EUROBASKET NEWS REPORT - 7/26/2009

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Men News

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  ARGENTINA   


Paolo Quinteros extends with Zaragoza - by Eurobasket News
CAI Zaragosa has offered its point guard Paolo Quinteros (186-G-79) a two-year extension which he has accepted. Quinteros stated he was pleased with the conditions he received from the club and that was mutual pleasure that the extension was agreed. He hopes to repay the faith shown in him by continuing to put in good performances for the club. Starting point guard has impressed last season for Zaragoza averaging 17.4 ppg in Spanish ACB League. This was enough for team's management to keep him at the club.
Paolo Quinteros started his career with La Union in 1999 and following season he moved to Estudiantes Olavarria. In his first season he has won Argentinean title in 2001 as well as Liga Sudamericana title. Quinteros also played for Uruguayan Trouville and Argentinean Boca Juniors Capital Feder with whom he has won another Argentinean title in 2004. In 2006 he moved to Spain and signed with Leon Caja Espana. In 47 games LEB League games, Quinteros averaged 17.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 2.1 assist per game while shooting 52.0% from the filed. Following season he moved to CAI Zaragoza where he has been playing last two seasons. Quinteros is also a member of Argentina National Team as he has represented them at Tournament of the Americas winning the silver medal. In 10 games, Quinteros averaged 12.3 ppg. He also played with Argentina at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Quinteros helped the team to win bronze medal contributing 3.4 points in 7 games.

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  AUSTRIA   


WBC signs Combo Guard Trent Meacham - by Stefan Prager
Austrian Champion WBC Kraftwerk Wels has signed a new combo guard. Trent Meacham  (188-G-85, agency: Warren Sports International, college: Dayton), a product of the Illinois, was signed to replace Armin Woschank  (184-G-82, agency: R.H.Consultancy) who left to play for the Kapfenberg Bulls for the upcoming season. Meacham had a solid career for the fighting Illini. He started his collegiate career at Dayton but then transferred to Illinois. After his red shirt season he put up pretty good numbers. He was named Most Improved Player in 2008 and was a team captain in both 2008 and 2009 seasons. Meacham was an All Big Ten selection in all of his three years in Illinois. He started in all 34 games last season and averaged 10.2 ppg while shooting 42.2% from the field and 42.1% from Three Point Land.

Brian Savoy leads Switzerland past Austria - by Eurobasket News
Switzerland U18 - Austria U18 80:64

Switzerland celebrated the second win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They shot down Austria to stay among the leaders in preliminary Group D. Austria suffered the second straight defeat and slipped at the bottom of the table. Brian Savoy (191-G-92) scored 27 points and pulled down 5 boards to pace the Swiss team to the win.
Savoy scored 7 points in a row midway through the opening quarter to give Switzerland a 15:6 lead. Kashama and Stefan Petkovic (187-G-92) stretched the gap to 12 points. Savoy and Jonathan Eric Dubas (202-F/C-91) ballooned the gap to as many as 16 points late in the opening quarter. Switzerland began the second period ahead by 13 points but Austria showed character. Carlos Novas Mateo (195-F-92) scored 6 points in a 7:0 run as the margin grew thin. Savoy kept scoring for Switzerland as he restored a 16-point advantage late in the first half. The Swiss outfit arrived at halftime leading by 17 points. Austria revived the intrigue late in the third stanza as Carlos Novas Mateo and Anton Maresch (188-G-91) clipped the deficit at 13 points heading into the final frame. Novas and Anton Maresch dragged Austria within 7 midway through the fourth quarter. Novas followed with 5 points as Austra trailed by only 5 with just over 3 minutes remaining. Savoy exploded with 9 points in the reminder of the contest to win the game for Switzerland.
Stefan Petkovic finished with 15 points and 10 assists for Switzerland. Jonathan Eric Dubas had 10 points and 9 boards in the win. Carlos Novas Mateo answered with 23 points and 13 boards for Austria. Anton Maresch added 13 points in the losing case.

Switzerland U18: Brian Savoy 27, Stefan Petkovic 15+10 assists, Jonathan Eric Dubas 10
Austria U18: Carlos Novas Mateo 23+13 boards, Anton Maresch 13


Austria hold off Georgia in Skopje - by Eurobasket News
Austria U20 - Georgia U20 88:80
Austrian U20 National Team will fight for the 5th position at the European Championship in Division B. They topped Georgia today in the classification round. Austria will now take on the winner of Macedonia versus Finland clash. Austria faced a 9-point halftime deficit before pulling away in the second half.
The teams stayed close during the opening quarter and when the Levan Tsekvava (190-G-89) capped the period with a three-pointer things were knotted up at 19. Levan Tsekvava and Levan Shengelia opened the second quarter with treys. Levan Shengelia and Metreveli soon extended the margin to 10 points. However Rasid Mahalbasic (207-F/C-90) knocked down 10 points to keep Austria in the game. Georgia led by 9 points at halftime but Austria quickly denied the deficit. They went on an 8:0 run midway through the third quarter to surge in front but Tornike Shengelia and Tsivtsivadze made it 69:65 for Austria at the end of the third term. Thomas Csebits (192-G-89) and Sebastian Schaal (189-G-90) drew things level at the start of the final frame. Austria unleashed an 11:0 rally in the middle of the quarter to collect an 8-point lead. Austria never surrendered the advantage and coasted to the win in the dying minutes.
Rasid Mahalbasic exploded with 30 points and 16 boards for Austria. Thomas Csebits added 17 points in the win. Konstantine Tomaradze (197-G-90) had 18 points for Georgia. Levan Tsekvava contributed 13 points in defeat.

Austria U20: Rasid Mahalbasic 30+16 boards, Thomas Csebits 17, Sebastian Schaal 12
Georgia U20: Konstantine Tomaradze 18, Levan Tsekvava 13


Austria lose opener to England - by Eurobasket News
Austria U18 - England U18 76:90

English U18 team posted the second straight win at the European Championship in Division B. They faced Austria in the second round of action and drove to a comfortable 14-point victory at the end. The win kept England on top of Group D. Austria meanwhile slipped at 0-1 record in the pool. Ryan Richards (210-F-91) was once again impressive for England with 24 points and 13 rebounds.
Ryan Richards accounted for 6 points in the opening two minutes of the game to provide England with a 6:2 lead. Austria got their noses in front midway through the frame but England regained the advantage. Ryan Oneil Martin (-91) capped the stanza with 5 points in a row to ensure a 22:16 lead for the English squad. Ryan Oneil Martin knocked down 6 points in an 11:0 run from England midway through the second frame. They took over to enjoy a 12-point advantage into halftime.
Three-pointers from Levi Noel (196-G-91) and Houghton helped England to a 16-point buffer early in the third period. Austria trailed by 20 points heading into the fourth frame and could not threaten the margin in the final quarter.
Levi Noel scored 20 points for England. Ryan Oneil Martin added 15 points in the victory. Anton Maresch (188-G-91) replied with 19 points for Austria. Daniel Friedrich (178-G-92) netted 11 points in the loss.

