EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 3/25/2008

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Men News

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ADRIATIC LEAGUE

Play-off quarterfinals: Schedule -by Dragan Jankovski
Below is the schedule of Adriatic league play-off quarterfinals. Partizan Igokea will meet Cibona, second ranked Zadar will play against FMP while Hemofarm STADA waits for Buducnost. These three games will be played on Tuesday while the game between Crvena Zvezda and Union Olimpija is scheduled for Wednesday. The second games will be played on Thursday.

Game 1, Tuesday 25th March
Partizan Igokea - Cibona
Zadar - FMP
Hemofarm STADA - Buducnost
Crvena Zvezda - Union Olimpija (on Wednesday)

Game 2, Thursday 27th March
Cibona - Partizan Igokea
FMP - Zadar
Buducnost - Hemofarm STADA
Union Olimpija - Crvena Zvezda

Unlucky FMP, Vladimir Micov led Buducnost to ULEB Cup 08/09 qualifications -by Dragan Jankovski
FMP - Union Olimpija 92-90
FMP from Zeleznik really didn't have luck in the last round of Adriatic league. Namely, despite important win over Union Olimpija at home Panthers didn't succeed to reach qualifications for ULEB Cup 2008/2009 because of Buducnost's win in Slovenia with plus 14. But FMP needed just two more points and when we have on our mind that Protic missed two FTs at the very end it is clear that they really didn't have luck. In the very interesting game Dragan Labovic (207-C/F-87) added 24 points and 5 rebounds for FMP while Zoran Erceg (211-C/F-85) followed him with 21 points and 4 rebounds. Jasmin Hukic (204-G/F-79, agency: Beo Basket) of Olimpija collected 27 points and 5 rebounds and he was MVP of the last round with index value 33.

Partizan Igokea - Cibona 84-63
After magnificent win over Panathinaikos and qualifying for the Euroleague quarter-finals, Partizan easily beat Cibona at home 84.63. Uros Tripkovic (197-G-86), who scored 22 points, and Strahinja Milosevic (203-G/F-85, agency: Beo Basket), who had 16 points and 5 rebounds, were the best for the winners. Chris Warren (196-F-81, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: S.Carolina) added 17 points and 5 rebounds for Cibona.

Geoplin Slovan - Buducnost 75-89
Buducnost Podgorica made fantastic result this season as they succeeded to earn a spot for the ULEB Cup 2008/2009 qualifications in the thriller finish. Above is mentioned that Buducnost took 6th place having just one golden point more than FMP! Buducnost beat Slovan on the road in the most important game of the season. Forward Vladimir Micov (201-F-85, agency: Beo Basket) was the MVP of the game with index value 27. He led Buducnost to win scoring 19 points. Nemanja Gordic (195-G-88) also was good adding 18 points. Slovan got 23 points and 6 rebounds from DeMarco Johnson (204-F-75, agency: Megasport, college: Charlotte).


FMP - Union Olimpija 92-90
(23-20,20-28,24-22,25-20)

FMP: Labovic 24 (5 rebs), Erceg 21 (4 rebs), Protic 19 (4 as)
Olimpija: Hukic 27 (7 rebs), Taylor 17, Dragic 16 (5 as)


Partizan Igokea - Cibona 84-63
(20-18,20-19, 21-17,23-9)

Partizan: Tripkovic 22, Milosevic 16 (5 rebs)
Cibona: Warren 17 (5 rebs), Krasic 13, Andric 10 (7 rebs)


Geoplin Slovan - Buducnost 75-89
(25-28,18-25,18-22,14-14)

Geoplin Slovan: Johnson 23 (6 rebs), Clemons 16 (6 as), Klobucar 14
Buducnost: Micov 19, Gordic 18, Otasevic 16, Dasic 11

Standings
Adriatic L. Standings
1. Partizan 23-2
2. Zadar 18-8
3. Crvena Zv. 16-10
4. Hemofarm 16-10
5. Buducnost 15-11
6. Cibona 15-11
7. Olimpija 15-11
8. FMP 15-11
9. Vojvodina 12-14
10. KK Split 11-14
11. Siroki 7-19
12. KK Zagreb 6-19
13. Helios 6-20
14. Slovan 5-21


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ARGENTINA

Standings - LigaA
LigaA Standings
1. Libertad 63.0
2. Boca Jrs 60.0
3. Regatas C. 59.5
4. Penarol 58.5
5. El Nacional 57.5
6. Atenas 57.0
7. Quimsa 56.5
8. Obras 56.0
9. Sionista 55.0
10. Gimn.CR 54.0
11. Quilmes MP 53.0
12. Ben Hur 52.5
13. Independ.N. 51.5
14. Estudiantes BB 51.5
15. Belgrano SN 51.5
16. C.Entrerriano 50.0


Reynolds for Reynolds -by Facundo Iatzky
Boca Juniors cut Antonio Reynolds who just could play 4 games due to an old injury. Recently the injury got worse so Boca decided cut him and signed Grady Reynolds (198-F-80, agency: Strategic Sports, college: St.John's) who played in Estudiantes Bahia blanca two years ago. He was playing in Uruguay recently. Boca Juniors is tryin to finish in the best position for the playoffs and is also winning in the quarterfinal serie of the southamerican league against Libertad.

Last movement in TNA -by Facundo Iatzky

-La union formosa: Juan Sartorelli was not authorized to play in the team so they decided to sign veteran Mario Romay (188-G-73) for the rest of the season.
-Lanus: released Jameel Heywood due to injury and signed Wendell Gibson (201-F/C-83, college: Hofstra)

The playoffs will start the upcoming week and Lanus and La union are two of the candidates to get the right to play in Liga A the next season.

Argentinian NT U18 for A. Schweitzer tournament -by Facundo Iatzky

Roster:
Point Guards:: Santiago Scala (186-G-91) of Argentino Junin
Facundo Campazzo (178-G-91) of Penarol
Shooting guards: Maximiliano Martin (195-G-90) of Bahiense del norte
Juan Levrino (188-G-90) of Independiente Neuquen

Small Forwards: Ezequiel Manzanares (197-G-90) of Gimnasia LP

Mateo Gaynor (195-G-90) of Bahiense del norte

Fabian Ramirez (197-F/G-90) of Boca jrs

Power Forwards: Andres Landoni (204-C-90) of libertad

Matias Ruger (198-F/C-91) of penarol

Centers: Pablo Orlietti (206-C/F-90) of Atenas

Emanuel Sayal (203-C-91) of Argentino Castelar

Federico Glimberg (201-C-90) of Nautico Hacoaj

Head Coach: Enrique Tolcachier
Assistant Coach. Eduardo Japez



Liga A : End of regular season -by Facundo Iatzky
Final Standings: http://www.a-d-c.com.ar/TABLA_A_2F0708.htm

TEams Qualified directly to Quarter finals:

1 Libertad Sunchales
2 Boca Jrs
3 Regatas Corrientes
4 Penarol Mar del plata

Reclasification series: (the winners will play Quarterfinals):

5 El Nacional - 12 Ben Hur
6 Atenas - 11 Quilmes
7 Quimsa - 10 Gimnasia CR
8 Obras - 9 Sionista

* Belgrano and Central Entrerriano fell to Tna(second division)

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AUSTRIA

All Star day! -by Stefan Heinrich

Today the Austrian All-Star-Day took play in the Happyland Klosterneuburg. The International All-Stars celebrated an 124:98 victory over the Austrian All-Stars and the side-events ended as following:

3 Point Contest Winner: Adam Boone (190-G-81, college: Minnesota)
Dunking Contest Winner: Rashard Sullivan (203-F/C-84, college: S.Indiana)

Here are the scorers of the game:

Austrian All-Stars: Martin Kohlmaier (218-C-84, agency: Octagon) 17, Deteri Mayes (189-G-74, agency: Court Side, college: Murray St.) 16, Martin Speiser (200-F-83) 12, Lamesic 10, Diwald 9, Hutter 9, Schoninger 9, Johnson 6, Mayer 5, Schreiner 3, Nagler 2
International All-Stars: Mike Fraser (203-C, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Oklahoma Baptist) 24, Calvin Watson (196-G-85, college: N.Texas) 20, Kevin Johnson (201-F, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Humboldt St.) 20, Youngblood 13, Boylan 11, Zekovic 10, Ray 7, Boone 7, Shavies 5, Zeleznik 4, Grum 3


MVP of the All-Star Game: Mike Mike Fraser (203-C, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: Oklahoma Baptist)



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CBA

Daryan Selvy is the Player of the Year in CBA -by Eurobasket News
Prior to Game 1 in the CBA Finals the Association honoured the Oklahoma Cavalry forward Daryan Selvy (6'6''-F/G-79, college: Oklahoma) with the Player of the Year award. He was chosen by 10 CBA head coaches. Daryan Selvy led his Oklahoma in scoring averaging 22.7 points per game which was worth second best result in the league. He also collected 6.5 boards and made 1.8 steals per appearance in the season. He notched season-high 38 points against Rio Grande Valley on January 3. Selvy shot 50% from the field and 85% from free throw line. Daryan Selvy led the Oklahoma Cavs to a surprising triumph over the two-time defending champions Yakama Sun Kings in the National Conference final.

Oklahoma topples Minot in Game 1 of the Final -by Eurobasket News

Oklahoma - Minot 112:108

The Oklahoma Cavalry could have changed name but the outcome definitely remained the same. The Cavalry owner Mike Brown announced that the franchise would enter the next season under the name of Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry. The news was presented before the first game of the final series against Minot. The Minot Skyrockets opened the game aggressively and grabbed an early lead. The shots simply did not drop for the hosts in the opening frame. Meanwhile the Skyrockets felt themselves at home and soon stretched the lead to as many as 17 points. Oklahoma gradually found the rhythm and trimmed the deficit. But a couple of treys from Ronnie Fields (6'4''-G-77, agency: Edge Sports) allowed Minot to stay up by 11 points after 12 minutes of action. However the hosts eventually denied the deficit. Brandon Brandon Dean (6'2''-G-79, agency: Naiditch Entertainment, college: Arkansas) capped the second half with a three-pointer and the Cavs trailed just by a single point at halftime. Shawn Daniels (6'7''-C-79, college: Utah St.) finally put the home team in front with a jumper early in the third period. Ronnie Fields was on fire for the Skyrockets and dragged them ahead once again at the end of three quarters time. It all went down to the final seconds in the game. Curtis Haywood (6'6''-G-75, agency: Huss Sport Agency, college: Oklahoma City) hit decisive triples late in regulation and ensured the winning outcome for Oklahoma in the game. He finished with 29 points to pace the Cavs. Daryan Selvy (6'6''-F/G-79, college: Oklahoma) contributed 20 points, while Brandon Dean chipped in 19 for the winners. Ronnie Fields replied with game-high 31 points for the Skyrockets. Game 2 is scheduled for today at the Great Plains Coliseum.

Oklahoma: Curtis Haywood 29, Daryan Selvy 20, Brandon Dean 19

Minot: Ronnie Fields 31



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COSTA RICA

Martinez inks with Limon -by Gianni Pascucci
Humberto Lynch , head coach of BCR Colono Limon, confirmed to CostaRican media that Henry Martinez (186-G/F-75, agency: Interperformances) has agreed to terms to play with his team the National League-Apertura that starts this week. Martinez will be the main player of Limon, a team that will compete again for the title. The other new names in Limon are the ones of Steven Lewis (-F-80) and Leonel Campbell.

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CROATIA

Croatia U18 gets beaten twice at the start of Albert Schweitzer Tournament -by Eurobasket News
Croatian U18 squad takes part in one of the oldest annual competition in Europe - the Albert Schweitzer tourney in Germany. They tipped off their campaign with two games at the weekend. Unfortunately both encounters turned out to be losing cases for Croatian youngsters. On Saturday they took on Argentina and were narrowly defeated 76:78. The teams were well-matched in almost every facet of the game but the second quarter proved decisive. Latin American outfit outscored their European counterparts 22:16 and Croatia failed to deny the deficit in the late stages. Pablo Orlietti (206-C/F-90) stepped up with 22 points for Argentina. Juan Levrino (188-G-90) drained 14 points in a win. Zupcic had an impressive game for Croatia. He tallied 21 points, 8 boards, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Mario Delas (204-F/C-90) contributed 19 points and 9 rebounds in a losing effort.
Next day Croatia faced the tournament's favorites Spain. Croatia fought bravely and trailed by just 2 points after the opening frame. But eventually Spain took the initiative and started to accumulate an advantage. They headed into the fourth period leading by 25 points and never stopped in the final stanza. Vicente topscored with 14 points for Spain. Leon and Hernadez had 13 points apiece in a win. Sven Smajlagic (190-G-90) nailed 14 points for Croatia. Zupcic added 13 points and 12 boards in defeat. Croatia plays against New Zealand in Group B later today.

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CZECH REP.

Geofin handles Prostejov in the highlight game of Round 37 -by Eurobasket News
Geofin took care of Prostejov in the battle of second and third-ranked teams of Czech NBL. Geofin thus managed to widen the distance from Prostejov to two victories and strengthen their second position in the ladder. Prostejov looked a bit more purposeful early in the encounter as Rashaan Ames (184-G-77, college: Shaw), Bojic and Robert Tomaszek (205-F-81, college: Texas Tech) put the visitors in front 6:2. Robert Tomaszek added 4 more points and Prostejov remained on top after 10 minutes of action 16:11. Venta opened the second term with a three-pointer, while Robert Sarovic (205-F-78) added two free throws to level things up at 16. Robert Tomaszek remained hot-shooting with 6 straight points for Prostejov and the visiting side returned the lead at 22:18. Four more points from Prostejov's centre and they accumulated a 30:22 advantage late in the second period. Robert Tomaszek and Pavel Bosak (192-G-82) capped the first half with 5 points for Prostejov and the guest led 40:29 at the long break. Goran Savanovic (198-G-73) and Pavel Bosak teamed up for 5 straight points to begin the second half and Geogin trailed by 16 points. Back-to-back treys from Goran Savanovic and Prasil stretched Prostejov lead to 20 points midway through the frame. Ondrej Soska (208-C-78) fired 4 points in a row at the end of the third stanza and dragged the hosts within 16 points from Prostejov. Hurl Beechum (196-F-73, college: Iowa St.), Kenny Walker (206-F/C-80, college: Alabama) and Ondrej Soska nailed 6 quick points for the home side at the start of the fourth term and Geofin clawed their way back into contest. Ondrej Soska added three more points but Bader came up with a jumper for Prostejov to keep a 10-point distance between the sides. Rashaan Ames extended the margin to 11 points but Stepan Reinberger (200-F-81, agency: PPGroup) connected from afar to narrow the deficit. Hurl Beechum netted 5 consecutive points as Geofin trimmed the gap to 3 with 3 minutes remaining. Kenny Walker and Ondrej Soska added 4 more points and Geofin finally got in front. Robert Sarovic and Pavel Bosak traded baskets and then Robert Sarovic and Juraj Gavlak (185-G-79) were accurate from free throw line to bring Geofin to an amazing 68:64 win. Ondrej Soska dropped 15 points for Geofin. Hurl Beechum scored 13 points, while Robert Sarovic provided 11 points and 6 boards for the winners. Robert Tomaszek nailed 21 points in a losing case. Rashaan Ames finished with 9 points and 10 boards for Prostejov.

