EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 3/13/2008

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Men News

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AUSTRALIA

Sydney survives test in Melbourne, forces decider -by Eurobasket News
Melbourne Tigers - Sydney Kings 87:90

The regal fourth frame from the Kings allowed them to stay alive in the NBL Grand Final series against the Melbourne Tigers. The Kings headed into Game 4 in Melbourne trailing 1-2 in the series and faced a must-win clash to stay in the title race. The Tigers however were all aimed at putting on the crown today and looked just good enough for it throughout three quarters. But it was unworthily for the Kings to lay down just like that. A sizzling performance from Brian Goorjian 's outfit saw the visitors trimmed the deficit and finally claim an impossible 90:87 win at the end. Chris Anstey (213-C-75) scored 9 points in the opening frame to load pressure on the Kings but they stood up to the challenge and found the way to stay on level terms with the hosts 24:24 at the first break. Mark Worthington (202-F-83, college: Metro St.) scored quick 4 points for the Kings to open the second period but Melbourne quickly regained the momentum and surged ahead. Even with Chris Anstey on the bench the Tigers marched into the long break with a 48:42 cushion. Chris Anstey reappeared in the third period to launch a trey and when Sean Lampley (201-F-79, college: California) dunked to put the spectators on their feet the hosts enjoyed a 57:48 advantage. Chris Anstey knocked down two more back-to-back trebles and Melbourne rolled to a comfortable 18-point lead. Brian Goorjian played his last trump card introducing unhealthy Dontaye Draper (180-G, college: Charleston) into the game. The best sixth man around had his hamstring injured and was advices out of action for this one. But Brian Goorjian had little options and risked putting Dontaye Draper on the court. It worked just well. An American import improved ball movement around the perimeter and started to find open shots for his teammates. The Kings accounted for the last 5 points in the frame but still trailed by 13 points heading into the fourth period. Sydney jumped at the opportunity as Melbourne loosened the grip early in the fourth. Isiah Victor (206-F-78, college: Tennessee) and Dontaye Draper masterminded a terrific comeback effort from the visitors and the Kings squared things up late in regulation. Sean Lampley then missed two free throws, while Luke Kendall (193-G-81, college: Metro St.) was deadly from the stripe to put the Kings in front. It all came down to the last seconds as Sydney were up by 3 points but Chris Anstey had a chance to force the game into overtime. However his three-pointer went off mark sending the series into the decisive fifth game. It is scheduled for Friday in Sydney.
Isiah Victor came up with 23 points and 9 boards for the Kings. Mark Worthington finished with 16 points and 7 boards, while Jason Smith (194-G-74) secured 14 points for the winners. Chris Anstey tallied 33 points and 8 rebounds for Melbourne. Dave Thomas (204-G/F-76, college: Michigan St.) and David Barlow (205-F-83, college: Metro St.) had 12 points apiece in defeat.

Melbourne: Chris Anstey 33, Dave Thomas 12, David Barlow 12
Sydney: Isiah Victor 23+9 boards, Mark Worthington 16, Jason Smith 14

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BAHRAIN

Sitra in Final 4 -by Yousef Ahmed

SITRA secured the final Golden Square semifinal berth with a hard-earned 73-63 win over defending champions Al Ahli last night in the Bahrain Basketball League.

The victors used a gritty end-game performance to take control of a see-saw second half, and later held on to a narrow lead before blowing the game wide open with a 10-2 run to the final buzzer.

Professional Jamal Jamel Coachman (204-C/F-79, college: Oklahoma Baptist) from the US spearheaded Sitra in the game, scoring 19 of his game-high 36 points in the final two quarters.

The result earned them their 11th win in 17 games, and ensured their place in the final four with one game still to play. Sitra hold a tie-break against rivals Nuwaidrat should both teams finish with similar records at the end of the preliminaries.

'It feels great to be back in the Golden Square,' veteran Bahraini head coach Najah Isa told the GDN. Isa led the team to two appearances in the semifinal round during a 13-year stint as head coach before leaving his duties a few seasons ago. He only returned to the team's bench at the start of this season.

'We played a very good game tonight especially on defence, which allowed us many fast break opportunities in the end, which helped us take the win,' Isa said. 'Our players did a great job, and they deserve it for playing as a team.' Sitra took a narrow 32-29 lead at the break but lost it in the third quarter after a strong start to the half by Ahli's American import Jamal Holden. Younis Hassan then made a triple from the right corner to break a 44-all deadlock and give Sitra the lead for good.

Ahli were able to cut the deficit to just one point twice in the payoff period, but baskets from Hassan and burly forward Abdulaziz Abdulbaqi helped Sitra keep their lead before they closed out the game with a 10-2 run.

Jamel Coachman also took down 19 rebounds in the game. Hassan finished with 13 points while point guard Ahmed Marhoon had 11. Holden finished with 28, but was Ahli's only player to score in double figures. They stayed in second place on the table behind leaders Manama with 15 wins.

In yesterday's other game, Al Hala beat Al Najma 82-59.

SOURCE GDN

Standings
Premier League Standings
1. Al Ahli 16-2
2. Al Manama 15-3
3. Muharraq 13-5
4. Sitra 11-7
5. Nuwaidrat 10-8
6. Al Hala 9-9
7. Al Ittihad 6-13
8. Issa Town 4-14
9. Al Najma 4-14
10. Bahrain Club 1-17


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BARBADOS

McDonald's season highs lift Warriors over Sonics -by Justin Marville
Just two weeks into the season and Corey McDonald is already making his case for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

The Warriors prolific swingman poured in BABA season highs of 29 points and 14 rebounds on Tuesday to lead his side to a last minute 67-64 victory over Roll-A-Way Storm and Security Shutters St. John's Sonics in a battle of the two undefeated teams in the Sprite/BOA Premier League at the Wildey Gymnasium.

Undoubtedly the island's best two-way player, McDonald followed up performances of 27 points and 13 rebounds against Deacons and 27 points and 14 boards versus the double crowned champs Lakers with yet another dominant showing while going head to head with the reigning MVP Jefferson Trotman.

However, for the second successive fixture the Warriors would have to wait until the game's final possession to secure victory despite their franchise player's season's best performance.

Leading 50-44 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Warriors struggled to protect the ball against the opposition's stifling defensive pressure early in the period as the Sonics forced several turnovers which they converted into points in transition behind Rommel Garnes and Philip Harewood.

The duo would spark a 13-4 St. John's run to give their side a slim three point advantage midway through the fourth as the Warriors encountered problems containing the Sonics' small line-up in the open floor.

Despite great man-to-man defence from Trotman, McDonald did his best to keep the Dayrell's Road side in the contest, scoring his team's first six points in the period by working his way to the basket and the free throw line.

But the versatile swingman's efforts proved futile as his team failed to slow down Harewood at the other end of the floor, with the former Spartans forward exploding for nine fourth quarter points to maintain the Sonics' three point lead, 62-59, with just over two minutes to play.

However, the Warriors would get a lucky break when Harewood fouled out at the 2:06 mark after picking up two quick, ill-advised fouls leaving the St. John's squad with no recognised ‘big men' on the floor.

Reserve forward Anthony Bynoe quickly seized the opportunity.

With the Warriors frontline already causing problems on the offensive glass the entire night, Bynoe took advantage of the Sonics' lack of size in the key, scoring back-to-back baskets in the paint sandwiched around a Trotman jumper to pull the Warriors within one.

St. John's would completely fall apart from there, missing four straight free throw attempts while unnecessarily putting McDonald at the charity stripe by fouling him while attempting to bring the ball out of backcourt.

McDonald predictably gave the Warriors the lead at 65-64 with 26.3 seconds to go, then the Sonics missed two more free throws leading to guard Nicholas King getting away for an uncontested lay-up at the other end to stretch the advantage to three with only a couple seconds left on the clock.

Trotman sprinted the length of the court and got away a decent attempt from behind the arc on the right wing but only managed to draw iron as time expired with two defenders draped all over the six foot shooting guard.

Harewood led St. John's with 20 points, Garnes and Trotman finished with 16 and 15 points respectively while Bynoe was the only other Warriors player in double digits with 10.

National shooting guard Zahir Motara scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Lumber Company Lakers erased a 12 point deficit in the final period before coming away 89-83 victors in overtime against British American Insurance Jackson.

Adrian Stewart led the way with a team high 19 points while guards Derek Browne and Adrian Allman chipped in with 13 and 11 points respectively. For Jackson, Peter Alleyne led all scorers with 21 points, Ricardo Boyce and Kirk Porte both added 19 and Shemiele Balgobin netted 10 points.

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BELGIUM

Various News -by Peter Buyse

Telindus Oostende easily beat Liege in a makeup game from Rd 17. Oostende wanted payback after this past weekend's big loss at today's opponent.
Today there was no doubt who wanted the win the most, after a rather even 1st quarter, Oostende outscored Liege 26-12 to set the tone for this game.
Oostende never looked back from there and came away with the needed home win. The win puts them back in a tie for 1st place with Charleroi.

In news from Antwerp Giants, their management has announced that present head-coach Sven van Camp will not be coaching the team next season and will go back to his assistant coaching duties.

They have also announced the signing for 3 years of promising young player Thomas Lamot. Lamot is considered one of the leading candidates for young player of the year.

Standings - Division I
D1 Standings
1. Charleroi 17-7
2. Oostende 17-7
3. Bree 17-6
4. M.Hainaut 16-8
5. Liege 15-8
6. Verviers-Pep. 11-13
7. Aalstar 10-14
8. Antwerp 8-16
9. Leuven 5-19
10. Gent 4-20


Stats Leaders - Division I
D1 Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1. Emmett - Liege - 24.3
2. Wilson - Verv - 18.8
3. Freeman - Gent -17.7
4. Perkins - Bree - 16.5
5. Lojeski - Aalst - 16.1
6. Lewis - Leuven - 15.9
7. Jacobson -Bree- 15.6
8. Miller - Gent - 15.6
9. Gonzales - Aal - 15.3
10. Gray - MH - 15.2
Rebounds Per Game
1. Turek - Gent - 10.2
2. Fisher - Bree - 10.1
3. Cantrell - Aalst - 8.6
4. Pelle - Liege - 8.3
5. Poole - Aalst - 7.3
6. Ebong - Mons - 7.3
7. Riddick - Charl - 7.0
8. Hodge - Bree - 6.3
9. Massot - Verv - 6.1
10. Ovcina - Oost - 6.4
Assists Per Game
1. Perkins - Bree - 5.1
2. Conlan - Mons - 3.9
3. Jordan - Char - 3.7
4. Van Rossom - O - 3.4
5. Wilson - Verv - 3.1


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BELIZE

Last Regular Season Games in U-26!!! -by David Magana

Thursday 06 March at UB Stadium Belmopan
UB Black Jaguars 67 The Future 54 - The win secured UB as the #3 seed in playoffs.
Top Scorers
UB - Travis Lennon 21 pts / 5 rebounds / 1 assist / 6 steals
Stephen 'Muerte' Williams 11 pts / 11 rebounds / 5 assists / 1 block / 2 steals
Future - Winston 'Air Jun' Pratt 23 pts / 5 rebounds / 2 assist / 2 steals
MIchael 'Whiskey' Staine 10 pts / 11 rebounds / 1 block / 3 steals

Friday 07 March at Civic Center
Complex Bombers 20 Belmopan Tuff e Nuff 0
Belmopan was a no show for their last game of the season

Mesop. Guardian Bombers 73 The Future 57 - The win secured Mesop the #4 seed in the playoffs
Top Scorers
Mesop. - Orlando 'Police' Bowen 25 pts / 12 rebounds / 1 assist / 2 blocks / 4 steals
Egbert 'Eggy' Walford 14 pts / 3 rebounds / 1 assist / 2 blocks / 1 steal
Future - Winston 'Air Jun' Pratt 21 pts / 4 rebounds / 1 assist / 1 block / 1 steal
Michael 'Whiskey' Staine 11 pts / 6 rebounds / 2 steals
After a 5-0 start 'The Future' were only able to muster 3 more wins of their remaining 9 games, including a 3 game losing streak to end the season that eliminated them from the playoffs.

Belize Bank Junior Bulldogs 55 Lake I Boyz 53
Top Scorers
Bze Bank - Darwin 'Puppy' Leslie 17 pts (11-ft's) / 18 rebounds / 6 blocks / 2 steals
Densmore 'Denz' Edwards 13 pts / 3 rebounds / 1 assist / 1 block / 1 steal
Lake I - Tyrone 'Joka' Edwards 22 pts / 5 rebounds / 4 steals
Ashton 'Koolie' Edwards 14 pts / 6 rebounds / 1 block / 1 steal

Playoff Schedule as follows:

Monday - 17 March 2008, 7:00 pm at Civic Center
#2 Lake I Boyz (10-4) vs #3 UB Black Jaguars (10-4)
#1 Belize Bank Junior Bulldogs (13-1) vs #4 Mesop. Guardian Bombers (9-5) - Mesop gave Bze Bank their only loss

Tuesday - 18 March 2008, 7:30 pm at UB Stadium Belmopan
#3 UB Black Jaguars (10-4) vs #2 Lake I Boyz (10-4)

Wednesday - 19 March 2008, 7:00 pm at Civic Center
#4 Mesop. Guardian Bombers (9-5) vs #1 Belize Bank Junior Bulldogs (13-1)
#2 Lake I Boyz (10-4) vs #3 UB Black Jaguars (10-4) - If necessary

The University of Belize Qualifies to Semis in Central American Games!!! -by David Magana
Presently the Univeristy of Belize is participating in the II Central American University Sport Games named JUDUCA in Costa Rica hosted by the Univeristy of Costa Rica. UB was placed in a tough group along with the University of Honduras, the University of Costa Rica and the Autonomous University of Chiriqui of Panama. In the first game UB won against the University of Honduras 58-45. The UB guys played well considering that they arrived late Sunday night and played at 8 am Monday morning. Stephen Williams (188-G-83) led the team in scoring -16pts,11-rbs. Travis Lennan had 13 pts and 10 rbs. Stephen and Farron Lauriano had a crowd pleasing dunks!!
The seconda day, UB went out to play the home fans - University of Costa Rica and beat them 68-52. The game started off slow for UB. They were down 19-9 at the end of the 1st quarter. The second quarter went well. They tired them down with they pressing and went up 32-29 and stretched the lead in the third quarter. Stephen williams started the quarter with a alley-oop dunk that brought the Costa Rica crowd to there feet. The 4th quarter went well and Farron Lauriano and Stephen Williams had 4 dunks. The little fans UB had there really made a lot of noise and with their style they even got some new fans after the game. The guys played well as a team. UB had 5 players in double figures in scoring. Stephen Williams- 15pts, 15rbs, 8 blocks (great game), Travis Lennan-13pts, 10rbs, Farron Lauriano- 10pts, 8 rbs, Lennox Bowman (180-G)- 12 pts., 4 steals, Jorett Jones- 11 pts, 3 steals.
Today UB won again by 72-67. Our guys played great. It was another total team effort. The Autonomous University of Chiriqui were big and strong but UB used their press and hustle to out play them. UB now has a lot of new fans from Costa Rica now because they love the way they play. Stephen Williams led us with 20 pts, 11 rbs, 6 blocks. Lennox Bowman had 13 pts, 5 steals and Travis Lennan had 11 pts, 8 rbs. The rest of the guys really played well also.
We play The National University of Panama tomorrow at 4 pm in the semifinals. The winner plays for gold medal on saturday. They have 4 guys that play on the Panama Senior National Basketball Team. They are very good. We will battle and hustle to win. Good luck to our young guys!!!


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BRAZIL

Supercopa de Basquete Round 2: Results and Standings -by Gustavo Cardoso
Game Results:

Thursday, March 6th

Bauru 67-92 Franca
Marcel Fortuna (BAU) 18 pts; Rogerio Klafke (FRA) 24 pts
Pinheiros 85-80 Araraquara

Friday, March 7th

Bauru 73-74 Franca
Marcel Fortuna (BAU) 19 pts; Marcio Dornelles (FRA) 22 pts
Pinheiros 111-113 Araraquara

Assis 92-76 Limeira
Nezinho dos Santos (ASS) 29 pts; Renato Pinto (LIM) 20 pts
Sao Jose 77-81 Paulistano

Saturday, March 8th

Sao Jose 75-89 Paulistano
Guilherme Alves (PAU) 19 pts
Assis 101-97 Limeira
Nezinho dos Santos (ASS) 28 pts; Brian Taylor (LIM) 27 pts

Monday, March 10th

Paulistano 90-68 PInheiros
'Dede' Stefanelli (PAU) 36 pts; Gustavinho (PIN) 17 pts
Franca 98-75 Assis
William Drudi (204-C-81) (FRA) 19 pts; Nezinho dos Santos (ASS) 18 pts
Limeira 89-72 Araraquara
Brian Taylor (LIM) 26 pts; Cezar (ARA) 18 pts
Sao Jose 71-70 Bauru
Bernardo (BAU) 18 pts

Tuesday, March 11th

Paulistano 92-71 Pinheiros
'Dede' Stefanelli (PAU) 18 pts; 'Paulinho' Boracini (183-G-84) (PIN) 20 pts
Franca 86-80 Assis
Marcio Dornelles (FRA) 19 pts; Ricardo Probst (ASS) 23 pts
Limeira 72-82 Araraquara
Brian Taylor (LIM) 19 pts; Jussa (ARA) 19 pts
Sao Jose 75-66 Bauru
Deivisson Costa (210-C-80) (SJO) 17 pts; Daniel File (BAU) 14 pts

Standings

(1) Paulistano 12 pts (6W-0L)
(2) Franca 12 pts (6W-0L)
(3) Assis 10 pts (4W-2L)
(4) Limeira 9 pts (3W-3L)
(5) Araraquara 8 pts (2W-4L)
(6) Sao Jose 8 pts (2W-4L)
(7) Pinheiros 7 pts (1W-5L)
(8) Bauru 6 pts (0W-6L)

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CAMEROON

Interview with Okala Blaise -by Yann Tientcheu

African basketball has a monument in the person of Blaise Okala, who marked several generations of basketball players both in Cameroon and in Africa. Okala Blaise is a legend of the basketball court, who will always be remembered for his pure talent and agreeable personality. His accessibility and authenticity touched more than one soul and he is considered by many as the best player of ALL-TIME in Cameroon. He is part of an elite class and breed of basketball players that counts special imdividuals such as Joe Touomou, Ndeh Edson and others. The new generation including players such as Bitee Parfait (Rhode Island University), Luc Richard Mbah A Moute (UCLA), Wilfried Fameni (Virginia Commonwealth University) and Patrick Mbouli (Manhattan college) can undoubtedly acknowledge the influence Okala Blaise had and still has on their game, and it is just an honor for Eurobasket.com, African basketball and Cameroonian basketball to secure the man's seat in history through the present interview. Here is one of the greatest African guards who ever played the game.

Eurobasket.com: How were you introduced to basketball?
Okala Blaise: Well, I was lucky enough to live across the street of the University of Yaounde I campus, which was equipped with a basketball court. It is there that I debuted in basketball with one of my peers called Dihep (surname). That is how my passion for basketball was given breath and basketball has been a part of my life ever since/

Eurobasket.com Who or what was influential for you in the building of the phenomenal player you ended up becoming?
Okala Blaise: The worldwide impact of American basketball was already pronounced enough at that time and fueled the athletic dreams of many kids. I was influenced by it too.

Eurobasket.com Did you have a favorite player growing up?
Okala Blaise: My favorite players were Magic Johnson, the mythical guard of the Los Angeles Lakers, and Michael Jordan.

Eurobasket.com Best memory as a basketball player?
Okala Blaise: I will have to say that I have lot of them. Competing in many international tournaments and especially being named Most Valuable Player nationally and best scorer of several international events among a plethora of great players are unforgettable memories. There is no better feeling than being best continental player.

Eurobasket.com Do you think that Cameroonian basketball has grown?
Okala Blaise: Basketball has changed quite a bit. Many changes have occurred both at the administrative level (officers in charge) of the Basketball Federation and the Sports Ministry. However, it is important to specify that there is still a notable lack of infrastructure even though talents are abounding.

Eurobasket.com: Who according to you is the Cameroonian player most likely to make it to the NBA?
Okala Blaise: There is a respectable number of player standing the chance to make it to the NBA: Mbah A Moute of UCLA for instance. Several others can be named here, but my ultimate hope is to see them make it all.

Eurobasket.com: Who was your toughest rival on the basketball court?
Okala Blaise: I faced strong competition throughout my career from players such as NGAMBI (very good point guard) of SNEC BASKETBALL, NDEH EDSON, JOE TOUOMOU, DJADJO and many others. I will have to add that going against JOE TOUOMOU helped me raise my game. He had one of the toughest and most elaborated training. We were buddies but competitors on the court. We were teammates both in the National team and in club and needless to say that it was always better to have as a teammate.