Austria U18: Anton Maresch 19, Daniel Friedrich 11
England U18: Ryan Richards 24, Levi Noel 20, Ryan Oneil Martin 15


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  BARBADOS   


Cougars keep Premier League hopes alive - by Justin Marville
COUGARS' SLIM CHANCES of remaining in basketball's Premier League haven't disappeared just yet.

Behind a pair of 27-point performances from Vincent Knight and Antonio Yearwood, the cellar-dwelling Cougars gained valuable ground on Colombian Emeralds International Senators by upending their one-time Intermediate rivals 89-75 at the YMCA on Thursday night.

The timely result couldn't have come any sooner as it reduced Senators' (3-11) lead over the last-placed Hothersal-based side (2-12) to a mere one-game advantage with two contests still left to play on both teams' schedule.

That result didn't come as any surprise, though, as Senators, already playing without injured national forward Andre Holder and Alwyn Lovell, were further setback by the late arrivals of starters Nicholas King and Brian Yarde.

What ensued was a slight 24-20 first quarter Cougars lead which became a 45-40 half-time advantage once forwards Adrian Catlyn and Shawn Gaskin hit their groove.

But it was the backcourt combo of Yearwood and Knight who wreaked most of the havoc, especially in the third quarter, where they combined for 19 points to ignite a huge game-changing 28-17 run.

Trailing 57-73, Senators briefly threatened in the fourth when Yearwood and Gaskin fouled out while Catlyn was subsequently sent off for committing a flagrant foul.

However, the deficit proved too monumental to overcome despite the best efforts of Ryan Moseley-Clarke, Bertrum Maynard and Junior Phillips as they suffered during King's woeful three for 15 shooting performance.

Catlyn finished with 15 points, and Gaskin added a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds. Senators were led by Moseley-Clarke's 16 points, while Phillips and Maynard both scored 12.

Up next for Cougars are reigning two-time champs and league leaders Lumber Company Lakers, while Senators face knockout champs Station Hill Cavaliers.

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  BELARUS   


Bosnia post third consecutive win in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
Bosnia and Herzegovina U18 - Belarus U18 68:63

Bosnia and Herzegovina continued to entertain the home fans as they recorded the third straight win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. Bosnia and Herzegovina remained on top of preliminary Group A. Belarus lost the third game in a row to sink deeper.
The hosts set the tone early taking a 7:1 lead less than three minutes into the game. Bosnia grabbed a 16:9 advantage into the second stanza. Vitali Liutych (190-G-92) and Viktar Ausepian (200-F-91) allowed Belarus to a 26:25 lead late in the half. Nermin Buza (206-F-91) and Maksimovic restored a 5-point lead at halftime. The teams kept it close throughout the third stanza and entered the fourth period tied at 47. Bagacic poured in 7 points in a row to give the home team a 64:56 lead midway through the final frame. Hrumintsau revived the intrigue trimming the deficit at 4 points however Crnalic converted a lay-up with 9 seconds to go in regulation to seal the win for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ali Demic (202-G-91) and Nermin Buza knocked down 15 points apiece for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Begagic and Nikola Gajic (-91) added 9 points each in the win. Viktar Ausepian netted 20 points for Belarus. Vitali Liutych finished with 18 points in defeat.

Bosnia and Herzegovina U18: Ali Demic 15, Nermin Buza 15, Dino Begagic (184-G-92) 9, Nikola Gajic 9
Belarus U18: Viktar Ausepian 20, Vitali Liutych 18


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  BELGIUM   


Belgium jump on top of Group D in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
Belgium U18 - Portugal U18 84:59

Belgium outscored Portugal in the third round of action at the U18 European Championship in Division B. The victory allowed the Belgian team to climb on top of preliminary Pool D with 2-1 record. Portugal on the other hands worsened their situation with the second loss in as many games played. Maarten Rademakers (201-C/F-91) scored 16 points to pace Belgium to the win.
Belgium got to the fast start as they built an 11:2 lead with under two minutes into the game. Portugal closed within one but rademakers, Yannick Desiron (204-C-92) and Devacht pulled Belgium to a 24:18 advantage at the break. Back-to-back three-pointers from Gillet and Maarten Rademakers helped Belgium to a 34:27 lead midway through the second quarter. Loris and Gillet opened the second half with four points as the Belgian team enjoyed a 40:29 lead. They soon opened a 20+ advantage cruising to the win. Portugal never got too close and had to face inevitability at the end.
Yannick Desiron came up with 13 points for Belgium. Dennis Donkor (192-G/F-91) had 11 points for the winners. Renato Moreira Azevedo (186-F-91) and Miguel Queiroz (200-F-91) responded with 16 points apiece for Portugal. Belgium outrebounded their opponents 40:30 and limited those to just 32% from the field.

Belgium U18: Maarten Rademakers 16, Yannick Desiron 13, Dennis Donkor 11
Portugal U18: Renato Moreira Azevedo 16, Miguel Queiroz 16


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  BOSNIA   


Bosnia post third consecutive win in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
Bosnia and Herzegovina U18 - Belarus U18 68:63

Bosnia and Herzegovina continued to entertain the home fans as they recorded the third straight win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. Bosnia and Herzegovina remained on top of preliminary Group A. Belarus lost the third game in a row to sink deeper.
The hosts set the tone early taking a 7:1 lead less than three minutes into the game. Bosnia grabbed a 16:9 advantage into the second stanza. Vitali Liutych (190-G-92) and Viktar Ausepian (200-F-91) allowed Belarus to a 26:25 lead late in the half. Nermin Buza (206-F-91) and Maksimovic restored a 5-point lead at halftime. The teams kept it close throughout the third stanza and entered the fourth period tied at 47. Bagacic poured in 7 points in a row to give the home team a 64:56 lead midway through the final frame. Hrumintsau revived the intrigue trimming the deficit at 4 points however Crnalic converted a lay-up with 9 seconds to go in regulation to seal the win for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ali Demic (202-G-91) and Nermin Buza knocked down 15 points apiece for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Begagic and Nikola Gajic (-91) added 9 points each in the win. Viktar Ausepian netted 20 points for Belarus. Vitali Liutych finished with 18 points in defeat.

Bosnia and Herzegovina U18: Ali Demic 15, Nermin Buza 15, Dino Begagic (184-G-92) 9, Nikola Gajic 9
Belarus U18: Viktar Ausepian 20, Vitali Liutych 18


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  BULGARIA   


Turkey march past Bulgaria in Hagondange - by Eurobasket News
Turkey U18 - Bulgaria U18 74:58

Turkey posted the third straight win at the U18 European Championship. They thumped Bulgaria to clinch the top spot in preliminary Group C. Bulgaria slipped at 1-2 record in the third position in the pool.
Turkey stunned their opponents early going on a 14:3 run. They stayed in charge throughout the starting frame and completed it ahead by 14 points. Burak Yuksel (204-F-92) and Toz drained consecutive three-pointers to give Turkey a 21-point lead midway through the second period. Plamen Hristov (196-F-91) cut the margin to 14 points late in the half before Toz capped it at 47:32 for Turkey.
Koev triggered a 7:0 rally for Bulgaria in the third quarter as they got within 9. But the Turkish team answered with 5 straight points to enter the final stanza ahead by 14. Turkey did not give a single chance for Bulgaria in the fourth period cruising to the win.
Can Maxim Mutaf (193-G-91) finished with 14 points to pace Turkey. Burak Yuksel added 13 points, while Safak Edge (185-G-92) had 11 points in the winning case. Plamen Hristov replied with 16 points for Bulgaria. Planimir Dafinov (181-G-92) netted 10 points in the loss.