Standings - NBL
NBL Standings
1. Nymburk 36-1
2. Geofin 28-9
3. Prostejov 26-11
4. Pardubice 24-13
5. Decin 22-15
6. Ostrava 18-19
7. A Plus B. 17-20
8. Sadska 15-22
9. USK Praha 13-24
10. Liberec 12-25
11. Kolin 8-29
12. Usti n/Labem 3-34


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D-LEAGUE

Standings
D-League Standings
Central Division
1. Dakota W. 25-18
2. Sioux Falls S. 25-20
3. Iowa E. 18-25
4. Ft.Wayne MA 15-27
Southwest Division
1. Austin T. 27-15
2. Tulsa 66ers 23-18
3. Colorado 14ers 23-18
4. Albuquerque T. 20-23
5. Rio Grande VV 16-28
West Division
1. Idaho S. 30-12
2. LA D-Fenders 29-13
3. Utah 20-23
4. Anaheim A. 19-25
5. Bakersfield J. 9-34


Stats Leaders
D-League Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1.M. Almond, UTA 24.7
2.D. Farmer, RGV 23.3
3.K. Powell, SIF 22.3
4.C. Powell, DAK 22.2
5.S. Banks, LAD 22.1
Rebounds Per Game
1.R. Benson, DAK 12.0
2.C. Alexander, SIF 11.1
3.L. Allred, IDA 10.0
4.M. Campbell, IDA 8.4
5.I. Mahinmi, AUS 8.1
Assists Per Game
1.R. Livingston, IDA 10.7
2.E. Gill, COL 8.4
3.A. Barrett, AUS 8.3
4.K. Kruger, UTA 7.1
5.J. Horner, IOW 5.9


Miami HEAT Looks to D-League for Reinforcements -by Surujh Roopnarine
The struggling Miami HEAT, on pace to have the worst record in the NBA this season, have signed Kasib Powell (6'7''-F-81, college: Texas Tech), Stephane Lasme (6'8''-F-82, college: Massachusetts) and Blake Ahearn (6'2''-G-84, agency: SportsTalent, college: Missouri St.) to fill their injury depleted roster. Coming from Sioux Falls Kasib Powell is the most experienced of the three new additions having participated in NBA camps and summer leagues with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers. A D-League All-Star, Powell played in 38 games for the Skyforce, where he averaged 22.3 points, on 51-percent shooting, to go with 5.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 39.0 minutes of action. His 22.3 points per game ranks him third in the D-League in scoring average.
Lasme, from the Los Angeles D-Fenders was a second round (#46) selection of the Golden State Warriors out of UMass before being waived in November. Lasme played in 37 games for the D-Fenders (14 starts) and averaged 10.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 29.0 minutes. Lasme was a defensive force in college, leaving school as the all-time career blocks leader (399), surpassing Marcus Camby on the all-time list.
Blake Ahearn may be the least known of the newest HEAT, but his recent outstanding play brought him big-time recognition. A standout from Missouri State, Ahearn appeared in 41 games with Dakota this season, averaging 19.0 points and 3.5 assists and shot 48.6 percent from the field, 43.9 percent from three-point range and 96.0 percent from the free throw line in 29.5 minutes of action.

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EBA

Standings
EBA Standings


Harrisburg Wins Crown -by Justin Moore
The Harrisburg Horizon captured their seventh straight EBA title with a 98-96 victory over the North Jersey Lakers Saturday night in Green Pond, New Jersey. Dave Jannuzzi (6'1''-G-77, college: Wilkes) led the victors with 23 points. This was trully a good year for EBA action with two new teams Alexandria Avengers and The Camden Pride the league looks to have a bright future with other franchises looking to join in 09.The Alexandria Franchise are truly greatful to President Richard Anzolut and family for a great season.

The Alexandria Avengers Defeated The Horizon in Late Season Showdown -by Justin Moore
The Alexandria Avengers hit the road this weekend and defeated Harrisburg Horizon 113-110 This past weekend an avenged there early season defeat. Harrisburg Horizon controlled the game the whole way thru thanks to Dave Jannuzzi (6'1''-G-77, college: Wilkes) 30pts going 7of 8 from three-point range and went into the 4th quarter leading 84-71. But the Avengers went on a serious run and outscored Harrisburg Horizon 42 to 26 led by Tyree Harris (6'1''-G-79, college: Pfeiffer) 26pts 8rebs and sinking 8 free throw's in the 4th Justin Moore (5'9''-G-80, college: St.Augustine) (5'9''-G-80, college: St.Augustine) chipped in 18pts 5ast 2stls 12 of which came in the 4th and Brandon Woolen (6'4''-G, college: Virginia Union) scored 12 of his 14pts to ice the game

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EGYPT

Derrick Fraklin flys back home for 10 days -by Sherif Soliman
Derrick Franklin Itthads Center will fly to the states for 10 days vacation, he will share his family the death of his father. Derrick will miss at least 2 games in the finals one of the games against Zamalek. We all share Derrick hard feelings and condolences. Derrik was the best import this season and helped his team to reach the top of the first round table. Itthad administration are trying to let him reach Zamalek game.Derrick Franklin (208-C-81, agency: KMG Sports Management, college: Columbus St.)

Super League Finals starts next Saturday -by Sherif Soliman
Super league finals starts on saturday. Itthad finished the 22nd round on the top with 3 defeats, Gezira came second with 4 defeats , Sporting and Zamalek came 3rd and 4th with 5 defeats ,Ahly came 5th with 6 defeats while Somouha was the last team who went to the finals. Itthad,Gezira,Sporting,Zamlek seems having the same chances to win the league while history adds Ahly to the competition. Ahly was hurt by the the club board decision not allowing the team to import a player but Ashraf Tawfeek is the type of coaches that never gave up easily. Somuha almost have no chances to win the league but they will hurt big teams at their home court.Derrick Franklin was the best import so far he is helping Itthad and getting better everyday.Danny Johnson (190-G-76, agency: Elfus-Siegel Management (ESM), college: Charleston)

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EUROLEAGUE

Euroleague Basketball MVP for March: Milt Palacio, Partizan Igokea -by Eurobasket
Only two teams before this season had ever started the Top 16 with two defeats and still made the Euroleague Playoffs. This month, Partizan Igokea became the third such comeback playoff qualifier in large part because of the trust placed in - and rewarded by - starting point guard Milton Palacio (190-G-78, college: Colorado St.), Euroleague Basketball's choice as MVP for March. In his debut Euroleague season, Palacio found consistency at the perfect time to help Partizan go deeper into the competition than it has all decade. When the month started, Partizan was tied for last place in its Top 16 group and faced three must-win survival tests against superpower opponents. Its first victim was eventual group winner Montepaschi Siena, which had been undefeated to that point. Next, came Partizan's only road win of the round, against Efes Pilsen. However, those first two victories merely set the stage for a game that fans in Belgrade, Serbia will remember a long, long time. In a winner-take-all classic, Partizan ended the Euroleague reign of defending champion Panathinaikos with an impassioned display of great basketball in the Top 16 finale. At the center of it all was Palacio, averaging 20.3 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists while making 74% of his two-point shots, 55% of his triples and 88% of his free throws during March. And when it came down to the key shot to stay alive or be eliminated, Palacio not only took and made it, but in doing so assured Partizan of its first playoff appearance. For lifting his team to new heights by beating the best, Milton Palacio of Partizan takes his rightful place on this list of this season's protagonists as the MVP for March.
Euroleague Basketball's MVP of the Month honor is in its fourth season. Although statistics and performance index ratings are taken into consideration for the award, they alone do not determine who is honored. The winner is named by Euroleague Basketball based on his and his team's performance during the previous month. The award for March was decided considering the three Top 16 games played by all teams during that month.
As a Euroleague newcomer and Partizan's only import player, Palacio went through ups and downs while trying to fill the role of on-court leader for a young team during the regular season and first half of the Top 16. When Partizan's season depended on his leadership, however, Palacio came through with flying colors. In the victory that opened March, at home against Montepaschi, he was nearly flawless: scoring 26 points on 7-for-9 two-point and 9-for-9 free-throw shooting for an index rating of 33, the highest of the Top 16 that didn't win a weekly MVP award. Most important was Palacio's timing, with half his points coming in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead free throws and insurance jumper in the final minute. On the road against Efes Pilsen in Istanbul a week later, Palacio didn't score until after halftime, but quickly poured in 8 of his 11 points total as Partizan gained big leads early and held on for victory. None of it would have mattered, however, if Partizan did not knock out the champions in the sixth and last Top 16 game. Panathinaikos and Partizan had played three close games earlier in the season, with the Greens having won them all by a total of 7 points. This game's stakes could not have been more start: the winner was going to the playoffs and the loser was going home, eliminated. Palacio got Partizan's sellout crowd even more pumped up than usual with a pair of triples that gave his team momentum in the first quarter. He returned after halftime with another big shot from downtown to help keep the Greens behind. Still, the game proved as close as any before it, 75-73, headed into the final minute. That's when Palacio stared down and then broke down the Panathinaikos defense with a full-extension driving layup that spelled doom for the champs and euphoria for Partizan and its devoted crowd. Palacio was high scorer with 24 points in the most important game of the decade for Partizan and finished March with an average index rating of 25.3, almost triple his regular season average.
A perfect 3-0 month punctuated by a transcendent victory means that nobody will take Partizan lightly anytime soon, thanks in large part to Palacio. His ability to lead when needed most made Palacio a key to Partizan's historic step forward. Now, he and Partizan's fans will get to celebrate at least once more, when Palacio receives the March MVP award at the team's first-ever playoff home game.
Courtesy of Euroleague.net

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FINLAND

Standings - Korisliiga
Korisliiga Standings
1. LrNMKY 17-5
1. ToPo 32-10
2. Kouvot 31-11

3. Honka

 27-15

4. Lahti

21-21
5. Korihait 19-23
7. Tarmo 18-24
6. Pyrinto 18-24
9. KTP 17-25
10. Kataja 16-26
11. Componenta 14-28
12. Kauhajoki 12-30


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FYR MACEDONIA

D1 Standings
Superleague Standings
1. Feni Indistrija 22-3
2. Strumica 19-6
3. AMMAK SP 15-10
4. F.Rabotnicki 14-11
5. Pelister 14-11
6. MZT Skopje 12-13
7. Vardar 10-15
8. Karpos 2-23


Pop Sport VSA gets beaten in Stip -by Todor Chalovski
Goce Delchev beat Pop Sport VSA 79:69 in the game from round 1 in the Macedonian First 'B' league.
Youngster Dimitar Petrusev scored 25, helping his team to gain its 6th win in the last 8 games.

Ovce Pole beat Torus 90:80, reaching their third win against the same opponents this season. Marjan Mladenovic scored 21 points for the Sveti Nikole based team.

Bottom of the Secong play out league, ABA, beat Teteks 96:75 in a game from Round one.
American Tim Lewis scored 31 points, leading his team to the third win of the season.

Kozuv beat Heraklea 85:70, to secure themselves a place in the second league nex season. Veteran Nikola Stupar scored 24, while Viktor Eftimov added 22 for home team.

Champions upset at home -by Todor Chalovski
Strumica 2005 suffer a 89:94 home defeat against Amak SP in a game from round 27 in the First Macedonian league. Ohrid based team strenghtened their position, as they are third in the table.
American Jarrid Frye scored 30 points for Amak SP.

Cup winners and league leaders Feni Industri thrash MZT FON Univerzitet in Skopje 100:78. It was an excellent performance from the whole Feni Industri team, who are virtually unbeatable in Macedonia, when they are at their best. Marjan Gjurov scored all od his 9 field attempts, Samardziev, Brown, Cole and Gocevski also had a great game.

Fersped Rabotnicki moved up to fourth, beating Swisslion Pelister 87:71 in Bitola. Dimitar Mirakovski led the way for Fersped Rabotnicki with 21 points and 6 rebounds and assists.

Vardar Osiguruvanje beat bottom side Karpos Sokoli 2000 82:76. Veteran Pero Blazevski scored all of the importatn baskets, and led the scoring for Vardar Osiguruvanje with 19 points.

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GREECE

A1: Match Day 21 - Results and Scorers -by Chris Mammides
Kolossos Rodou - Marousi 88-84
After a great game between two teams full of thirst for the victory, Coach Alexandris team won the game as it was more importand for the islanders in order to survive. Coach Markopoulos team though was closer to the victory in the biggest part of the game as it was leading nearly in the three quarters of the game but the two Americans of Kolossos Taylor and J.R. Pinnock (196-G-83, agency: Pro One Sports, college: George Washington) had a different oppinion and prove it with their presentation in the court, 22 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals from Taylor and 21 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals from J.R. Pinnock ended the game with positive result for Kolossos. On behalf of Marousi, Kostas Kaimakoglou (206-C/F-83) and Miljsavlievic scored 19 and 18 points respectively.
AEK - PAOK 73-64
Flevarakis's PAOK was very good for three quarters the first, second and fourth, the third one was really crucial for the North Hellas team as AEK mostly with the French Amara Sy and Kyritsis took over and created a difference which was really difficult to be overcomed by PAOK who played without Kutluay and with its Captain, Verginis in a low productivity. The Moroccan center Reda Rhalimi (213-C-82, college: St.Mary's, CA) was the top scorer for PAOK with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Panionios - Rethymno 79-87
Coach Pedoulakis, Rethymno played amazingly in the road win over Panionios and took 100% fair the most valuable victory of the seazon (untill the next one..) Stevan Nadjfeji (202-F-79) and Young were the leading scorers for the islanders from Crete, Stevan Nadjfeji was amazing with his 20 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals was definetely the MVP of the game. On behalf of Coach Markovic's home team only Ivan Zoroski (195-G-79) tried but his 23 points were not enoughjt agains the islanders passion for victory..
Olympiada Patras - Olympiakos 66-103
A good training for the almighty Olympiakos (for Wednesday's Cup final against Panathinaikos) in Patras against the 'Greek' team of Coach Raca, even though, Pettas, Dorkofikis and Osmokrovic tried their best the different level of Giannakis's Reds it was more than obvious in the court. What is for sure though is that things would have been different for Olympiada if the Serbian Cypriot Coach Raca was coaching the Patras team from the very beggining. Top scorer for the Reds was Ioannis Bourousis (212-C-83) with 18 points followed by Jackson's 16.
Egaleo - Panathinaikos 76-85
Egaleo prove to be a tough opponent for Coach Obradovic's Greens, the deficit went up to 17 but Coach Skourthopoulos team with Patterson, Magounis and Goldwire helped their team to cut the deficit and make the life of Obradovic's player not as easy as they were thinking at the beggining of the game, Panathinaikos wanted to keep some players more time on the bench (to be ready for wednesday's cup final) but he could't do so as Egaleo was a very serious opponnent. Top scorer for Panathinaikos was Vasilis Spanoulis (193-G-82) with 20 points followed by Jasikevicius and Batiste with 17 and 16 respectively.
AEL 1964 - Panellinios 92-88
A great derby took place in Larissa and after a thrilling game the home team took the victory and refresh its target for this seazon. Keys and Teague scored 46 points together and helped their team to win Zouros's Panellinios. From the visitin site of Panellinios, Grundy and Rancic were the top scorers with 21 and 19 points respectively.
Aris - Olympia Larissas 48-58
A children's final score took place in Alexandreion Melathron after a very bad game from Coach Herberds team proving to be in a very bad psychology. The 48 points is the most negative productivity of Aris in his home court the last 25 years.... Only Massey tried to beat his ex team with his 18 points and 6 rebounds together with Wrigth who scored 15 points the rest of the yellows scored only 15 points all together!!! Top scorer from Olimpia Larissas was Mike King and Marios Batis with 11 and 10 respectively.