Eurobasket.com: Can you give us some names Cameroonian basketball should honor?
Okala Blaise: Many people laid the foundation of Cameroonian basketball before me, and I truly believe that they should be honored. Our thoughts should go to all the people who served Cameroonian basketball, both administrators and players and especially those who died during office.

Eurobasket.com: What is your take on the historical accomplishment of the National Basketball team in the latest African game in Angola?
Okala Blaise: Every fan of Basketball in Cameroon gladly welcomed the title of Runner-up Champion grabbed by the national team at the African Games. Reaching the final stage of the competition was a prowess for the National Team given the hardships encountered during the preparations. Our latest medal in international competition, before the Angolan African Games was the one acquired in Ivory Coast by the Junior National team, other than that, Cameroon has been absent from all the international competition. With the recent achievement of the Cameroonian national team, regional basketball can now rely on the indomitable lions.
Eurobasket.com: What do you think the national Team needed to be Champion?
Okala Blaise: There was a need of better preparation and it is not a new concern. I believe great performances can be expected from our national team if adequate conditions of training are provided. The lack of regular involvement in international competition is also another obstacle to the National Team's success. Being regularly challenged internationally will boost the confidence of the National team and make it more competitive.

Eurobasket.com: What do you think Cameroonian basketball, as a whole, need to be more competitive in Africa and worldwide?
Okala Blaise: For Cameroonian basketball to be competitive in Africa and worldwide there are several conditions to bring about. The need of athletic structures pursuing players' development is essential. Moreover, Infracstrures such as gymnasiums, which are lacking tremendously, should be more available; to be counted among the best takes and requires retraining opportunities for our coaches and training programs for our players for them to be ready to face international adversity and make a name of ourselves in the world of basktball.
Eurobasket.com: Can you give us the first team All-cameroon of all time that would include you?
Okala Blaise: I will have to say that there are lot of players who deserve to be in that 5 but I will have to go with Okala (Okapio), Joe (Nguinda), Zanguim (Debo), Nghoguia (Rambo), Ekitti Camille (Dihep) and a lot more if possible.
Eurobasket.com.com: What is according to you the best clug you ever played for and why?
Okala Blaise: 'Dreamstore' of Yaounde was the best club I played for in my career. It was the best basketball club of our capital for several years and playing for Dreamstore I was 5 times Cameroon Champion and several time Player Of The Year in Cameroon. 'Dreamstore' Wasn't just a team, it was also a family. A family well bounded with a good atmosphere and more importantly, lot of heart when it came to face great team such as CAFIS, ONPC, BEAC and many others. Joe Touomou was my teammate during my years with 'Dreamstore'
Eurobasket.com: Many consider you as the best player of all time in Cameroon and firmly believe that you could have made it to the NBA (Joe Touomou believe so too). What did you need to have a professional career?
Okala Blaise: I don't know about the NBA (clearly flattered). Good player, yes I was…but the the NBA!!! I believe that to make it to the NBA, some qualities are required from a player. It is certainly true that I could have been a NBA player but I didn't have the luck necessary to reach that stage because my family didn't have the financial means necessary for me to increase my chances. I especially think that my limited financial situation did lessen my chances to be a professional basketball player despite my motivation. I will also have to say that the administrative powers of basketball in our country, don't do enough to enable players to size opportunities internationally and to find good clubs abroad in order for them to showcase their talents. It is undoubtedly the reason why I did not make it to the NBA.

Eurobasket.com: What should be the government's responsibility in developing Cameroonian basketball?
Okala Blaise: A government clearly has an important role to fill in every country when it comes to sports. However, in our country, basketball has a need of infrastructures. I don't have much to say except that the government should be more involved and provide our sports with adequate infrastructures.
Eurobasket.com: Who is presently the best Cameroonian point guard according to you?
Okala Blaise: I think that Cameroon is fortunate enough to have many good players at each and every position. I believe that currently, at the point guard position, taking into account the African Games of Angola, Patrick Mbouli revealed himself as the one honoring the position of point guard, to which I still detain the secret…(lol)
Eurobasket.com: Tell us something that your fans don't know about you?
Okala Blaise: I have never ever kept secrets from my fans. Every moment spent with my fans have always been moments of joy and exchange. This being said, to my fans, I will say that I am who I am, and I remain who I have always been. There are no secrets. In short, I am a man with his qualities and shortcomings.

Eurobasket.com: What is according to you the best Cameroonian Club of All-time?
Okala Blaise: I don't have a clear idea of what basketball was like before my beginnings in this sport therefore I will only take a stand based on what I know, that is from the moment I got involved in basketball on. According to me the best club of all time in Cameroon is the latest I played for, BEAC. BEAC has been a part of Cameroonian basketball for a long time now and still exist nowadays. To me, BEAc is the best club of all time.
Eurobasket.com: Would you play with the National Team if you were invited to the Olympic Games Qualifying Tournament?
Okala Blaise: You know, It's the first time that Cameroonian basketball reaches this stage of the international competition, therefore, if I was asked to bring my contribution to the success of the team it's with a real pleasure that I would do so to honor the Cameroonian colors.
game in your care

Eurobasket.com: What was the highest number of point you scored in a single game throughout your career?

Okala Blaise: I have been an undeniable force to reckon with throughout my career and many teams had troubles containing me; notably the Egyptian club called Ajdjara that my team, Warrior, faced in De La Salle Gym on the occasion of the African Club Championship. Ajdjara had not lost a game in two years of African Club Championship, but we managed to beat them. I scored 45pts that night.

Eurobasket.com: What singled you out throughout your career?
Okala Blaise: My goals will have to the difference between me and the other players. I always wanted to be the best, worked harder and harder at it, and pushed myself to the limits. That's what allowed me to play and enjoy basketball without wanting to win at any price. You perform well when you love what you do. It is the reward of many years of hard work.

Eurobasket.com: Did you ever cherish the ambition to play in the NBA and do you think you could have had an impact at that level?
Okala Blaise: Honestly, the NBA was a world of his own and it was unimaginable for me to even think I could play at that level. There were not many African playing in the NBA. I can only think of the Nigerian Hakeem and Moutombo from Zaire. I couldn't have had the means even if I allowed myself to think about it. However, It could have been possible if charitable persons had lended me a helpful hand for me to be able to get there and at least try. I would have tried my best and maybe would have made it.
Eurobasket.com: What advice would you give to any young Cameroonian who would like to become the phenomenal player you turned out to be?
Okala Blaise: The advice I would give to my young brothers is to believe in what they do, nothing is easy in our country and especially in our sports. I would tell them to never give up. The journey is long and the most tenacious make it to the end. Work hard friends and with a little bit of chance, and more importantly, with the right connections at the right moment (managers, coach, good-willed people), you will make it to the NBA!!!



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CANADA

Vancouver, B,C.'s new IBL team releases top 10 nominations for team name -by Gianni Pascucci

Vancouver, British Columbia— The International Basketball League is excited to announce that the Vancouver, British Columbia team has identified the Top 10 nominated names for the ‘Name the Team Contest' today. Voting for the favorite name is now open for fans until March 31, 2008.

Fans can vote for their favorite name by going to www.basketball.bc.ca.

From over 100 different team name nominations, of which many were nominated more than once the Top 10 Names as selected by the management of the Vancouver IBL team are(in alphabetical order):

Vancouver Cascades
Vancouver Fury
Vancouver Eclipse
Vancouver Ravens
Vancouver Reign
Vancouver Rockies
Vancouver Spirits
Vancouver Swish
Vancouver Titans
Vancouver Wave

On March 31, 2008 the voting shall be closed and on April 1 the winning name will be announced. The person who originally suggested the successful name will receive 2 courtside season tickets ($2,000 value) for the first season of the Vancouver IBL schedule (if more than 1 person suggested the name there will be a draw for it between them).

As announced in September of 2007, Vancouver will join the IBL for the 2009 season. The team is owned by Vancouver resident Jonathan Mara. Mara has been a member of the Basketball BC Board of Directors for the past four years and Assistant Coach of the White Rock Christian Warriors senior boys' high school basketball team for the past five years.
'We have had a great community response to the 'Name The Team Contest,' said Mara. 'This reflects our goal of truly being a community based team and we look forward to seeing how the fans vote for the final name'.
Mara believes the people of Vancouver will embrace the IBL and the up-tempo style that has become the league's hallmark. 'The games are entertaining for even casual fans of the sport because the pace and scoring are so consistently high,' said Mara.
In three seasons, IBL teams have averaged over 126 points per contest in games that last about two hours. For more information about the IBL, or for pictures and video of teams and players, visit www.iblhoopsonline.com.



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CBA

Pittsburgh beats East Kentucky to advance to American Conference Final -by Eurobasket News
The Pittsburgh Xplosion defeated the East Kentucky Miners 129:121 to qualify for the American Conference Final. There the Xplosion will take on the American Conference regular season champs Minot Skyrockets. The Xplosion and the Miners performed an exciting piece of basketball with the outcome unknown till the final moments. East Kentucky jumped to a massive 42:25 lead early on but the Xplosion survived the threat and gradually leveled things. The hosts trailed by just 3 points at halftime 51:54. The seesaw battle continued in the third stanza with neither side able to claim a decisive lead. Pittsburgh finally managed to surge ahead and headed into the fourth period up by a single point 85:84. The Miners stayed close but did not find enough strength to race ahead at the crunch time. Pittsburgh ensured the winning outcome at the end and would take on Minot in the best-of-three series. Game 1 is scheduled for March 17. John DeGroat (6'6''-F-85, college: Pittsburgh) paced the winners with 31 points. Albert White (6'6''-G/F-77, college: Missouri) scored 21 points, while Chaz McCrommon (6'6''-F/G-82, agency: Court Side, college: Robert Morris) poured in 20 more for the Xplosion. Jason McLeish (6'0''-G-80, agency: Rice and Rice, college: E.Kentucky) answered with 34 points for the Miners. James Jackson (5'10''-G-89) added 27 points and 15 boards in defeat.
Meanwhile the Oklahoma Cavalry opened the National Conference Final series with a narrow 101:99 win over the Yakama Sun Kings. The Cavalry led by 22 points in the first half but wasted the lead and appeared trailing late in the game. The Sun Kings held to a 3-point cushion with only 10 seconds on the clock. However first Curtis Haywood (6'6''-G-75, agency: Huss Sport Agency, college: Oklahoma City) cut the deficit to just a single point and then hit a jumper to square it up at 99. Brandon Dean (6'2''-G-79, agency: Naiditch Entertainment, college: Arkansas) then stole the ball and got fouled. He sank both free throws to finalize victory for Oklahoma. The teams now travel to Yakama for Game 2 on March 14. Curtis Haywood finished with 19 points, while Daryan Selvy (6'6''-F/G-79, college: Oklahoma) knocked down 17 in a win.

PITTSBURGH XPLOSION BEAT MINERS, ADVANCE TO CONFERENCE FINALS -by Brandon Martin
March 11, 2008 - Out of Albert White's (6'6''-G/F-77, college: Missouri) 21 points Tuesday night, or his 503 during the regular season, perhaps no three were bigger than the jumper he hit with eight minutes to play. The Pittsburgh Xplosion were tied at 98 with the East Kentucky Miners after trailing by as many as 17 in the first half. White's three from the right side put the Pittsburgh Xplosion ahead to stay on their way to a 129-121 victory in a one-game playoff to advance to the CBA American Conference Finals.

Albert White (6'6''-G/F-77, college: Missouri) is a guy I have a lot of confidence in,' Pittsburgh Xplosion head coach Carlos Knox said. White added eight assists and four steals to his 21 points.

With the victory, the Pittsburgh Xplosion now advance to the conference finals to face the Minot Skyrockets in a best-of-three series. Dates and times are still to be determined.

The Miners jumped on the Pittsburgh Xplosion right from the outset, holding the lead throughout the first half. East Kentucky led, 32-20, after the first.

East Kentucky expanded that lead to 17 after a Steve Thomas (6'8''-F-81, agency: Promotex, college: Middle Tenn.St.) three-point play gave the Miners a 42-25 lead at the 8:23 mark of the second period. Pittsburgh cut the lead to 10 at 3:45 on a Tyrone Anderson (6'4''-G-84, agency: TASM, college: Concord) bucket. He capped the first half with a steal and lay-in to cut the Miners' halftime lead to three at 54-51. Anderson scored seven points in the first half, all in the second quarter. John DeGroat (6'6''-F-85, college: Pittsburgh) led all scorers in the first half with 15 points, and led the Pittsburgh Xplosion with 31 for the evening.

East Kentucky's Jason McLeish (6'0''-G-80, agency: Rice and Rice, college: E.Kentucky) led all scorers with 34 points.

The Pittsburgh Xplosion took their first lead of the night early in the third period on a Lincoln Glass (5'11''-G-79, college: Auburn) jumper at 56-55. Glass finished with 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting, and he added six assists.
The lead switched hands numerous times throughout the third period, with the Pittsburgh Xplosion leading by as many as six. East Kentucky's Josh Pace (6'6''-G/F-83, college: Syracuse), who finished with 17 points, had just hit a jumper to tie the score at 98 prior to White's three.

This info was provided by Barry Beal Director of Public Relations of the Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Xplosion.

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CROATIA

Zadar beats Pamesa in Croatia -by Eurobasket News
Zadar - Pamesa 74:69

Zadar accumulated a 5-point advantage before the return leg of the ULEB Cup Top 16 stage against Pamesa Valencia. Zadar kept the pressure on the visitors throughout the whole game but a strong rally from Pamesa in the fourth period allowed Spaniards to lose by digestible 5 points. The teams entered the game firing from all cylinders and Pamesa quickly took an 8:7 lead. Shammell Stallworth (197-F-80, agency: Interperformances, college: USF) connected from afar and Jere Macura (204-F/C-80, college: Notre Dame) dropped a jumper to put Zadar in front. Shammell Stallworth soon added two more trebles and Zadar enjoyed a 28:24 advantage after the opening frame. The game turned into a seesaw battle throughout the second term. The lead changed hands for a while before Pankracije Barac (196-G-81) scored 5 points in a row and Andrej Stimac (205-F/C-79) posted a basket of his own to make it 42:34 for the hosts. Albert Oliver (187-G-78) uttered the last word in the first half and trimmed the gap to 6 points at 40:46 at the long break. Shammell Stallworth and Brewer were hot from downtown early in the third as Zadar remained in front. Pamesa struggled to get any closer in the third period and finished the term trailing by 9 points 53:62. However Ruben Douglas (193-G-79, college: N.Mexico) scored 4 points in an 8:0 run that marked the start of the final stanza as Pamesa denied the deficit. Soon Shammond Williams (187-G-75, college: N.Carolina) tied the game at 66. Shammell Stallworth regained the lead for Zadar with a layup but Albert Oliver buried a trey and Pamesa grabbed a 69:68 lead. Nevertheless Todor Gecevski (209-C-77, agency: Interperformances) and Pankracije Barac blasted three-pointers to give some breathing space for the hosts at the end of the game.
Shammell Stallworth scored 19 points to pace Zadar. Todor Gecevski had 14 points, while Jere Macura tallied 12 points and 11 boards for the winners. Shammond Williams answered with 19 points for Pamesa. Dejan Milojevic (200-F-77, agency: Beo Basket) dropped 12 points and collected 6 rebounds in a loss. Game 2 is scheduled for March 19 in Valencia.

Zadar: Shammell Stallworth 19, Todor Gecevski 14, Jere Macura 12+11 boards
Pamesa: Shammond Williams 19, Dejan Milojevic 12

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CUBA

Ciego de Avila- Capitalinos is the LSB Final 2008 -by Alessandro Fontana

LSB-Time in Cuba!

Capitalinos Ciudad de La Habana is the second finalist of this LSB 2008. Capitalinos qualified against Guantanamo after three games. Capitalinos won easily the first game but in the second game there was an incredible surprise, Guantanamo with an unstoppable Henry Simon 39 pts could win in La Habana. In the third game, Capitalinos was too strong for Guantanamo and the team of La Habana won 91-67 with an huge Orestes Torres, 18pts for the 'BIG MAN' of Capitalinos.
The Final will be Ciego de Avila-Capitalinos and Ciego de Avila seems more fit and ready to win the LSB 2008 but Capitalinos is a 'real team' who plays as a team and with a lot of heart and 'garra'. They can conquer the 'Cuban Championship' but against 'Los Avilenos', Capitalinos has to play three perfect games.
OUR PREDICTION: CIEGO DE AVILA 60%, CAPITALINOS 40%
MVP: Silvestre 50%, Torres 30%, Guerra 10%, Other Players 10%
LSB BOXSCORES
MATANZAS-CIEGO DE AVILA= 88-108
M= Jemmott 31, Torriente 20, Albelo 17, Rosell 8, Diaz 4, Ugarte 4, Gonzalez 2, Norona 2, DeChapelle 0, Duarte 0, Herrera 0, Leon 0
C= Silvestre 39 (12 rebs), Perez 27, Guerra 11, Reyes 11, Garcia 7, Luis 5, Rodriguez 3, Vera 3, Granda 2, Granado 0, Jova 0, Pausa 0
CAPITALINOS-GUANTANAMO= 89-93
C= Leguen 26, Garcia 15, Lavastida 14, Torres 13, R. Garcia 6, Alvarez 5, Perez 3, Valdes 3, Alorda 2, Panfet 2, Reve 0, Oliva 0, Lima 0
G= Simon 39, Pons 22, Soria 13, Pulsan 4, Masso 4, Castilla 4, Elias 4, Calzada 3, Favier ndp, Brown ndp, Reyes ndp, Noblet ndp, Sanchez ndp
CAPITALINOS-GUANTANAMO= 91-67
C= Torres 18, Leguen 13, Lima 10, Alvarez 9, Valdes 8, Garcia 7, Panfet 7, Alorda 6, Perez 5, R. Garcia 4, Oliva 4, Castillo 0, Lavastida ndp, Ramirez ndp
G= Soria 20, Elias17, Simon 14, Pulsan 9, Castilla 4, Masso 2, Pons 1, Calzada 0, Brown ndp, Favier ndp, Rojas ndp, McKintoch ndp.
A. Fontana



*****************************************************
CYPRUS

Semi Finals: Keravnos Strovolou wins Omonoia and is leading 2-1 -by Chris Mammides

Keravnos Strovolou without Patrick Lee and Jarred Hart, beat Hasapis Omonia Nicosia 68-63 and is now leading 2-1 in a best of five series of the Semi Finals. The quarters were: 22-19, 40-33, 55-47, 68-63. The game was a real derby with a very fast mode, the home team was leading the score from teh very beggining mainly due to the very good game from its two Serbs, Radojevic and Stefanovic scored 15 and 13 points respectively while Aleksandar Radojevic (220-C-76, college: Barton County CC) dashed down 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 block shots in less than 29 minutes being the MVP of the game.
The scorers were:

Keravnos Strovolou: Pilavas 2, Stefanovic 13, Anastasiadis 8, Smith 11, Damjanovic 4, Trisokkas 12, Kosanovic 3, Aleksandar Radojevic 15.
Hasapis Omonia: Mijalovic 16, Davis 16, Zaric 4,(Mouhtaris 3, Fowlkes 10, Stone 4



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DOMINICAN REP.

Plaza signs Crutchfield -by Oscar Peralta
Santiago tournament just started 2 weeks ago and teams are starting to make changes to the rosters. The club Plaza just signed Tai Crutchfield to help them win some games. Plaza is trying to win the Championship after not doing so good last year. They reached the finals in 2006 but fail to win the championship against the now four time in a row Champion Sameji. The club feels real good about making a run this year.