Turkey U18: Can Maxim Mutaf 14, Burak Yuksel 13, Safak Edge 11
Bulgaria U18: Plamen Hristov 16, Planimir Dafinov 10


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  CENTROBASKET U17   


Summary of the Semifinals - by Eurobasket News

1/2 Finals
Puerto Rico - Dominican Republic 97-75
Puerto Rico celebrated against Dominican Republic 98-75 at the U17 Centrobasket Semis and they will meet Mexico in the Big Final. Puerto Rico advanced to this stage perfect and yesterday's victory was expected. The Dominicans also demonstrated decent performance in the first stage, but they could not resist against the strong Puerto Ricans. Angel Matias (-93) and Jose Agosto (-93) were the key players in victory combining 36 points and 26 rebounds. Luis Quinones (-93) and Angel Rodriguez (-94) followed them with 15 points each. On the other side, Eddy Guisarri (-94) shined with 23 pts. Ted Jimenez (-93) was the second scorer in loss with 12 pts.

Mexico - U.S. Virgin Islands 79-64
The host of U17 Centrobasket managed to reach the Big Final. In yesterday's Semifinals the Mexicans were too strong for US Virgin Islands celebrating comfortable 15-point win. Today Mexico will fight for the Gold against also undefeated Puerto Rico. Javier Meza (-93) top-scored in Team Mexico with 18 points. Ernesto Morales (-94) had 16 pts and 7 boards, while Jaime Cruz added 12 pts and 6 rebs. Aaron Brown (-92) drained 21 points and grabbed 5 boards in defeat, while Rasheed Swanston (-95) contributed with 12 pts.


Place 5-7
Nicaragua - Guatemala 65-74
Guatemala cruised past Nicaragua 75-64 and it will continue battle for the fifth place at the U17 Centrobasket in Mexico. Today the Guatemalans will take on Bahamas. On the other side, Nicaragua ended the contest winless on the last seventh place. Juan Fernando Calderon (180-G-93) led the winners with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Carlos Cruz (-94) had 15 pts, 7 boards and 6 assists, while Fabio Salazar (-94) added 13 pts. Francisco Cuarezma (-95) responded with 20 points in defeat. Harry Miranda (-94) also was good in this defeat netting 18 pts.

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  CROATIA   


Cibona looking to bring in Pasalic and Bogdanovic - by Eurobasket News
Recent reports from Spanish media that BC Bilbao is set to make Drago Pasalic (208-C/F-84) a free agent have alerted Cibona, who could see him as valuable addition to its squad. According to several media reports from Coratia, Pasalic was already approached by cibona and offered a deal he is yet to accept. Still, Cibona's sporting Director Mihovil Nakic has recently stated that his team is currently looking at several players including Pasalic, but has refused to confirm the writings of Croatian media.
Another player which has caught the attention of team from Zagreb is U20 Croatian International, and current Real Madrid player Bojan Bogdanovic (202-G/F-89). Still realization of this transfer is very far as the player is tight with a long term contract to Real Madrid. It is yet to be seen if team from Madrid will be willing to let go the player they invested heavily in, but if any type of arrangement can be reached, Bogdanovic recently stated that he would not oppose to move to Zagreb.
Drago Pasalic started his career with Croatia Osiguranje Split in 2001. After 5 seasons at Split, Pasalic moved to Ulker Istanbul in 2005 with whom he averaged 4.6 ppg and 1.5 rpg in 14 games before he was released by the club in January 2006. Following season he moved to PAOK Marfin Thessaloniki where in 26 League games he posted averages of 8.0 ppg and 5.3 rpg. Last two seasons Pasalic spent with Bilbao, and during last season he played in 28 League games, averaging 6.7 ppg and 3.3 rpg.
Bojan Bogdanovic started his career at BC Zrinjski Mik Company Mostar cadet team. In 2005 he has signed 5-year contract with Real Madrid but was immediately loaned back to Zrinjski. After 2 seasons at Real Madrid II, Bogdanovic was loaned last season to Polaris World Murcia. Still at Murcia he only played in 4 games so he was recalled back to Real Madrid II where he stayed for the rest of the season. Bogdanovic played in 12 games in LEB Bronze and posted averages of 20.3 ppg, 3.8 rebounds and 1 apg while shooting 69.5% for two.

Prkacin injured at the begging of preparations with Team Croatia - by Eurobasket News
Bad news have hit Croatian National Team after it was learned that their captain, Nikola Prkacin (208-C-75) has a serious elbow injury. His arm was put in the cast and he is looking to miss next 3 weeks. It is still not clear how the injury occurred, but it is something that Prkacin has obtained several months back. As it was reported, after his elbow swell up, first it was taught it was due to the spider bite and Prkacin even was forced to miss the last game of Playoff finals with Cibona. Later on, after doing further tests the elbow injury was discovered and Prkacin will be forced to wear protective cast which will still enable him to practice but without any contact with the ball. This is why he will be working separately with special program. Head Coach of National Team Jasmin Repesa (agency: World Sport Agency ) is very unhappy with the news but he hopes that the player will be able to recover and be ready for EuroBasket. Croatia is hoping to challenge for one of the medals, or at least secure place which will guarantee participation at World Chapionships in 2010. Prkacin is seen as integral part of the team and his experience could prove valuable when trying to achieve this goal.
Nikola Prkacin is one of the most experienced players within Croatian National Team. He has started his career with Split in 1995. He has played for lot of clubs across Europe and won lot of trophies. After Split, Prkacin signed with Cibona in 1998 and has also played for the likes of Efes Pilsen Istanbul, Dynamo Moscow and Panathanaikos. In 2008 he returned to Cibona where he signed 2-year contract. Last season, 35-year old big guy was one of the team's best players averaging 10.8 ppg and 3.9 rpg in 16 games in Croatian League helping the team win the title. Prkacin is also a regular member of Croatia National team since 1997.