The first "hundreds" in the US Sports Arena -by George Manousidis
The Greek team U18 underlined impressively why experts have listed them among the favourites of the Albert Schweitzer tournament 2008.
Due to a great offensive performance Greece beat Israel in the US Sports Arena 102-57.
In the fifth minute of the game Greece already enjoyed a comfortable 12-point lead (16:4).
In the half time the score was 50-23
In the further course of the game Greece increased the lead which was mainly due to their excellent shooting statistics (62 percent from the field).

Top scorers:
Greece: Kasselakis 20 points and 4 rebounds - Jankovic 12 points, 3 rebounds and 4 steals - Roussis 12 points
Israel: Shiran 18 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals
The quarters: 28:8, 50:23, 82:42, 107:57

STANDINGS AFTER 2 GAMES

Group A
TEAM GAMES POINTS
1. Turkey 2 4
2. Germany 2 3
3. Sweden 2 3
4. Netherlands 2 2

Group B
1. Spain 2 4
2. Argentina 2 4
3. Croatia 2 2
4. New Zealand 2

Group C
1. Canada 2 4
2. Australia 2 3
3. Italy 2 3
4. Russia 2 2

Group D
1. Greece 2 4
2. USA 2 4
3. France 2 2
4. Israel 2 2

Greece U18: Who's next? -by George Manousidis
The last game of the day at US Sports Arena was Greece vs USA.
The match began with high intensity very balanced - with slight advantages for Greece (30:18, 10 min).
In the second Quarter, USA with Irving Walker try to came back, but the Greeks with 3-point throws always had a good answer.(45:41, 20 min).
The third Quarter Nikos Nikolaos Pappas (194-G-90, agency: FCM) he showed his better self in offence and controlled excellent the Greek team (55:70, 30 min).
The private duel between Nikolaos Pappas and Walker moved in the last quarter, but the strong Greek defence secured the win (91:79, 40 min)

Top sorers
Greece: Nikolaos Pappas finish the game with 27 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals, followed by Leonidas Kasselakis and Kostas Papanikolaou (16 each).
Usa: Walker 25 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals - Wright 24 points and 3 rebounds

STANDINGS AFTER 3 GAMES

Group A
1. Turkey 3 (272:231) 6
2. Sweden 3 (255:248) 5
3. Germany 3 (242:220) 4
4. Netherlands 3 (211:281) 3

Group B
1. Argentina 3 (233:205) 6
2. Spain 3 (275:208) 5
3. Croatia 3 (245:257) 4
4. New Zealand 3 (203:286) 3

Group C
1. Australia 3 (216:197) 5 (+9)
2. Canada 3 (218:187) 5 (+5)
3. Italy 3 (233:233) 5 (-14)
4. Russia 3 (186:236) 3

Group D
1. Greece 3 (249:187) 6
2. USA 3 (239:221) 5
3. Israel 3 (179:242) 4
4. France 3 (177:194) 3

Next game Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at US Sports Arena, 18:00: Spain - Greece
For more details: http://www.ast-basketball.de/

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HOLLAND

Landstede Basketball Pulls Away In 4th, Tops Aris Friesland -by Sanders Jackson

In the ZBC-hal on Saturday night, Landstede Basketball kept up their strong play as of late, holding off an Aris Friesland charge but making two straight three-pointers, with Aris' lack of depth betraying them in the end, with Landstede improving its playoff hopes and cruising to a 94-76 win. It appeared that Aris would once again make it difficult for Landstede to get the win, with Aris' Dillion Sneed (203-C-84, agency: Court Side, college: E.Tenn.St.) giving Landstede trouble inside, getting offensive rebounds at will to help Aris tie things up at 64-64 near the end of the third quarter. But a Alexander Sa (184-G-83) buzzer beating three-pointer at the end of the 3rd quarter, followed by a Robby Bostain (191-G/F-84, agency: Sports Plus International, college: Furman) three-pointer and layup gave Landstede the lead at 72-64 , and Aris never got any closer. The three-point line was friendly to Landstede in crunch time, with Gerad Punch (193-G/F, college: Furman) making two and a shot clock beating Nikki Hulzebos (206-F-86) three-pointer at 4:30 was the knockout blow, giving Landstede an 88-71 lead. Bostain led Landstede with 22 pts., Darnell Wilson (198-F-85, college: Canisius) added 16 pts., and Punch scored 15 pts. with 10 rebounds. Sneed led all scorers with 29 pts. with 18 rebounds, but shot a porous 7 of 18 from the free throw line. Landstede improved its record to 15-19 and remains in 7th place in the FEB standings.

Tony Van den Bosch return to Belgium -by Fred Roggen
Coach Tony van den Bosch will leave Aris Friesland at the end of the season and went back to Belgium. Vandenbosch has signed a two-years contract with the Div. 2 team of Sint Jan Antwerp.
Van den Bosch replaced in November 2007 coach Andre Roorda in Leeuwarden, who had to leave Aris Friesland through the bad results of the team.
Under guidance of Van den Bosch, the team did not much improve and misses the Play Offs.

Rotterdam Challengers Prevent ZZ Leiden From Gaining Ground, Wins In Leiden -by Sanders Jackson

Saturday night in Leiden, Rotterdam Challengers avoided slipups, preventing ZZ Leiden from making a move in the last spots for a FEB playoff spot, while helping themselves creep closer to the top half of the FEB standings, winning by the score of 81-71. The Rotterdammers closed off the three-point line for ZZ, forcing them into only 2 for 19 shooting, and were led in scoring by Djoenie Steenvoorde (195-G/F-81, agency: R.H.Consultancy) with 21 pts. David Chiotti (206-F/C-84, agency: Court Side, college: N.Mexico) was the only ZZ player in double figures, with a 28 pt., 11 rebound effort wasted. With the win, Rotterdam moves to 19-14, while ZZ spoiled a chance to move ahead of Upstairs Weert for the 8th playoff spot.

West-Brabant Giants Back On Track, Wins Topper Over MyGuide Amsterdam -by Sanders Jackson

In the Saturday night marquee matchup in Bergen-op-Zoom, between current FEB leader MyGuide Amsterdam and a West-Brabant Giants team that found themselves in a recent rut, West-Brabant Giants stood up to the challenge, with a 2nd quarter explosion that set the tone for the rest of the game, going on to win convincingly 93-74. West-Brabant Giants led at one point 50-29 and kept the FEB leaders from making a serious move. The Giants also compensated for poor 2nd half field goal shooting with making 18 of 19 free throws and 5 of 9 three-pointers. Giants PG Patrick Pope (183-G-81, college: St.Augustine) was a thorn in the side for MyGuide, scoring a game-high 25 pts., with Tim Blue (206-F-84, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: Middle Tenn.St.) scoring 19 pts., Andre Harris (203-F-85, agency: Worldwide Hoops, college: Fairleigh Dickinson) with 18, and Daniel Jones (200-F-79, agency: R.H.Consultancy) adding 14 pts. Peter Van Paassen (210-C/F-78, agency: Court Side, college: St.Bonaventure) led MyGuide with 14 pts. The win helps West-Brabant Giants to improve to 24-11, while MyGuide falls to 28-7.

Eiffel Towers Blows Out Den Helder Seals -by Sanders Jackson

In the Maaspoort on Saturday night, after an Eiffel Towers 28-8 lead at the end of the 1st quarter vs. Den Helder Seals, the game was already decided, with defending Dutch champions Eiffel Towers cruising to a 104-62 blowout win. All twelve Eiffel players played between 10 to 27 minutes with each player contributing to the scoring department, shooting 75% FG in the process. Leading the way in scoring for Eiffel was Darrell Tucker (206-F-80, agency: Hart Sports Mngm, college: USF) with 18 pts. It was the third time this season Eiffel reached the century mark vs. Den Helder Seals. Eiffel moves to 21-12, while Den Helder Seals suffered its 5th straight loss.

Standings - Eredivisie
Eredivisie Standings
1. Amsterdam 28-7
2. West-Brabant 24-11
3. M.Magix 22-13
4. Eiff.Towers 21-12
5. Hanzev.Cpt 20-14
6. Rotterdam 19-14
7. Zwolle 15-19
8. Weert 14-21
9. Leiden 14-21
10. Aris Friesland 7-27
11. Den Helder 4-29
12. Almere 0-0


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IRELAND

The semifinalists are known in Irish Superleague -by Eurobasket News
UCC Demons and Neptune celebrated victories in the quarterfinals of the Irish Superleague. Both Cork outfits will now play at the semifinal stage next weekend. Neptune relied on an outstanding performance from Mathew Gorman (203-C-84, college: Syracuse) to upset St. Vincent 114:97. Mathew Gorman delivered 20 points in the second quarter of the encounter and Neptune jumped to a 21-point halftime lead. Kyle Myrick (183-G, college: Lincoln (PA)) provided sufficient help for Mathew Gorman offensively and Neptune secured a 20-point margin after three quarters of action 89:69. St. Vincent failed to revive any sort of intrigue in the final period and had to surrender at the end. Mathew Gorman finished with game-high 41 points. Kyle Myrick dropped 22 points for the winners. Peder Madsen (186-G-79, college: Post) answered with 26 points for St. Vincent. Kenneth Gamble (201-F-75, college: N.Alabama) netted 23 points in a loss that forced St. Vincent's head coach Joey Boylan to resign after the game. Neptune will take on the Abrakebabra Tigers in the semifinal.
UCC Demons edged MDS Star 99:94 to reach Final Four. UCC Demons opened the game on a 34:19 rally and set the tone for the rest of the encounter. They dominated, while MDS Star tried to catch up. Demons headed into the fourth frame comfortably ahead and stretched the advantage to 20 points but it was far from the end in this one. MDS Star capitalized on some sloppiness from UCC Demons players and trimmed the deficit to 5 points at the very end of the game. However they simply ran out of time and allowed UCC Demons to enter the Final Four stage. Niall Murphy (180-G-86) poured in 25 points, while Terrence Todd (183-G, college: Fairfield) provided 20 for UCC Demons in a win. Cheeves replied with 28 points for MDS Star. Clement had 27 points in a loss.

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ISRAEL

Standings - Premier League
Premier L. Standings
1. Macc.T-A 14-4
2. Bnei Hash. 13-5
3. Hap.Holon 12-6
4. Jerusalem 10-7
5. Ramat Gan 9-9
6. Nahariya 9-9
7. Ashkelon 6-11
8. Gilboa/Afula 6-12
9. Rishon LZ 5-13
10. Hap.G.Elyon 5-13


Standings - National League
National L. Standings
1. Macc.Netanya 19-3
2. Givat Shmuel 16-6
3. Elitzur Q.Ata 16-6
4. Elitzur Yavne 13-9
5. Hap.N.Elite 12-10
6. Maccabi Haifa 12-10
7. Hap.B-Sheva 11-11
8. Hap.Y./Megido 11-11
9. Macc.Ashdod 10-12
10. Macc.H.Hash. 9-13
11. Elitzur Ramla 8-14
12. Hap.L.Hashar. 7-15
13. Benyamina 7-15
14. Macc.Shoham 3-19


Stats Leaders - Premier League
Premier League Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Burtt, I ASH 18.3
2 Mendez, R LZ 18.2
3 Arnold, H JER 16.8
4 Williams, B HASH 16.5
5 Simmons, H HOL 16.3
Rebounds Per Game
1 Ebi, B HASH 9.5
2 Campbell, H Holon 8
3 Morris, Mac TA 7.8
4 Massie, I ASH 7.6
5 Mossinzon, GALIL 7.5
Assists Per Game
1 Tapiro, B HASH 6.1
2 Jones, Gilboa/A. 5.6
3 Blsingame, R LZ 5.1
4 Rot, H HOL 4.5
5 2 Ohayon GALIL 4.4
Steals Per Game
1 Ohayon, GALIL 2.3
2 Bowers, H JER 2.0
3 Rot, H HOL 1.9
4 Lewis, GALIL 1.8
5 Johnson, GALIL 1.8
Blocks Per Game
1 Wallace, I ASH 2.3
2 Ebi, B HASH 1.5
3 Cisse, B HASH 1.3
4 Morris, MAC TA 1.2
5 Ibekwe, H G/A 1.1
2FGP
1 Massie, I ASH 81.6
2 Arnold, H JER 74.3
2 Vujcic, Mac TA 76.2
3 Halperin , MAC TA 72.1
4 Vuicic, MAC TA 71.9
5 Campbell, H HOL 70.9
3FGP
1 Grizzard, B HASH 56.2
2 Sharp, Mac TA 54.1
3 Simmons, H HOL 50.0
4 Shason, H JER 50.0
5 Cohen, I RG 48.3
Free Throws
1 Sharp, Mac TA 95.2
2 Yatzkan, I ASH 93.8
3 Simmons, H HOL 92.4
4 Ichaki, I RG 91.5
5 Hagag, H JER 91.9
Ranking
1 Arnold H JER 21.8
2 Eibi, B HASH 19.2
3 Hill, I NAH 18.6
4.Campbell H HOL 18.6
5 Burtt, I ASH 18/6


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JUCO

NJCAA Tournament Awards 2008 -by Eurobasket

NJCAA Tournament MVP: Jonathan Hall of South Plains College
NJCAA Tournament Best Coach: Steve Green of South Plains College
NJCAA Tournament Small Player Award: Brian Green of Salt Lake CC
NJCAA Tournament Sportmanship Award: Nikola Kecman of Eastern Arizona College

NJCAA All-Tournament Team
Dwight Buycks of Indian Hills CC
Will Bynum of Eastern Arizona College
Reggie Chamberlain of Seward County CC
Darko Cohadarevic of Seward County CC
Dominique Gaines of NE Oklahoma A & M
Brian Green of Salt Lake CC
Dwight Hardy of Indian Hills CC
Davell Jackson of Salt Lake CC
Mario Little of Chipola College
Nick Okorie of South Plains College
Bryan Sherrer of Three Rivers CC
Eric Tramiel of Paris JC



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LATVIA

LBL standings
LBL Standings
1. Zemgale 25-5
2. Ventspils au. 23-6
3. RNS-D/Livani 19-11
4. ASK/Juniors 19-12
5. Jurmala 14-17
6. LU/Ridzene 13-17
7. Barons/LMT 11-2
8. BK Ventsp. 11-2
9. Roja 11-20
10. Valmiera 10-8
11. ASK Riga 9-2
12. Liep.Lauvas 9-8
13. VEF Riga 9-9
14. Cesis/Remarks 6-24
15. Saldus 6-24
16. Bum./ASK 2-15
17. Keizarmezs 1-16


Stats Leaders
LBL Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
Ozols (Jurmala) 21.5
Kanbergs (VA) 19.8
Rudzitis (Bum.) 18.6
Berkis (Zemgale) 17.8
Delveris (Roja) 17.7
Rebounds Per Game
Stimac (Valmiera) 11.0
Ed.Eglitis (LU/Ridz.) 8.8
Licitis (Saldus) 8.5
Alexander (Bar.) 8.3
Neilands (Roja) 8.3
Assists Per Game
Slesers (Livani) 7.3
Tiss (Saldus) 4.4
Buskevics (ASK) 4.4
Olivero (Valmiera) 4.0
Raiskums (Zem.) 3.9
Steals Per Game
Slesers (Livani) 3.2
Millage (ASK) 2.6
Skele (Barons) 2.5,
Blocks Per Game
J.Rozitis (ASK/Jun.) 2.6
D.Rozitis (Cesis) 2.4
Rich (Liepaja) 2.4
Ranking
Stimac (Valmiera) 21.6
Kanbergs (VA) 21.0
Alexander (Bar.) 20.2