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EGYPT

Danny Johnson signed for Gezira -by Sherif Soliman
The blue stars MVP Danny Johnson who was participating in Geziras practice last week, signed for Gezira till the end of the season. Danny played for the Blue stars (LEB) for three years .He played in 2005 against Gezira and scored 30 points. He is a very reliable point guard and he will help the team very much. Danny is very happy to come back to the middle east after playing in the ABA last season.Danny Johnson (190-G-76, agency: Elfus-Siegel Management (ESM), college: Charleston)

Super League Standings
Superleague Standings
1. Al Ittihad 18-1
2. Sporting 15-4
3. Gezira 15-4
4. Zamalek 15-4
5. Ahly 15-4
6. Somouha 10-9
7. Shams 7-12
8. Geish Army 6-13
9. Shorta-Police 5-14
10. Gazco 5-14
11. Eastern Co. 3-16
12. Damenhor 0-19


*****************************************************
ERITREA

Thomas produces 22 points for the win -by Eurobasket News
Thomas Kelati (195-G/F-82, college: Washington St.) together with his Turow Zgorzelec jumped into a massive lead in the ULEB Cup Top 16 series against BC Kyiv winning away from home yesterday. David Logan and Thomas Kelati teamed up for 47 points to upset an ambitious Ukrainian outfit, 59:71. Now BC Kyiv needs a miracle to deny a 12-point deficit in the second game. Turow entered the game with the best defense of the ULEB Cup regular season and they lived up to the status. A stifling defensive performance from the visitors resulted in painful 15 turnovers from BC Kyiv and Turow used to full advantage. Thomas Kelati scored 5 unanswered points at the start of the game. Slobodan Ljubotina added 5 more and Turow gained a comfortable 10:0 lead early on. Ryan Stack and Marcus Faison brought a sloppy Kyiv team back to life at 8:12 but Turow continued to dominate. The visitors went on a 9:2 run to accumulate a 21:10 lead. Eugene Jeter and Manuchar Markoishvili trimmed the deficit to 6 points at the end of the first period 18:24. The Polish side ignited a 7:0 run early in the second stanza and stretched the margin. But Manuchar Markoishvili and Marko Maravic kept the spectators hopeful as they pulled the gap back to 6 points. Thomas Kelati stroke from downtown once again and sealed a 34:25 outcome for the first half. Tomo Mahoric introduced Artur Drozdov into action in the second half despite BC Kyiv's captain being advised to rest his injured knee. Drozdov added some flexibility in offense and the hosts seemed to get rolling. Manuchar Markoishvili nailed a pair of impressive buckets and Marko Maravic added from inside to cut the difference. But not for long though. David Logan came up with 5 straight points and made it a 49:36 advantage after 30 minutes. David Logan hit an incredible off-glass treble and Slobodan Ljubotina added another one from the corner to silence the crowd at the Sports Palace early in the fourth. Artur Drozdov beat the clock with a long bomb of his own but it was just a short spark for the home team. David Logan kept on delivering points to keep Turow at a safe distance. BC Kyiv desperately needed to come closer and when Drozdov and Eugene Jeter knocked down back-to-back treys the gap was narrowed to 8 points. But Thomas Kelati remained cool-headed and his two triples ensured positive emotions for Turow after the game. David Logan notched game-high 25 points for Turow. Thomas Kelati scored 22 points, while Slobodan Ljubotina had 15 points for the winners. Eugene Jeter launched 15 points but committed 7 turnovers for BC Kyiv. Manuchar Markoishvili sank 12 points in defeat.

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FINLAND

1.DIV.: FoKoPo back to Top League -by Rauno Hurmalainen
1. Div., Round 26: And the winner is: FoKoPo (Forssa). By winning 24/26 regular season games in the 1.-division, it's clear, that FoKoPo
has succeeded to make the way back to Top level after five years break. FoKoPo played last time in the Top League (Korisliiga) during the
season 2002-03 and has played 17 seasons in Korisliiga. Tonight FoKoPo crushed YMCA Helsinki 103-75 in the last game of this season.
The key players were tonight (like all season) Chris Smith (201-F/C-82, college: St.Edward's) (30), Teemu Heiskanen (188-G-84) (19) and Ronnie Clark (196-G-81, college: Colorado St.) (14).

KORISLIIGA: Kauhajoki upset Honka -by Rauno Hurmalainen

Korisliiga, Round 39: Very interesting games and results tonight. They can play this ball game also in the countryside. Honka (Espoo)
travelled to Kauhajoki and was able to notice this as Kauhajoki beat Honka first time this season 88-80. Torpan Pojat (Helsinki) lost at home
vs Korihait (Uusikaupunki) 82-93. Visitor Korihait was so much better than ToPo, which was playing without Iiro Tenngren. Tenngren will
be out of ToPo roster until further notice. Tarmo (Porvoo) defeated Team Componenta (Karkkila) fourth time this season. Kataja (Joensuu)
and Kouvot (Kouvola) had a close game to the end of the contest. Pyrinto (Tampere) lost at home by 11 pts to YMCA Lahti. Vesa Makalainen (200-F-86)
led Lahti with 23 pts. Three rounds left.

Kauhajoki - Honka 88-80 (37-30) (Darryl Hudson 23, Olli Ahvenniemi 16 - Akeem Scott 21, Petteri Koponen 19).

Torpan Pojat - Korihait 82-93 (34-48) (Josh Gonner 29, Tyson Patterson 25 - Darius Glover 25, Glenn Stokes 21).

Team Componenta - Tarmo 83-86 (41-48) (Mark McCarroll 23/11/3b, Tony Bennett 16/7a, Pasi Pekkola 16 - Chris Hester 25, Nick Wallery 20/13).

Kataja - Kouvot 75-78 (42-33) (Terry Black 20, Louis Hinnant 19/10 - Wayne Bernard 25, Corey Smith 16/12).

Pyrinto - YMCA Lahti 80-91 (36-49) (Damon Williams 28, Damion Dantzler 23/13 - Vesa Makalainen 23, Ilkka Vuori 16).



Standings - Korisliiga
Korisliiga Standings
1. ToPo 29-10
2. Kouvot 28-11
3. Honka 26-13
4. Lahti 20-19
5. Korihait 17-22
6. Tarmo 17-22
7. Pyrinto 17-22
8. Kataja 16-23
9. KTP 16-23
10. LrNMKY 14-5
11. Kauhajoki 12-27
12. Componenta 12-27


Standings - Division I
1st Division Standings
1. FoKoPo 24-2
2. Lapua 22-3
3. Nokia 19-6
4. PuHu 18-7
5. TuNMKY 13-12
6. Jyvaskyla 12-13
7. Salon Vilpas 12-13
8. Huima 11-14
9. RU 9-16
10. Kaarinan Ura 9-16
11. HNMKY 9-17
12. Tapiolan H. 8-17
13. Visa Basket 5-20
14. Pantterit 5-20


Stats Leaders - Korisliiga
Korisliiga Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Williams, Pyrinto 23,2
2 Henning, LrNMKY 22,5
3 S.Smith, KTP 21,6
4 Hester, TC 21,6
5 Wallery, TC 21,0
Rebounds Per Game
1 McCarroll, Tarmo 12,6
2 Wallery, TC 12,3
3 Dies, KTP 11,4
4 Williams, Pyrinto 11,2
5 Dantzler, Pyrinto 10,8
Assists Per Game
1 Patterson, ToPo 5,0
2 Sten, LrNMKY 4,6
3 Hinnant, Kataja 4,5
4 Virtanen, LrNMKY 4,2
5 Williams, Pyrinto 4,1


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FRANCE

ProA : Dessarzin for 2 more seasons -by Aurelien Hipp
*Despite a terrible beginning this season, Randoald Dessarzin could keep the trust of his players and of his president. The situation is now much better (but not safe so far) and Dessarzin signed an extension of his contract til June 2010. Dijon is ranked 14th and stands with a 7-14 record, improved by the last successes over Nancy and Roanne..Dessarzin is coaching his first season in France after a lot of seasons in his country, Switzerland.

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GERMANY

Stavropoulos in Essen -by Moritz Korff
Konstantinos Stavropoulos (197-F-75, agency: Weller Sports - Entertainment, college: Ill.-Chicago) made his debut for the ETB Wohnbau Baskets Essen (2. Bundesliga Pro B) in a win over USC Freiburg. He had already been registered in February prior to the end of the signing period and will stay for the remainder of the season. He scored 10 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in his first game for Essen. The 33-year-old Greek veteran played in Quakenbrueck from 2001 to 2005 and won the championship in the 2. Bundesliga North with the Artland Dragons in 2003. Earlier this season Stavropoulos had two appearances for BK Synthesia Pardubice of the Czech First League and averaged 1 point per contest. During the 2006-2007 campaign he scored 2.3 ppg in 20 games for Greek A1-club Apollon Patras.

Paderborn signs talent for next four year -by Moritz Korff
The digibu Baskets Paderborn (1. Bundesliga) and Thomas Gajda (200-G/F-89) have agreed terms on a multi-year deal. The 18-year-old Wing signed a contract for the next 4 years. Gajda is tallying 22.4 points and 10.0 boards per outing in the Youth-Bundesliga (NBBL) this season and has also appeared in 4 games of the 1. Bundesliga. He attended the NBBL-Allstar Game earlier this year and is a former member of the German U18-National Team.

ratiopharm Ulm adds Romeo Travis -by Moritz Korff
Romeo Travis (201-F-84, agency: Edge Sports, college: Akron) will join ratiopharm Ulm (1. Bundesliga) for the remainder of the season. The 23-year-old Forward had been registered by the Ulm-officials as a stand-by-player already in February. As team captain Emeka Erege (193-G-78, college: Davidson) will probably miss the next 6 weeks due to injury and also Kyle Bailey (188-G-82, college: Santa Clara) is still out of action, they decided to bring in Travis. He played college-basketball at the University of Akron (NCAA1) and was named the 2007 All-MAC Player of the Year after his senior year. Travis attended the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in July, but made the step abroad for his rookie-season. In 8 games for the Alerta Cantabria Lobos of the Spanish LEB Gold he averaged 3.4 points, 1.8 rebounds per contest, but left in December to suit up for Ciudad de Huelva (2 games: 3.5ppg, 3.5rpg) of the same league shortly, before returning to the USA.

2. Regionalliga North: These are the champions -by Moritz Korff
Bramfelder SV, SC Rasta Vechta and the BSW Sixers have won the championships in the three divisions of the 2. Regionalliga North and have earned a spot in next the Regionalliga North for the 2008-2009 season.
Coach Thomas Koch of Bramfeld that claimed the top-spot in the North-division has both a couple of veterans like former Damir Kurtagic, Tom Axthelm and Gerrit Goergen on the roster, but also some promising talent: Robert Matschke, Robert Vater, Patrick Wischnewski who came back from Bernau during the season and Vincent Kittmann who is playing with a double-license for SC Rist in the RLN already. Vechta returns to RLN-basketball as the new titleholder from the West-division two years after being relegated. The best scorers on the team of Coach Malte Scheper have been Thomas Kaspareit, Lithuanian Gintaras Grigisas, US-Center Marlone Jackson and Andreas Scholl.
The Sixers of BG Bitterfeld-Sandersdorf-Wolfen qualified as the best team from the East. Coach Fritz Espenhahn who also led the Aschersleben Tigers to the RLN some years ago had three Americans on the roster who helped to win the title. With only one game left to play the Sixers have not lost any of their 21 encounters this season. Elton Coffield led the team in points per game (22.3), his fellow countrymen Brandon James and Elijah Rouse both contributed more than 16.5 and 19.1 ppg respectively.

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GUATEMALA

SAT Cybertech geared up for Liga Metropolitana 2008 -by Victor Padilla
Sat Cybertec early started its preparation for the 2008 Liga Metropolitana season, which launches March 25th at Gimnasio Nacional Teodoro Palacios Flores. With the added motivation of playing in the First Edition of Liga Centroamericana, and a renovated roster that now includes Enrique Samayoa (193-F-82), Ricardo Amaya (191-G-84, agency: Tank Sports) and Gerson Duarte (202-C-83), the Liga Premier 2007 Champions seek this year to capture nothing less than the first places in both official competitions of Liga Metro. -'It was time for Guatemala to have a reference, all star team that could really make a difference in how our Basketball is perceived by our fans and sponsors', veteran player Victor Padilla (196-G/F-70) meditated while working out in court with the rest of players. -'We want a disciplined, organized team and club', shared Otto Larios , Head Coach, 'so we can seize the new opportunities that are opening up internationally for those who love this game. And we want our people to come back to our sport venues to see their team competing successfully in our region'. Sat Cybertec opens up this year's tournament against Zenca, a squad that has not presented any modification to their roster since 2007.

Standings
Liga Metropolitana Standings
1. SLT 0-0
2. Lemans 0-0
3. Millonarios 0-0
4. USAC 0-0
5. Leones de Marte 0-0
6. Estudiantes 0-0
7. Elite Sport 0-0
8. URL 0-0
9. R L 0-0
10. Zencas 0-0
11. Markvision 0-0
12. Corpoevisa 0-0


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HOLLAND

FEB Results: Both ZZ Leiden And Upstairs Weert Come Up With Big Wins -by Sanders Jackson


Tuesday night in FEB action, both ZZ Leiden and Upstairs Weert came up with big home wins wins, ZZ at home versus Hanzevast Capitals , and Upstairs over Rotterdam Challengers.

In the Vijfmeihal, again hot shooting from the three-point line proved a big difference for ZZ, winning by the score of 109-106. David Chiotti (206-F/C-84, agency: Court Side, college: N.Mexico) dominated inside, scoring 27 pts. with 11 rebounds, with Steve Ross (201-G/F-80, agency: Court Side, college: Santa Clara) adding 25 pts, including 5 three-pointers. Both Dwayne Archbold (198-F/G-80, agency: CAA Sports, college: Siena) and Alton Mason (185-G-77, agency: Court Side, college: Arizona St.) led Donar with 24 pts. each. ZZ made 12 o 18 three-pointers and had six players in double figures. With the win, ZZ moves ahead of Landstede in the standings.


In Weert, Upstairs snapped a seven-game winning streak to keep pace in the playoff race, ending Rotterdam Challengers' winning streak in a 77-70 win.

Ashley Champion (198-F-81, college: Chattanooga) carried the team on his back, scoring 31 pts. (6 three-pointers), 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Chaz Twan Briggs (201-F-80, college: W.Virginia) led the Rotterdammers with 16 pts. and 15 rebounds. Upstairs have equal wins with Landstede, with two more games played.

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HUNGARY

Round 22 -by Tamas Deri
MAFC - PLANET-LEASING DOMBÓVAR 81-89
(18-26, 22-21, 21-19, 20-23)
Budapest, Att.: 250, Referees: Benczur, Szilas, Jakab
MAFC: Jitim Young (188-G-81, college: Northwestern) 24/6, Fodor 2, Wehner 13/9, Andras Vavra (202-F-78) 28/9, Fulop 2, Misek 12/6, Radovics, Coach: Dinnyes Attila
DOMBÓVAR: Mike English (194-F/G-82, college: UMKC) 16, Julien Mills (193-G-84, agency: Warren Sports, college: Ball St.) 22/12, Deak 3, Marco Sanders (202-F-79, college: Point Park) 20/3, Du Juan Wiley (206-C-75, college: Michigan St.) 19/15, Vas, Bodi 6, Balogh 3/3, Molnar, Coach: Dzunic Branislav


PVSK-EXPO CENTER PECS - KAPOSVARI KK 86-68
(14-25, 23-11, 23-13, 26-19)
Pecs, Att.: 2000, Referees: Palla, Torok R., Toth K.
PECS: Kutasi 2, Nick Williams (192-G-83, agency: Beo Basket, college: Cincinnati) 17/9, Denes 6/6, Toth N. 9, Bojan Lapov (211-C-68) 17/9, Dragan Aleksic (196-G-70, agency: Beo Basket) 17/6, Czigler 6, Jovanovic 2, Grebenar 8, Lepsenyi, Kovacs P. 2, Polya, Coach: Stojan Ivkovic
KAPOSVAR: Csirke 7, David Vojvoda (191-G/F-90) 10/6, Szőke 8, Hendlein 12, Orosz 11, Kinsella 9/6, Kiss K. 9/6, Tomosvary 2, Markus, Coach: Horvath Imre


BODROGI BAU-VASARHELYI KOSARSULI - SOPRONI SÖRDÖGÖK 91-100
(32-24, 22-26, 20-27, 17-23)
Hodmezővasarhely, Att.: 500, Referees: Foldhazi, Hegedűs T., Gal J.
VASARHELY: Drahos 12/6, Boszormenyi 6, David Brooks (191-G-82, college: Niagara) 30/9, Kovats 7, Levente Gemes (208-C-73, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 21/6, Freeman 15/3, Babut, Szogi, Coach: Czuprak Laszlo
SOPRON: Bradley 16/6, Peter Lakatos (194-G-79) 30/18, Jeff Viggiano (198-F-84, college: Massachusetts) 20, Boldizsar 8, Kortelyesi 5, Pojbics 9/3, Zsolt Vesztergom (194-G/F-87, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) 12, Coach: Meszlenyi Robert


ATOMERŐMŰ SE - ZALAKERAMIA-ZTE KK 77-52
(24-12, 22-16, 14-17, 17-7)
Paks, Att.: 700, Referees: Forrai, Kiss L., Vetek
ATOMERŐMŰ: Meszaros Z. 5, Denis Toroman (190-G-82) 10/6, Stevenson 2, Horvath Z. 7, Robert Gulyas (213-C-74) 18/3, Ervin Csaplar-Nagy (211-C-79) 10/6, Nile Murry (193-G-83, college: TCU) 15/6, Brooks, Kiss Zs., Panta 9/3, Morgen, Horanyi, Coach: Sabali Balazs
ZTE: Miskovic 3, Mark Walters (188-G-82, agency: Warren Sports, college: N.Mexico) 12, Kaman 11/3, Hoffmann 4, Reggie Bassette (206-C-77, college: ODU) 11, Simon L., Keresztes 2, Baki 7/3, Toth A. 2, Vertetics, Coach: Nikola Lazics

*****************************************************
IBL

Elkhart Express announce intra-squad scrimmage -by Trask Frost
Elkhart, IN— Are you ready for some basketball? Elkhart Express fans have an opportunity to preview the 2008 team at the Blue/Gold Intra Squad scrimmage at 3 p.m. Saturday at Memorial High School.

This event is free of charge and will give fans an opportunity to meet the team, get autographs and take photos. Season ticket holders also can pick up their tickets at this time.

Prior to the scrimmage, Daimon's Kids Youth Team will plan an intra-squad game at 2 p.m. as they prepare to compete in China. The Youth Team is made up of 12 middle school students selected earlier this year from a group of about 30 that participated in tryouts.

The Express begins its campaign to bring home its third International Basketball League championship at 7:15 p.m. March 22 against the Gary Steelheads at the Genesis Center in Gary. The Steelheads joined the IBL last November. The team formerly played in the Continental Basketball Association and the United States Basketball League.

The Express' home opener is March 29 against the Windy City Soldiers at North Side Gym.

The Express will play a 20 game schedule between March 22 and June 21. Season tickets are now available for $145 (courtside), $90 (adult 18 and over, lower reserve), and $60 (youth 17 and under, lower reserve). Single session tickets are available at the gate. All home games are played at North Side Gym. Elkhart Express is headquartered at 56199 Park Way Plaza off of C.R. 17. Its telephone is 574-522-9911.

Windy City Soldiers' 2008 season gets underway this weekend -by Trask Frost

Kankakee, IL —The Windy City Soldiers' first season in Kankakee kicks off this weekend with a two game set against the USA All-Stars. The Soldiers will square off against the Black #2 team on Friday, March 14 at 11:00am, and take on the Black #1 team on Sunday, March 16 at 11:00am. Both games will be played at the Genesis Center in Gary, Indiana. Roster information for both of the Soldiers' opponents is available on the USA All-Stars page on the IBL's website (www.iblhoopsonline.com)

The Soldiers' 2008 roster is highlighted by Barry Bradford (6'0''-G-79, college: Trinity Intern.) and Amir Major, who both earned IBL All-Star honors in 2007. Major, 6'5', is a capable scorer, who averaged 20.6 points per game last season for the Soldiers. Bradford, 6'0', averaged 15.8 points per contest last season, and will again be relied on to run the offense.

6'10' center Erik Rhinehart is a huge addition in the middle, giving the Soldiers an inside presence that they lacked a season ago. 6'9' CeCe Malone will also help bolster the interior. The complete 2008 roster is listed below.


Windy City Soldiers 2008 Roster


Barry Bradford 6-0 G Trinity International University
DeMarcus Bolton 6-7 F East Central University
Lawrence Burnett 6-4 G Rockhurst University
CeCe Malone 6-9 F/C Prairie State College
Erik Rhinehart 6-10 C Olivet Nazarene University
Amir Major 6-5 G/F Bemidji State University
Marcus Jackson 6-6 G/F Benedictine University
Joshua Edmonds 6-5 G/F Trinity International University
Kenny Stone 6-5 G/F Calumet College
Stan Chismark 6-5 G/F Olivet Nazarene University
Anthony Spencer 6-5 G/F Johnson County CC
Carl Fine 5-11 G Newman University
Jamel Chavers 6-1 G Indiana Tech
Zachary Birkey 6-1 G Olivet Nazarene University



Vancouver, B,C.'s new IBL team releases top 10 nominations for team name -by Trask Frost

Vancouver, British Columbia— The International Basketball League is excited to announce that the Vancouver, British Columbia team has identified the Top 10 nominated names for the ‘Name the Team Contest' today. Voting for the favorite name is now open for fans until March 31, 2008.