Turkey U20 won over Croatia U20 in the first game of the Classification Round - by Eurobasket News
Turkey U20-Croatia U20 78:69 (17-18, 16-17, 22-12, 23-22)

Turkey U20 won over Croatia U20 in the first game of the Classification Round for 5th to 8th Places. The Turkish side won the second half to celebrate 78:69 victory.
Bilan opened the game from the perimeter and then Mario Delas (207-C/F-90) added another one for 6:2. Turkey also tasted the lead int he first quarter, however trailed 18:17 after the first 10 minutes. Batuk tied the game at 21:21, while Croatia produced a 6-0 run for 27:21 and Tureky replied with 8-0 run. Karlo Vragovic (191-G-89) made the last shot in the end of the first half for 35:33. Right after that Turkey became the leading team and had 55:47 at the end of thirty minutes. Ozcan made such a score after 22-12 in the third quarter. It was home for 62:52 and then Ilkan Karaman (205-F-90) made 66:60. Karlo Vragovic posted for 70:64 and Ibrahim Yildirim (188-G-90) brought the winners 74:66. Ostric scored the last three-pointer in the game for the total, 78:69 margin.
Ilkan Karaman led the way with 19 points as Turkey will play tomorrow for the 5th place. Mukremin Kilicli (206-F/C-90) nailed 12, while Ibrahim Yildirim had 11. Karlo Vragovic ended up with 16 points for Croatia. Matej Karlovic (200-F-89) posted 14, while Mario Delas added 13.
Lithuania U20 will play for the 5th place at U20 European Championship. The Baltic side won the second game of the Classification Round for 5th to 8th Places over Montenegro U20 80:72 due to the last period.

Turkey U20: Ilkan Karaman 19, Mukremin Kilicli 12, Ibrahim Yildirim 11
Croatia U20: Karlo Vragovic 16, Matej Karlovic 14, Mario Delas 13

Croatia prevail against Ukraine to stay undefeated - by Eurobasket News
Croatia U18 - Ukraine U18 73:69
Toni Prostran (183-G-91), Luka Babic (200-G-91) and Ivan Batur (202-F-91) did not play for Croatia in the third round but it did not prevent Ukraine from falling short in Group B game. Croatia thus celebrated the third straight victory at the tournament and clinched the top spot in the pool. Ukraine suffered the third loss in a row to remain in the fourth spot in the ladder.
Ukraine got to a brave start and led by 5 points at the first break. Croatia unleashed an 8:0 run midway through the second frame to pile up a 34:29 lead. Prokopenko nailed 4 points late in the half as Ukraine ensured a 41:39 advantage. Winless Ukraine tried hard to record the initial victory. They maintained the lead throughout the third quarter and entered the fourth frame up by 5 points. Croatia closed the gap the pressure grew higher late in the game. Pasko Vrlika (204-C-91) put Croats ahead by two with just over 2 minutes to go. Prokopenko nailed a free throw to cut the distance but Jakolis drained a big-time triple to silence Ukraine.
Pasko Vrlika had 17 points to pace Croatia. Toni Brnas (200-F-91) added 15 points, while Dragan Sekelja (210-C-91) notched 11 points in the win. Kostyantyn Anikiyenko (214-C-92) responded with 13 points and 12 boards for Ukraine. Prokopenko finished with 12 points in the losing case.

Croatia U18: Pasko Vrlika 17, Toni Brnas 15, Dragan Sekelja 11
Ukraine U18: Kostyantyn Anikiyenko 13+12 boards, Prokopenko 12


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  CZECH REPUBLIC   


France hand Czech Republic third straight loss - by Eurobasket News
France U18 - Czech Republic U18 78:67
The French Junior team earned the second victory at the European Championship. The hosts handled Czech Republic to clinch the second spot in Group A. The Czech team slipped at 0-3 record and would fight at the relegation round.
Nikola Stojiljkovic (203-F-91) fired 10 points in the opening quarter to give France a 17:11 lead. Frederic Bourdillon (193-G/F-91) dropped consecutive treys for France early in the second quarter as France opened up a double-digit lead. France took control in the clash and posted a 41:27 lead at halftime. The game turned into a one-way traffic in the third quarter. Les Bleus rallied to a 15-point lead at three-quarter time. Czech Republic made the final push in the dying minutes narrowing the deficit to 5 points. But Westermann knocked down 4 free throws late in regulation to propel France to the win.
Frederic Bourdillon netted 15 points to lead France. Nikola Stojiljkovic dropped 14 points in the winning effort. Ondrej Peterka (192-F-91, agency: PPGroup) responded with 12 points for Czech Republic. Martin Kriz (197-F-93) had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the losing case.

France U18: Frederic Bourdillon 15, Nikola Stojiljkovic 14, Mael Lebrun (194-F-91) 12
Czech Republic U18: Ondrej Peterka 12, Martin Kriz 11+12 boards


A 15-2 end help Czech Republic U20 to reach the Final - by Eurobasket News
Poland U20-Czech Republic U20 66:79 (17-23, 20-11, 16-19, 13-26)

Czech Republic U20 became the first Finalist of the U20 European Championship in Division B. The team overcame Poland U20 79:66 in Macedonia to reach the Finals.
Czech Republic U20 opened the game with five consecutive points, while Piotr Pamula (196-G-90) reduced to 12:9. The Czechs controlled the majority of the period and had 23:17 after the first 10 minutes. Poland seemed to recover in the beginning of the second frame when Snieg cut it to 27:23 and Adam Waczynski (199-F-89, agency: AB Agency) scored for 35:33 later in the game. Moreover Poland went in front for 36:35 with the shot from Piotr Pamula and Adam Waczynski sent the teams to the lockers for 37:35. Vojtech Hruban (197-F-89) tied the game at 39:39, while the score was even four times in the period. It was also tied at the end of thirty minutes when Jakub Wojciechowski (211-C-90) made a jump shot for 53:53. Czech Republic U20 scored the first 6 points in the last quarter and Zampach made it 59:53. Piotr Pamula tied the game at 64:64, but it was the last push from the Polish team. Czech Republic U20 finished the game with 15-2 to grab the final ticket in the tournament. Vojtech Hruban made a lay-up at the end for the total success.
Vojtech Hruban paced all the winners with 21 points. Pavel Harcar (202-F-89) notched 15, while Tomas Voslajer (203-C-90, agency: PPGroup) nailed 14. Adam Waczynski finished the game with 25 points in the losing case. Piotr Pamula netted 15, whilst Jakub Wojciechowski collected 12 points and 10 boards.

Poland U20: Adam Waczynski 25, Piotr Pamula 15, Jakub Wojciechowski 12+10 rebs
Czech Republic U20: Vojtech Hruban 21, Pavel Harcar 15, Tomas Voslajer 14

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  DENMARK   


Denmark succeed in Scandinavian derby in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
Denmark U18 - Norway U18 90:69

Denmark posted the first victory at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They held off Norway in the third round to stay hopeful about their ambitions for the tournament. Denmark caught up with Norway in Group A ladder.
The lead changed hands for several times throughout the opening quarter. Jonas Zohore Bergstedt (207-C-91) and Thomas Sebastian Laerke (-91) capped the first frame with 6 points in a row to take a 21:15 lead for Denmark. Stian Berg, Bradascio and Magnus Engen (186-F-91) exploded with three-pointers in the second frame to cut the deficit to a single point. Stian Berg and Karamo Jawara (195-F-91) knotted things up at 35 late in the first half but Heidenheim fired from downtown to make it 38:35 for Denmark at halftime. Denmark cleared off in the third quarter. Jonas Zohore Bergstedt nailed 8 points in the term to allow Denmark grab a 69:56 advantage into the final stanza. The Danish team kept their opponents at bay throughout the fourth quarter to record a confident win at the end.
Thomas Sebastian Laerke poured in 36 points for Denmark. Stian Bergstedt added 20 points and 15 rebounds in the win. Magnus Engen replied with 16 points for Norway. Karamo Jawara and Stian Berg netted 11 points in the loss.

