the updated statistics of each players at the beginning of the next week.

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LUXEMBOURG

Etzella blasts Contern for the third straight win -by Eurobasket News
Etzella continued to steer in the DBBL after shooting down Contern 60:47 at home court. The defense appeared to be a key for Etzella early on as they limited the visitors to 6 points in the first frame. Etzella piled up a 22:6 advantage and controlled the tempo. The home team obviously shifted to a lower gear after the intermission and Contern used it to trim the gap by 4 points. It however had little impact on the complexion of the game as Etzella dominated every aspect of the encounter and pretty soon restored a 16-point buffer to take a sigh of relief. They coasted to an overall victory in the fourth term and secure their 3rd win in a row in the second part of the championship. Nelson Delgado (185-G-80) was productive with 22 points, 5 assists and 5 boards for Etzella. Marcus Kennedy (193-F-84, college: Montevallo) accounted for 12 points and 11 boards in a winning case. Yves Braun (194-F-76) answered with 17 points for Contern.
In the meantime Sparta finally skipped their losing skid bruising Residence 87:77 away from home. Larrie Smith (195-F-75, college: Tennessee Tech) was topscorer for Sparta with 36 points and 8 boards to return Sparta to winning ways. Christian Wulff (181-G-75) contributed 18 points for the visitors. Will Brand (196-F-80, agency: Scorers 1st Sportmanagement, college: Albany) responded with 22 points and 11 boards for Residence. Yannick Julien (195-C-84) buried 17 points in a loss. Sparta led by just a single point at halftime 45:44 but strong second half helped the defending champs celebrate a vital victory at the end. They face the league leaders Etzella in the next round showdown.
Musel Pikes outlasted Amicale 73:63 behind 21 points and 9 boards from Samy Picard (195-F-88). Chris Braier (195-F-84, agency: Rasmussen Services, college: Lawrence) tallied 19 points and 13 boards in a win. Sam Ney (194-F-87) answered with 16 points for Amicale.

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NBA

Tracy McGrady scores 24 points as Houston rolls to the 12th straight win -by Eurobasket News
The Houston Rockets continued their impressive run in the West as they registered the 12th consecutive and the 16th victory in the last 17 games. Tracy McGrady (6'8''-G/F-79) nailed 24 points and issued 8 assists as the Rockets handled the refurbished Chicago Bulls. The game was pretty close throughout three quarters before the hosts got off in the fourth frame. Veteran guard Bobby Jackson (6'1''-G-73, college: Minnesota), who was recently acquired from the New Orleans Hornets, tallied 5 consecutive points for Houston to build an 84:74 lead. Later Shane Battier (6'8''-F-78, college: Duke) exploded with three straight treys to give the home team an insurmountable 16-point buffer. Seven Houston players scored in double figures. Luis Scola (6'9''-F/C-80) scored 17 points, while Bobby Jackson netted 14 points in 19 minutes off the bench. Tyrus Thomas (6'8''-F-86, agency: Elfus-Siegel Management (ESM), college: LSU) answered with 18 points, 6 boards and 5 assists for the Bulls. Larry Hughes (6'5''-G-79, college: St.Louis) and Drew Gooden (6'10''-F-81, college: Kansas) made their debut for Chicago. Hughes accounted for 13 points, while Gooden finished with 12 points and 8 boards.
The Lakers extended their winning streak to 8 games as they swamped Seattle 111:91 at the Key Arena. Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) was ejected late in the third frame receiving his second technical foul but it was of little help to the Supersonics. By the time they trailed by as many as 31 points and simply floated towards the end of the game. Kobe Bryant managed to accumulate 21 points and 10 assists before getting ejected. Pau Gasol (7'0''-F/C-80) scored 22 points, while Lamar Odom (6'10''-F-79, college: Rhode Island) secured 19 points and 11 boards for the winners. Mickael Gelabale (6'7''-F-83) produced career-high 21 points and 8 boards. Seattle missed Chris Wilcox (6'10''-F/C-82, college: Maryland) and Donyell Marshall (6'9''-F-73, college: Connecticut) as both were sidelined being sick.
Meanwhile the new-look Cleveland were impressive bringing down Memphis 109:89 at home. With 4 new faces on the squad the Cavs got rolling straight away dismantling the Grizzlies. Ben Wallace (6'9''-C-74, college: Virginia Union) started in the power forward position and notched 12 points and 10 boards. Delonte West (6'4''-G-83, college: St.Joseph's) also was awarded a starting five spot and contributed 5 points, 6 assists and 3 steals. Joe Smith (6'10''-F-75, college: Maryland) and Wally Szczerbiak (6'6''-F-77, college: Miami, OH) came off the bench and teamed up for 24 more points to carry the Cavs to the 32nd win in the season. LeBron James (6'8''-F-84) delivered 25 points and 11 assists for resurging Cleveland.

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PANAMA

Lloreda top scorer of the week in Italy -by Miguel Sanchiz
Six days to the derby, Virtus and Fortitudo approach this key week with different feelings. Upim won in Avellino, defeating the hottest team in Serie A thanks to Stefano Mancinelli (202-F-83) and Horace Jenkins (186-G-74, college: William Paterson), able to combine for 34 points, while La Fortezza lost at home against a good Pesaro, that trailed even by 12 during the second quarter. Bad news for Virtus, bad news for Lottomatica: Roma lost the game (by 8 in Rieti) and the third place. For the fifth time in the season, no bad news for Varese, that found the perfect duo with Delonte Holland (201-F-82, college: De Paul) and Jaime Lloreda (201-F-80, agency: HM Sports Agency, college: LSU) top scorers in serie A for the week. Holland had 32 points, Lloreda added 26 and 19 rebounds: Cimberio prevailed over Angelico Biella after one, tough overtime. The challenge to avoid relegation, however, still seems very (too?) hard. In the other games of the week, Montepaschi Siena won the 22nd game easily defeating Legea Scafati with a 30-8 run in the second quarter, while Snaidero on Sunday night scored 100 points to beat Capo d'Orlando. Taking a look to the standings, playoff race reveals more and more interesting: Biella, Milano and Fortitudo divide the seventh spot with a 12-12 record.

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PARAGUAY

1° de Mayo wins Pilar League -by Gianni Pascucci
Led by Gustavo Torres (175-G-80), 1 de Mayo defeated America 82-74 in Game 4, becoming the 2008 Pilar League champion, as it was expected after that the blue and garnet team had won Game 3. The game, however, ended in an unexpected way, because America de Pilar officials decided to retire their team from the court with only few seconds before the final buzzer in consequence of some contested calls from the referees.

Pilar League Awards -by Gianni Pascucci
At the end of the decisive Game 4, the individual awards of the Pilar Regional League 2008 were given as follow:
Most Valuable Player: Gustavo