Fans can vote for their favorite name by going to www.basketball.bc.ca.

From over 100 different team name nominations, of which many were nominated more than once the Top 10 Names as selected by the management of the Vancouver IBL team are(in alphabetical order):

Vancouver Cascades
Vancouver Fury
Vancouver Eclipse
Vancouver Ravens
Vancouver Reign
Vancouver Rockies
Vancouver Spirits
Vancouver Swish
Vancouver Titans
Vancouver Wave

On March 31, 2008 the voting shall be closed and on April 1 the winning name will be announced. The person who originally suggested the successful name will receive 2 courtside season tickets ($2,000 value) for the first season of the Vancouver IBL schedule (if more than 1 person suggested the name there will be a draw for it between them).

As announced in September of 2007, Vancouver will join the IBL for the 2009 season. The team is owned by Vancouver resident Jonathan Mara. Mara has been a member of the Basketball BC Board of Directors for the past four years and Assistant Coach of the White Rock Christian Warriors senior boys' high school basketball team for the past five years.
'We have had a great community response to the 'Name The Team Contest,' said Mara. 'This reflects our goal of truly being a community based team and we look forward to seeing how the fans vote for the final name'.
Mara believes the people of Vancouver will embrace the IBL and the up-tempo style that has become the league's hallmark. 'The games are entertaining for even casual fans of the sport because the pace and scoring are so consistently high,' said Mara.
In three seasons, IBL teams have averaged over 126 points per contest in games that last about two hours. For more information about the IBL, or for pictures and video of teams and players, visit www.iblhoopsonline.com.



Volcanoes kick off fourth IBL season on Saturday vs. tough Explosion squad -by Trask Frost
Vancouver, WA —The Vancouver Volcanoes will get their 2008 IBL season underway on Saturday, March 15 at the Monroe Sports Arena against the Snohomish County Explosion. The Volcanoes have assembled a roster capable of competing with the league's elite, and should be vastly improved this season.

Key Returnees

Porter Troupe (6'5''-G/F-83, college: Portland) - 6'5' - Warner Pacific - Troupe's off-season progress has been off the charts. Troupe has the body of an NBA shooting guard, and is developing the skills and attitude to match. Troupe led the Volcanoes in scoring last season at 20.3ppg.

Brad Lechtenberg - 6'2' - San Diego - Lechtenberg is a 2006 IBL All-Star with tremendous range and a quick release. Lechtenberg averaged 17.4ppg for the Volcanoes in 2007. Lechtenberg led the NCAA in three point shooting accuracy in 2003.

Alex Hartman - 6'7' - Concordia University - Hartman was a consistent performer for the Volcanoes last season, averaging 15.8 points and 1.3 steals per game. Hartman played in Germany this off-season, averaging 22.9 points per game for TS Goeppingen. There is highlight footage of Hartman (and other members of the '07 Volcanoes) available at www.iblhoopsonline.com.

Key Additions

Kevin ‘Pip' Bloodsaw - 6'5' - Ozarks College - Pip, the IBL's All-Time leading scorer, earned All-Star honors as a Volcano in 2005 and 2006. Last year, Pip averaged 17.9 points for the Central Oregon Hotshots, but returns to Vancouver in pursuit of an IBL championship.

Kevin Tyner - 6'0' - Western Oregon - Tyner ran the offense for the high-scoring Salem Stampede in 2007 as Salem finished 18-4. Tyner also has professional experience in Germany.

Jake Carlisle - 6'7' - Alaska Anchorage - Carlisle has played previously in the CBA and the IBL. Carlisle joins Pip in a return to the Volcanoes with the same goals- an IBL Championship.

The Volcanoes have also added Edjuan Green (6'8' - Texas A&M) and Shawn Malloy (6'11' - New Orleans) to the roster. Both Green and Malloy are currently playing overseas, and will join the Volcanoes in April. Green was a force in the IBL last season, scoring 20-plus points and grabbing 20-plus rebounds in a game five times. Malloy is raw offensively, but has tremendous athleticism and up-side.

The Snohomish County Explosion moved to Monroe this season after competing as the Everett Explosion last season. The Explosion won the IBL West Division title a season ago with a 17-5 record. The Explosion are off to a 2-0 start this year, and appear to be poised to again contend for the IBL championship.

Donald Watts (28.5ppg) and Jamaal Miller (22.0ppg) are the team's catalysts—at least until Rashaad Powell and Justin Murray return to the Explosion following overseas commitments.

Vancouver, B,C.'s new IBL team releases top 10 nominations for team name -by Trask Frost


*****************************************************
IRAN

Saba take revenge in Mahshahr, beating Petrochimi by 20 -by Houman Bagheri
Mahshahr (WABA Championships)- Saba Battery which lost the championship in Iranian Super League in two consecutive games against Mahram took the revenge of both loss in Mahshar, beating Petrochimi, which are currently using Mustafa Hashemi from Mahram as their coach, together with his two imports, Art Long and Tony Madison. Saba downed Petro 79-59 on the third day of the event. Both Iranian teams are in the same group.


Here are the overal results of Day 3:

Group A:
Saba Battery (IRI) - Petrochimi (IRI) 79-59
Orthodox (JOR)- Al Ahli (YEM) 79-56

Group B:
Al Riyadi (LEB) - Al Ittihad (SYR) 96-70
Zain (JOR) - Al Hilla (IRQ) 74-69

West Asian Basketball Association Championships; 2nd Day Results -by Houman Bagheri
Mahshahr (WABA Championships)- The overall results of the 2nd day are as follows:

Group A:
Saba Battery (IRI) - Al Ahli (YEM) 109-60
* Saba Battery is using the services of Mike Jones and Omar Sneed on loan.

Petrochimi (IRI) - Orthodox (JOR) 84-79
* Mustafa Hashemi, Mahram's head-coach for the 2007-08 season, is helping Petrochimi in coahing job for the WABA championships.


Group B:
Al Riyadi (LEB) - Al Hilla (IRQ) 110-55
Zain (JOR) - Al Ittihad (SYR) 71-70

Earlier, Al-Jala of Syria and Lebanon's Blue Stars withdrew from the event.

Saba and Petro from Iran thrash Hilla and Ittihad -by Houman Bagheri
Mahshahr (WABA Championships)- On the fourth day of West Asian Basketball Association championships, underway in the southern Iranian port city of Mashahr, both Iranian representatives handed their opponents tragic loss, to secure their way to the next round.

Here are the overal results of Day 4:

Group A:
Saba Battery (IRI) - Al Hilla (IRQ) 122-51
Petrochimi (IRI) -Al Ittihad (SYR) 77-59
Orthodox (JOR) - Zain (JOR) - To be announced later
Al Riyadi (LEB) - Al Ahli (YEM) 94-61

Standings - Superleague
Superleague Standings


*****************************************************
ISRAEL

Standings - Premier League
Premier L. Standings
1. Macc.T-A 12-4
2. Bnei Hash. 11-5
3. Hap.Holon 10-6
4. Ramat Gan 9-7
5. Jerusalem 9-7
6. Nahariya 9-7
7. Ashkelon 6-10
8. Rishon LZ 5-11
9. Hap.G.Elyon 5-11
10. Gilboa/Afula 4-12


Standings - National League
National L. Standings


*****************************************************
ITALY

Stats Leaders - Lega2
Lega2 Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Pickett, Aget 22.9
2 Olawale Ignis 20.0
3 Young Tre 19.6
4 Dean, Fstw 20.3
5 Anderson, TDSh 19.6
Rebounds Per Game
1 Lloreda, Ignis 11.9
2 George, Fastweb 11.6
3 Ezugwu, Aget 11.0
4 Bougaieff, IND 11.0
5 Grant, Veroli 8.9
Assists Per Game
1 Levin, Ignis 4.2
2 Childress, Pepsi 3.9
3 Piazza, Indesit 3.4
4 Morri Soresina 3.3
5 Collins Ferrara 3.2
Steals Per Game
1 Thomas, Rimini 4.1
2 Boyette, TDS 3.3
3 Farabello, CarFe 3.2
Blocks Per Game
1 Ortner, TRE 1.5
2 Maggioli, Fileni 1.4
3 Tyler, Carmatic 1.4
2FGP
1 Lollis, Vanoli 69.0
2 Bougaieff, IND 65.9
3 Volcic, CAS 65.4
3FGP
1 Mobley, Pavia 50.8
2 Tutt, Caserta 50.0
3 Collins, Carife 45.9
Free Throws
1 Portaluppi, VAN 94.2
2 Darby, BancoSar 93,8
3 Maestranzi, Fileni 92.4


*****************************************************
JAMAICA

Named to Conference USA All-Defensive Team and Player of the Week -by Leonard Whyte
Memphis, TN (3-12-2008) - Sophomore Center, Jerome Jordan who led Conference USA in blocked shots, picked up two individual awards yesterday before his impressive performance last night. First, he was named Conference USA 'Player of the Week' after averaging 14.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocked shots in two games last week, while shooting 66 percent from the field and 88 percent from the free throw line. For the season, Jordan averages 9.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 blocked shots. He also has a team-leading .600 field goal percentage. Jordan was also named to the 'All-Defensive Team.' He blocked 100 shots for a 3.45 average per game, 39 blocks more than the second-place finisher. He became Tulsa's single-season blocked shots record-holder and also ranks fourth on the school's career list with 117 blocks in his two seasons.

Jordan flirts with triple-double in Tulsa's win -by Leonard Whyte
Memphis, TN (3-12-2008) - Jerome Jordan narrowly missed a triple-double last night when he had 18 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocked shots to pace the University of Tulsa to a 66-49 victory over East Carolina University in the opening game of the Conference USA tournament. The 7' 0' Jordan connected on 6-of-11 from the field and his eight blocks matched his career-high and tied a tournament record, which was first established by Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin in 1998. Tulsa also set a new tournament record with 11 blocks as a team. They will face second-seeded University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) tonight.

*****************************************************
KUWAIT

The 2007-08 Kuwaiti Federation Basketball Cup Final Today! Al Arabi and Al Kuwait play for title!!! -by Mohammed Al Raad
The 2007-08 version of the Kuwaiti Federation Basketball Cup is on much earlier than expected. In fact it was not supposed to begin until the 16th of March. Why? Because the 'Golden Four' (Final Four) for the Regular Season has been postponed. As a result, the Kuwaiti Basketball Federation decided to move the Federation cup up from March 16 to March 6th.
Therefore, the first round had to be played much sooner than was originally expected.


The first games occurred on Thursday, March 6th where there wereno real surprises. Everything went as expected with Al Tadhamon, Al Sahel, Al Sulaibikhat and Kazma getting knocked out.

Here are the results:

First Round scores:

Al-Sahel - Al Arabi 70-74
Kazma - Al Jahraa 72-79
Yarmouk - Al Sulaibikhat 74-49
Al Nasr - al Tadhamon 85-67

The second round (semi-final 1) was played on Sunday March 9. Many see the Al Arabi one point win over Al Qadsia as an upset. Al Kuwait bumped Al Jahraa out of contention with a 14 point
win to remain undefeated for the entire season.

Second Round Scores:

Al Arabi - Al Qadsia 70-69
Al Kuwait -Al Jahraa 90-76

In the third round(semi-final 2), Yarmouk was defeated by Al Arabi and Kuwait advance by dropping Al Nasr Club. The games were held on Tuesday, March 11.

Third Round Scores:

Yarmouk - Al Arabi 62-71
Al Nasr - Al Kuwait 70-84

The 3rd and 4th place game will be played on Thursday, March 13 featuring Yarmouk vs Al Nasr at 5:00 local time. The final will be held just after at 7:00 featuring Al Arabi and Al Kuwait for the title.

The 2007-08 version of the Kuwaiti Federation Basketball Cup is well under way. Al Arabi and Al Kuwait reach the final!!! -by Eurobasket
The 'Golden Four' (Final Four) for the Regular Season has been postponed. Apparently one of the final four teams used illegal substitutions during one of their regular season viictories and if the game is detemined to be a forfeit, a different final four will be assigned. As a result ,the Kuwaiti Basketball federation decided to move its cup up to sooner than expected. The first rounds have already been played as of late.


The first games ocurrred on Thursday, March 6 where there were no surprises. Everything went as expected with Al Tadhamon, Al Sahel, Al Sulaibikhat and Kazma getting knocked out.

Here are the scores and results thus far:

First Round:

Al-Sahel - Al Arabi 70-74
Kazma - Al Jahraa 72-79
Yarmouk - Al Sulaibikhat 74-49
Al Nasr - al Tadhamon 85-67

The second round (semi-final 1)was played on Sunday March 9. Many see the Al Arabi one point win over Al Qadsia as an upset. Al Kuwait bumped Al Jahraa out of contention with a 14 point
win.

Second Round Scores:

Al Arabi - Al Qadsia 70-69
Al Kuwait -Al Jahraa 90-76

In the third round(semi-final2), Yarmouk was defeated by Al Arabi and Kuwait advance by dropping Al Nasr Club. The games were held on Tuesday, March 11.

Third Round Scores:

Yarmouk - Al Arabi 62-71
Al Nasr - Al Kuwait 70-84

The 3rd and 4th place game will be played on Thursday, March 13 featuring Yarmouk vs Al Nasr and the final will be held just after featuring Al Arabi and Al Kuwait for the title.

Kuwait Finals Set -by Sadik Abdullah
The Kuwait Basketball League finals is set and it will be a match up of long time rivals, Al Kuwait SC vs. Al Arabi.

Al Arabi defeated Al Yarmook 71-62 to advance to these finals while Al Kuwait SC continued its undefeated streak by beating Al Nasr 84-70. Al Kuwait SC looks to continue its undefeated streak and repeat as champions, while Al Arabi looks to pull off the upset and shwo Kuwait club that they are vulnerable.

The 3rd place matchup will consist of Al Nasr and Al Yarmouk.

Both games will be played on the 13th of March with the Finals being at 11 am EST, while the 3rd place match up will take place at 9 am EST. The finals will be live on Kuwait Sport Channel.

*****************************************************
LATVIA

LBL standings
LBL Standings
Division I
1. Valmiera 10-7
2. ASK Riga 9-0
3. Barons/LMT 9-1
4. BK Ventsp. 9-2
5. Liep.Lauvas 9-8
6. VEF Riga 8-9
7. Bum./ASK 2-15
8. Keizarmezs 1-15
Division II
1. Zemgale 23-5
2. Ventspils au. 20-6
3. RNS-D/Livani 18-10
4. ASK/Juniors 18-11
5. LU/Ridzene 13-14
6. Jurmala 13-16
7. Roja 10-18
8. Saldus 5-21
9. Cesis/Remarks 5-24


Stats Leaders
LBL Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
Ozols (Jurmala) 21.0
Kanbergs (VA) 20.3
Rudzitis (Bum.) 18.6
Delveris (Roja) 18.5
Mizis (LU/Ridz.) 18.1
Rebounds Per Game
Stimac (Valmiera) 11.3
Ed.Eglitis (LU/Ridz.) 9.0
Licitis (Saldus) 8.5
Alexander (Bar.) 8.1
J.Rozitis (ASK/Jun.) 8.0,
Assists Per Game
Slesers (Livani) 7.13
Buskevics (ASK) 4.8
Skele (Barons) 4.1
Tiss (Saldus) 4.0
Olivero (Valmiera) 4.0
Steals Per Game
Slesers (Livani) 3.3
Skele (Barons) 2.8
Millage (ASK) 2.7
Blocks Per Game
J.Rozitis (ASK/Jun.) 2.7
D.Rozitis (Cesis) 2.4
Rich (Liepaja) 2.4
Ranking
Stimac (Valmiera) 22.5
Kanbergs (VA) 21.3
Raiskums (Zemgale) 20.6


Standings - LBAL
LBAL Standings
Austrumi 1-4
1. Valmiera-2 6-1
2. DU/Hansabanka 4-3
3. Maksis/LTI 4-3
4. Madona 0-7
Austrumi 5-7
1. Preili 4-1
2. Ezerzeme 2-3
3. Jekabpils 1-3
Centrs 1-4
1. ASK Kadeti 2-0
2. Keizarmezs-2 1-1
3. Ogre/Sonora 1-1
4. Jurmala 2 0-2
Centrs 5-8
1. VIA Riga 0-0
2. Kursa/MRU 0-0
3. Turiba 0-0
4. LU 0-0
Centrs 9-12
1. Saulkrasti 0-0
2. Salacgriva 0-0
3. Ridzene 89 0-0
4. VEF Riga 0-0
Centrs 13-16
1. Ridzene M. 7-11
2. ASK Kadeti-2 6-12
3. 3.BJSS 5-11
4. I.O.S. 4-12
Centrs 17-20
1. DSN 3-15
2. Ridzene 91 1-15
3. LNSF 0-18
Rietumi 1-4
1. Dartija 12-4
2. Liepajas Papirs 11-5
3. Kandava 10-6
4. Variants 10-6
Rietumi 5-9
1. Zemgale/Juniors 10-6
2. Perkons 9-7
3. Talsi 8-8
4. Olaine 2-14
5. Baldone 0-16


*****************************************************
LEBANON

Riyadi Leads his Group By a Win Against Itihad -by Hassan Thini
Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut Leads his group after a big win against Itihad (syria) 96 - 70.
Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut was the best in the game offense and deffense when Fadi El Khatib (197-F-79, agency: Pro Management Agency) scores 32 points and and played his own game in 35 minutes.
From another side the coach fouad abo shakra tried to give chances to the substitutions and calm the starters to end the foyr quarters as below:
(24-18) (45-32) (71-49) (96-70)

Best Scorers:
Fadi el khatib 32 points
Atif Jamal 17 points
IsmaIl Ahmad 16 points

*****************************************************
LIGA SUDAMERIC.

Sol clearly defeated -by Gianni Pascucci
Paraguayan champions of Sol de America felt to Brazilian team Flamengo 100-79 in Game 1 of the Liga Sudamericana Quarterfinals. Despite a good start of Sol, the Brazilian team showed all its strength, winning the first quarter 21-19. After that, the black and red team never looked back, enlarging its advantage minute after minute. Scoring 29 points, Marcelinho Machado (200-F/G-75, agency: Interperformances) was the best in Flamengo, followed by his younger brother Eduardo Duda Machado (197-F-82), who added 14 pts, and by Helio Lima (186-G-81), who scored 13 pts. Tim Jones (193-G/F-73, college: Georgia St.) was the best in Sol de America, with 27 points. Game 2 will be played on March 25, in Rio de Janeiro, and the Paraguayan team hopes to play another head-high game.

*****************************************************
NAIA

NAIA I Bracket Released -by Brandon Woudstra
Here are the round matchups. The number in parenthesis is their seed at the tournament. The tournament runs from March 19-25 in Kansas City.

(1) Georgetown, KY (Ky.) (32-0) vs. Emmanuel (Ga.) (16-17)
Mobile (Ala.) (22-9) vs. (16) Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) (24-8)
(9) Southern Nazarene (Okla.) (23-8) vs. Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) (23-9)
Carroll (Mont.) (23-8) vs. (8 )Robert Morris (Ill.) (26-3)
(5) Mountain State (W.V.) (30-2) vs. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (17-14)
Wayland Baptist (Texas) (19-12) vs. (12) Martin Methodist (Tenn.) (25-7)
(13) Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (22-10) vs. Columbia (Mo.) (25-8)
Science & Arts (Okla.) (17-15) vs. (4) LSU-Shreveport (30-2)
(3) Lambuth (Tenn.) (28-3) vs. St. Xavier (Ill.) (24-8)
Oklahoma Baptist (22-9) vs. (14) Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.) (19-8)
(11) McKendree (Ill.) (26-6) vs. Texas Wesleyan (19-10)
Campbellsville (Ky.) (24-9) vs. (6) Concordia (Calif.) (28-4)
(7) Oklahoma City (26-7) vs. Cumberland (Tenn.) (21-11)
Xavier (La.) (24-9) vs. California Baptist (23-8)
(15) Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (22-9) vs. Cumberlands (Ky.) (19-13)
Langston (Okla.) (15-12) vs. (2) Lee (Tenn.) (31-1)

Full Bracket

*****************************************************
NBA

Golden State exercises team option on Don Nelson's contract -by Eurobasket News
Don Nelson will remain as the Warriors head coach for 2008/09 season. The franchise exercised its option on the contract of Don Nelson for the upcoming season. Don Nelson is the second-best coach in the NBA history for the win record. His win stats stand at 1,271 career victories and he trails to Lenny Wilkins with 1,332 victories. Last season he led the Warriors to the Conference semis routing the Dallas Mavs en route.
The Atlanta Hawks announced the signing of guard Jeremy Richardson (6'7''-G/F-83, college: Delta St.) for the reminder of the season. On February 18 Atlanta already inked Richardson on a 10-day contract. The 23-year-old guard averaged 2.9 points per appearance with the Hawks. He also got some short stints with the Grizzlies and the Spurs this season.
The Seattle Supersonics decided to sign Mike Wilks (5'11''-G-79, college: Rice) on a 10-day contract. Mike Wilks was actually resigned after being inked on the same kind of contract on February 29. He managed just 2 points and 1 assists in the period of time with the Supersonics.
Meanwhile Seattle suffered their 5th straight loss as they fell short to Indiana 107:114 at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Mike Jr. Dunleavy (6'9''-G/F-80, college: Duke) had another impressive night finishing with 32 points and leading playoff-concerned Indiana to the 25th win in the season. Danny Granger was helpful with 23 points, while Troy Murphy tallied 19 points and 9 rebounds for the winners. Kevin Durant (6'9''-G/F-88, college: Texas) nailed 27 points for Seattle as they slipped to 16-48 record.
The LA Lakers regained the top position in the West as they rolled past the visiting Raptors 117:108 yesterday. Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) fired 34 points and Lamar Odom crafted 20 more for the Lakers to hold off Toronto. The Lakers now face a 4-game road tour which could be decisive in terms of distributing the top spots in the West. T.J. Ford (5'10''-G-83, college: Texas) came off the bench to explode with game-high 28 points including 24 in the second half but it turned out not enough for the Raptors as they lost for the 5th time in the last 7 games.