Denmark U18: Thomas Sebastian Laerke 36, Jonas Zohore Bergstedt 20+15 boards, Jonathan Gilling (-91) 13
Norway U18: Magnus Engen 16, Karamo Jawara 11, Stian Berg 11


Estonia draw first blood in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
Estonia U18 - Denmark U18 75:70
Estonian U18 selection celebrated the initial win at the European Championship in Division B. Yesterday the Baltic team held off Denmark to improve at 1-1 record in preliminary Group A. Rain Veideman (190-G-91) scored 19 points to pace the charge. Denmark in the meantime suffered the second straight defeat at the tournament.
Estonia stunned their opponents early in the game taking an 18:9 lead. They maintained it well throughout the opening stanza and entered the second period ahead by 8 point 25:17. Rain Veideman and Sven Kaldre (194-F-91) stretched the gap to 15 points midway through the second stanza. Thomas Sebastian Laerke (-91) helped Denmark to stay hopeful as he narrowed the deficit to 8 points at halftime.
Janar Soo (190-G/F-91), Sven Kaldre and Rain Veideman ensured a 6:0 start for Estonia in the second half. The Baltic team rolled confidently to secure a 12-point buffer at three-quarter time. Jonas Zohore Bergstedt (207-C-91) dragged Denmark within 7 points midway through the final quarter but Estonia stayed cool and eked out a vital victory at the end.
Janar Soo delivered 13 points for the winners. Sven Kaldre notched 10 points for Estonia. Thomas Sebastian Laerke netted 25 points for Denmark. Jonas Zohore Bergstedt had 17 points and 11 rebounds in defeat.

Estonia U18: Rain Veideman 19, Janar Soo 13, Sven Kaldre 10
Denmark U18: Thomas Sebastian Laerke 25, Jonas Zohore Bergstedt 17+11 boards


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  DOMINICAN REPUBLIC   


Cholet lands Jose Olivero - by Eurobasket News
Cholet continued to shape their squad for the upcoming season. They made another market move by signing Jose Olivero (186-G-85, college: Lehigh) yesterday. The 24-year-old US-Dominican Republic guard spent the last season in ProB. There he averaged 17.1 points, 2.8 boards and 2.5 assists per game for Le Portel. Jose Olivero played for Lithuanian Siauliai in the 2007-08 season. His average stats came up to 8.1 points in ULEB Cup and 10.7 points in the BBL.


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  EGYPT   


Egypt destroys Syria in Arab Basketball Cup Semifinals - by Eurobasket News
Syria - Egypt 78-99

Another fantastic performance for Team Egypt at the 9th Arab Basketball Cup. Egypt was confident in the first stage beating all rivals. They advanced to Quarterfinals as No.1 from Group B with 4-0 record. On the other side, Syria was No.2 in Group A with 3-2. In the QFinalsEgypt blasted Libya 84-54, while Syria outplayed Saudi Arabia 83-73.
Syria had a better start yesterday. After 10 minutes of the game the score was 27-23 for the Syrians. That was a sign that surprise maybe is not mission impossible in this match. However, it seems it was just a sign for the Egyptians to wake up. They immediately did it draining 30 more points until the half time. At the same time they stopped Syria on 17 for 9-point lead after 20 minutes. Third quarter was the crucial one as Egypt totally controlled rhythm of the game. It was 24-14 in this period and all hopes of Team Syria immediately disappeared. Last 10 minutes was just the formality.
Egypt will meet Tunisia today in the Big Final. The Tunisians escaped with overtime win against Morocco in the Semifinals. It means that Syria will take of the host of this event in the battle for Bronze.

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  ESTONIA   


Estonia draw first blood in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
Estonia U18 - Denmark U18 75:70
Estonian U18 selection celebrated the initial win at the European Championship in Division B. Yesterday the Baltic team held off Denmark to improve at 1-1 record in preliminary Group A. Rain Veideman (190-G-91) scored 19 points to pace the charge. Denmark in the meantime suffered the second straight defeat at the tournament.
Estonia stunned their opponents early in the game taking an 18:9 lead. They maintained it well throughout the opening stanza and entered the second period ahead by 8 point 25:17. Rain Veideman and Sven Kaldre (194-F-91) stretched the gap to 15 points midway through the second stanza. Thomas Sebastian Laerke (-91) helped Denmark to stay hopeful as he narrowed the deficit to 8 points at halftime.
Janar Soo (190-G/F-91), Sven Kaldre and Rain Veideman ensured a 6:0 start for Estonia in the second half. The Baltic team rolled confidently to secure a 12-point buffer at three-quarter time. Jonas Zohore Bergstedt (207-C-91) dragged Denmark within 7 points midway through the final quarter but Estonia stayed cool and eked out a vital victory at the end.
Janar Soo delivered 13 points for the winners. Sven Kaldre notched 10 points for Estonia. Thomas Sebastian Laerke netted 25 points for Denmark. Jonas Zohore Bergstedt had 17 points and 11 rebounds in defeat.

Estonia U18: Rain Veideman 19, Janar Soo 13, Sven Kaldre 10
Denmark U18: Thomas Sebastian Laerke 25, Jonas Zohore Bergstedt 17+11 boards


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  EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS U18   


Day: 3 (Preliminary Round) - by Eurobasket News
Group A
Czech Republic - France 67-78
The French Junior team earned the second victory at the European Championship. The hosts handled Czech Republic to clinch the second spot in Group A. The Czech team slipped at 0-3 record and would fight at the relegation round. Frederic Bourdillon (193-G/F-91) netted 15 points to lead France. Nikola Stojiljkovic dropped 14 points in the winning effort. Ondrej Peterka responded with 12 points for Czech Republic. Martin Kriz had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the losing case.

Serbia - Slovenia 69-50
Serbia outgunned Slovenia at the U18 European Championship in France. The middle of the game turned decisive in this one. Serbia overwhelmed their opponents by 20 points in the second and third quarters to ensure the winning margin. Serbia improved at 2-1 record after the win and caught up with Slovenia in Group A standings. Dejan Musli (214-C-91) nailed 13 points to pace Serbia. Nemanja Jaramaz and Lazar Radosavljevic added 12 points apiece for the winning team. Edo Muric and Jakob Cebasek had 8 points apiece for Slovenia. Buda finished with 7 points in the loss.

Group B
Spain - Germany 83-56
Spain posted the second straight win at the U18 European Championship in France. They cruised past Germany today to clinch the Qualifying Round birth. Josep Franch (198-G-91) scored 15 points to propel Spain to 2-1 record in Group B. Germany fell at 1-2 in the third position. Alberto Jodar finished with 13 points for Spain. Joan Sastre Morro and Miguel Servera added 11 points apiece in the victory. Mathis Monninghoff had 16 points for Germany. Daniel Leithner delivered 12 points in the losing case.