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LIGA CENTROAMERICANA

Standings
Liga Centroamericana Standings
Group A
1. Pioneros 6-0
2. Liceo 2-2
3. Jaguares 0-6
Group B
1. SAT 3-1
2. Icevic T. 3-1
3. Nacionales 0-4


Pioneros win again -by Gianni Pascucci
During the Easter weekend, Pioneros de Quintana Roo-Cancun hosted Jaguares de la UAM in another Liga Centroamericana two-games series. Game 1 ended 104-67 with LeRoy Hickerson (196-G-82, college: Cumberlands) being the best performer at 27 points, 3 assists and 4 rebs, while Jason Walters (196-G-71, college: Mt.Senario) scored 19 pts and Rudy Taylor (198-F-83) added 10 pts at the losing side. Game 2 saw the debut of Robby Collum (185-G-81, college: W.Michigan) in Pioneros, and the final score was 98-72 for the Mexican team, that is simply dominating the competition, with a 6-0 record. The main perforrers were Boubacar Aw (197-F-75, agency: Interperformances, college: Georgetown) with 22 pts and Enrique Zuniga (193-G-75, college: Grand Canyon) with 20 pts and 10 assists in Pioneros and Rudy Taylor with 13 points in Jaguares

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LITHUANIA

Standings - LKL
LKL Standings
1. Lietuvos 15-0
2. Zalgiris 12-2
3. Siauliai 11-6
4. Alita 9-6
5. Neptunas 7-7
6. Sakalai 5-10
7. Nevezis 5-10
8. Panevezys 5-10
9. Atletas 4-12
10. Suduva 3-13


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MEXICO

Standings - CIBACOPA
CIBACOPA Standings
1. Caballeros 11-5
2. Lobos UAD 10-6
3. Fuerza Guinda 10-6
4. Mineros 10-6
5. Frayles 9-7
6. Pioneros 8-8
7. Trigueros 8-8
8. Vaqueros 7-9
9. Paskolas 6-10
10. Bucaneros 1-15


Pioneros win again -by Gianni Pascucci
During the Easter weekend, Pioneros de Quintana Roo-Cancun hosted Jaguares de la UAM in another Liga Centroamericana two-games series. Game 1 ended 104-67 with LeRoy Hickerson (196-G-82, college: Cumberlands) being the best performer at 27 points, 3 assists and 4 rebs, while Jason Walters (196-G-71, college: Mt.Senario) scored 19 pts and Rudy Taylor (198-F-83) added 10 pts at the losing side. Game 2 saw the debut of Robby Collum (185-G-81, college: W.Michigan) in Pioneros, and the final score was 98-72 for the Mexican team, that is simply dominating the competition, with a 6-0 record. The main perforrers were Boubacar Aw (197-F-75, agency: Interperformances, college: Georgetown) with 22 pts and Enrique Zuniga (193-G-75, college: Grand Canyon) with 20 pts and 10 assists in Pioneros and Rudy Taylor with 13 points in Jaguares

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NAIA

NAIA II All-Americans: Fiegi Player of the Year -by Brandon Woudstra
The All-American list from NAIA II is led by Player of the Year Ryan Fiegi (6'7''-F), as he led his Owls to the NAIAII National Championship. Last years champs placed two players on the first team in Adam Hepker (6'1''-G) and Danny Hawkins (6'7''-F), whild Chad Schuiteman (6'6''-F) (6'6''-F) of Northwestern was a 3rd time 1st team All-American. Congrats to all on the lists for outstanding seasons!

1st Team
Preston Broughton (6'4''-F) - Dakota Wesleyan University (SD)
*Ben Falkenberg (5'11''-G) - Mt. Vernon Nazarene University (OH)
#Ryan Fiegi - Oregon Institute of Technology
Danny Hawkins - MidAmerica Nazarene University (KS)
*Adam Hepker - MidAmerica Nazarene University (KS)
*Scott O'Gallagher - Warner Pacific College (OR)
Jerome Pierce - Notre Dame College (OH)
*Chad Schuiteman - Northwestern College (IA)
Doug Sheckler (6'6''-F) - Huntington University (IN)
DeSean White (6'7''-F-86, college: Providence) - Northwood University (FL)

Those with a * are repeat All-Americans and # indicates the player of the year

2nd Team
Daniel Bandy - College of the Ozarks (MO)
DeMonte Bynum - Clarke College (IA)
Jackson Capel - Evangel University (MO)
Mark Carollo - Eastern Oregon University
Brett Humpal - Iowa Wesleyan College
Jack Rother - Morningside College (IA)
Klaye Rowe - Bellevue University (NE)
Curt Schilling - Northwestern College (IA)
William Walker - Bethel College (IN)
Brandon Weems - Walsh University ( OH)

3rd Team
David Birch - Ottawa University (KS)
Torrington Cox - King College (TN)
Tyler DeBord - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (FL)
Jake Holen - Jamestown College (ND)
Pedja Lazic - Aquinas College (MI)
Nate Menefee - Evergreen State College (WA)
DeWayne Robinson - Judson College (IL)
Tramaine Stevens - Florida Memorial University
Dan Van Dyke - Benedictine College (KS)
Chivas Whipple - Point Park University (PA)

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NBA

Standings
NBA Standings
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Div.
1. Boston C. 56-14
2. Philadelphia 36-35
3. Toronto R. 36-35
4. New Jersey N. 29-42
5. New York K. 19-51
Central Div.
1. Detroit P. 51-20
2. Cleveland C. 41-31
3. Indiana P. 30-41
4. Chicago B. 27-43
5. Milwaukee B. 24-45
Southeast Div.
1. Orlando M. 46-27
2. Washington W. 36-34
3. Atlanta H. 30-39
4. Charlotte B. 26-44
5. Miami H. 12-58
Western Conference
Northwest Div.
1. Utah J. 46-26
2. Denver N. 43-28
3. Portland T.B. 37-34
4. Minnesota T. 18-52
5. Seattle S. 16-55
Pacific Div.
1. Los Angeles L. 49-22
2. Phoenix S. 48-23
3. Golden St. 43-27
4. Sacramento K. 31-39
5. Los Angeles C. 22-48
Southwest Div.
1. N.Orleans H. 48-21
2. Houston R. 48-23
3. San Antonio S. 48-23
4. Dallas M. 44-27
5. Memphis G. 18-51


Gilbert Arenas is not cleared to play yet -by Eurobasket News
Gilbert Arenas (6'3''-G-82, college: Arizona) arrived to the Wizards' locker room pretty sure he would take part in the game against Detroit. But the team's doctors did not clear the guard to play due to a possibility of relapse of his left knee injury. Gilbert Arenas had been training with the team for three weeks already and planned to join the squad yesterday. But his appearance in the upcoming weeks still seems pretty doubtful.
Meanwhile the Washington Wizards managed well without their star guard. They relied on 24-point and 12-board night from Antawn Jamison (6'9''-F-76, college: N.Carolina) to hold off the Pistons 95:83 at the Verizon Centre. It was the third straight victory for the striking Wizards. Caron Butler (6'7''-F-80, college: Connecticut) was productive with 17 points, 6 assists and 5 boards. Richard Hamilton (6'7''-G-78, college: Connecticut) dropped 19 points, while Rasheed Wallace added 11 points in a loss.
Golden State remained in the playoff zone with a hard-fought 115:111 win over the LA Lakers. The Warriors seemed to be in full control leading by 26 points early in the third period. But the hosts denied the deficit and tied the score at 95 after 5 straight points from Ronny Turiaf (6'10''-C/F-83, college: Gonzaga). Later Kobe Bryant (6'6''-G-78) put the hosts in front 99:97. The teams traded baskets then before Stephen Jackson (6'8''-F-78, college: Butler County CC) hit two three-pointers and sealed a victory for the visitors. Stephen Jackson and Monta Ellis netted 31 points apiece to lead Golden State. Baron Davis (6'2''-G-79, agency: Life Sports, college: UCLA) secured 18 points as the Warriors remained one and a half victories ahead of the chasing Nuggets. Kobe Bryant answered with 36 points and 14 boards for the Lakers. Lamar Odom (6'10''-F-79, college: Rhode Island) had 19 points and career-high 22 boards in defeat.

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NCAA1

Stanford and Tennessee need extra terms to qualify for Top 16 -by Eurobasket News
Tennessee survived some scary moments in the second round of NCAA National tournament to post a 76:71 victory over Butler. The Volunteers got to a better start and three treys early in the game lifted them to a 21:8 advantage. But the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit to 4 points at halftime. Butler kept it close in the second half and tied the scoreline after a tip in from Willie Veasley (6'3''-G/F-87) with 37 seconds remaining. Both teams failed to deliver in the closing seconds and the game moved into overtime. The Bulldogs finally grabbed the lead on A.J. Graves (6'1''-G-85)' jumper with less than 2 minutes left in extra period. Ramar Smith (6'2''-G-87) and Wayne Chism (6'9''-F-87) answered with 4 straight points for Tennessee to retain the lead for the Vols. Tyler Smith (6'7''-F-86, college: Iowa) blocked A.J. Graves, while Ramar Smith was deadly from inside the paint to put Tennessee up by 4 points. Pete Campbell (6'7''-F-84, college: IPFW) shaved the margin to 2 points with a layup. JaJuan Smith (6'2''-G-85) scored two free throws to keep the Vols up by 4. Julian Betko (6'5''-G/F-83, college: Clemson) managed to hit just one free throw and Jajaun Smith sealed the outcome from charity stripe. Wayne Chism had 16 points, while Tyler Smith added 15 points and 8 boards for Tennessee. A.J. Graves scored 21 points for Butler. Green produced 15 points and 7 rebounds in defeat.
Stanford faced Marquette and also needed 45 minutes of action to decide on the winning outcome. The Cardinal trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half. They lost their head coach Trent Johnson , who had been ejected. But Stanford stood up to all the challenges and pulled away an amazing victory. Brook Lopez (7'0''-F) converted a layup with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime to ensure the win for the 10th-seeded Cardinal. Lopez finished with impressive 30 points to pace Stanford. Jerel McNeal (6'3''-G-87) answered with 30 points for Marquette. He hit three trebles in overtime to keep the Golden Eagles in the game. But McNeal missed a potential winner with 15 seconds left in overtime and Brook Lopez took advantage of his miss. Robin Lopez (7'0''-C) added 18 points and 9 boards for the Cardinal. Wesley Matthews (6'5''-G-86) dropped 14 points and grabbed 7 boards for Marquette in a loss. Stanford will now face Texas in Top 16 round.

CollegeHoops.net All-American Teams 2008 -by Eurobasket
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Augustin


Douglas-Roberts


Beasley


Hansbrough


Love

CollegeHoops.net Player of the Year: Tyler Hansbrough (6'9''-F-85) (UNC)

CollegeHoops.net 1st Team All-American
D.J. Augustin (5'11''-G-87) (Texas)
Chris Douglas-Roberts (6'7''-G-87) (Memphis)
Michael Beasley (6'9''-F-89) (Kansas State)
Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina)
Kevin Love (6'10''-C-88) (UCLA)

CollegeHoops.net 2nd Team All-American
Derrick Rose (6'4''-G-88) (Memphis)
Shan Foster (6'6''-G/F-86) (Vanderbilt)
D.J. White (6'9''-F-86) (Indiana)
Luke Harangody (6'8''-F-88) (Notre Dame)
Brook Lopez (7'0''-F) (Stanford)

CollegeHoops.net 3rd Team All-American
Darren Collison (6'0''-G-87) (UCLA)
Eric Gordon (6'4''-G-88) (Indiana)
O.J. Mayo (6'5''-G-87) (USC)
Brandon Rush (6'6''-G-85) (Kansas)
Ryan Anderson (6'10''-F) (California)

CollegeHoops.net 4th All-American
Jerryd Bayless (6'3''-G) (Arizona)
A.J. Price (6'2''-G-86) (UCONN)
Stephen Curry (6'0''-G-88) (Davidson)
Gary Forbes (6'7''-G/F-85) (UMASS)
Roy Hibbert (7'2''-C-86) (Georgetown)

Honorable Mention:
Jamont Gordon (6'4''-G/F-87) (Mississippi State)
Mike Green (6'1''-G-85) (Butler)
James Harden (6'5''-G-89) (Arizona State)
Ty Lawson (5'11''-G-87) (UNC)
Chris Lofton (6'2''-G-86) (Tennessee)

Drew Neitzel (6'0''-G-85) (Michigan State)

DeMarcus Nelson (6'4''-G-85) (Duke)
Tyrese Rice (6'1''-G-87) (Boston College)
Sean Singletary (6'0''-G-85) (Virginia)
Tyler Smith (6'7''-F-86) (Tennessee)
Kyle Weaver (6'6''-G-86) (Washington State)



Independents Season 2007-08 Summary -by Richard
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Stoll


Trader


Hawkins


Burrel


Shankle

Final Standings:
1. UTPA 18-13
2. Utah Valley St. 15-14
3. Winston Salem 12-16
4. Savannah St. 13-18
5. Chicago St. 11-17
6. Longwood 9-22
7. CSU Bakersfield 8-20
8. Presbyterian 5-25
9. N.C.Central 3-26
10. New Jersey Tech 0-29


All-Independant Tean
Paul Stoll (5'10''-G-85) of UTPA
Zach Trader (6'7''-F-85) of UTPA
Nathan Hawkins (6'6''-F-86) of UTPA
Brian Burrel (6'3''-G-84) of UTPA
Dexter Shankle (6'0''-G-86) of UTPA
Emmanuel Jones (6'7''-F-85) of UTPA


All-Independent 1st Team
David Holston (5'8''-G-86) of Chicago State
Ryan Toolson (6'3''-G-85) of UVS
Jordan Brady (6'6''-F-83) of UVS
Paul Stoll of UTPA
Kirk Williams (6'6''-F) of Longwood

All-Independent Player of the Year: Ryan Toolson of UVS
All-Independent Defensive Player of the Year: Jordan Brady of UVS

All-Independent Coach of the Year: Tom Schuberth of UTPA



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NCAA3

2007-2008 NCAA Division 3 All-America Teams by D3hoops.com -by Moritz Korff
Player of the Year: Troy Ruths (6'6''-F-85) (6'6''-F-85) - Washington St. Louis
Coach of the Year: Mark Edwards - Washington St. Louis
Rookie of the Year: Steve Djurickovic - Cathage

First Team:
Andrew Olson (5'10''-G) - Amherst
James Cooper (6'0''-G) - Wooster
Kent Raymond (6'3''-G) - Wheaton (Ill.)
Troy Ruths - Washington St. Louis
Ben Strong (6'11''-C-86) - Guilford

Second Team:
Anthony Williams - SUNY Plattsburgh
Nick Shattuck - Ursinus
Larry Welton - Aurora
Kyle White - Loras
Edrick Montgomery - Millsaps

Third Team:
Matt Goodwin - UW-Whitewater
Jake Baldwin - Piedmont
Marcus Vanderheide - Hope
Mardochee Jean - Hardin-Simmons
Jeff Skemp - UW-Platteville

Fourth Team:
Steve Djurickovic - Carthage
Joe Coppens - Brandeis
Terrence Shawell - Alvernia
Dustin Rudegeair - Ohio Wesleyan
Brent Ruch - Elmhurst

Honorable Mention:
Jimmy Bartolotta - MIT
Connor Whitman - Occidental
Nate Hainje - Chicago
Chad McGowan - York (Pa.)
Dan Holbrook - Mass.Dartmouth

Courtesy of http://www.d3hoops.com/all-american/menallam08.htm

NABC NCAA Division 3 All-America Teams -by Moritz Korff
The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today the 2008 State Farm Division III All-America teams. Selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC, these student-athletes represent the finest basketball players across America.