Standings
NBA Standings
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Div.
1. Boston C. 50-12
2. Toronto R. 34-29
3. Philadelphia 30-34
4. New Jersey N. 26-38
5. New York K. 18-46
Central Div.
1. Detroit P. 46-17
2. Cleveland C. 37-27
3. Chicago B. 26-38
4. Indiana P. 25-39
5. Milwaukee B. 23-41
Southeast Div.
1. Orlando M. 41-24
2. Washington W. 31-32
3. Atlanta H. 25-37
4. Charlotte B. 24-39
5. Miami H. 11-50
Western Conference
Northwest Div.
1. Utah J. 42-23
2. Denver N. 37-26
3. Portland T.B. 34-31
4. Seattle S. 16-48
5. Minnesota T. 14-49
Pacific Div.
1. Los Angeles L. 45-19
2. Phoenix S. 42-22
3. Golden St. 39-23
4. Sacramento K. 28-35
5. Los Angeles C. 21-41
Southwest Div.
1. San Antonio S. 44-19
2. Houston R. 43-20
3. N.Orleans H. 42-20
4. Dallas M. 41-23
5. Memphis G. 15-48


*****************************************************
NCAA1

Big Sky Season 2006-07 Summary -by Eurobasket
#s#
#e#6


Dominguez


Huff


Landry


Taylor


Strait
Regular Season Standings
1 Portland St....... 14-2 22-9
2 N.Arizona.... 12-5 21-10
3 Weber St.......... 10-7 16-14
4 Montana............. 8-8 14-16
5 Idaho St.......... 8-8 12-19
6 Montana St........ 7-9 15-15
7 N.Colorado... 6-10 13-16
8 E.Washington.. 6-10 11-19
9 Sacramento St..... 2-14 4-24

Tournament Final: Portland - Northern Arizona 67-51
Tournament Semifinals:
Portland - Idaho State 72-61
Northern Arizona - Weber State 75-70

All-Big Sky Conf. Tournament MVP: Deonte Huff (6'4''-G-86) of Portland
Big Sky Conf. All-Tournament Team:
Kyle Coston (6'8''-F) of Portland
Deonte Huff of Portland
Kyle Landry (6'9''-F-86) of Northern Arizona
Josh Wilson (6'2''-G-81) of Northern Arizona
Matt Stucki (6'6''-G-83) of Idaho State

All-Big Sky Conf. 1st Team
Jeremiah Dominguez (5'6''-G-85) of Portland State
Deonte Huff of Portland State
Kyle Landry of Northern Arizona
Carlos Taylor (6'1''-G-86) of Montana State
Andrew Strait (6'8''-F/C-85) of Montana
Arturas Valeika (6'9''-F-85) of Weber State

All-Big Sky Conf. 2nd Team
Dezmon Harris (6'1''-G) of Weber State
Scott Morrison (6'11''-C-86) (6'11''-C-86) of Portland State
Matt Stucki of Idaho State
Kellen Williams (6'4''-F-84) of Eastern Washington
Josh Wilson, Northern Arizona

All-Big Sky Conf. Honorable Mention
Amorrow Morgan (6'5''-G-87) of Idaho State
Logan Kinghorn (6'5''-G-82) of Idaho State
Jordan Hasquet (6'9''-F-85) of Montana
Divaldo MBunga (6'9''-C-85) of Montana State
Jabril Banks (6'7''-F) of Northern Colorado
Sean Taibi (6'3''-G-85) of Northern Colorado
Vinnie McGhee Jr. (6'0''-G-89) of Sacramento State
Daviin Davis (6'4''-F) of Weber State

All-Big Sky Conf. Player of the Year: Jeremiah Dominguez of Portland State
All-Big Sky Conf. Defensive Player of the Year: Scott Morrison of Portland State
All-Big Sky Conf. Freshman of the Year: Vinnie McGhee Jr. of Sacramento State
All-Big Sky Conf. Newcomer of the Year: Jeremiah Dominguez of Portland State

Dayton wins squeaker and St. Joe's romps (A10 Tournament- Session 1) -by Carl Berman

The first game of the A10 tournament was a thriller as St. Louis battled Dayton. Dayton appeared to have the game in hand leading by 34-25 at halftime and 54-45 with 2:41 left. Then St.Louis's aggressive defense starting forcing steals and turnovers. Danny Brown (6'4''-G)'s three pointer cut the lead to six and Tommie Liddell's basket after a steal by Luke Meyer cut the lead to four. Kevin Lisch's three pointer with 55 seconds ledt tied the score at 55. Both teams had opportunities in the last minutes but could not convert and the game went to overtime.

The lead changed hands as Danny Brown scored and converted a three point play to put St. Louis up by one with under a minute left. Andres Sandoval then made a runner in the lane to give Dayton a 63-62 lead with 31 seconds left. St. Louis held the ball for the last shot which was missed and Dayton won the thriller 63-62.


St. Louis ended their season with a 16-15 record while Dayton went to 21-9 and goes on to face Xavier in the quarter-finals tomorrow. Danny Brown of St. Louis was the leading scorer with 24 points. Marcus Johnson led a balanced Dayton attack with 16 points.


The second game was no contest. St. Joseph's took a big early lead on the hot shooting by Tasheed Carr and Pat Calathes. Carr canned 6 of 6 shots and Calathes was 5 for 7 in the first half as the Hawks took a 44-25 halftime lead. St. Joe's then coasted in the second half to a 80-62 victory to keep their post season hopes alive.. St. Joe's moves to 19-11 on the year while Fordham finishes their year at 12-17. St. Joseph's will go on to play Richmond tomorrow afternoon.



Atlantic 10 Championship Preview -by Carl Berman
The Atlantic 10 conference starts its championship this aftenoon in Atlantic City. The A10 is ranked #7 among all conferences in the nation. Conference teams have registered some exceptional wins this season. Xavier, the regular season champion defeated Indiana, Creighton, Cincinnati, Kansas State and Virginia, Charlotte beat Southern Illinois, Wake Forest and Davidson, Dayton defeated Louisville and Pittsburgh and Rhode Island beat Syracuse, Providence and UAB.

Xavier is the favorite to win the tournament. As unpredicable as the league has been this year 6-7 other teams will be in the picture to get to the title game. The tournament starts this afternoon as Dayton plays St. Louis followed by St. Joe's against Fordham. Tonight Lasalle plays Duquesne followed by Rhode Island and Charlotte. Eurobasket will be in attendence to report on the games.

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NCAA2

Daktronics NCAA Division II All-Region Teams -by Eurobasket
All-East Region
1st Team
Chris Banal (6'5''-F) of West Liberty State
Chris Gilliam (6'7''-F) of Pitt Johnstown
Ryan McLemore (6'9''-F-85) of Edinboro
Charlie Parker (6'4''-G/F) of Millersville
Brandon Streeter (6'6''-F) of Mount Olive
2nd Team
Kendrick Easley (6'1''-G) of Mount Olive
Darnell Evans (6'3''-G) of Queens
Stan Hall (6'3''-G) of Alderson-Broaddus
James Helton (6'6''-F) of West Virginia State
Thad McFadden (6'2''-G-87) of Fairmont State

All-Northeast Region
1st Team
Steve Dagostino (5'11''-G) of Saint Rose
Nate Fritsch (6'6''-F-83) of Bentley
Jonathan Schmidt (6'0''-G) of C.W. Post
Michael Sturns (6'5''-G-86) of Holy Family
Ryan Williams (6'3''-G-85) of Pace
2nd Team
Darren Duncan (5'10''-G) of Merrimack
Laurence Ekperigin (6'7''-F) of Le Moyne
Vincent Falzone (6'5''-F) of Molloy
Malcolm Ingram (6'4''-F) of Philadelphia
Brian Monahan (6'6''-F-86) of Saint Michael's
Jason Westrol (6'3''-G-88) of Bentley

All-South Atlantic Region
1st Team
Sean Barnette (6'4''-F) of Wingate
Anthony Hilliard (6'4''-G/F-86) of Elizabeth City State
Chris Commons (6'8''-F) of USC Aiken
Tyrekus Bowman (6'5''-F-86) of Augusta State
Brad Byerson (6'7''-F) of Virginia Union
2nd Team
Reggie Bratton (6'4''-G/F) of Lenoir-Rhyne
Jeremy Fears (6'5''-G-85) of USC Aiken
Bryan Grier (6'5''-F) of Wingate
Garret Siler (6'11''-C-86) of Augusta State
Phillippe Harris (5'11''-G) of Fayetteville State

All-South Central Region
1st Team
Cory Abercrombie (6'7''-F/C) of Pittsburg State
Scooby Johnson (6'7''-F-83) of Texas A&M / Commerce
Sam Belt (6'5''-G/F-84) of Central Oklahoma
Avery Patterson (6'4''-G-86) of Tarleton State
Leslie Malone (6'7''-F) of Cameron (Okla)
2nd Team
Robert Lee (6'3''-G-85) of West Texas A&M
Deandre Townsend (5'8''-G) of Emporia State (Kan)
Eric Williams (6'6''-F-86) of Tarleton State
Pierce Caldwell (6'3''-G) of Incarnate Word
Nate Perry (6'5''-F-85) of Southwestern Oklahoma

GLVC Season 2007-08 Summary -by Richard
#s#
#e#6


Edgerson


Fahnbulleh


Harris


Muse


Plummer

Regular Season Standings
East
1. N.Kentucky 14-5 .737 9-3 20-7
1. Ky Wesleyan 14-5 .737 8-4 24-7
3. St.Joseph, IN 13-6 .684 6-6 18-11
4. Lewis 11-8 .579 5-7 20-10
4. Bellarmine 11-8 .579 5-7 17-11
6. Wisc.-Parkside 9-10 .474 5-7 16-11
7. Indianapolis 8-11 .421 4-8 14-13
West
1. Drury 15-4 .789 10-2 25-5
2. SIU Edwardsville 10-9 .526 8-4 17-11
3. Quincy 9-10 .474 9-3 16-13
3. S.Indiana 9-10 .474 7-5 15-12
5. Mo.-St.Louis-St. Louis 5-14 .263 4-8 10-17
5. Rockhurst 5-14 .263 4-8 9-18
7. Missouri-Rolla 0-19 .000 0-12 3-24


Tournament Final: Drury - Lewis 89-87

Tournament Semifinals:
Drury - Quincy 76-63
Lewis - Saint Joseph's 86-75


All-GLVC Tournament MVP: Collins Harris (6'5''-F-85) of Drury

GLVC All-Tournament Team:
Collins Harris of Drury
Chris Ijames (6'5''-F-86) of Drury
Tim Brown (5'10''-G-86) of Drury
Stephan Bolt (6'6''-F) of Lewis
Jason Genova (6'6''-F) of Lewis


All-GLVC 1st Team
Rodney Edgerson (6'5''-F) of Kentucky Wesleyan

Jeff Fahnbulleh (6'7''-C) of Kentucky Wesleyan
Collins Harris of Drury
Andre Muse (6'5''-G-86) of Quincy
Norman Plummer (6'7''-F-84) of Southern Indiana


All-GLVC 2nd Team
Stephan Bolt of Lewis
Ronald Coleman (6'5''-G/F) of Saint Joseph's
T.J. Gray (5'7''-G-85) of SIU Edwardsville
Dzaflo Larkai (6'8''-F) of Bellarmine
Harrison Morton (6'4''-F) of Northern Kentucky


All-GLVC 3rd Team
Adam Brames (6'4''-G) of Bellarmine
Deandre Brock (6'2''-G-86) of UIndy
Brandon Dagans (6'1''-G) of Lewis
Joey Deas (5'10''-G) of Rockhurst
Jason Genova of Lewis
Steven Gum (6'2''-G-85) of Drury
Cameron Murkey (6'3''-G-86) of Quincy
T.J. Smith (6'2''-G) of Kentucky Wesleyan
Devin Thomas (6'4''-G/F) of Saint Joseph's
John Torson (6'10''-F/C) of Rockhurst


All-GLVC Player of the Year: Jeff Fahnbulleh of Kentucky Wesleyan
All-GLVC Freshman of the Year: Dennis Gagai (6'4''-G) of Northern Kentucky
All-GLVC Coach of the Year: Todd Lee of Kentucky Wesleyan



*****************************************************
NCAA3

Troy Ruths recipient of Jostens Trophy -by Moritz Korff
Tarra Richardson of McMurry University (Texas) and Troy Ruths (6'6''-F-85) of Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) are the recipients of the 2008 Jostens Trophy awards. The annual honors are presented to one male and one female student-athlete, recognizing the most-outstanding student-athletes in NCAA Division III basketball for not only their abilities on the playing court, but excellence in the classroom and within the community.

The winners were chosen by a national selection committee that consists of college coaches, former athletes, college administrators and selected members of the media. The members of the national selection committee cast their votes based on three criteria: basketball ability, academic prowess and community service.

The awards presentation for the Jostens Trophy is set for Thursday, March 20, and held in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Salem's weekly meeting at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia.

'Troy, an excellent role model, embodies and exemplifies the qualities necessary for excellence and success in life,' said Washington University Director of Athletics, John Schael. 'To be able to successfully balance the rigors of engineering with those of basketball takes a special person.'

Washington University in St. Louis' Ruths, a native of Sugar Land, Texas, and a graduate of Steven F. Austin High School, has played a pivotal role during his career for the Bears. The team has had an impressive 79-28 record over the past four years, winning the University Athletic Association (UAA) championship and placing third in the NCAA Tournament last year. Ruths currently ranks second on the Washington University all-time scoring board with 1,697 points. Ruths has helped lead the Bears to a 21-6 season in which he is averaging a UAA-best 19.6 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game.

The Bears are in the midst of the 2008 NCAA National Tournament. Last weekend Ruths helped lead the Bears to first and second round victories by notching 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 79-74 win over Wooster and 21 points and seven rebounds in a 70-67 win over Augustana. The Bears will take on Buena Vista University on March 14 in the sectional round of the tournament.

Ruths has been named to the UAA All-Conference teams three times and was named the UAA Most Valuable Player as well a Third Team All-American by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) in 2007.

In addition to Ruth's successes on the court, the computer science major boasts a 4.0 grade point average in the classroom. He is a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America of the Year selection as well as a three-time Academic All-District and Academic All-UAA selection. Additionally, Ruths was named to the USA Today All-USA College Academic Team in 2007 and a two-time Academic All-American. He also has devoted time to research in the School of Engineering at both Washington University and Rice University and had the opportunity to co-author an academic article in the Journal of Chemical Education.

Ruths has taken on several extra-curricular activities. He is a member of the Computer Science Student Advisory Board and the Student-Athletic Advisory Committee. He developed a math program for young children and he is the co-founder of two companies, Tryphon Arts and NonoKids.

Courtesy of http://odac.bridgewater.edu/jostens/2008winners.htm

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PARAGUAY

Sol clearly defeated -by Gianni Pascucci
Paraguayan champions of Sol de America felt to Brazilian team Flamengo 100-79 in Game 1 of the Liga Sudamericana Quarterfinals. Despite a good start of Sol, the Brazilian team showed all its strength, winning the first quarter 21-19. After that, the black and red team never looked back, enlarging its advantage minute after minute. Scoring 29 points, Marcelinho Machado (200-F/G-75, agency: Interperformances) was the best in Flamengo, followed by his younger brother Eduardo Duda Machado (197-F-82), who added 14 pts, and by Helio Lima (186-G-81), who scored 13 pts. Tim Jones (193-G/F-73, college: Georgia St.) was the best in Sol de America, with 27 points. Game 2 will be played on March 25, in Rio de Janeiro, and the Paraguayan team hopes to play another head-high game.

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PHILIPPINES

Realtors' Asia Cup Stint In Limbo -by Lorenzo Gahol
MANILA - The Sta. Lucia Realtors' plan to represent the country in the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in May is on the rocks. Philippine Basketball Association board chairman Tony Chua said the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas' invitation for the Realtors to compete in the Champions Cup will have the league's support only if it will not affect the Fiesta Conference. However, the Champions Cup will be held in May, when the Fiesta Conference will still be in the middle of the elimination round. 'I don't think we can sacrifice our own tournament,' Chua added. The Philippine Basketball League's Harbour Centre may be tapped to represent the country instead if the Realtors will not be available, reports said. The Batang Pier are set to compete in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) Champion's Cup in Indonesia next month. J. Bagulaya

PBA To Hold Archers-Eagles Charity Match -by Lorenzo Gahol
MANILA - Bitter rivals Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University are set for a rematch on Easter Sunday. The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) announced that it will hold a benefit game featuring former stars of the Eagles and Archers. PBA operations and technical chief Rickie Santos said the proceeds from the game will go to the Players Trust Fund. Magnolia's Enrico Villanueva, Olsen Racela, and LA Tenorio will spearhead the Vincent Reyes -mentored Ateneo side while Barangay Ginebra's Jong Uichico will handle the La Salle team led by Ren-Ren Ritualo, Mark Cardona, and Mike Cortez, among others. J. Bagulaya

Purefoods Seeks NBDL Shooter -by Lorenzo Gahol
MANILA - The Puerfoods TJ Giants are planning to get a scoring phenomenon in the Puerto Rican league as their import for the coming Philippine Basketball Association Fiesta Cup. Reports said National Basketball Association Development League (NBDL) veteran Darius Rice (208-F/C-82, college: Miami, FL) is high on coach Ryan Gregorio's list. The young mentor revealed that the Giants are now negotiating for the services of the 1.85-meter shooter from the University of Miami. Rice is averaging 26.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in the Puerto Rican league this season. He set an NBDL record for the most three-pointers in a season last year with 52 treys. J. Bagulaya

*****************************************************
POLAND

Turow prevails in Kyiv -by Eurobasket News
BC Kyiv - Turow 59:71

Turow Zgorzelec jumped into a massive lead in the ULEB Cup Top 16 series against BC Kyiv winning away from home yesterday. David Logan (184-G-82, college: Indianapolis) and Thomas Kelati (195-G/F-82, college: Washington St.) teamed up for 47 points to upset an ambitious Ukrainian outfit. Now BC Kyiv needs a miracle to deny a 12-point deficit in the second game of the series that will be held in Liberec in Czech Republic. Turow entered the game with the best defense of the ULEB Cup regular season and they lived up to the status. A stifling defensive performance from the visitors resulted in painful 15 turnovers from BC Kyiv and Turow used to full advantage. Thomas Kelati scored 5 unanswered points at the start of the game. Slobodan Ljubotina (207-F/C-84, agency: Beo Basket) added 5 more and Turow gained a comfortable 10:0 lead early on. Ryan Stack (212-F/C-75, agency: Interperformances, college: S.Carolina) and Marcus Faison (196-G-78, college: Siena) brought a sloppy Kyiv team back to life at 8:12 but Turow continued to dominate. The visitors went on a 9:2 run to accumulate a 21:10 lead. Eugene Jeter (179-G-83, agency: CAA Sports, college: Portland) and Manuchar Markoishvili (196-G-86) trimmed the deficit to 6 points at the end of the first period 18:24. The Polish side ignited a 7:0 run early in the second stanza and stretched the margin. But Manuchar Markoishvili and Marko Maravic (201-F-79, agency: VTBM/SRBM) kept the spectators hopeful as they pulled the gap back to 6 points. Thomas Kelati stroke from downtown once again and sealed a 34:25 outcome for the first half. Tomo Mahoric introduced Artur Drozdov (198-G-80) into action in the second half despite BC Kyiv's captain being advised to rest his injured knee. Drozdov added some flexibility in offense and the hosts seemed to get rolling. Manuchar Markoishvili nailed a pair of impressive buckets and Marko Maravic added from inside to cut the difference. But not for long though. David Logan came up with 5 straight points and made it a 49:36 advantage after 30 minutes. David Logan hit an incredible off-glass treble and Slobodan Ljubotina added another one from the corner to silence the crowd at the Sports Palace early in the fourth. Artur Drozdov beat the clock with a long bomb of his own but it was just a short spark for the home team. David Logan kept on delivering points to keep Turow at a safe distance. BC Kyiv desperately needed to come closer and when Drozdov and Eugene Jeter knocked down back-to-back treys the gap was narrowed to 8 points. But Thomas Kelati remained cool-headed and his two triples ensured positive emotions for Turow after the game.
David Logan notched game-high 25 points for Turow. Thomas Kelati scored 22 points, while Slobodan Ljubotina had 15 points for the winners. Eugene Jeter launched 15 points but committed 7 turnovers for BC Kyiv. Manuchar Markoishvili sank 12 points in defeat.