Ukraine - Croatia 69-73
Toni Prostran, Luka Babic and Ivan Batur did not play for Croatia in the third round but it did not prevent Ukraine from falling short in Group B game. Croatia thus celebrated the third straight victory at the tournament and clinched the top spot in the pool. Ukraine suffered the third loss in a row to remain in the fourth spot in the ladder. Pasko Vrlika (204-C-91) had 17 points to pace Croatia. Toni Brnas added 15 points, while Dragan Sekelja notched 11 points in the win. Kostyantyn Anikiyenko responded with 13 points and 12 boards for Ukraine. Prokopenko finished with 12 points in the losing case.

Group C
Latvia - Greece 68-71
Greek U18 National Team wrapped up the preliminary round at the European Championship with victory. They held off Latvia but could not make it into the Qualifying Round of the tournament. Latvia on the other hand claimed the second place in Group C to stay in the title race. Andreas Kanonidis (198-F-91) nailed 24 points to lead Greece. Ioannis Angelopoulos added 10 points in the winning case. Martins Meiers responded with 20 points and 12 rebounds for Latvia. Armands Osins had 14 points in defeat.

Turkey - Bulgaria 74-58
Turkey posted the third straight win at the U18 European Championship. They thumped Bulgaria to clinch the top spot in preliminary Group C. Bulgaria slipped at 1-2 record in the third position in the pool. Can Maxim Mutaf (193-G-91) finished with 14 points to pace Turkey. Burak Yuksel added 13 points, while Safak Edge had 11 points in the winning case. Plamen Hristov replied with 16 points for Bulgaria. Planimir Dafinov netted 10 points in the loss.

Group D
Israel - Italy 57-66
Italian U18 National Team posted the first win at the European Championship in France. They held off Israel to improve at 1-2 record in preliminary Group D. The Azzurri limited their opponents to just 22 points in the first half to set the tone. They never surrendered the advantage after the long break to celebrate a vital victory at the end. Michele Vitali (194-G-91) came up with 19 points to pace Italy. Andrea De Nicolao had 14 points for the winners. Nimrod Tishman answered with 16 points and 8 boards for Israel. Guy Dotan had 15 points in the losing effort.

Lithuania - Russia 76-69
Lithuania earned the third straight win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They clinched the top spot in Group D. Russia slipped at 1-2 record but still managed to make it to the Qualifying Round of the tournament. Jonas Valanciunas (211-C-92) knocked down 20 points and pulled down 15 boards to pace Lithuania. Osvaldas Matulionis added 13 points and 7 boards in the win. Pavel Antipov responded with 25 points for Russia. Gleb Plotnikov had 13 points in the loss. Lithuania will start the Qualifying Round against Bulgaria, while Russia will face Turkey on Monday.


Div. B Day: 3 (Preliminary Round) - by Eurobasket News
Group A
Bosnia - Belarus 68-63
Bosnia and Herzegovina continued to entertain the home fans as they recorded the third straight win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. Bosnia and Herzegovina remained on top of preliminary Group A. Belarus lost the third game in a row to sink deeper. Ali Demic and Nermin Buza knocked down 15 points apiece for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Begagic and Nikola Gajic (-91) added 9 points each in the win. Viktar Ausepian netted 20 points for Belarus. Vitali Liutych finished with 18 points in defeat.

Estonia - Hungary 80-71
Estonia U18 ties the records with Hungarian squad at the U18 European Championship in Division B. The Baltic side won 80:71 over Hungary for 2-1 records. Veideman top-scored for the winners with 25 points. Sven Kaldre (194-F-91) followed him with 21, while Puidet collected 12 points and 12 boards. Eilingsfeld erupted with 35 points and 11 rebounds in defeat, while Bajalinov scored 9.

Norway - Denmark 69-90
Denmark posted the first victory at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They held off Norway in the third round to stay hopeful about their ambitions for the tournament. Denmark caught up with Norway in Group A ladder. Thomas Sebastian Laerke poured in 36 points for Denmark. Stian Bergstedt added 20 points and 15 rebounds in the win. Magnus Engen (186-F-91) replied with 16 points for Norway. Karamo Jawara and Stian Berg netted 11 points in the loss.

Group B
Poland - Finland 80-67
Poland posted the second straight win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They held off Finnish counterparts to climb at 2-0 record in preliminary Group B. Finland on the other hand slipped at 1-2 record. Sebastian Szymanski finished with 17 points to pace Poland. Wojciech Fras (202-F-91, agency: AB Agency) added 15 points and 11 boards, while Robert Magnuszewski had 14 points in the win. Antto Nikkarinen notched game-high 23 points for Finland. Carl Lindbom posted 10 points and 9 rebounds in the losing effort.

Iceland - Slovakia 80-57
Iceland led from start to finish to handle Slovakia at the U18 European Championship in Division B today. The success marked a 1-2 record for Iceland. Slovakia meanwhile dropped at 0-2 record in preliminary Group B. Tomas Heidar Tomasson finished with 18 points for Iceland. Haukur Palsson (197-F-92) added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Haukur Oskarsson had 12 points in the win. Martin Floris replied with 14 points for Slovakia. Jaroslav Moravek and Richard Grznar had 11 points each in the losing effort. Iceland will next face Sweden, while Slovakia will take on Poland tomorrow.

Group C
Georgia - Holland 65-84
The Dutch U18 team registered the second win at the European Championship in Division B. They toppled Georgia in preliminary Group C action today to improve at 2-1 record. The Georgian team suffered the second straight loss to stay winless at the bottom of the ladder. Netherlands used a 20:8 second-quarter rally to clear off for good in this one. Jeroen van Vugt scored 24 points to lift the Dutch team to the victory. Jeffrey Touw (190-F-91) scored 12 points for Netherlands. Quincy Treffers had 11 points and 9 rebounds in the winning case. Akaki Dvalishvili knocked down 15 points for Georgia. Tariel Tavartkiladze finished with 10 points, 6 boards and 4 assists in the loss.

Scotland - Romania 88-77
Scotland U18 celebrated the second win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. The team overcame Romania U18 88:77 to improve to 2-1 record. Fraser Alasdair paced all the winners with 29 points. Alistair Mackay (-91) nailed 20, whilst Reilly Lee netted 14. Tibirna Bogdan ended up with 22 points in the losing effort and Crainic Octavian scored 14.

Group D
Switzerland - Austria 80-64
Switzerland celebrated the second win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They shot down Austria to stay among the leaders in preliminary Group D. Austria suffered the second straight defeat and slipped at the bottom of the table. Brian Savoy (191-G-92) scored 27 points and pulled down 5 boards to pace the Swiss team to the win. Stefan Petkovic finished with 15 points and 10 assists for Switzerland. Jonathan Eric Dubas had 10 points and 9 boards in the win. Carlos Novas Mateo answered with 23 points and 13 boards for Austria. Anton Maresch added 13 points in the losing case.