First Team:
Matt Byrnes - Rowan University
Matt Goodwin - UW Whitewater
Andrew Olson - Amherst College
Kent Raymond - Wheaton (Ill.) College
Nick Shattuck - Ursinus College
Ben Strong - Guilford College
Marcus Vanderheide - Hope College
Anthony Williams - SUNY Plattsburgh

Second Team:
Thomas Britt - Centre College
Sean Burton - Ithaca College
James Cooper - College of Wooster
Nate Hainje - University of Chicago
Dan Holbrook - UMass Dartmouth
Richard Jean-Baptiste - Brooklyn College
Chad McGowan - York College
Kyle White - Loras College

Third Team:
Jon Onyiriuka - University of Rochester
Phil Stricker - DeSales University
Jeremiah Lawrence - Shenandoah University
Jeff Skemp - UW Platteville
Jon Greene - Richard Stockton College
Anthony Pettaway - Defiance College
Antoine Coleman - WPI
Nate Stahl - Capital University

Courtesy of http://nabc.cstv.com/genrel/032108aad.html

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NPBL

Bulldogs announce major roster moves -by Gianni Pascucci
The Elmira Bulldogs team management is pleased to announce the addition of two veteran professional players to the Bulldogs roster. They are Kevin Ross (6'8''-F-79, college: Cleveland St.) and Marlin Johnson (6'4''-F-75, college: Monroe CC) Ross will make his debut in the Bulldogs this Saturday at 7pm when Elmira meets Westchester with the game being played at the Chemung County YMCA located in Elmira, NY. Johnson is a current member of the Rochester Razorsharks of the Premier Basketball League (PBL). He won' t see action for the Elmira Bulldogs until April 4th when the team will travel to the New York Strikeforce. Johnson has obligations to play in the Rochester Razorsharks at the PBL championship game, to be held on March 30th in Rochester, NY.

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PORTUGAL

Standings - Proliga
Proliga Standings
1. Benfica 24-1
2. Vitoria 23-2
3. Queluz 18-7
4. Illiabum 18-7
5. Fisica 15-10
6. Academica 14-11
7. Esgueira 13-13
8. Sampaense 11-14
9. Angra 11-15
10. Seixal 10-15
11. Sangalhos 10-15
12. Atletico 9-16
13. Galitos FC 7-18
14. Maia 6-20
15. Aguiar 0-25


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PUERTO RICO

Standings - BSN
BSN Standings
Island
1. Arecibo 10-2
2. Caguas 6-4
3. Ponce 6-6
4. San German 5-7
5. Mayaguez 3-7
6. Guayama 3-8
Metro
1. Santurce 8-4
2. Guaynabo 7-4
3. Carolina 5-5
4. Bayamon 5-7
5. Fajardo 5-7
6. Humacao 4-6


Cariduros win low scoring game against Lions -by Luis Ramirez
It sure wasn't pretty, but the Fajardo Cariduros scored enough points to beat the Ponce Lions 63-59. The Lions seemed totally out of sync and even though the Cariduros would go on to commit 22 turnovers the Lions could not capitalize on them and in turn commit 17 turnovers of their own. The Lions took the 1st quarter 16-14, but in the 2nd quarter the Cariduros kept the Lions in check and took the lead to end the half 33-30. Both teams seemed to be playing a disorganized offense so the game stayed close all the way to the end. The Lions could have closed the gap in the final minutes but Wilfredo Pagan (184-G-76, agency: Next Level) missed both free throws and with a 3 pointer from Javier Mojica with less than a minute to go sealed the win for the Cariduros. The crowd on hand loudly booed their home team when the game was over, this was really the indicator that the home team had had a terrible game as the Lion Fans are totally devoted to their team and this type of outburst is rarely seen in Ponce. For Fajardo, Uka Agbai (203-F-81, college: Boston Coll.) scored 15 points. For Ponce Wilfredo Pagan scored 18 points to be the best in the game.

This was the only game on tap last night.

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ROMANIA

Standings
Div.A Standings
1. CSU Ploies. 20-2
2. CSU Sibiu 18-4
3. UMobitelco 15-7
4. Rapid Buc. 14-8
5. Tg Mures 14-8
6. BCM Tim. 13-9
7. Gaz Metan M. 13-9
8. Dinamo Buc. 12-10
9. BCM Pitesti 10-12
10. CS Otopeni 9-13
11. CSU Brasov 6-16
12. CSM Oradea 4-18
13. Targoviste 3-19
14. Rm Valcea 3-19


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SCOTLAND

TWO TROPHIES FOR EDINBURGH BUT STRATHCLYDE GET REVENGE -by Sandy Sutherland
Edinburgh University captured two of the three trophies they contested in the Molten Scottish Universities Cup Finals at Dundee University.
Edinburgh women completed an unbeaten domestic season by defeating Stirling 54-38 to add the Cup to their league title.
Cathy Mitchell with 11 points and Jenifer Rodriguez and Nicola McBrierty with 10 each helped the capital side home after they led 27-15 at half-time, while Gillian Baird replied with 17 for Stirling.
Edinburgh also won the Women's Shield, beating Glasgow 55-39 with Alice Palmer netting 18, Hannah Webb 13 and captain Tess Simson 10.
But the Edinburgh men were unable to retain the Men's Cup, succumbing to a strong Strathclyde 75-63, despite spirited performances from Liam McCabe, who scored 20, Chris McBrierty, 11, and skipper Simon Ferriman, who had 10.
Strathclyde were led by the impressive Ifadade Thomas with 33 and GB Under-20 cap Neil Fraser with 14.



JEFFERIES TAKES FINAL BOW ON 28-POINT HIGH -by Sandy Sutherland
The Kings lost and won in that order over the Scottish Cup Finals weekend and Brett Jefferies was happy.
The remarkable Australian who has enlivened Scottish basketball since he arrived to work in Edinburgh signed off his outstanding three-year contribution with a vintage 28-point display for Edinburgh Kings, who beat their close rivals Troon Tornadoes 79-61 in the Scottish Cup final at the Pleasance Sports Centre, Edinburgh University.
His former team Melbourne Tigers had just overcome the odds to defeat the Sydney Kings in Sydney in the fifth and deciding game of their five-game Australian title series: 'It's a good omen,' he agreed before going on court to contribute a spectacular 14 points in the opening quarter after which his Edinburgh club led 31-16.
Though things got sticky in the second quarter and Troon actually reduced the deficit to six, there was never any real doubt that the 34-year-old former pro would lead Kings to their second successive Scottish League and Cup double and he received a great ovation when he finally took his seat on the bench with some two minutes left.
'It was nice to go out on a winning note,' said honorary captain Jefferies, who had previously told Kings coach Danny Costello that this was to be his last game, some 10 years after he first officially retired due to a foot injury which had been slightly troubling him again recently.
You would never have guessed that yesterday, or in recent league games, with the 6ft 6in forward demonstrating just what a great player he must have been at his peak when making his living from the sport.
Thanks to an inbounds play on the buzzer which Simon Flockhart converted, Kings had a slender 40-32 half-time lead, but, helped by a Paddy Campbell three and another six-points-in-a row flurry from Jefferies, they went 59-42 up and and their 60-45 lead at the end of the third looked solid despite the determined driving from Troon's Ritchie Martin and Ross Campbell and some very physical defence.
But Kevin Anderson and Laurie Costello were also driving well to pick up the fouls and had Costello's free throws matched the rest of his play - he was three from 11 from the line compared to Jefferies' superb 10 from 10 - the match would have been out of sight by the end of the third.
As it was, another Campbell three made it 75-53 and only Kings' fourth Scottish Cup win in 14 finals was assured.
Anderson went on to tally 17, Campbell 15, Costello seven, Garreth Lodge six and Flockhart, who also had 10 rebounds, six, while Jefferies added nine rebounds.
Ifedade Thomas had 12, Ross Campbell 10 and Martin nine for Troon.
Kings had taken the RAF Junior Cup on Saturday with an impressive 66-46 win over a Falkirk Fury team still reeling from their upset 70-66 defeat to St Mirren in the cadet men's final.
St Mirren won four trophies out of four, defeating Polonia Phoenix 75-46 in a high-tempo but error-strewn women's final after being 33-24 up at half-time.
Natalie Chaloner had 22 and Rona Corkindale 17 for St Mirren and Leanne Page 10, Hazel Howson and Amanda Johnston both eight and Lynsey Campbell seven for Polonia.
Midlothian Saints took the consolation Scottish Chairman's Cup for women beating Grangemouth 44-38 and Banchory Stags won the men's Chairman's Cup for the first time with a 51-40 win over Highland Bears in a drab final.

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SEBL

Baseline Warriors sign contract to tour China in April... -by David Archer
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Ingle


Scott


Ward


Burrison


Daisley

BASELINE WARRIORS PREPARE FOR CHINA TOUR...

Cartersville, GA - The Baseline Warriors, members of the SEBL, have inked a deal with Robert Wang, of ChinaHoops, to compete in a tour of China during the month of April. The Warriors have signed seven new players to make the trip, as the only roster regulars will be Golden Ingle , Chris Jones and Bobby Rouse. The roster will consist of the following players...

Golden Ingle (5'11''-G-81, college: Kennesaw State)
Marcell Scott (6'5''-G-74, college: Univ. New Orleans)
Kareem Ward (6'5''-F-83, Univ. West Alabama)
Anthony Witherspoon (6'6''-F/G-82, college: Georgia St.)
Chris Jones (6'5''-F-82, college: Reinhardt)
Bobby Rouse (6'5''-G/F-76, college: USC-Salkahatcie JC).
Lance Perique (6'8''-G/F-83, college: Georgia State)
Michael McCowan (6'8''-C-83, college: New Mexico/W.Georgia)
Stanley Burrison (6'9''-F-83, college: Lee University)
Jeff Daisley (7'2''-C-83, college: Mercyhurst)

IR - Casey Moore (6'5''-G/F, college: Barton College)


Head Coach: David Archer (College: W.Georgia/Kennesaw State, '91)


Baseline will participate in an exhibition game on April 5th in Cartersville (GA) at JH Morgan Gym, before departing for China on April 7th. The first game is set for April 10th in Shang Hai. The Warriors will play at 10-12 game schedule while travelling to various cities in China. For more more information contact David Archer . at darcherjr@yahoo.com .




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SERBIA

A league: Swisslions Takovo, Vizura and Borac advanced to Superleague -by Dragan Jankovski
Radnicki 034 Group missed a chance to advance to the Superleague as they lost against Borac at home 66-70. On the other side Borac with this win made nice success as the team from Cacak will join Partizan, Crvena Zvezda, Hemofam STADA, Vojvodina Srbijagas, FMP, Swisslions Takovo and Vizura in Superleague. Rastko Dramicanin (207-C-86) led Borac adding 28 points and 9 rebounds. PG Rade Dzambic (188-G-80, college: NYIT), who joined Radnicki 10 days ago, finished the game with 18 points and 5 rebounds.

Newcomer and the most pleasant surprise of the season for sure is Vizura from Belgrade, who succeeded to advance to the Superleague after easy win against Novi Sad 75-58. Vizura got 24 points and 5 rebounds from Andjelko Mandic (197-F-76). Maksim Kovacevic (200-G/F-87) had 15 points and 4 rebounds in Novi Sad.

Napredak Rubin made the crucial win for the survival in Serbian A league. The team form Krusevac beat Zdravlje Actavis 78-68 so they have plus 4 in two games vs Zdravlje what is enough for the survival. Napredak smashed visitors in the third quarter 29-17. Experienced Dragan Markovic (202-F-74, agency: Beo Basket) led the winners with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Uros Lucic (207-C-83) had 17 points and 11 rebounds in Zdravlje, who has a chance yet to remain in A league.

Ergonom lost at home against Sloga 106-113. It was a game with a lot of points where Ergonom was better in the first while Sloga was much better in the second quarter. After the half time, Sloga step by step succeeded to record 11th win while Ergonom remains with only 2 wins. Slobodan Pejovic (194-G-86) was the best in Sloga scoring 19 points. Jovan Koprivica (198-G/F-82, agency: Beo Basket) added 36 points and 4 rebounds for Ergonom and he is the MVP of the 21st round with index value 41.


Ergonom - Sloga 106-113
(33-19,19-34,25-26,29-34)

Ergonom: Koprivica 36 (4 rebs), Mikic 26 (7 rebs), Majstorovic 17 (4 rebs)
Sloga: Pejovic 19, Dasic Jugoslav 18, Ignjatovic 17 (4 rebs), Popovic 16


Napredak Rubin - Zdravlje Actavis 78-68
(10-15,22-17,29-17,17-19)

Napredak: Markovic 22 (8 rebs), Miletic 14 (4 rebs), Gojnic 13 (4 rebs)
Zdravlje: Lucic 17 (11 rebs), Trajkovic 12


Vizura - Novi Sad 75-58
(16-10,12-24,20-11,27-13)

Vizura: Mandic 24 (5 rebs), Avlijas 15 (5 st), Buric Dejan 11 (8 rebs)
Novi Sad: Kovacevic 15 (4 rebs), Martinic 12, Sutalo 11


Radnicki 034 Group - Borac 66-70
(10-15,17-26,22-13,17-16)

Radnicki: Dzambic 18 (5 rebs), Kljajevic 11 (7 rebs)
Borac: Dramicanin 28 (9 rebs), Maric 13 (4 rebs), Ilic 12 (11 rebs)

Unlucky FMP, Vladimir Micov led Buducnost to ULEB Cup 08/09 qualifications -by Dragan Jankovski
FMP - Union Olimpija 92-90
FMP from Zeleznik really didn't have luck in the last round of Adriatic league. Namely, despite important win over Union Olimpija at home Panthers didn't succeed to reach qualifications for ULEB Cup 2008/2009 because of Buducnost's win in Slovenia with plus 14. But FMP needed just two more points and when we have on our mind that Protic missed two FTs at the very end it is clear that they really didn't have luck. In the very interesting game Dragan Labovic (207-C/F-87) added 24 points and 5 rebounds for FMP while Zoran Erceg (211-C/F-85) followed him with 21 points and 4 rebounds. Jasmin Hukic (204-G/F-79, agency: Beo Basket) of Olimpija collected 27 points and 5 rebounds and he was MVP of the last round with index value 33.

Partizan Igokea - Cibona 84-63
After magnificent win over Panathinaikos and qualifying for the Euroleague quarter-finals, Partizan easily beat Cibona at home 84.63. Uros Tripkovic (197-G-86), who scored 22 points, and Strahinja Milosevic (203-G/F-85, agency: Beo Basket), who had 16 points and 5 rebounds, were the best for the winners. Chris Warren (196-F-81, agency: Higher Vision Sports, college: S.Carolina) added 17 points and 5 rebounds for Cibona.

Geoplin Slovan - Buducnost 75-89
Buducnost Podgorica made fantastic result this season as they succeeded to earn a spot for the ULEB Cup 2008/2009 qualifications in the thriller finish. Above is mentioned that Buducnost took 6th place having just one golden point more than FMP! Buducnost beat Slovan on the road in the most important game of the season. Forward Vladimir Micov (201-F-85, agency: Beo Basket) was the MVP of the game with index value 27. He led Buducnost to win scoring 19 points. Nemanja Gordic (195-G-88) also was good adding 18 points. Slovan got 23 points and 6 rebounds from DeMarco Johnson (204-F-75, agency: Megasport, college: Charlotte).