BC Kyiv: Eugene Jeter 15, Manuchar Markoishvili 12
Turow: David Logan 25, Thomas Kelati 22, Slobodan Ljubotina 15

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PUERTO RICO

Matthews is a Lion and Joel Jones "roars" -by Alessandro Fontana
Leones de Ponce signed Bryant Matthews. Matthews is an american guard-forward with a lot of experience. He played in Portugal, Italy, Spain, Australia and the US Minors. He will be very important for a young team as Leones de Ponce.
BSN-time in Puerto Rico!. Ponce won against Mayaguez 91-65. MVP of the game was Joel Jones with 32 pts. Jones played a 'partidazo' (8/10 2pts, 4/5 3pts, 4/4 FT) with also 4 rebs, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Jones was 'the Man' for this important victory for Ponce. Bryant Matthews played his first game with Ponce, He scored only 2 pts+2 rebs in 5 minutes.
Bayamon won against Caguas 98-93, MVP was Christopher Vega with 27 pts, To mention also the game of 'Snoop Dogg' Peter John Ramos with 24 pts and 10 rebounds. Cariduros Fajardo was defeated by Carolina 84-102, MVP of the game was Ebi Ere, He played 37 minutes with 31 points (6/7 2pts, 5/7 3pts, 4/5 FT) with 4 rebs and 4 assts. Arecibo won against Guayama 101-91, Rodney White and Angel Figueroa were the best players of the game (57 pts in two!!!). Angel Figueroa catched also 13 rebounds and He is always more one of the potential MVP of the League.
BSN BOXSCORES
MAYAGUEZ-PONCE= 65-91
M= Sanders 15, Jourdon 13, Venzen 9, Jimenez 7, Williams 7, Caballero 6, Moreno 6, Zayes 2, Caraballo 0
P= Jones 32, Martinez 13, Colon 10, Rosario 8, Latimer 7, Curbelo 6, Aubry 6 (11 rebs), Pagan 4, Matthews 2, Padilla 2, Mendez 0
BAYAMON-CAGUAS= 98-93
B= Vega 27, Western 14, Benson 13 (13 rebs), Hinson 12, Lopez 11, Kavossy 8, Anderson 8, Valencia 5, J. Lopez 0, Valenzuela 0, Salgado 0
C= Melendez 25, Ramos 24 (10 rebs), Ortiz 14, Garcia 9, Mc Sweeney 7, Ashby 5, Bryant 5, Konecky 2, Alamo 2, Davila 0
FAJARDO-CAROLINA= 84-102
F= Agbai 20, Mojica 19, Jackson 11 (9 rebs), Quintero 10, Hamilton 9, Pellot Rosa 8, Gonzalez 7, Salgado 0, Rivera 0, Arroyo 0, Vazquez 0, Collazo 0, Morales 0
C= Ere 31, Carmona 26 (8 rebs), Rivera 15 (7 assts), Cruz 10, Rice 8, Reyes 6, Villafane 6, Hiraldo 0, Brown 0, Rosa 0
GUAYAMA-ARECIBO= 91-101
G= Beard 25 (14 rebs), Payano 18, Perez 17, Caro 9, Freije 9, Melendez 6, Lopez 4, Rivera 2, Oliver 1
A= White 31, Figueroa 26 (13 rebs), Cruz 15, Hatton 15, Rivera 10, Cortes 4, Ricardo 0, Rosa 0, Rosario 0
A. Fontana

Boricuas Abroad and BSN Boxscores -by Alessandro Fontana
BORICUAS ABROAD
Uleb Cup-time in Europe for 'Our Boricuas'. BOT Turow won against Kiev 71-59. Andres Rodriguez played 34 minutes with 5 pts (2/3 2pts, 0/1 3pts, 1/2 FT), 9 rebs, 3 assts and 2 steals.
Besiktas evened the score against Red Star Beograd 80-80.This is a good result, because Besiktas played in Serbia and in Turkey They have more chances to win and qualify for the next round. in Istanbul, Besiktas is always onbeatable.
In Beograd, Christian Dalmau played 21 minutes with 5 pts (1/4 2pts, 1/3 3pts, 0/1 FT) and 2 steals. For Rick Apodaca 8 pts (2/6 2pts, 1/4 3pts, 1/2 FT) with 3 rebs and 4 assts.
BSN BOXSCORES
SAN GERMAN-GUAYAMA= 77-79
S= Alvarado 29 (8 assts), Villegas 17, Lazor 10 (10 rebs), Fuller 8, J. Villegas 4, Mendez 3, Dyer 2, Herrera 2, De Jesus 2
G=Perez 19, Freije 17, Caro 16, Payano 12, Beard 12 (14 rebs), Aponte 2, Lopez 1, Parillon 0, Melendez 0, Rivera 0, Oliver 0
GUAYNABO-BAYAMON 90-92
G= Escalera 22, Sanchez 17, Sheppard 16, Wilson 14, Langhi 11, Ortiz 8, Simon 2, Duran 0, Kortwright 0, J. Lopez 0, Paniagua 0
B= Benson 25 (22 rebs), Vega 19, Anderson 13, Hinson 10, Lopez 10, Western 6, Guevara 4, Valenzuela 2, Kavossy 2, Valencia 1, Colon 0
A. Fontana

Athletics unbeaten streak over -by Luis Ramirez
The San German Athletics saw their unbeaten record broken by the Guayama Brujos, as the Brujos beat the Athletics 76-71. The game which started out with both team playing to a tie in the 1st quarter 25-25, saw the Athletics take a 4 point lead to end the 1st half 40-36. In the 3rd quarter the Athletics pushed that lead to 9 points as the quarter ended 62-53. The Brujos seemed on their way to a loss until in the 4th quarter, the Brujos went on a furious offensive run while playing great defense. Up to that point the hero of the game was Omar Alvarado which was just shooting the lights out from 3 point range. He made 7 out of 11. Guayama pulled a major upset in inflicting San German with their first loss of the season. For Guayama it was Rafael Perez (185-G-82, agency: Huss Sport Agency) with 19 points followed by Matt Freije (206-F-81, agency: Priority Sports, college: Vanderbilt) with 17 pints. For San German it was Omar Alvarado with 29 points followed by Samuel Villegas with 17 points.

Over at Bayamon another major upset as the Bayamon Cowboys edged out a win against the Guaynabo Conquistadors 92-90. Bayamon took the 1st quarter 22-20 but Guaynabo came back in the 2nd quarter to take the lead at the half 46-43. In the 3rd quarter the Conquistadors went on an offense run and kept the Cowboys at bay as the period ended 76-62. The Cowboys were determined not to disappoint the home crowd and went on an offensive run of their own in the 4th quarter for a come from behind win. For Bayamon, Lee Benson (208-F/C-73, agency: Paris Global Sports, college: Brown Mackie) was the man as he scored 25 points and captured 22 rebounds followed by Christopher Vega (182-G-84) with 19 points. For Guaynabo it was Carlos Escalera (190-G-79, agency: Paris Global Sports, college: Missouri So.) with 22 points followed by Angel Sanchez (196-F-78) with 17 points.

Standings - BSN
BSN Standings
Island
1. San German 5-1
2. Arecibo 5-2
3. Ponce 3-3
4. Guayama 3-4
5. Mayaguez 1-3
6. Caguas 1-4
Metro
1. Santurce 5-1
2. Guaynabo 4-2
3. Bayamon 3-5
4. Carolina 2-2
5. Fajardo 2-3
6. Humacao 0-4


Stats Leaders - BSN
Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
Figueroa (Arecibo) 24.0
Escalera (Guaynabo)22.7
Alvarado(SG) 22.0
Jones (Ponce) 21.7
White (Arecibo) 20.0
Rebounds Per Game
Benson (Bayamon) 13.3
Martinez (Humacao) 12.8
Langhi (Guaynabo) 10.8
Figueroa (Arecibo) 10.4
Ramos (Caguas) 10.4
Assists Per Game
Alvarado (S.German) 7.0
Caro (Guayama) 6.4
Hatton (Arecibo) 5.6
Pagan (Ponce) 5.5
Cruz (Arecibo) 5.4
Steals Per Game
Caro (Guayama) 2.3
E.Santiago(Santurce) 2.2
Figueroa (Arecibo) 2.1
Blocks Per Game
Dyer (San German) 2.8
Benson (Bayamon) 1.8
Traylor (Santurce) 1.8
3FGP
Alvarado (SG) 51.2%
Mojica (Fajardo) 50%
Wilson (Guaynabo) 50%
Free Throws
Guzman(Humacao)100%
Ortiz (Caguas) 93.3%
Rivera (Arecibo) 91.7%


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RUSSIA

Standings - Superleague A
A Superleague Standings
1. CSKA 19-1
2. Khimky 18-2
3. Triumph 14-5
4. Dynamo M. 14-6
5. Unics 12-7
6. Ural Great 10-10
7. Lok.Rostov 9-10
8. Samara 8-10
9. Spartak-P. 7-11
10. Univ.Surgut 6-13
11. Spartak St.P. 4-16
12. Lokomotiv N. 4-18
13. Krasnoyarsk 2-17


Ricky & Rudy VS Khimki -by Max Brodsky

DKV Joventut played solid in the second half to obtain a somewhat surprising 23-point win over Khimki on the road on Tuesday afternoon, 73-96 in the opening leg of the teams' Last 16 series. Led by Rudy Fernandez (197-G-85) and Ricard Rubio (192-G-90) - the latter posting 15 points and 5 assists in the second half - Joventut jumped ahead and never looked back thanks to 14 triples. Now both teams will meet again next Tuesday in Badalona, Spain, as Joventut will start with a 23-point advantage that gives it solid chances to be in the Final Eight in Turin, Italy, from April 10 to 13. Rudy and Ricky led the winners with 18 points apiece, Lubos Barton (200-F/G-80, college: Valparaiso) added 14 behind 4-of-5 three-point shooting and Jerome Moiso (208-C/F-78, college: UCLA) contributed 10. For Khimki, Maciej Lampe (210-C-85) led all scorers with 20 points, Daniel Ewing (191-G-83, college: Duke) added 15 and Mike Wilkinson (204-F-81, college: Wisconsin) tallied 13 on 5-of-5 two-point shooting. Khimki controlled the battle for rebounds, 43-33, but Joventut's accuracy and speed in offense allowed the hosts to escape Moscow with a valuable win.

Moiso sent a message to start the game slamming the ball but Kelly McCarty (201-F-75, college: S.Mississippi) soon scored to get the game going. Ewing soon finished off a transition for an 8-6 Khimki lead as Moiso had scored all the points for Joventut. Lubos Barton and Jan-Hendrik Jagla (213-F-81, college: Penn St.) capped two fast plays to tie the game at 10-10. The defenses pushed hard, but Khimki was shooting better allowing the hosts to stay ahead thanks to Wilkinson's accuracy. Demond Mallet (186-G-78, college: Mc Neese St.) hit his first attempt from beyond the arc and Rudy capped a 0-7 charge to put Joventut ahead, 16-19. Pat Burke (208-C-73, college: Auburn) stopped the bleeding from underneath and Teemu Rannikko (189-G-80) added free throws for a 20-21 Joventut lead at the end of the first quarter. A tough offensive rebound by Pau Ribas (182-G-87) launched Joventut again to 20-25, as the visitors' defense in the paint limited Khimki's offensive attempts. Jagla and Barton added threes to open the quarter with a 0-11 run for Joventut that took the first double-digit lead of the game, 20-31 while Khimki's 0 for 6 from downtown was killing the hosts at this point. Wilkinson finally scored again for Khimki with a 5-meter jumper, but Rubio answered with a three that was promptly replied to by Wilkinson, Ewing and Lampe, who combined on a 10-0 run for 32-34 forcing Joventut head coach Garcia Aito Reneses to call a timeout. Rudy fed Jagla for a dunk to break the burst, but Vitali Fridzon (195-G-85) appeared with a three-point play to put Khimki in control again, 39-38. However still had time to blast a last three to make it 39-41 at the break.

Lampe opened the second half with a difficult basket to tie it again at 41-41, and Wilkinson and McCarty teamed up to make it 45-41, but a 2-11 burst by Joventut including 5 points from Rubio allowed Joventut to jump ahead again, 47-52 forcing a Khimki timeout. Rudy sealed a fastbreak after a steal to make it 47-54, but Ewing did the same to awaken Khinki again. Both teams exchanged baskets, but Joventut's arrived mainly beyond the arc allowing the gusts to increase the lead little by little to 51-61. Ewing was the main option for Khimki now with back-to-back threes to pull the hosts within 59-63. Two lucky baskets, first by Eduardo Hernandez-Sonseca (212-C-83) and then by Rubio, allowed Joventut to add more points to the cushion going into the last quarter, 59-67. Rubio had three more straight baskets to start the last period and lift Joventut to 61-73, but Khimki fought in offense through Lampe in the paint. Joventut, however, still blasted threes non-stop and Barton and Mallet came next to make it 64-79 forcing head coach Kestutis Kemzura to use another Khimki timeout. Lampe was still the only option for Khimki as he fought his way to the basket every time, but a three by Ribas and Jagla's next bucket made it 66-84 for Joventut. The game was decided, but Joventut stepped on the gas to try to get the most possible points to face the second game in Badalona and Rudy hit another three to make it 70-96, but Lampe replied, this time from beyond the arc, to put the final 73-96.



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RWANDA

The National Heroes tournament reaches semifinal stage -by Eurobasket News
It's a high time for basketball in Rwanda now. The annual National Heroes tournament got under way in Kigali with some top-ranked Rwandese squads fighting for the prize. APR, Marine, CSKA and Espoir booked their semifinal tickets qualifying from two preliminary groups. All of these four squads were widely taken as favorites at the start and proved their status claiming victories in respective groups. CSKA won the contest in Group A. They beat Kigali Institute of Education team to open the tournament. Later CSKA surpassed the Junior Rwandan National team to top the ladder. Junior National team took part in the competition as a part of their preparation for the upcoming Africa Junior Cup of Nations that tips off in April. The defending champs APR finished at the second spot in the group to advance to the playoffs.
Rwanda national champs Marine were successful in Group B. They overcame Espoir, Rwanda National University and Basketball United Generation to clinch the top seed. Espoir in the meantime was victorious in two games and joined Marine as the second semifinalist from the group. The semis are scheduled for the weekend at the Amahoro Indoor Stadium. After the local teams finish the first part of the competition they will be joined by a couple of invited teams from all around Africa. Some teams from DR Congo, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya were rumored to take part.


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SERBIA

Akasvayu Girona too strong for Hemofarm STADA -by Dragan Jankovski
Hemofarm STADA lost at home against Spanish Akasvayu Girona 71-80 in the first game of the ULEB Cup 1/8 finals. After a tied first half, Girona made a 12 point run in the 28th minute thanks to 3-pointers by Sada and McDonald. Hemofarm had a chance to turn things around in the last quarter as they came on 67-72 but the Spanish team made another 5-0 run and freezed Hemofarm on minus 9 for the second game.
Girona got the most from Marc Gasol (212-C-85, agency: Interperformances), who added 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists while Branko Cvetkovic (200-G-84) netted 15 points. On the other side, Rawle Marshall (201-G-82, college: Oakland) had 21 points and 7 rebounds for Hemofarm while Milivoje Bozovic (211-C-85, agency: Beo Basket) added 12 points and 8 rebounds.

The second game will be played in Girona next Tuesday.


Hemofarm STADA - Akasvayu Girona 71-80
(21-21,22-22,15-27,13-10)

Hemofarm STADA: Marshall 21 (7 rebs), Bozovic 12 (8 rebs), Pavkovic 11
Akasvayu Girona: Gasol 19 (7 rebs, 6 as), Cvetkovic 15, Sada 13 (7 rebs, 7 as)

Olympiada Patras parted ways with Jorovic and Nesovic -by Dragan Jankovski
Greek team Olympiada from Patras released two Serbian players, Branko Jorovic (205-F-81) and Aleksej Nesovic (189-G-85, agency: World Sport Agency), while the head coach Dragan Raca and the point guard Zoran Osmokrovic (189-G-81, agency: Beo Basket) will stay in Patras until the end of the season. The team is in very inconvenient situation as they have only 3 wins and 16 defeats so far in Greek A league. The situation is even worse after the latest home defeat against direct rival in the battle for the survival Rethimno from Crete.

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SOUTH KOREA

Standings
KBL Standings
1. Dongbu 36-13
2. Samsung 30-19
3. KCC 30-19
4. LG 29-21
5. KT&G 29-21
6. ET 25-24
7. SK 24-25
8. KTF 21-29
9. Mobis 13-36
10. Orions 10-40


*****************************************************
TANZANIA

11 teams ready for National Basketball League -by Carlos Pereira
By Faustine Feliciane

Eleven teams have so far confirmed to compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) which will be held in Tanga from March 26-31.
The Tanzania Basketball Federation (TBF) Secretary-General, Lawrence Cheyo, said yesterday the event would be staged at the Mkwakwani Stadium.
He named men`s teams from Dar es Salaam as Savio, JKT, ABC, Oilers and Chui.
Men`s teams from Dodoma are Mzinga, Bees and Dodoma Spurs.
Women`s team from Dar es Salaam are Lady Lioness, Jeshi Stars and Polisi.
He said Arusha, Morogoro , Mbeya, Mwanza and Tanga had promised to send two teams each without naming them.

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U.S.VIRGIN ISL.

Stevens one victory away from Class L championship -by David Edole
Shoquan Stevens (198-F-90) had 16 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks as No.6 Maloney (20-6) advanced to the Class L final with a victory over No.2 New London (21-2), 72-50, at the New Haven Athletic Center.

Maloney ended the first half on a 7-0 run to take a 27-22 lead. And the third period? Oy. The Spartans used threes, a textbook back door pass and plenty of offensive rebounds to eventually lead by 20 in the final minute.

Maloney outscored New London 25-10 in the third to take control.

New London senior Allan Chaney had 28 points, many late in the game. Johrone Bunch and Stevens guarded Chaney most of the night.

'We knew he was a good player,' Stevens said. 'He's not soft. He can play. That's why he's going to Florida.'

'Bunch played Chaney great,' Maloney coach Howie Hewitt said. 'He held one of the best players in the state, if not the best player, to five points in the first half and 13 through three.'

Sixth-seeded Maloney fueled by last season's loss in the title game that ruined an unbeaten season has won four state tournament games by double digits.

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UKRAINE

Smth 'bout Ukrainians abroad -by Alexander Muzyka
- Ukrainian forward Bohdan Karebin played just 7 games for German Bremen but his work helped Germans a lot. 'He is the gear for this team. It just clearly showed to us that top Ukrainian players are better than average Americans' - German journalists said. Now Bohdan scores 8.1 ppg and 4.6 rpg and sometimes makes double-doubles...

- One more BC Kyiv's young ex-center Roman Gumeniuk makes the best to set VEF Riga as the second team in Latvian Group B. His 5,7 rebounds (and the first team's place) per game have to be the proud for the Kyiv coaches. I think he satisfied, too - his face is the first on the official site of this team.

UBF Presidium met on Wednesday -by Alexander Muzyka
Presidium of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation met on Wednesday and several important decisions were made during it:

A committee to review clubs' complaints about the quality of officiating was formed.
A 50000 UAH (almost 10000 USD equiv) compensation allocated to Vladimir Drabikovski, head of Federation Referee's committee, who had been assaulted by unidentified individuals a week earlier.
A possible meeting between referees' and clubs' representatives was discussed
A possible Superleague expansion to 13 or 14 teams for the 2008-2009 season was discussed
A possible mandatory presence of at least one Ukrainian player on the court at all times for the 2008-2009 season was discussed.