Portugal - Belgium 59-84
Belgium outscored Portugal in the third round of action at the U18 European Championship in Division B. The victory allowed the Belgian team to climb on top of preliminary Pool D with 2-1 record. Portugal on the other hands worsened their situation with the second loss in as many games played. Maarten Rademakers scored 16 points to pace Belgium to the win. Yannick Desiron (204-C-92) came up with 13 points for Belgium. Dennis Donkor had 11 points for the winners. Renato Moreira Azevedo and Miguel Queiroz responded with 16 points apiece for Portugal. Belgium outrebounded their opponents 40:30 and limited those to just 32% from the field.


Gibraltar eke out semifinal win over Moldova - by Eurobasket News
Gibraltar U18 - Moldova U18 59:57
Gibraltar U18 will play in the championship game of the European Championship in Division C in Malta. They topped Moldovan counterparts in the second semifinal yesterday. Christopher McCann (188-F-91) and Jamie Sercombe (187-F-92) came up with two free throws in the final minute of the encounter to seal the winning outcome for Gibraltar. An Edwin Yeats team will now face hosting Malta for the trophy. Moldova will play for bronze against Andorra.
Moldova looked better in the opening frame as they unleashed an 8:0 run to gain a 17:9 lead. Christopher McCann and Moreno narrowed the deficit at 3 points at the first intermission. Moldova maintained the lead throughout the second quarter and arrived at halftime ahead by 6 points 32:26. Jamie Sercombe and Gracia cut the distance but Moldova did not allow their opponents to step in front. Serghei Mescoi (190-F-92) fired two treys late in the quarter as the Moldovan team led by 5 points at the final break. Constantin Culea (196-F-91) and Gordienco extended the margin at 9 points at the start of the fourth quarter. But Gibraltar refused to surrender. They went on an 11:2 run to take a 57:56 advantage with under 3 minutes to go. Cojuhari drew things level at 57 but Christopher McCann and Jamie Sercombe sealed the deal from the stripe in the dying seconds.
Derek Aston-Fox (204-C-92) and Christopher McCann scored 15 points apiece to lead the charge. Jamie Sercombe added 11 points for the winners. Serghei Mescoi responded with 13 points for Moldova. Constantin Culea had 12 points in the losing case.

Gibraltar U18: Derek Aston-Fox 15+12 boards, Christopher McCann 15+14 boards, Jamie Sercombe 11
Moldova U18: Serghei Mescoi 13, Constantin Culea 12


Samuel Deguara propels Malta into the Final - by Eurobasket News
Malta U18 - Andorra U18 102:84

Maltese Junior National Team reached the title game at the European Championship in Division C. They held off Andorra in the semifinal yesterday to secure the birth in the Final. Samuel Deguara (225-C-91) exploded with 38 points and 26 rebounds to lead the charge for the hosts. Malta will now take on Gibraltar in the championship clash. Andorra will play against Moldova in the consolation final.
Malta did not waste too much time going on a 14:2 run in the early minutes. They stretched the gap to 20 points late in the first quarter. Dabad capped the frame with a three-pointer as Andorra trailed 13:30. Andorra tried to reignite the intrigue as they went on a 5:0 run in the second period but Malta stayed calm and posted a 25-point advantage at halftime.
Guillem Colom (180-G-91) hit twice from beyond the arc and Vives added another triple to cut the deficit to 18 points early in the third quarter. But Samuel Deguara knocked down 12 points in the period to allow the hosts enter the final stanza up by the same 18 points. Malta stayed in control throughout the fourth term and recorded a solid win at the end.
Nigel Sultana (191-F-91) finished with 21 points for Malta. Tevin Falzon (-92) added 18 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. Guillem Colom responded with 23 points, 11 boards and 7 assists for Andorra. Oscar Cabanas (162-G-91) had 18 points and 9 assists in the loss.

Malta U18: Samuel Deguara 38+26 boards, Nigel Sultana 21, Tevin Falzon 18+11 boards
Andorra U18: Guillem Colom 23+11 boards, Oscar Cabanas 18


Wales topple Monaco in Malta - by Eurobasket News
Wales U18 - Monaco U18 93:57

Welsh Junior National Team posted the first win at the European Championship in Division C. They dismantled Monaco in the classification round for the 5th-7th place. Christian Doidge (169-G-92) tallied 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead Wales. They now improved at 1-0 record in Group C.
Wales looked confident right from the start. They unloaded 33 points in the opening quarter to gain a 15-point lead at the first break. Moore and Pulman extended the margin to 19 points early in the second period. Monaco failed to slow their opponents down and trailed by 21 points at the interval. Christian Doidge and Jared Adams (172-G-92) ensured a 7:0 run for Wales at the start of the third quarter. The Welsh kept their opponents at bay throughout the stanza and ensured a 74:48 advantage at three-quarter time. Monaco had little chance to threaten the margin as Wales coasted to the win at the end.
Jared Adams knocked down 20 points for Wales. Samuel Hardy added 11 points for the winners. Maxime Varitto (-F) responded with 18 points for Monaco. Maxime Barte (-F) delivered 12 points in the losing effort.

Wales U18: Christian Doidge 22+13 boards, Jared Adams 20, Samuel Hardy 11
Monaco U18: Maxime Varitto 18, Maxime Barte 12


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  EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS U20   


Day: 8 (Semi-Finals) - by Eurobasket News
SEMIFINALS
Spain - Greece 76-87
Greece U20 became the first Finalist of the U20 European Championship as they satisfied all their fans. The home side produced 87:76 to advance to the Final. Even though Greece scored the first two points, Spain replied with 8-0 run and then had 16:11 lead. Tomas closed the first period at 19:11 for the guests. Tomas also made 24:15 and Aguilar posted for 10-point difference. Konstantinos Sloukas (197-G-90) sent the teams to the lockers for 39:31 as the teams disappeared in the lockers. Lopez made the biggest difference in the game for 46:34, however Greece came back into the game. Papanikolaou reduced to 56:55, while Giannopoulos gave his team 58:56 advantage. After that time it was hard to follow the Greek side. The latter looked so good in the court and overwhelmed the opponents. Greece pulled ahead by 70-63 only to see Mamadou Samb cut the deficit to 72:69 with just over two minutes left. Most of the points the hosts scored from the free throw line to advance to the Final. Konstantinos Sloukas top-scored for the winners with 17 points. Giannopoulos nailed 16, while Bogris added 12. Rabaseda ended up with 19 points in the losing effort. Aguilar had 16 and Tomas netted 15.

Italy - France 68-94
France rightfully became the second Finalist of the U20 European Championship in Greece. The favorites outscored Italy 94:68 for the ticket into the decisive game. That was the last game of the day and kept the second place to advance to the Finals spotless for at least the majority of the time. French side easily started with 12:0 run and Seraphin scored for 16:5. Da Silveira scored for 23:9, while Raposo closed the frame at 26:14. Italy recovered in the second quarter and Truccolo reduced to 28:24. Sandri posted for 45:36 and Saccaggi was the last to score at the half for 45:39. That was all however in the game for Italians. France dominated the rest of the game and grabbed the ticket to the Final. The favorites won the third period 22-13 to have 67:52 after thirty minutes. Diot made a three for 75:53 and Edwin Jackson (191-G-89) added two for 77:58. France scored 27 points in the last stanza to seal 94:68 victory. Edwin Jackson top-scored for the winners with 18 points. Seraphin nailed 14, whilst Heurtel followed them with 11. Truccolo ended up with 15 points in defeat and Saccaggi posted 12.