FMP - Union Olimpija 92-90
(23-20,20-28,24-22,25-20)

FMP: Labovic 24 (5 rebs), Erceg 21 (4 rebs), Protic 19 (4 as)
Olimpija: Hukic 27 (7 rebs), Taylor 17, Dragic 16 (5 as)


Partizan Igokea - Cibona 84-63
(20-18,20-19, 21-17,23-9)

Partizan: Tripkovic 22, Milosevic 16 (5 rebs)
Cibona: Warren 17 (5 rebs), Krasic 13, Andric 10 (7 rebs)


Geoplin Slovan - Buducnost 75-89
(25-28,18-25,18-22,14-14)

Geoplin Slovan: Johnson 23 (6 rebs), Clemons 16 (6 as), Klobucar 14
Buducnost: Micov 19, Gordic 18, Otasevic 16, Dasic 11

Standings - A Liga
A League Standings
1. Swisslion Tak. 16-5
2. Vizura 14-7
3. Radnicki 034 13-8
4. Borac 13-8
5. Mega AM 11-9
6. Sloga 11-10
7. Novi Sad 10-11
8. Masinac 10-11
9. Napredak 9-12
10. Radnicki NS 8-12
11. Zdravlje 8-13
12. Ergonom 2-19
13. Vojvodina -
14. FMP -
15. Hemofarm -
16. Crvena Zv. -
17. Partizan -


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SPAIN

ACB Round 26 -by Paul Nilsen
It was a truly sensational week of games In the ACB as Round 26 threw up huge shocks with four of the bottom five teams all winning.

The biggest shock perhaps of the entire season so far was Leon winning at Tau Ceramica by 93-88 and they didn't have the influential Rick Hughes who is out injured. It was a truly inspirational win for the team that has struggled all season and even if they are relegated, it will be a famous win in their recent history. Javier Bulfoni (192-G-76) and Txemi Urtasun were the stars combining for 45 points as Leon took advantage of slack Baskonia defence in front of less than 7,000 home fans. Big man Mirza Teletovic continued his good shooting form with seven three-pointers but this was little consolation for shell shocked Tau.

It was a similar story in Barcelona where the home team were shocked by a resurgent Cajasol. The Seville club travelled to Palau Blaugrana at rock bottom after suffering a devastating home loss to ViveMenorca during the week but they came back to pick up an unexpected 76-86 win in Catalonia. An incredible 31-20 final quarter did it for the visitors who thankfully for them had Ignerski and Kakiouzis back on song. The former scored 21 and the latter 22 as big centre Any Betts produced his best display of the season with 9 points and a crucial 10 rebounds. Barca captain Roger Grimau top scored with 18 but none of the big start turned up in this game.

Its been a big week for Menorca with that midweek win in Seville and crucially Ricard Casas and his team followed it up with the narrowest of home wins against the free-falling Bilbao. They clinched a real nail biter 72-71 and it was a great win with Luke Recker and Martin Rancik back for the visiting team to make the task even tougher. Menorca are now right out of immediate trouble in eleventh place. Serbian Ratko Varda rattled off 21 points for the home team but their win was made possible due to a simply stunning rebounding performance by Kaloyan Ivanov. The Bulgarian who turned 22 this week celebrated in style with a sensational 20 rebounds on his way to a valuation of 29 in the tightest of games. Bilbao slip down to seventh and are just two wins ahead of ninth spot so have to eye what would be the most remarkable of collapses considering their lofty position going into 2008.

MMT Estudiantes dragged visiting Ricoh Manresa into deep relegation trouble after winning 88-76 in the Madrid Arena with 19 points from in-form Jasen Hernan well supported by his team mates. As Larry Lewis bagged 18 but it was a second quarter defensive blitz holding Manresa to just 11 points in the second quarter that did it for the home team. Rafa Martinez was the games top scorer for the visitors with 24 while Estu remain second from bottom but close in on Fuenlabrada.

Fuenla missed out on a golden opportunity at home when facing a Gran Canaria team with a less than impressive record on the road but went down 80-90 to leave them firmly in the brown stuff. The orange men tried everything they knew with Saul Blanco continuing to build his big reputation with 21 points but it just wasn't enough as they gave themselves a mountain to climb in poor first half that left them trailing by double figures at the break. While they fought back gamely in the third, Gran Canaria eased away in the last period in a fine team performance with 5 Granca players reaching double figures. It leaves Granca in ninth spot waiting to pounce if Girona falter.

That scenario however is unlikely after they produced a fantastic victory over the hot DKV Joventut with Marc Gasol winning the battle of the Galacticos by outshining Rudy. Gasol was inspirational as he led his team to an 87-80 victory claiming 18 points, 10 rebounds but most impressively some six blocks. Girona destroyed Badalona in the third quarter and were in full control. The visitors came storming back to cut a 16 point deficit to just a couple of points but Girona remained strong with Gasol even firing a big three-pointer when his team were on the rocks just for good measure. Veteran Arriel McDonald also rolled back the years with 20 points.

With three of the top four losing, it was left to Real Madrid to continue their seemingly easy quest to finish top of the ACB standings as they humiliated Polaris World Murcia, winning at a canter in an embarrassingly easy 75-55 victory. In a pathetic Murcia performance, only Jimmie Hunter made it into double figures while the team managed just four points in the third quarter. There was not a lot to tell about this game with Real not needing to get out of first gear. Felipe Reyes scored 15 points but the 22 assists for Madrid showed how easy it was against a passive visiting team. While always tough at Vistalegre, Murica will have to be mindful that the bottom teams are winning and they are now in a relegation fight.

The same can be said of Valladolid who slumped to an 89-94 home loss against Unicaja. Coach Javier Imbroda will know his team have to start playing some defence again at some point because offensively there is not much wrong but they are giving up far too many points, week in and week out. Davor Kus was the main man for Malaga with 24 points and six assists while centre Boniface N'Dong weighed in with 22 points. Trailing by five going into the last period, Malaga turned up the heat and produced a 29-19 last period to seal the win.

Finally Pamesa Valencia went down 78-68 at Granada who seem to have pulled themselves clear of trouble. Almost 7,000 fans enjoyed another home victory after last weeks success over Menorca while Pamesa continue their erratic season. A strong second quarter did the job for the home team with Dylan Page securing 18 points to go with his 8 rebounds in a strong performance while Valencia had just three players reaching double figures as Ruben Douglas top scored with 17 and Shammond Williams dished up 6 assists. However Coach Katsikaris will know he needs a lot more from his team if they want to progress in the play-offs come the end of the season.

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SWEDEN

Swedish U18 national team plays in Germany -by Eurobasket News
Swedish Junior National team is in Germany these days. They joined the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Tournament with the strongest teams all over the planet participating. Sweden opened the tourney on Saturday playing against Turkey. Sweden fell behind at the start of the game as Turkish youngsters outscored them 29:22 in the first term. Sweden could not recover in the second period as the margin grew to 17 points at the interval. Despite a stronger display of skills from Swedish team in the second half Northern European outfit suffered an 85:97 loss. Enes Kanter (204-C-92) paced Turkish side with 20 points and 13 boards. Kiligli added 19 points for the winners. Sweden answered with game-high 21 points from Andreas Person (187-G-91). Czerapovich scored 19 points, while Christopher Ryan (194-G-90) had 14 in defeat.
Next day Sweden faced the hosting Germany. Coming off a difficult encounter against Turkey Swedish Junior Team managed to recover well and dominated throughout the action. They piled up a 45:32 lead at halftime and never allowed Germany to come any closer after the long break. Andreas Person once again topscored for Sweden with 21 points and 6 assists. Victor Holmberg (190-G-90) provided 18 points and Omar Zaghden (204-F/C-90) netted 14 for the winners. Maik Zirbes (205-C-90) answered with 14 points and 12 boards for Germany. Erik Land (203-F-90) knocked down 13 points in a losing effort. Sweden will next take on Netherlands in Group A.

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TAIWAN

2008 SBL playoffs schedule -by Chris Wang

Semifinal round: (Best-of-five, Taipei Arena, Taipei City)

No. 1 Yulon vs. No. 4 Pure Youth
Game 1: p.m. 6, Apr. 1
Game 2: p.m. 6, Apr. 2
Game 3: p.m. 6, Apr. 4
Game 4: p.m. 6, Apr. 5
Game 5: p.m. 6, Apr. 6


No. 2 Taiwan Beer vs. No. 3 dmedia
Game 1: p.m. 8, Apr. 1
Game 2: p.m. 8, Apr. 2
Game 3: p.m. 8, Apr. 4
Game 4: p.m. 8, Apr. 5
Game 5: p.m. 8, Apr. 6


Finals: (Best-of-seven, Sinjhuang Stadium, Taipei County)

Game 1: p.m. 7, Apr. 11
Game 2: p.m. 7, Apr. 12
Game 3: p.m. 7, Apr. 13
Game 4: p.m. 7, Apr. 18
Game 5: p.m. 7, Apr. 19
Game 6: p.m. 7, Apr. 20
Game 7: p.m. 7, Apr. 22



Veterans Lo, Chou retired -by Chris Wang
Lo Hsing-liang, 37, and Chou Chun-san, 39, officially announced their retirement Sunday after playing in the same backcourt in their final game. Taiwan Beer retired Lo's number, No. 13, and Chou's No. 4 after the game.

The duo, arguably Taiwan's best backcourt in the last 20 years, first received nationwide popularity in the old CBA (Chinese Basketball Alliance) days from 1994-1999, when they played for Hung-kuo Elephants and led the team to an unprecedented three-peat along with Cheng Chih-lung. Cheng was regarded as one of the best small forwards in Asia.

The CBA folded in the middle of its fifth season in 1999. Hung-kuo was later taken over by a different owner and renamed to Sina, the first Taiwanese basketball team to play in China's CBA. It didn't take long for Lo, a sharpshooting guard, and floor general Chou to be recognized by Chinese fans.

Sina returned to Taiwan after two years and joined the SBL. It changed its name to CMC, Azio Eagles folowing a number of ownership changes and is now known as Pure Youth.

The backcourt tandem also made great contribution for Taiwan internationally. They led Taiwan to an East Asian game gold in 1997 in Busan, South Korea, and played together in numerous international competitions, including the Jones Cups, Asian Games and Asian Championships.

As a collegiate player, Lo helped Taiwan beat South Korea with a 38-point outburst in 1993 to secure a ticket to Under-22 Men's World Championship in the same year. Lo earned his nickname 'Wonder Boy' by scoring one point per minute throughout his junior high career.

Chou played for ETSN Antelopes before joining Tawan Beer and Lo also signed with TB after being released by his former team Azio, which decided to go with a youth movement.

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UKRAINE

Standings - Superleague
Superleague Standings
1 BC Kyiv 21-0
2 Azovmash 17-4
3 Khimik 14-7
4 Sumykhimprom 13-8
5 Polit.Lviv 13-8
6 MBC Mykolaiv 8-12
7 Cherkasy 8-12
8 BC Odesa 7-14
9 Dnipro 7-14
10 Kryvbasbasket 7-14
11 Budivelnyk 6-15
12 BC-93 Pulsar 4-17


Standings - Higher League
Higher Standings
1-10 places
1 BC Donetsk 15-3
2 MSDUShOR 12-6
3 Dnipro-Azot 11-7
4 KDPU 10-8
5 Hoverla 10-8
6 Domograd 9-9
7 Kremin 8-10
8 KTU 6-12
9 Gryfony 6-12
10 Koksokhim-Stal 3-15
11-18 places
1 Adzhalyk 12-2
2 BC Sarny 12-2
3 Polit.Kharkiv 10-4
4 DUEP 10-4
5 Fero-ZNTU 7-7
6 KMPU 3-11
7 Orlan 1-13
8 BC Ternopil 1-13


Round 21 results and stats -by Alexander Muzyka
BC Kyiv - Cherkasy Monkeys 88:61 (23:17, 22:16, 21:14, 22:14)
K: Markoishvili 24, Maravic 14 + 8 rbs, Drozdov 12 + 8 rbs + 4 stl + 3 bls, Krstic 10, Saltovets 9 + 5 rbs, Kravtsov 8, Pustozvonov 5, Jeter 4, Jaacks 2 + 5 rbs
ChM: Revzin 11, Edwards 11, McLinton 10 + 6 ast + 5 tos, Cekovski 9 + 6 rbs, Rakocevic 7, Andriukaitis 7, Markovic 6 + 5 rbs, Y.Lokhmanchuk 0, Lebedev 0, O.Shevchenko 0

Sumykhimprom - BC-93 Pulsar 109:92 (21:19, 31:29, 25:18, 32:26)
S: R.Kryvych 28 + 5 rbs, I.Kryvych 25 + 4 stl, Kojenets 18 + 6 rbs, Gabsys 16 + 7 rbs + 4 ast, Tomic 10, Zozulia 6, Lepinaitis 4, Butskyi 2 + 4 ast, Malysh 0
P: Diatlovskyi 19, Skurupi 15 + 5 ast + 5 rbs, Shemosiuk 15 + 4 rbs + 4 ast, Dubniuk 13 + 5 rbs, Skidanov 8, Sokur 6, Zakhozhyi 0, Riabinin 0

Politekhnika-Halychyna - Dnipro 83:65 (15:20, 23:16, 28:17, 17:12)
PH: Zubrytskyi 26 + 5 rbs + 4 stl, Umbrasko 16 + 5 rbs, Lobanov 15, Bulajic 10 + 7 rbs, Annenkov 6 + 5 ast + 4 rbs, Ulianko 6, Kouzmine 2 + 4 ast + 4 rbs, Gurtovoi 2, Goliakhov 0
D: Kornienko 15 + 9 rbs + 6 tos, Panchenko 15 + 6 ast + 5 tos, Kobzystyi 12 + 5 rbs + 5 tos, Vilkhovetskyi 8, Khyzhniak 5 + 5 rbs, Matiukevych 4, Belitskyi 3, Glazyrin 2, Kozlov 1 + 4 rbs, Schepkin 0

Kryvbasbasket-Lux - Budivelnyk 94:85 (23:17, 21:21, 26:21, 24:26)
KL: Shaposhnykov 24, D.Glebov 18 + 6 ast + 6 rbs, Herasymchuk 12 + 5 rbs, Kondratovets 11 + 6 rbs, Neukhatskyi 9, Korabliov 6 + 6 rbs + 5 ast, Fon 6 + 4 ast, Synytskyi 4, Pavlovic 2, Blyzniuk 2, Alekseienko 0
B: Briantsev 17, Coleman 15 + 5 rbs + 5 ast, Yailo 15, Vucicevic 12 + 4 rbs, Zabirchenko 11, M.Balashov 10, Kovalenko 5, Y.Kravets 0, Nerush 0, Horbenko 0, Stefanishyn 0

BC Odesa - MBC Mykolaiv 77:78 (16:23, 27:13, 21:20, 13:22)
O: Wilson 20 + 4 rbs, Yushkin 13 + 4 rbs, Poltoratskyi 10 + 9 rbs, Rybalko 10, S.Balashov 9 + 5 rbs + 5 tos, G.Kuznetsov 4, Bai;ey 4, Barlow 4, Yakovlev 3
M: Hilevych 30 + 13 rbs, Raievskyi 16, Onufriev 10 + 9 rbs, Gladyr 6, Chausov 6, Silkovskyi 4, Vynohradov 4, Beskov 2