Due to bckiev.com.ua

Turow prevails in Kyiv -by Eurobasket News
BC Kyiv - Turow 59:71

Turow Zgorzelec jumped into a massive lead in the ULEB Cup Top 16 series against BC Kyiv winning away from home yesterday. David Logan (184-G-82, college: Indianapolis) and Thomas Kelati (195-G/F-82, college: Washington St.) teamed up for 47 points to upset an ambitious Ukrainian outfit. Now BC Kyiv needs a miracle to deny a 12-point deficit in the second game of the series that will be held in Liberec in Czech Republic. Turow entered the game with the best defense of the ULEB Cup regular season and they lived up to the status. A stifling defensive performance from the visitors resulted in painful 15 turnovers from BC Kyiv and Turow used to full advantage. Thomas Kelati scored 5 unanswered points at the start of the game. Slobodan Ljubotina (207-F/C-84, agency: Beo Basket) added 5 more and Turow gained a comfortable 10:0 lead early on. Ryan Stack (212-F/C-75, agency: Interperformances, college: S.Carolina) and Marcus Faison (196-G-78, college: Siena) brought a sloppy Kyiv team back to life at 8:12 but Turow continued to dominate. The visitors went on a 9:2 run to accumulate a 21:10 lead. Eugene Jeter (179-G-83, agency: CAA Sports, college: Portland) and Manuchar Markoishvili (196-G-86) trimmed the deficit to 6 points at the end of the first period 18:24. The Polish side ignited a 7:0 run early in the second stanza and stretched the margin. But Manuchar Markoishvili and Marko Maravic (201-F-79, agency: VTBM/SRBM) kept the spectators hopeful as they pulled the gap back to 6 points. Thomas Kelati stroke from downtown once again and sealed a 34:25 outcome for the first half. Tomo Mahoric introduced Artur Drozdov (198-G-80) into action in the second half despite BC Kyiv's captain being advised to rest his injured knee. Drozdov added some flexibility in offense and the hosts seemed to get rolling. Manuchar Markoishvili nailed a pair of impressive buckets and Marko Maravic added from inside to cut the difference. But not for long though. David Logan came up with 5 straight points and made it a 49:36 advantage after 30 minutes. David Logan hit an incredible off-glass treble and Slobodan Ljubotina added another one from the corner to silence the crowd at the Sports Palace early in the fourth. Artur Drozdov beat the clock with a long bomb of his own but it was just a short spark for the home team. David Logan kept on delivering points to keep Turow at a safe distance. BC Kyiv desperately needed to come closer and when Drozdov and Eugene Jeter knocked down back-to-back treys the gap was narrowed to 8 points. But Thomas Kelati remained cool-headed and his two triples ensured positive emotions for Turow after the game.
David Logan notched game-high 25 points for Turow. Thomas Kelati scored 22 points, while Slobodan Ljubotina had 15 points for the winners. Eugene Jeter launched 15 points but committed 7 turnovers for BC Kyiv. Manuchar Markoishvili sank 12 points in defeat.

BC Kyiv: Eugene Jeter 15, Manuchar Markoishvili 12
Turow: David Logan 25, Thomas Kelati 22, Slobodan Ljubotina 15

*****************************************************
ULEB CUP

Zadar beats Pamesa in Croatia -by Eurobasket News
Zadar - Pamesa 74:69

Zadar accumulated a 5-point advantage before the return leg of the ULEB Cup Top 16 stage against Pamesa Valencia. Zadar kept the pressure on the visitors throughout the whole game but a strong rally from Pamesa in the fourth period allowed Spaniards to lose by digestible 5 points. The teams entered the game firing from all cylinders and Pamesa quickly took an 8:7 lead. Shammell Stallworth (197-F-80, agency: Interperformances, college: USF) connected from afar and Jere Macura (204-F/C-80, college: Notre Dame) dropped a jumper to put Zadar in front. Shammell Stallworth soon added two more trebles and Zadar enjoyed a 28:24 advantage after the opening frame. The game turned into a seesaw battle throughout the second term. The lead changed hands for a while before Pankracije Barac (196-G-81) scored 5 points in a row and Andrej Stimac (205-F/C-79) posted a basket of his own to make it 42:34 for the hosts. Albert Oliver (187-G-78) uttered the last word in the first half and trimmed the gap to 6 points at 40:46 at the long break. Shammell Stallworth and Brewer were hot from downtown early in the third as Zadar remained in front. Pamesa struggled to get any closer in the third period and finished the term trailing by 9 points 53:62. However Ruben Douglas (193-G-79, college: N.Mexico) scored 4 points in an 8:0 run that marked the start of the final stanza as Pamesa denied the deficit. Soon Shammond Williams (187-G-75, college: N.Carolina) tied the game at 66. Shammell Stallworth regained the lead for Zadar with a layup but Albert Oliver buried a trey and Pamesa grabbed a 69:68 lead. Nevertheless Todor Gecevski (209-C-77, agency: Interperformances) and Pankracije Barac blasted three-pointers to give some breathing space for the hosts at the end of the game.
Shammell Stallworth scored 19 points to pace Zadar. Todor Gecevski had 14 points, while Jere Macura tallied 12 points and 11 boards for the winners. Shammond Williams answered with 19 points for Pamesa. Dejan Milojevic (200-F-77, agency: Beo Basket) dropped 12 points and collected 6 rebounds in a loss. Game 2 is scheduled for March 19 in Valencia.

Zadar: Shammell Stallworth 19, Todor Gecevski 14, Jere Macura 12+11 boards
Pamesa: Shammond Williams 19, Dejan Milojevic 12

Akasvayu Girona too strong for Hemofarm STADA -by Dragan Jankovski
Hemofarm STADA lost at home against Spanish Akasvayu Girona 71-80 in the first game of the ULEB Cup 1/8 finals. After a tied first half, Girona made a 12 point run in the 28th minute thanks to 3-pointers by Sada and McDonald. Hemofarm had a chance to turn things around in the last quarter as they came on 67-72 but the Spanish team made another 5-0 run and freezed Hemofarm on minus 9 for the second game.
Girona got the most from Marc Gasol (212-C-85, agency: Interperformances), who added 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists while Branko Cvetkovic (200-G-84) netted 15 points. On the other side, Rawle Marshall (201-G-82, college: Oakland) had 21 points and 7 rebounds for Hemofarm while Milivoje Bozovic (211-C-85, agency: Beo Basket) added 12 points and 8 rebounds.

The second game will be played in Girona next Tuesday.


Hemofarm STADA - Akasvayu Girona 71-80
(21-21,22-22,15-27,13-10)

Hemofarm STADA: Marshall 21 (7 rebs), Bozovic 12 (8 rebs), Pavkovic 11
Akasvayu Girona: Gasol 19 (7 rebs, 6 as), Cvetkovic 15, Sada 13 (7 rebs, 7 as)

Last 16, Game 1 MVP: Preston Shumpert, Besiktas JK Cola Turka -by Eurobasket
An outstanding shooting night in the most balanced series of a new round made Preston Shumpert (198-G-79, college: Syracuse) of Besiktas JK Colaturka the MVP for the Last 16's first leg. After wrestling host Red Star to an 80-80 tie in Belgrade, Serbia, if Besiktas has any advantage going into the return leg in Istanbul on March 18, it has Shumpert to thank. He was unstoppable against Red Star, pouring in 32 points on 9-for-12 two-point, 2-for-4 three-point and 8-for-10 free-throw shooting. He added 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 7 fouls drawn to amass a performance index rating of 35, more than any other player in the first-leg games of eight Last 16 series. He had plenty of competition. Chris Owens (204-F-79, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Texas) of Galatasaray Cafe Crown also had a monster individual performance in his team's 99-74 home win against Kalise Gran Canaria. His 27 points on 11-for-16 two-point, 1-for-1 three-point and 2-for-2 free-throw shooting, plus 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 5 fouls drawn, gave Owens a 34 index rating. Right behind came Victor Sada (192-G-84) of Akasvayu Girona, whose 13 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 8 fouls drawn were good for a 33 index rating and helped his team grab a 71-80 road win against Hemofarm. His teammate, Marc Gasol (212-C-85, agency: Interperformances), followed with a 30 index rating, while Rawle Marshall (201-G-82, college: Oakland) of Hemofarm and Darjus Lavrinovic (212-C-79) of Unics, each with a 29 index rating, completed the top individual performances of the week.

Individual highs: Robertas Javtokas (211-C-80, agency: Interperformances, college: Arizona), Dynamo Moscow, 12 rebounds
Shumpert not only earned Last 16 first-leg MVP honors, but was also the week's top scorer with 32 points. Robertas Javtokas of Dynamo Moscow pulled down 12 rebounds in his team's road win against Lukoil Academic. Sada dished 7 assists, more than anyone this week. Ricard Rubio (192-G-90) of DKV Joventut collected 4 steals to lead everyone in that category. Dragisa Drobnjak (200-F-77, agency: VTBM/SRBM) of PGE Turow and Darjus Lavrinovic of Unics Kazan each had 3 blocks. Javtokas, with 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Jere Macura (204-F/C-80, college: Notre Dame) of Zadar, with 12 and 11, respectively, were the only players to register double-doubles this week.

Courtesy of ULEB Cup

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VENEZUELA

Here we go! -by Wolfgang Lucena

Guaiqueries de Margarita hit first on defending its crown in the opening of the 2008 Professional basketball league of Venezuela. The hero of tonight game was 9 years experienced Antonio Torcatt (182-G-76) whom made six points from the three point line during the last quarter of the game; Torcatt finished with 12 points for the tribe.
Panteras of Miranda had a great night as well but the luck was not with them at this time.

The last score of tonight game was, Guaiqueries 77 , Panteras of Miranda 71



*****************************************************
WABA

Quarter Finals - WABA for Clubs 2008 -by Mohammed Malas
Saba Battery (IRI) 122 - Al Hilla (IRQ) 55 (Qs: 37-12, 61-22, 89-31 & 122-55!!!)

# Best perfromance:
* Saba Battery:
Ali Baheran (186-G-86) (17 pts, 6 ast, 3 stl)
Mike Jones (196-G-75, college: TCU) (16 pts, 3 ast, 7 reb)
Hamed Hadadi (218-C-85, agency: Huss Sport Agency) (15 pts, 7 reb)
Kamran Jamshidvand (187-F-80) (15 pts, 8 reb, 5 ast)
* Al Hilla (IRQ):
Mustafa Hamzah (180-G-85) (21 pts, 8 stl)
Leigh Gayden (170-G-80, college: Tennessee Tech) (14 pts, 2 ast)

Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut (LEB) 94 - Al Ahli Sanaa (YEM) 61 (Qs: 29-23, 58-32, 71-50 & 94-61)

# Best performance:
* Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut:
Mazen Mneimneh (192-G-86) (18 pts, 2 ast, 3 bs)
Ali Fakhreddine (202-C-83) (15 pts, 2 stl, 25 reb!!!!)
Omar Turk (186-G-81, college: Dawson Coll.) (13 pts, 3 ast)
* Al Ahli Sanaa:
Taha Alassari (180-G/F-84, college: Fredonia St.) (18 pts, 3 stl, 2 ast)
Sulaiman Diop (200-C-88) (17 pts, 6 reb, 2 stl)

Petrochimi Imam Harbour (IRI) 77 - Al Ittihad Aleppo (SYR) 59 (Qs: 19-16, 41-38, 60-49 & 77-59)

# Best performance:
* Petrochimi Imam Harbour:
Javad Davari (185-G-83) (24 pts, 5 ast, 5 stl)
Art Long (206-F/C-73, college: Cincinnati) (16 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl)
Tony Madison (190-G-71, agency: China-Hoop, college: New Orleans) (12 pts, 3 ast, 2 stl, 8 reb)
* Al Ittihad Aleppo:
Tyrone Washington (208-C/F-76, agency: Interperformances, college: Mississippi St.) (14 pts, 10 reb, 2 stl)
Jay Joseph (193-G-82, agency: Pro Management Agency, college: NC-Greensboro) (11 pts)
Amro Hamwi (187-G-80) (9 pts)

Zain (JOR) 71 - Orthodox (JOR) 63 (Qs: 10-22, 25-38, 45-55 & 71-63)

# Best performance:
* Zain:
Zaid Al Khas (205-C-76, college: Gannon) (23 pts, 8 reb)
Nate Johnson (199-F-77, college: Louisville) (16 pts, 2 ast, 2 stl)
Soumaila Samake (215-C-78, agency: CAA Sports) (15 pts, 14 reb, 2 ast, 2 bs)
* Orthodox:
Ayman Idais (205-C-78, agency: Court Side) (16 pts, 12 reb, 2 stl)
Kelly Wise (208-F-80, college: Memphis) (14 pts, 8 reb, 2 ast)
Chris Campbell (194-G/F-81, agency: 011 Sports, college: Harding) (14 pts, 4 ast)

# Semi Finals - WABA for Clubs 2008:
* Thursday 13/3:
Saba Battery (IRI) - Zain (JOR)
Petrochimi Imam Harbour (IRI) - Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut (LEB)



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Women News

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ANGOLA - Women

Primeiro de Agosto are close to winning National Cup -by Eurobasket News
Primeiro de Agosto and Desportivo do Maculusso will clash in Game 2 of the National Cup Final today. The game will be played at the Codmn Pavilion in Lunada. Game 1 was dominated by National champs Primeiro de Agosto. They grabbed a 32:21 lead at halftime and looked better after the break. Primeiro de Agosto finalized an impressive 67:46 win. Maculusso needs to overcome a 21-point deficit to triumph in the Cup today. In February Premiero de Agosto grabbed the National championship title beating Interclube in the Final.


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GERMANY - Women

DBBL: Recap of game day 19 -by Moritz Korff
Muenchen Basket - Herner TC 78:66
After three balanced quarters Muenchen stepped up in the last minutes and went on a 26:12-run to earn a home-win over HTC. Muenchen's veteran Sandra Carroll led all scores with 17 points, Magdalena von Geyr and Danka Ilic added 13 points apiece. Natalie Nakase answered with 14 points and 9 rebounds for Herne, Lucie Balandis and Anna Goerg each tallied 11 points and 8 boards.

TSV 1880 Wasserburg - ChemCats Chemnitz 79:57
Though Wasserburg picked up another easy win at home, bad news casted a cloud over the triumph. Jana Furkova suffered a knee injury which turned out to be a torn ACL. The 23-year-old Slovakian will miss at least the next 6 months. Furkova is already the 4th Wasserburg-player to be hit by a longtime-injury this season. In the encounter against Chemnitz Katrina Hibbert posted a double-double (25 pts, 13 rbs), Rebecca Thoresen added 19 points, Katharina Kuehn tallied 17 points and 8 boards, while Diana Adela Pop put in 10 points and handed out 9 assists. Caitlin Chiaramonte answered with 12 points and 13 rebounds for the ChemCats, Katsiaryna Zberch had 10 points and 13 boards.

evo New Basket Oberhausen - SV Halle Lions 89:81
Though Katarzyna Dluzyk hit 5 shots from beyond arc and led the Halle-offense with 28 points the Lions could not prevent an away-loss at Oberhausen. Also Sherida Triggs with 19 points and 10 boards as well as Brittney Whiteside who scored 18 points produced double-digits for Halle, Sarah Austmann paced Oberhausen with 20 points, Bracey Barker chipped in 19 points.

TV Saarlouis Royals - BBV Leipzig Eagles 93:59
Saarlouis rolled over Leipzig and won each quarter in a 93:59-victory at home. The Royals dominated the paint and outrebounded the Eagles with 58:29. Julie Anne Page (188-F/C-83, college: E.Washington) had an outstanding performance for Saarlouis tallying 15 points and 17 rebounds. Rachel Wojdowski topscored with 21 points, Desire Almind had 17 points. Leipzig got 20 points from Katarina Flasarova.

BC Pharmaserv Marburg - Eisvoegel USC Freiburg 54:32
Shooting only 22,8 % (13/57) from the field Freiburg had no chance in a low scoring-game at Marburg. Sarah Hayes was one of only five players to score for Freiburg in the game. She had 17 points. Natalie Gohrke and Hicran Oezen led the hosting Blue Dolphins with 11 points apiece.

Barker and Ernest to stay in Oberhausen -by Moritz Korff
Bracey Barker (185-F-85, college: Maine) and Heather Ernest (186-F/C-81, college: Maine) will stay with New Basket Oberhausen (DBBL). Both players signed new contracts for the 2008-2009 season.
Barker is currently spending her first year in Germany leading her team in points per contest (18.8) and pulling down 5.1 rebounds per game in the league, while Ernest, who joined Oberhausen coming from BG 74 Goettingen, is posting 15.5 points and a team-high 6.8 boards per outing. German international Sarah Austmann (182-G/F-85), the third best scorer of the team (14.7 ppg), is also going to suit up one more year with the Oberhausen team.

*****************************************************
HOLLAND - Women

Cherie Lea almost reaches a tripple-double -by Eurobasket News
Yellow Bike secured their 16th victory in Dutch league to remain top of the table. The favorite of the championship overcame BV Lely Amsterdam 51:88 on a road to send them to 10-8 record. The away side started stronger, and increased the advantage midway through the opening period. They maintained their lead going in at the half. The second half saw Yellow Bike continue to pressurise BV Lely Amsterdam. Leonie Kooij (187-F-86) led the winners with 26 points. Laura Kooij (183-F-82) followed her with 17, whilst Marloes Roetgerink (189-C-77) and Maaike Klein (177-G-90) netted 11 apiece.
ProBuild Lions smashed Grasshoppers 45:107 also away from home. Cherie Lea (176-G/F-81, college: NC-Wilmington) was unstoppable in the court for the visitors and desired to finish the game with a tripple-double. She was not upset when she ended up with 27 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds. Rene Haynes (178-G-85, college: Michigan St.) contributed 24 points and 11 assists. Jinga Gosschalk (172-G/F-79, agency: LBM Management, college: Long Beach St.) scored 19 points and Jasmijn Overbeeke (188-C-84) had 13.
In another games Woonbron DAS Delft beat Renes Binnenland 66:63 to improve to 9-9. Perik Jumpers won over Celeritas-Donar 114:86 to take 8-10.

Standings - Women
Eredivisie Standings
1. Yellow Bike 16-2
2. Amazone 14-3
3. ProBuild Lions 14-4
4. BV Lely 10-9
5. Woonb./DAS 9-9
6. Perik Jumpers 8-10
7. Binnenland 4-14
8. Celeritas-D. 3-13
9. Grasshoppers 2-16


*****************************************************
ISRAEL - Women

Israeli National Team 2007 -by Netanel Dahan
#s#
#e#6


Suez-Karni


Selwyn


Cohen


Doron


Abramzon

4 Liad Suez-Karni (191-F/C-81) of Pays d'Aix Basket 13 Provence (FRA)
5 Mirav Dori (178-F-86) of Elektra Ramat Hasharon
6 Laine Selwyn (170-G-81) of Elizur Ramla
7 Liron Cohen (173-G-82) of Los Angeles Sparks (WNBA)

8 Shay Doron (175-G-85) of Elizur Ramla
9 Ayelet Cohen (172-G-85) of Bnei Yehuda
10 Shiran Zairy (170-G-86) of Elizur Belisima Holon
11 Naomi Kolodny (172-G-82) of Elektra Ramat Hasharon
12 Chen Nusel (176-G-86) of Raanana Herzeliya
13 Ekaterina Abramzon (186-F-87) Elizur Ramla
14 Katia Levitsky (190-C-85) of Raanana Herzeliya
15 Jennifer Fleischer (191-C-84) of Novia Munalux Namur (BEL)
Head Coach: Eli Rabi
Coach Assisatnts: Galit Musai , Nathan Tal



*****************************************************
ITALY - Women

Stats Leaders - Women
A1 regular season Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Brunson Taranto 19.1
2 Holland-Corn Nap18.8
3 Maslowski Vit., 17.5
4 Dixon Pozz. 17.1
5 Machanguana 16.3
Rebounds Per Game
1 Brunson Taranto 13.7
2 Smith Viterbo 10.3
3 Grima Pozzuoli 9.4
4 Machanguana Rm 8.6
5 Pascalau Priolo 7.7
Assists Per Game
1 Eric Faenza 3.57
2 Moro Schio 2.8
3 Zampella Como 2.5
4 Slavcheva Como 2.5
5 Sauret Taranto 2.0
Steals Per Game
1 Holland-Corn, Nap. 4.2
2 Macchi, Schio 3.8
3 Andrade Venezia 3.6
4 Willis La Sp. 3.2
5 Newton, La Sp. 3.1
2FGP
1 Cirov Pozzuoli 65.7
2 Ngoyisa Schio 62.7
3 Holland-Corn, NA. 61.9
3FGP
1 Tassara Schio 50
2 Pys'Mennik Rib 49
3 Moro Schio 47.5
Free Throws
1 Duffy Ribera 90.8
2 Lawless Mont. 87.5
3 Holland-Corn 86.3
4 Macchi Schio 80.9


*****************************************************
LATVIA - Women

Stats Leaders - Women
LSBL Stats Leaders Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
Tillis (TTT) 20.0
Ozolina (Rapa) 19.8
Okonkvo (Cesis) 19.3
Niedola (Liepaja) 18.5
Malkevica (Rapa) 18.4
Rebounds Per Game
Niedola (Liepaja) 11.8
Vitola (Riga) 10.3
Crockett (Cesis) 10.3
Okonkvo (Cesis) 10.2
Kityzina (TTT) 10.0,
Assists Per Game
Ose-Hlebovicka (Kl.) 5.9
Derevjanik (Cesis) 5.5
Eibele (Avantis) 4.6
Z.Eglite (TTT) 4.4
Tare (TTT) 3.7
Steals Per Game
Z.Eglite (TTT) 3.8
Okonkvo (Cesis) 3.5
Babkina (TTT) 3.3
Blocks Per Game
Vitola (Riga) 3.9
Gailite (TTT/Rapa) 1.9
Kityzina (TTT) 1.6
Ranking
Okonkvo (Cesis) 27.4
Niedola (Liepaja) 24.2
Kityzina (TTT) 22.7


Standings - LSBL
LSBL Standings
1. Cesis 26-0
2. Avantis T. 18-10
3. RTU/Klond. 17-11
4. Liepajas met. 16-11
5. TTT/Rapa 13-14
6. TTT Riga 12-1
7. Ridzene 10-18
8. SK Riga 5-24
9. LU/US 0-28


*****************************************************
LEBANON - Women

Lebanese League - Round 1 of the Final 4 -by Raffi Kassabian
In the first round of the Lebanese League Final 4 (Semi Final Round) Antranik Beirut and Homenetmen Antelias took the first step towards the finals by beating Champville and Riyadi Beirut consecutively. In the first game Antranik Beirut didn't face any difficulty passing through Champville and had a comfortable win with the final score 72-34. In the second game, Homenetmen Antelias won in Riyadi's court with the score 63-47 proving that last week's win over Riyadi Beirut in the semi final game of the cup competition with the score 82-39 was not by chance. In the second round of the Final 4 Champville will host Antranik Beirut and Homenetmen Antelias will host Riyadi Beirut.