Khimik - Azovmash 73:66 (15:11, 18:15, 15:11, 25:29)
Kh: Cakic 20 + 9 rbs, Bratic 17, Famutimi 14 + 8 rbs, Kolchenko 6, Korochkin 6, Kelly 4 + 10 rbs, Jackson 4, Agafonov 2, S.Sabutskyi 0
A: Liadelis 15, Delininkaitis 13, Henderson 11 + 5 rbs, Lischuk 10 + 6 rbs, Buford 8 + 10 rbs, Mescherakau 5, Archibald 4 + 6 rbs, Skutelnik 0

Stats Leaders - Men
Superleague (after Round 21) Stats Leaders
Points Per Game
1 Rostyslav Kryvych 20.4
2 Viktor Kobzystyi 16.2
3 Oleg Kojenets 16.1
4 Anatoli Dubniuk 15.9
5 Goran Cakic 15.2
6 Oleks. Raievskyi 15.1
7 Serhi Gladyr 15.1
8 P. Liadelis 14.9
9 Artur Drozdov 14.3
10 Sasa Bratic 13.9
11 Dmytro Korabliov 13.9
12 Yarosl. Zubrytskyi13.8
13 Ivan Hilevych 13.7
14 V. Golubev 13.3
15 Y.Mescharakau 13.3
16 Volod. Gurtovoi 13.0
17 M.Markoishvili 12.5
18 Stanislav Sokur 12.5
19 Ihor Kryvych 12.5
20 Pavel Ulianko 12.4
Rebounds Per Game
1 Maksym Kornienko 8.1
2 Oleg Kojenets 7.7
3 Viktor Kobzystyi 7.2
4 Volodymyr Gurtovoi 6.8
5 Goran Cakic 6.5
6 Anatoli Dubniuk 6.4
7 Gjorgi Cekovski 6.0
8 Yaroslav Zubrytskyi 6.0
9 Hryhori Khyzhniak 6.0
10 Ihor Kryvych 6.0
11 Dmytro Korabliov 5.7
12 Ivan Hilevych 5.3
13 Y. Mescherakau 5.2
14 Oleksi Onufriev 5.2
15 Sasa Bratic 4.9
16 Aleksandar Djuric 4.7
17 Artur Drozdov 4.6
18 Milos Pavlovic 4.5
19 Olu Famutimi 4.5
20 Branislav Tomic 4.5
Assists Per Game
1 Eddy Barlow 3.9
2 Oleksandr Raievskyi3.7
3 Vitali Boiko 3.5
4 Dmitri Kouzmine 3.3
5 Rolandas Jarutis 3.1
6 Eugene Jeter 3.1
7 Yevhen Annenkov 3.1
8 V. Golubev 3.0
9 Wykeen Kelly 2.9
10 Rostyslav Kryvych 2.8
Steals Per Game
1 Ihor Kryvych 2.2
2 V. Golubev 1.9
3 Rostyslav Kryvych 1.7
4 Artur Drozdov 1.6
5 Viktor Kobzystyi 1.6
6 Eddy Barlow 1.6
7 Maksym Kornienko 1.5
8 Vitali Boiko 1.5
9 Yevhen Annenkov 1.5
10 Serhi Gladyr 1.4
Blocks Per Game
1 Hryhori Khizhniak 1.5
2 Yaroslav Zubrytskyi 1.4
3 Maksym Kornienko 1.3
4 Viacheslav Kravtsov 1.1
5 Volodymyr Orlenko 0.9
6 Andri Agafonov 0.9
7 Y. Mescharakau 0.9
8 Stanislav Balashov 0.8
9 Vadym Matiukevych0.8
10 Ryan Stack 0.7


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VENEZUELA

Standings - LPB
LPB Standings
1. Trotamundos 9-1
2. Gatos 7-3
3. Cocodrilos 5-3
4. Guaiqueries 5-4
5. Gaiteros 5-5
6. Marinos 4-5
7. Guaros 4-6
8. Panteras 4-7
9. Dep.Tachira 2-6
10. Gigantes 2-7




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Women News

*****************************************************
BELGIUM - Women

Waregem and Dexia to play in the Final -by Eurobasket News
Dexia and Waregem secured the spots in the D1 Final series. Both teams were victorious in the final round of the qualifying stage and advanced to the main event of the season.
Dexia held off BBC Boom 86:72 on Saturday making their way to the championship series. The game was not an easy ride for the hosts and defending champs Dexia. They grabbed an early lead 20:17 after one quarter of action but BBC Boom refused to lag behind. The visitors stayed close and narrowed the gap to 2 points at halftime. But Dexia finally managed to take off after the break. They stepped on the gas in the third period outscoring their opponents 28:15 and building a 16-point distance between the sides. BBC Boom failed to overcome the deficit in the fourth term and fell short at the end. Olesya Malashenko (188-F-91) notched 21 points to pace the hosts. Oksana Agabalova (186-F-73) dropped 18 points in a win.
Waregem visited Novia Munalux Namur and drove to a 69:55 victory. Namur stayed in visibility throughout the whole game but Waregem never allowed the home side to endanger their lead. They crafted a 4-point advantage at halftime and maintained it in the second half. Alke Dietel (194-C-75, agency: LBM Management, college: Washington St.) topscored with 25 points for Waregem. Kamila Oplustilova (188-C-78) and Nele Deyaert (186-F-79) added 10 points apiece in a win. Simona Nicolae (188-C-74) and Sarah Dochez (181-F-89) responded with 10 points for Namur. Charlotte Ippersiel (180-C-89) chipped in 8 points in defeat.
The final best-of-five series tips off on March 28.

Standings - Women
D1 Standings
1. Dexia 5-1
2. Waregem 4-2
3. BBC Boom 3-3
4. Sint Kateline 2-0
5. Point Chaud 2-2
6. Houthalen 1-1
7. Monceau 1-2
8. Runkster 0-2
9. N.Namur 0-6


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BULGARIA - Women

An expected final for the Bulgarian Women's Cup -by Valentin Anguelov
Dunav Ekont had no difficulties winning its second game against Rilski Sportist and qualified for the finals of the Bulgarian 'Ledenika' Cup. The game was played at 'Arena Samokov', but even the support of the fans couldn't help Rislki Sportist and they lost 59-85. After that victory Dunav is going to face the other favourite for the title - Lukoil Neftohimik.

The team from Rouse started well from the beginning and after 15 minutes of play they were already leading with 20 points (35-15), and letting only 8 points in the second quarter at the half time they were ahead by 22 (43-21).

The hosts started playing better at the beginning of the second half of the game and managed to cut the lead twice to 14 points but that was the closest they could get. In the last 10 minutes the difference crossed 30 points but that didn't matter anyway because the winner was already obvious.

All the players listed in the protocol for Dunav Ekont took part in the game. The young star Daniela Peteva (177-F-89) was the best on the court for her team and scored 17 points, adding 8 rebounds. The former Rilski Sportist player, Petya Djambazka added 16 points (3 triples) and the veteran Diana Naydenova was skillfully organizing the plays for her team finishing with 11 points and 7 assists.

For Rilski Sportist as usual Agnessa Doychinova was the top performer. She finished with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Galina Stancheva also played well adding 10 points.

Rilski Sportist's head coach, Ivan Lepichev, also managed to use all his players in the course of the game. There were just 2 girls with more than 30 minutes on the court. Tomorrow, after only 18 hours of rest, the team from Samokov is going to play for the bronze medals against Beroe 07.

The final between Dunav Ekont and Lukoil Neftohimik is on Wednesday, 18:00 at 'Arena Samokov'.

FULL STATS FROM THE GAME DUNAV EKONT - RILSKI SPORTIST



Lukoil Neftohimik is the first finalist for ”Ledenika” Cup -by Valentin Anguelov
Natalia Topalova's 25 points were enough to qualify Lukoil Neftohimik for the 'Ledenika' Cup final. The team from Bourgas beat Beroe 07 65-57. The player, who turned 28 ten days ago, scored the second highest for the season and was the key player for her team's victory. Only one of the other players from Lukoil Neftohimik finished with a double -Zornitsa Kostova scored 10 points.

The game was stopped for about 25 minutes at the end of the first quarter. The reason for that was a leakage from the roof of the new 'Arena Samokov' but thanks to the immediate actions taken by the staff all was fixed and the game continued.

The game started very surprisingly as Beroe 07 took the lead by 6 points but Lukoil Neftohimik answered quickly with a 13-0 run and in the seventh minute they were already leading by 7. At the end of the first quarter the result was 22-11 for the team from Bourgas.

In the 18th minute the lead reached 17 points (34-17) but the team from Stara Zagora managed to cut the lead to only 10 before the half time break (35-25) through an 8-1 run mostly thanks to Zlatina Kaloferova.


Beroe 07's players didn't give up easily and even cut Lukoil Neftohimik's lead to only 4 points in the 28th minute after two consecutive baskets by Zhanet Zhelyova. From that moment on Petko Marinov's players were more concentrated and without making any more mistakes managed to win the game and qualify for the final.

For Beroe 07 Albena Bachkova finished with 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. She was supported by Zhanet Zhelyova who scored 14 points and grabbed 6 rebounds but also made 7 mistakes. One of the best players for Beroe 07 that year, Ralitsa Naneva, didn't participate in the game because of a swollen knee but she hopes to be able to play tomorrow for the bronze medals. Beroe 07 used only 6 players in their rotation throughout the game.

FULL STATS FROM THE GAME BEROE 07 - LUKOIL NEFTOHIMIK





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FINLAND - Women

SM_SARJA: PeKa and Catz rolling to the Finals -by Rauno Hurmalainen
SM-sarja, Semi-Finals, Game 2: PeKa (Kotka) and Catz (Lappeenranta) are rolling to the Finals! These two Teams seem to be so much above all other teams.
Tonight Huima (Aanekoski) lost at home by 36 pts (64-100), when visitor PeKa had seven players in double figures! Ashley Haynes (176-G/F-84, college: Austin Peay St.) led PeKa with 22 pts. Dionne Pounds (178-F-84, college: Lamar) added 20 pts. Huima - PeKa 0-2. In the capital of Finland YMCA Helsinki was close to visitor Catz (34-39), but Catz won the second half 25-37 and the contest 59-76. Niina Laaksonen (185-F/C-85) led YMCA Helsinki both in pts (16) and in rbs (13). Catz had only two players in double figures: Tamara Tatham (185-F-85, college: Massachusetts) 24/15 and Lizanne Murphy (185-F-84, college: Hofstra) 21. Catz had also bad luck again. Kaisa Tuure is on injured list (Achilles tendon) for the rest of the season and now Elena Reshetko hurt her ankle during the eighth minute of the game. YMCA Helsinki - Catz 0-2. Next games on Wednesday, March 26.

Standings - Women
D1 Standings
1. PeKa 30-2
2. Catz 28-4
3. HNMKY 18-14
4. Espoo 17-15
5. Huima 17-15
6. Nokia 14-18
7. HoNsU 10-22
8. PuHu 8-24
9. FoA 2-30


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FYR MACEDONIA - Women

Standings - Women
D1 Standings
1. Vigor Skopje 14-1
2. Mladines 11-4
3. Pelister 8-7
4. Biljana 7-8
5. V.Lisici 6-9
6. Kumanovo 5-10
7. Gostivar 0-12


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HUNGARY - Women

Hungarian Cup, Day two: Sopron got the title! -by Tamas Deri
Sopron could defend the title in the own arena of the big rival Pecs, as they won last night 77-63 in the final game. The first half was tied, but the home team scored only 8 points in the 3rd quarter and after that could not get closer. Ivanyi scored 24 points, but even that was not enough. Player of the game was Sopron's guard Kata Honti with 22 points.

MKB-Euroleasing Sopron - MiZo Pecs 2010 77-63
(18-15, 22-23, 15-8, 22-17)
Pecs, Att.: 3500, Ref.: dr. Vigh, Foldhazi, Cziffra.
MKB-Euroleasing Sopron: Nemeth B. 2, Katalin Honti (178-G-87) 22/3, Jelena Milovanovic (191-F/C-89) 17/9, Gorbunova 10, Branzova 7/3, Dora Horti (195-C-87) 6, Semsei 7/3, Horvath Zs. 6, Coach: Szekely Norbert.
MiZo Pecs 2010: IVANYI 24/12, Fegyverneky 11/6, Podrug 6, Vajda 5, GRAZIANE 12, Richter, Krivacevic, Somogyi 5/3, Coach: Ratgeber Laszlo


ZTE reached the third place as they won against Szolnok by 3 points in the bronze-game. After twenty minutes they were already up by 12 points, but scored only 9 points in the third quarter, so Szolnok - lead by Rita Hegedus - could tie the game. Zsofia Horvath decided the game for ZTE with a three pointer three seconds before the end.

SZOLNOKI NKK-ZALA VOLAN ZTE 64-67
(14-19, 12-19, 22-9, 16-20)
Pecs,Att.: 1000, Referees.: Forrai, Kapitany, Marton
Szolnoki NKK: Djelmis 5/3, Magdalena Kozdron (173-F-80) 13/9, Boskovics 10/6, Vescan 2, Keller 6, Rita Hegedus (193-F-78) 24, Sonyak 4, Szavercsenko, Coach: Kmezic Zoran
Zala Volan ZTE: Pungor 5/3, Szelesy 6/6, Creamer 11/6, Turoczi 2, Lidiya Milkova (192-C-70) 17, Ambrus 5/3, Zsofia Horvath (191-C-82) 21/9, Agalerova, Hersics, Coach: Bence Tamas.

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IRELAND - Women

Hotel Cork and DCU Mercy advance to the championship game -by Eurobasket News
The Superleague favorites Hotel Cork and DCU Mercy successfully past their semifinal tests and qualified for the title decider. Hotel Cork faced Wildcats in the first semifinal battle. In the replay of the National Cup final Hotel Cork got the best of Jennifer Strong (183-F-84, college: Dayton) and Michelle Fahy (-82) en route to a coasting 79:55 win. Wildcats fought bravely in the first half and trailed by just 10 points at halftime. But an injury to their leader Michelle Aspell (168-G) doomed it for Waterford. Jennifer Strong and Michelle Fahy ended the game with 18 points each for Cork. Niamh Dwyer (176-G-82, college: Monmouth) added 16 points for the winners. Michelle Aspell drained 24 points to pace the Wildcats. Kathryn McNamara (186-C-83, college: Vermont) contributed 16 points in defeat.
DCU Mercy had to survive some scary moments on the way to a narrow 56:53 win over UL Aughinish. UL looked better at the start and drove to a 30:28 lead at the interval. DCU Mercy struggled to deny the deficit and trailed by 8 points with less than 2 minutes left in the third stanza. UL entered the final two minutes of the contest up by 4 but Mary Fox (180-G-83) was fouled shooting a trey. She went to the line and knocked down three free throws to rim the deficit to a single point. Lindsay Peat (170-G-80) then secured the winning outcome for DCU Mercy with consecutive free throws in the dying seconds. Mary Fox topscored with 12 points for DCU Mercy. Lindsay Peat and Ann-Marie Healy (191-C-83, college: Jacksonville St.) posted 11 points for the winning side. Caitlin Oneill (175-G) answered with game-high 21 points for UL Aughinish.