Lebanese Basketball Championship Semi Final Round - Results

Antranik Beirut - Champville 72-34
Riyadi Beirut - Homenetmen Antelias 47-63
Riyadi Beirut: Emma Eskidjian (-C-71) 18, Maya El Achkar (179-F-81) 8, Mayssa Fneish 8, Wadad Mougharbel 5, Sabine Fakhoury 4, Natalie Jbeily 2, Talar Margossian 2.
Homenetmen Antelias: Alek Tabakian (175-G-85) 15, Sandra Najem (165-G-88) 14, Nathalie Sevajian (170-G-88) 13, Sanan Markarian 9, Leila Fares 9, Caroline Moufarej 2, Eliane Chalhoub 1.

Schedule

13/3/2008 Champville vs Antranik Beirut
14/3/2008 Homenetmen Antelias vs Riyadi Beirut

*****************************************************
NCAA1 - Women

SEC Season 2007-2008 Summary -by Jay
#s#
#e#6


Bonner


Dotson


Humphrey


Chaney


Fowles

Regular Season Standings
1 LSU 14-0
2 Tennessee 13-1
3 Vanderbilt 11-3
4 Kentucky 8-6
5 Georgia 8-6
6 Auburn 7-7
7 Florida 6-8
8 Mississippi 6-8
9 Mississippi St. 4-10
10 S.Carolina 4-10
11 Arkansas 2-12
12 Alabama 1-13


Tournament Final: Tennessee - LSU 61-55
Tournament Semifinals:
LSU - Kentucky 66-49
Tennessee - Vanderbilt 63-48


All-SEC Tournament MVP: Candace Parker (6'4''-F/C-86) of Tennessee


SEC All-Tournament Team
DeWanna Bonner (6'4''-G-87) of Auburn
Sylvia Fowles (6'6''-C-85) of LSU
Quianna Chaney (5'11''-G-86) of LSU
Shannon Bobbitt (5'2''-G-85) of Tennessee
Candace Parker of Tennessee


All-SEC 1st Team
DeWanna Bonner of Auburn
Marshae Dotson (5'11''-F) of Florida
Tasha Humphrey (6'3''-F-85) of Georgia
Quianna Chaney (5'11''-G-86) of LSU
Sylvia Fowles of LSU
Alexis Hornbuckle (5'11''-G-85) of Tennessee
Candace Parker of Tennessee
Christina Wirth (6'1''-G/F-87) of Vanderbilt


All-SEC 2nd Team
Ashley Houts (5'6''-G-87) of Georgia
Sarah Elliott (6'6''-C-85) of Kentucky
Samantha Mahoney (5'10''-G-86) of Kentucky
Erica White (5'3''-G-86) of LSU
Shawn Goff (6'3''-C-87) of Ole Miss
Demetress Adams (6'4''-F-87) of South Carolina
Shannon Bobbitt of Tennessee
Jennifer Risper (5'9''-G-87) of Vanderbilt


SEC All-Freshman Team
Tierney Jenkins (6'1''-G-89) of Alabama
Alli Smalley (5'8''-G-89) of Auburn
Angela Puleo (5'9''-G-89) of Georgia
Victoria Dunlap (6'1''-F) of Kentucky
Amber Smith (5'5''-G) of Kentucky
Mary Kathryn Govero (5'11''-F) of Mississippi State
Angie Bjorklund (6'0''-G/F-89) of Tennessee
Jence Rhoads (5'11''-G-88) of Vanderbilt
Hannah Tuomi (6'0''-F-89) of Vanderbilt


SEC All-Defensive Team
Brittney Vaughn (5'7''-G-83) of Arkansas
Sylvia Fowles of LSU
Demetress Adams of South Carolina
Alexis Hornbuckle of Tennessee
Jennifer Risper of Vanderbilt


All-SEC Player of the Year: Sylvia Fowles of LSU
All-SEC Defensive Player of the Year: Sylvia Fowles of LSU
All-SEC Freshman of the Year: Angie Bjorklund of Tennessee
All-SEC Co-Sixth Player of the Year: Jessica Mooney (5'8''-G-87) of Vanderbil and Allison Hightower (5'10''-G-88) of LSU
All-SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Chelsea Chowning (6'0''-G) of Kentucky
All-SEC Coach of the Year: Van Chancellor of LSU



Ohio Valley Conference Season 2007-2008 Summary -by Jay
#s#
#e#6


Guffey


Hayes


Galligan


Whitney


Jones

Regular Season Standings
1 SE Missouri St. 17-3 23-8
2 Samford 15-5 23-9
3 Murray St. 15-5 23-7
4 E.Illinois 15-5 19-12
5 Tennessee St. 10-10 13-17
6 Morehead St. 9-11 11-19
7 E.Kentucky 9-11 14-14
8 Jacksonville St. 8-12 11-19
9 Tennessee Tech 7-13 8-22
10 Austin Peay St. 3-17 6-23
11 Tennessee-Martin 2-18 5-25



Tournament Final: Murray State - Eastern Illinois 69-58
Tournament Semifinals:
Samford - Murray State 56-68
Eastern Illinois - Southeast Missouri 52-40


All-OVC Tournament MVP: Amber Guffey (5'7''-G-86) of Murray State


OVC All-Tournament Team
Amber Guffey of Murray State
Shaleea Petty (5'5''-G-86) of Murray State
Ashley Nichole Hayes (5'10''-G/F-87) of Murray State
Rachel Galligan (6'2''-F) of Eastern Illinois
Taryn Towns (5'8''-G-86) of Samford


All-OVC 1st Team
Ashley Nichole Hayes (5'10''-G/F-87) of Murray St.
Amber Guffey of Murray St.
Rachel Galligan of E.Illinois
Missy Whitney (6'2''-F/C-85) of SE Missouri
Crystal Jones (5'9''-G-88) of E.Kentucky
Kendra Appling (5'7''-G-87)of Tennessee St.


All-OVC 2nd Team
Emily London (5'7''-G-89) of Samford
Obiageli Okafor (5'9''-F-87) of Tennessee State
Crystal Fuller (6'0''-F/C-85) of UT Martin
Tarina Nixon (5'6''-G-87) of Southeast Missouri
Chynna Bozeman (5'10''-G) of Morehead State
Kristina Tyler (6'1''-C-86) of Tennessee Tech


OVC All-Newcomer Team
Emily London of Samford
Chynna Bozeman of Morehead State
Cierra Duhart (6'0''-F) of Jacksonville State
Dominique Sims (5'10''-G) of Eastern Illinois
Ashley Herring (5'9''-G/F) of Austin Peay


All-OVC Player of the Year: Ashley Hayes of Murray St.
All-OVC Freshman of the Year: Emily London of Samford
All-OVC Coach of the Year: Tracee Wells of Tennessee St.



CUSA Season 2007-08 Summary -by Richard
#s#
#e#6


Dodds


Hughes


Love


McIntyre


Rogers

Regular Season Standings
1 UTEP 16 0 27 3
2 SMU 11 5 24 8
3 UAB 10 6 14 16
4 Houston 9 7 15 16
5 S.Mississippi 8 8 19 13
6 Marshall 7 9 17 16
7 Memphis 7 9 10 20
8 E.Carolina 7 9 13 17
9 Rice 6 10 14 18
10 Tulane 6 10 16 14
11 Tulsa 6 10 11 20
12 Cent.Florida 3 13 10 20

Tournament Final: SMU - UTEP 73-57


Tournament Semifinals:
SMU - Marshall 68-59
UTEP - Southern Miss 86-69

All-C-USA Tournament MVP: Janielle Dodds of SMU

C-USA All-Tournament Team:
Tynikki Crook (3'2'') of Marshall
Jareica Hughes (5'3''-G-88) of UTEP
Natasha Lacy (5'10''-G) of UTEP
Sharee Shepherd (5'10''-G) of SMU
Janielle Dodds of SMU

All-C-USA 1st Team
Janielle Dodds of SMU
Jareica Hughes of UTEP
Pauline Love (6'0''-F) of Southern Miss
Twiggy McIntyre (5'5''-G-84) of Houston
Diamond Rogers (5'11''-F-86) of UAB

All-C-USA 2nd Team
Valeriya Berezhynska (6'4''-C-86) of Rice
Natasha Lacy of UTEP
Izabela Piekarska (6'5''-C-85) of UTEP
LaCoya Terry (5'10''-G) of East Carolina
Jasmine Young (5'5''-G) of East Carolina

All-C-USA 3rd Team
Tye Jackson (5'10''-G-86) of Houston
Ashley Langford (5'5''-G-87) of Tulane
Tia Lewis (6'4''-F/C) of UCF
Crystal McFadden (5'10''-G-85) of UAB
Larrissa Williams (6'3''-F/C-88) of Tulsa
Delisha Willis (5'10''-F) of SMU

C-USA All-Freshman Team
Emma Cannon (6'2''-F) of UCF
Cobilyn Hill (6'3''-C) of Houston
Tia Lewis of UCF
Amanda Peterson (5'10''-G) of UAB
Courtney Taylor (6'0''-G/F) of Houston

C-USA All-Defensive Team
Casey Baker (5'8''-G) of Marshall
Chanel Johnson (6'3''-F/C) of Tulsa
Natasha Lacy of UTEP
Sharee Shepherd of SMU
Jasmine Young of East Carolina

All-C-USA Player of the Year: Jareica Hughes of UTEP
All-C-USA Defensive Player of the Year: Sharee Shepherd of SMU
All-C-USA Freshman of the Year: Tia Lewis of UCF
All-C-USA Newcomer of the Year: Natasha Lacy of UTEP
All-C-USA Sixth Player of the Year: Amanda Peterson of UAB
All-C-USA Coach of the Year: Keitha Adams of UTEP



MAAC Season 2007-08 Summary -by Richard
#s#
#e#6


Wrice


Flood


Fitz


Menty


Kennedy

Regular Season Standings
1 Marist 18-0 30-2
2 Fairfield 11-7 22-9
3 Iona 11-7 19-12
4 St.Peter's 10-8 19-12
5 Manhattan 10-8 15-15
6 Loyola, MD 7-11 13-17
7 Canisius 7-11 13-18
8 Siena 7-11 11-18

Tournament Final: Marist - Iona 83-63

Tournament Semifinals:
Marist - Saint Peter's 78-67
Iona - Fairfield 74-69

All-MAAC Tournament MVP: Sarah Smrdel (6'2''-F-86) of Marist

MAAC All-Tournament Team:

Sarah Smrdel of Marist
Nikki Flores (5'4''-G-86) of Marist
Rachele Fitz (6'0''-F-87) of Marist
Tiara Headen (5'9''-G) of Iona
Lauren DeFalco (5'6''-G) of Iona

All-MAAC 1st Team

Sabra Wrice (5'8''-G-86) of Fairfield
Caitlin Flood (5'11''-F-86) of Manhattan
Rachele Fitz of Marist
Tania Kennedy (5'5''-G) of St.Peter's
Laura Menty (6'1''-F-86) of Siena

All-MAAC 2nd Team
Baendu Lowenthal (6'0''-F) of Fairfield
Tiara Headen of Iona
Anna McLean (6'2''-F) of Iona
Nikki Flores of Marist
Julianne Viani (5'7''-G-85) of Marist

All-MAAC 3rd Team
Amanda Cavo (5'9''-G-87) of Canisius
Gabrielle Cottrell (5'10''-G-86) of Manhattan
Sarah Wilson (6'2''-F-84) of Niagara
Johnell Burts (5'5''-G) of Saint Peter's
Shondaya Burrell (5'9''-G-86) of Siena

MAAC All-Freshman Team
Micayla Drysdale (5'9''-G) of Canisius
Candice Walker (5'5''-G) of Loyola
Erica Allenspach (5'8''-G) of Marist
Liz Flooks (5'10''-G) of Niagara
Charlene Riddick (6'1''-F) of Saint Peter's

All-MAAC Player of the Year: Rachele Fitz of Marist
All-MAAC Defensive Player of the Year: Tania Kennedy of Saint Peter's
All-MAAC Freshman of the Year: Erica Allenspach of Marist
All-MAAC Sixth Player of the Year: Lynzee Johnson (5'10''-G/F) of Marist
All-MAAC Coach of the Year: Brian Giorgis of Marist



*****************************************************
SERBIA - Women

Standings - Women
A League Standings
1. Hemofarm 17-0
2. Spartak 14-3
3. Partizan 13-4
4. Crvena Zv. 13-4
5. Vojvodina 11-5
6. Proleter 9-9
7. Kraljevo 7-11
8. Kovin 6-12
9. Loznica 5-13
10. Usce 4-14
11. Radnicki NB 4-14
12. Stara Pazova 2-16


*****************************************************
SLOVAKIA - Women

Krumberga leaves Ruzomberok, Okonkwo came -by Michal Maslany

Slovak woman extraliga team MBK Ruzomberok acquired Ifeoma Okonkwo (183-F-84, college: Northwestern) from BK Cesis from Latvia. Other direction went latvian national player Dita Krumberga (183-G/F-84, college: Mt.St.Marys), which came to Ruzomberok in the beginning of the season 2007/08. 'We will see, how does she likes it here and if she impress us. Then we can think about her future in our club,' general manager of MBK Ludovit Betko said.



*****************************************************
SWITZERLAND - Women

Quarterfinal stage tips off in LNA -by Eurobasket News
The regular season came to an end in the Swiss LNA and the playoffs got under way with 8 teams competing for the title. The regular season champions Neuchatel coasted to two victories in the starting games of their best-of-five series against Pully. Neuchatel stormed past their opponents 99:32 in Game 1. Nina Crelot (170-G/F-87) fired 26 points, collected 6 boards and dished out 5 assists to lead the hosts. Alexia Rol (170-G-82) and Cameo Hicks (178-G-84, agency: LBM Management, college: Washington) added 15 points apiece for the winners. Fatou Kane had 12 points and 11 boards in a losing effort.
One day later Pully hosted the encounter but could hardly threaten the league favorites falling short 33:92. Nina Crelot once again was impressive with 24 points. Alexia Rol contributed 22 points and 7 rebounds for the winners. Raeven King (175-G/F-81, college: Wichita St.) dropped 18 points for Pully as they now trail 0-2 in the series. Game 3 is scheduled for March 15.
The 2nd-ranked BBC also proved the status with two wins over Meyrin. At home BBC edged Meyrin 76:56 behind 22 points and 14 boards from Lori Crisman. Game 2 brought BBC an 89:61 victory as they cleared off in the series. This time it was Andrea Depraz (186-F/C-74) to pace the visitors with 22 points and 11 boards. Celine Maclot (186-F-71, agency: LBM Management) notched 15 points and 8 boards for Meyrin.
Riva Basket also grabbed a 2-0 lead in the series against Fribourg. After a coasting home win Riva Basket needed some heroics to celebrate success on the road. They were up by 7 points before the final term but Fribourg went on all cylinders in the final period to climb within 2 points from Riva Basket. But the third-best team of the regular season withstood the challenge and ran away with an 80:77 victory. Jessica Smith (183-F/C-85, college: Stony Brook) tallied 25 points and 9 boards for Riva Basket. Jazz Covington (185-F-85, college: Louisville) responded with 29 points and 14 boards for Fribourg.
Martigny and Brunnen traded home wins to stay leveled at 1-1 in the series.

*****************************************************
WNBA - Women

Sales to Take One Year Hiatus from WNBA -by Bruno Baltazar
Citing concerns about nagging injuries, Connecticut Sun veteran Nykesha Sales (6'0''-F/G-76, college: Connecticut) has announced she will sit out the 2008 WNBA season.
'This has not been an easy decision,' Sales, 31, said in a statement Tuesday. 'I've been going back and forth with it because I've always been able to bounce back. But after playing a light schedule overseas this off-season, I realized that now is the time for me to get healthy. I am not calling this a 'retirement' because I have every intention to get healthy and resume my basketball career.'

Until the last two WNBA seasons, Sales had been one of the most durable players in league history, putting together the second longest streak of consecutive games played (248) from 1999 through 2006. That streak ended when Sales was forced to sit out 12 games - beginning July 8, 2006 - with a sore Achilles tendon. Sales missed eight more games last year because of both a concussion and a sore ankle.

'I know this has been a very difficult decision for Nykesha, and that she has agonized over it for quite some time,' Sun coach Mike Thibault said. 'She has been one of the cornerstones of this franchise since the day we arrived here, and she certainly has been one of the top players in the history of the WNBA. Her progress and continual growth as a player and leader was one of the main reasons for our success and it helped us advance to two WNBA Finals appearances. However, I understand and respect her desire to make taking care of her health and injuries a priority. I hope that this time off from the game will allow her to re-vitalize and re-energize herself for the future.'

A former UConn star from Bloomfield, Sales is one of the most accomplished players in WNBA history. She was just the second player to amass 3,000 career points, 500 assists and 400 steals in a career, and is 45 points away from becoming the seventh player in league history to reach 4,000 career points. Among WNBA career leaders, Sales is eighth all-time in total points (3,955) and third all-time in steals (490).

The last remaining member of the Orlando Miracle team that relocated to Connecticut prior to the start of the 2003 season, Sales is currently finishing up her FIBA Euroleague commitment. She will participate in the Euroleague Women All Star game in Moscow on March 13th.

'Our fans will certainly miss seeing Kesh on the floor, but I think anyone who has had recurring ailments understands the need to take a step back, fix yourself, then move forward,' Connecticut Sun General Manager Chris Sienko said Tuesday. 'It was a difficult decision, but a wise one.'


FULL TEXT OF NYKESHA SALES' STATEMENT

Since the end of the 2007 WNBA season, I have given a lot of thought to my WNBA plans going forward. After serious consideration and much discussion with my family and agent, I have made the very difficult decision that I will not be returning to play for the upcoming WNBA season.
Over the past couple years with the Connecticut Sun, I have had to continually battle nagging injuries, which I have done so willingly because of my love for the game. I came into the league in 1999 and have played for nine consecutive seasons including overseas play over the past several years, which eventually took its toll because there is no time for rest.

This has not been an easy decision. I've been going back and forth with it because I've always been able to bounce back. But after playing a light schedule overseas this off-season, I realized that now is the time for me to get healthy. I am not calling this a 'retirement' because I have every intention to get healthy and resume my basketball career.

I want to thank the Connecticut Sun, and the fans, for their unwavering loyalty and support.