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ITALY - Women

Serie A1, day-25: stats and results -by Carlo Grilli

Banco di Sicilia Ribera - Levoni Taranto 59 - 77
(20-23, 32-36, 42-61)
BANCO DI SICILIA RIBERA: Farris S. 6 (3/3, 0/1), Duffy M. 12 (5/13), Favento S. 4 (2/8), Bona G. 2 (1/1), Kajdacsi J. 8 (4/8), Riccardi E. 5 (1/5, 1/1), Montagnino J. 10 (1/1, 2/2), Perfetti C. (0/6), Pys'Mennik O. 2 (1/1, 0/1), Razmaite D. 10 (3/4, 1/1). Coach Anselmo Paolo Francesco
LEVONI TARANTO: Balleggi M. 9 (2/5), Corbani C. (0/2), Greco M. 4 (2/5), Zimerle A. 8 (1/1, 2/2), Audrey Sauret Gillespie (179-G/F-76) A. 12 (6/10), Summerton L. 12 (5/9), Prado F. , Frohlich L. 6 (3/4), Brunson R. 25 (11/13, 0/1), Di Monte M. 1. Coach Corno Aldo

Carispe La Spezia - Acer Priolo 64 - 63
(18-21, 36-28, 59-49)
CARISPE LA SPEZIA: Martina Bestagno (189-F/C-90) 2 , Corradini L. 6 (2/3), Pastore C. 13 (2/4, 2/2), Callens E. 6 (1/3, 1/2), Templari E. dnp, Newton C. 8 (1/4, 1/4), Bagnara B. 14 (4/4, 2/7), Vukovic V. (0/3), Sarti R. 4 (2/2, 0/1), Willis C. 11 (4/8). Coach Papini Giovanni
ACER PRIOLO: Gianolla A. 22 (2/7, 3/4), Bonfiglio S. dnp, Palie S. 4 (2/6, 0/1), Milazzo O. dnp, Fabbri E. (0/1), Seino T. 11 (1/4, 2/2), Sciacca B. 5 (0/1, 1/4), Pascalau F. 12 (3/9), Meneghel R. (0/1), Phillips T. 9 (4/7). Coach Coppa Santino

Famila Wuber Schio - Fiera di Roma 87 - 61
(28-18, 48-35, 63-50)
FAMILA WUBER SCHIO: Moro E. 21 (6/7, 3/3), Butler D. 3 (1/3, 0/2), Donaphin B. 15 (6/8), Tassara S. 4 (2/2, 0/2), Sanchez R. 4 (0/3, 1/3), Masciadri R. 11 (1/4, 2/6), Ngoyisa B. 4 (1/1), Ress K. 8 (3/5, 0/1), Federica Ciampoli (190-F/C-80) 6 (2/2, 0/2), Macchi L. 11 (3/5, 1/4). Coach Orlando Sandro
FIERA DI ROMA: Di Battista F. 5 (1/3, 1/4), Servillo M. 1 , Hodges D. 12 (4/5, 1/5), Mendes Da Silva T. 3 (1/1), Arimattei G. dnp, Scimitani S. 8 (4/8), Machanguana C. 14 (4/10), Lichnerova J. 6 (3/4, 0/2), Beljanski M. 9 (0/1, 2/2), Gattini C. 3 (0/3, 1/1). Coach Incecchi Sandro

Gescom Viterbo - Germano Zama Faenza 45 - 37
(12-8, 25-15, 31-28)
GESCOM VITERBO: Danzi D. (0/2), Kouznetsova S. dnp, Santucci L. 3 (0/1, 1/3), Brunelli G. dnp, Smith B. 16 (5/11), Michelle Maslowski (188-F/C-79, college: Drexel) 9 (4/13, 0/1), Limoura L. 1 (0/2, 0/4), Siccardi V. 16 (3/7, 1/3), Gorla L. (0/1), Crepaldi C. (0/5). Coach Agresti Claudio
GERMANO ZAMA FAENZA: Eric M. 7 (3/4, 0/8), Franchini M. 4 (1/2, 0/2), Ramon E. (0/2), David I. 9 (4/11), Ballardini S. dnp, Casadio G. 6 (2/7), Jokic D. 4 (2/7), Bandini E. dnp, Knezevic A. (0/1, 0/2), Dos Santos C. 7 (3/8). Coach Rossi Paolo

Lavezzini Parma - Phard Napoli 73 - 62
(8-20, 38-39, 61-51)
LAVEZZINI PARMA: Maiorano M. 3 (0/1, 1/3), Stabile S. (0/3), Paparazzo E. 2 (1/3, 0/1), Zanoni I. 3 (1/1), Battisodo V. 7 (3/6, 0/1), Van Malderen L. 2 (1/1, 0/2), Mahoney M. 16 (3/8, 2/2), Zanon M. 2 (1/2), Screen J. 19 (2/4, 1/2), Egle Sulciute (190-C/F-85) 19 (7/11, 1/3). Coach Scanzani Maurizio
PHARD NAPOLI: Paterna S. , Cirone M. 15 (2/5, 2/3), Mauriello P. 2 (1/2, 0/3), Giauro S. (0/3), Barnes A. 13 (4/8, 0/1), Gentile I. , Horasan Y. 6 (2/9), Ndiaye A. 12 (4/10), Lesdema N. , Holland-Corn K. 14 (1/6, 2/8). Coach Molino Nino

New Wash Montigarda - Italmoka Pozzuoli 64 - 66
(25-16, 44-33, 52-49)
NEW WASH MONTIGARDA: Gatti G. dnp, Colico R. 10 (2/2, 2/7), Zanotti E. dnp, Fazio M. 15 (7/11, 0/2), Rossi C. (0/2), Smith D. 21 (7/14, 1/2), Dimitrova E. (0/3), Albertazzi S. (0/1, 0/1), Ruzickova M. 6 (3/4, 0/1), Lawless E. 12 (4/12, 1/3). Coach Fossati Fabio
ITALMOKA POZZUOLI: Paparo N. 4 (2/2), Cirov T. 3 (1/2, 0/1), Ferazzoli I. (0/1), Franchetti M. (0/1, 0/2), Minervino M. , Grima H. 19 (8/11), Linguaglossa E. 3 (0/1, 1/2), Adriana Grasso (188-C-74) 6 (2/4), Andjelic N. 11 (1/2, 3/8), Dixon T. 20 (8/13, 1/3). Coach Palumbo Carlo Fulvio

Umana Venezia - Pool Comense 79-51

(20-21, 36-31, 57-43)

UMANA VENEZIA: Sottana G. 11 (4/5, 1/2), Modica F. 17 (3/5, 1/6), Johnson S. 13 (2/4, 1/2), Andrade M. 4 (1/5), Nadalin J. (0/1), Giauro E. dnp, Alice Romagnoli (190-C-84) 10 (5/7), Vujovic A. 13 (3/5, 2/5), Zampieri A. 2 (1/2). Coach Riga Massimo

POOL COMENSE: Bouderra F. 14 (4/8, 0/2), Bestagno E. 2 (1/1, 0/1), Fabbri V. 5 (2/5), Turner L. dnp, Invernizzi M. 3 (0/2, 1/2), Hall V. 7 (3/8, 0/3), Zampella A. 6 (3/3, 0/4), Pasqualin G., Sarni S. 1 (-, 0/3). Coach Ricchini Roberto



Standings A1 (W)
A1 Standings
1. Taranto 22-3
2. Schio 21-4
3. Venezia 19-6
4. Napoli 17-8
5. Parma 13-12
6. Faenza 12-13
7. La Spezia 12-13
8. Priolo 12-13
9. Comense 10-15
10. Viterbo 10-15
11. Pozzuoli 9-16
12. Roma 8-17
13. Ribera 6-19
14. Montigarda 4-21


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NCAA1 - Women

Ivy League Season 2007-08 Summary -by Richard
#s#
#e#6


Maduka


Tay


Schram


Cowher


Colborne

Regular Season Standings
1 Cornell 11 3 .785 7-0 4-3 20 8 .714 10-2 8-6 2-0
2 Dartmouth 11 3 .785 6-1 5-2 15 15 .500 8-4 6-10 1-1
3 Harvard 11 3 .785 6-1 5-2 18 11 .621 9-3 7-4 3-3
4 Columbia 7 7 .500 4-3 3-4 10 18 .357 6-6 4-10 0-2
4 Yale 7 7 .500 4-3 3-4 9 18 .333 6-6 3-11 0-1
6 Pennsylvania 4 10 .286 2-5 2-5 7 22 .241 4-9 3-11 0-2
6 Princeton 4 10 .286 3-4 1-6 7 23 .233 4-10 3-12 0-1
8 Brown 1 13 .071 1-6 0-7 2 26 .071 2-9 0-13 0-4


Tournament Final: Cornell - Dartmouth 64-47


All-Ivy League 1st Team
Jeomi Maduka (6'2''-F) of Cornell
Emily Tay (5'8''-G-87) of Harvard
Koren Schram (5'7''-G-87) of Dartmouth
Meagan Cowher (6'1''-F-86) of Princeton
Melissa Colborne (5'11''-G-88) of Yale


All-Ivy League 2nd Team
Michele Gage (5'11''-G-86) of Columbia
Lindsay Hallion (5'9''-G-86) of Harvard
Carrie Biemer (6'0''-F) of Penn
Katie Rollins (6'3''-F) of Harvard
Danielle Browne (5'8''-G-88) of Columbia


All-Ivy League Honorable Mention
Annesley Oneal (5'6''-G) of Brown
Lauren Benson (5'6''-G) of Cornell
Moina Snyder (6'1''-F) of Cornell
Brittney Smith (6'1''-F) of Dartmouth
Sydney Scott (6'0''-F-86) of Dartmouth


Ivy League All-Freshman Team
Lauren Dwyer (6'3''-C-88) of Columbia
Brittney Smith (6'1''-F) of Dartmouth
Lindsey Williams (6'1''-F) of Yale
Sadiea Williams (-G) of Brown
Kim Adams (5'10''-G) of Penn


All-Ivy League Player of the Year: Jeomi Maduka of Cornell
All-Ivy League Freshman of the Year: Brittney Smith (6'1''-F) of Dartmouth



Top-ranked Connecticut opens NCAA tournament in style -by Eurobasket News
The top-seeded Huskies got to a flying start of their NCAA tourney campaign dismantling Cornell 89:47. Connecticut advanced to the second round of the tournament where they would face Texas. Maya Moore (6'0''-F-89) chipped in 17 points to lead the Huskies to an expected win. Connecticut routed their first-round opponents by 23+ points since 1995. Charde Houston (6'1''-F-86) notched 14 points, while Brittany Hunter (6'3''-F/C-85) contributed 11 points for the Huskies. Cornell however should not be too distressed by the loss as it was their debut at this stage. The Big Red registered school-record of 20 victories in the season and won the Ivy League. The Big Red scored 5 quick points to trail by just 2 points at the start 5:7. But then Connecticut exploded with a 22:2 rally to clear off for good. Cornell could not score a field goal for about 11 minutes and fell behind by 25 points. The Huskies coasted to an overall victory in the second half. Allie Fedorowicz (5'10''-G) and Gretchen Gregg (5'10''-G) poured in 8 points apiece for Cornell.
North Carolina opened their game against Bucknell with a 21:2 run that erased any doubts about the outcome. The Tar Heels then rolled to an easy 85:50 victory to secure the second round birth. LaToya Pringle (6'3''-F/C) produced 19 points to pace the winners. The Tar Heels will now face Georgia in the next round. The Bison were led by Lauren Schober (6'0''-F-87) with 13 points. It was the second appearance for the Bison in the NCAA tourney. They managed just 27% from the field in the game and were severely punished by the Tar Heels. Erlana Larkins (6'1''-F-86) and Rashanda McCants (6'1''-G/F) scored 15 points apiece for North Carolina as they aim to reach the Final Four for the fourth time in a row.
Nebraska held off Xavier to secure their first NCAA tournament win in 10 years. Nebraska were comfortable in front by 15 points in the second half but wasted the lead and had to withstand some nervous moments late in the encounter to come out victorious. Kelsey Griffin (6'2''-F-87) provided 26 points for the Cornhuskers in a 61:58 win. Tay Hester (5'10''-G, college: UTEP) had 13 points, while Cory Montgomery (6'2''-F-87) added 12 for Nebraska to advance to the second round of competition. There they play against Maryland. Jerri Taylor (5'7''-G-86) responded with 19 points for Xavier. The Musketeers finish their NCAA tourney campaign in the opening round for the third season in a row.

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PORTUGAL - Women

Liga Feminina round 22 -by Luis Rocha
The regular season has come to the end. Olivais was the winnerand a deserved one. Alges finished in second after a great job climbing up step by step, just untill the end. Vagos was the third and it's another team who worked well and deserve what they achieved. ESSA, Boa Viagem and CAB follow the first three. ESSA the last year champs, face a tough year because they didn't had a budget like the last, they did well and, in a good day, can beat any team. Boa Viagem has a good starting five, but the bench is not of the same quality, every year we expect more from them but untill now they fail to succed, let's wait for their work in the playoffs. CAB made many changes troughout the season , they lost their pair of foreign players, one of them the best player in Portugal since last season (Kerri Gardin), after the depart they could only sign one foreign player who got injured and couldn't help the team as expected, nevertheless, they can beat any team on a good day. The other teams did their best but they come out with less victories than defeats. The last team was Ovarense with only one win. They come from Division 1 and didn't sign no foreign player, apart from that their roster is formed by many youngsters, they will be relegated with Santarem (also a team with many youngsters, although in this case with 2 foreign players).

Standings - Women
Liga Feminina Standings
1. Olivais 20-2
2. Alges 18-4
3. Vagos 16-6
4. ESSA/Barreiro 16-6
5. B.Viagem 15-7
6. CAB Mad. 15-7
7. CPN-Transduo 9-13
8. Uniao Mad. 8-14
9. CD Povoa 5-17
10. Esgueira 5-17
11. Santarem 4-18
12. Ovarense 1-21


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SCOTLAND - Women

BUCHAN SHINES AS JUNIORS UPSET SENIORS -by Sandy Sutherland
Helped by 28 points from Falkirk Fury centre Mairi Buchan, who is US-bound in August, Scotland's Junior Women's national squad defeated the Scottish Senior Women's national squad 79-61 at Wester Hailes Education Centre, Edinburgh on the third day of a four-day tournament.
This was the most impressive result from any of the three national teams involved over an intensive weekend of matches against visiting teams from Spain, Sheffield and Manchester.
Alicia McFadden added 15 and Deanne Hayward 11 for the juniors, who are preparing for the European B Championship in Skopje, Macedonia in August.
The Scottish team in general came in for praise from Manchester legend Jeff Jones, whose daughter Georgia, an England cap, was one of the prominent players for Mystics: 'The Scottish juniors are very promising - I'd like to see how they do against the England juniors.'
Earlier the Juniors had beaten the visiting Catalan club side FC Martinec 71-63 but the visitors were badly affected by injuries.
Buchan and point guard Annie Rowan, who is currently based in Barcelona and plays for FC Martinec, will clearly also be in demand for the Scottish senior team who are preparing for their European C Championships tournament in Luxembourg in July.

Results: (Wester Hailes Education Centre): Women: Scotland 53 FC Martinec (Barcelona) 47; Scotland Juniors 52 FC Martinec 62; Scotland Juniors 71 FC Martinec 63; Scotland 61 Scotland juniors 79; Scotland 64 Manchester Mystics 67; Scotland Juniors 41 Manchester Mystics 69; cadette: Scotland 79 Sheffield Hatters 62; Scotland 63 Polonia Phoenix 51.