5-8 places

Turkey - Croatia 78-69
Turkey U20 won over Croatia U20 in the first game of the Classification Round for 5th to 8th Places. The Turkish side won the second half to celebrate 78:69 victory. Ilkan Karaman (205-F-90) led the way with 19 points as Turkey will play tomorrow for the 5th place. Kilicli nailed 12, while Yildirim had 11. Vragovic ended up with 16 points for Croatia. Karlovic posted 14, while Delas added 13.

Lithuania - Montenegro 80-72
Lithuania U20 will play for the 5th place at U20 European Championship. The Baltic side won the second game of the Classification Round for 5th to 8th Places over Montenegro U20 80:72 due to the last period. Edgars Zelionis (208-C-89) was unstoppable with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Janavicius notched 17, while Vasiliauskas and Juskevicius added 11 each. Sehovic finished the game with 23 points and Ivanovic scored 13.


Hellas in the finals - by Chris Mammides
Agaisnt all odds and the men in gray who were realy vry bad tonight the Hellenic team beat the Spaniards for a second consecutive tiem and is slowly creating a small history against what used to be really the 'black cat' for the Hellenic NT's all thse years. The Helelnic team had an amazing Konstantinos Sloukas (197-G-90) who was the steping stone to turn around a game which was up to the second court even -14 forthe Hellenic NT. Nikolaos Pappas (194-G-90) and Kostas Papanikolaou (203-F/G-90) were great in the fourth and Final quarter while the silent job of Charalampos Giannopoulos (200-F-89) and Vangelis Mantzaris (194-G-90) added the needed points for Kostas Missas troops to win another game and to go tomorrow to the big final against the French team the onyl team that beat the Hellenes in this tournamnet.
Eurobasket.com wishes all the best and the gold medal for the Hellene youngsters.

Div. B Day: 8 (Semi-Finals) - by Eurobasket News
5th-8th spot
Georgia - Austria 80-88
Austrian U20 National Team will fight for the 5th position at the European Championship in Division B. They topped Georgia today in the classification round. Rasid Mahalbasic (207-F/C-90) exploded with 30 points and 16 boards for Austria. Thomas Csebits added 17 points in the win. Konstantine Tomaradze had 18 points for Georgia. Levan Tsekvava contributed 13 points in defeat.

FYR Macedonia - Finland 77-55
Macedonian U20 selection earned the victory over Finland in the classification round of the European Championship in Division B. Macedonia will now fight for the 5th spot against Austria. Finland will take on Georgia for the 7th position tomorrow. Ivica Dimcevski (192-G-89) tallied 21 points, 9 boards, 8 steals and 8 assists in a terrific all-around performance for Macedonia. Marko Simonovski knocked down 20 points for Macedonia. Bojan Krstevski added 16 points in the victory. Antti Kanervo responded with 18 points for Finland. Jesse Petteri Mantyla finished with 9 points in defeat.

Group J
Bulgaria - Slovakia 92-89
Bulgaria overcame Slovakia to win Group J of the Classification Round. Bulgaria produced 92:89 to won the group 2-0. Tsvetelin Ivanov (196-G-89) and Zahariev Hriston top-scored for the winners with 19 points apiece. Baldovsky Stanislav nailed 32 points in defeat, while Hoferica Lukas scord 27.

Group K
United Kingdom - Hungary 80-65
Great Britain U20 finished Group K of the Classification Round with 1-1 record after the initial victory today in Macedonia. The British team won over Hungary 80:65 at the U20 European Championship in Division B.William Neighbour (203-F-90) top-scored for the winners with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Lawrence nailed 20, whilst Treasure collected 19 points and 10 rebounds. Szabo delivered 18 points in the losing effort. Medve posted 16, while Somogyi scored 10.

Group L
Portugal - Romania 96-63
Portugal won Group L of the Classification Round at the U20 European Championship in Division B. The team finished the group with 2-0 record after 96:63 over Romania. Monteiro led the way with 16 points and Bessa added 15. Cordeiro chipped in 14 points for the top team in Group L. Gutoaia ended up with 14 points in the losing effort and Torok posted 12.

Semifinals
Poland - Czech Republic 66-79
Czech Republic U20 became the first Finalist of the U20 European Championship in Division B. The team overcame Poland U20 79:66 in Macedonia to reach the Finals. Czech Republic U20 opened the game with five consecutive points, while Pamula reduced to 12:9. The Czechs controlled the majority of the period and had 23:17 after the first 10 minutes. Poland seemed to recover in the beginning of the second frame when Snieg cut it to 27:23 and Waczynski scored for 35:33 later in the game. Moreover Poland went in front for 36:35 with the shot from Pamula and Waczynski sent the teams to the lockers for 37:35. Vojtech Hruban (197-F-89) tied the game at 39:39, while the score was even four times in the period. It was also tied at the end of thirty minutes when Wojciechowski made a jump shot for 53:53. Czech Republic U20 scored the first 6 points in the last quarter and Zampach made it 59:53. Pamula tied the game at 64:64, but it was the last push from the Polish team. Czech Republic U20 finished the game with 15-2 to grab the final ticket in the tournament. Vojtech Hruban made a lay-up at the end for the total success. Vojtech Hruban paced all the winners with 21 points. Harcar notched 15, while Voslajer nailed 14. Waczynski finished the game with 25 points in the losing case. Pamula netted 15, whilst Wojciechowski collected 12 points and 10 boards.

Holland - Sweden 71-69
Charlon Kloof (188-G-90) made a jump shot with 2 seconds in the game for 71:69 victory over Sweden. His Netherlands U20 advanced to the Final of U20 European Championship in Division B with an important victory. That was a real thriller from the beginning until the end in the game. It goes without saying that both teams deserved the Final, however only one of them could step into it. After three stunning quarters, the teams also remained even in the end of the game. Nagwere made 64:61 with less than three minutes in the game. Lindell reduced to 64:62 and Koenis posted for 66:62. Again Nagwere brought his team to 66:64 after two free throws. Charlon Kloof replied with the same superiority from the line giving his team 68:64 with one minute and a half. He posted only one after Ryan's shot for 69:66 with 24 seconds in the game and Ryan tied the score at 69:69. Charlon Kloof however made a jump shot with 2 seconds in the game for 71:69 victory over Sweden. Van Der List top-scored for the winners with 23 points. Charlon Kloof nailed 16, while Voorn posted 11. Nagwere ended up with 20 points for the Swedish side and Ryan scored 18.


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  FINLAND   


Macedonia rally past Finland - by Eurobasket News
Macedonia U20 - Finland U20 77:55
Macedonian U20 selection earned the victory over Finland in the classification round of the European Championship in Division B. Macedonia will now fight for the 5th spot against Austria. Finland will take on Georgia for the 7th position tomorrow. Ivica Dimcevski (192-G-89) tallied 21 points, 9 boards, 8 steals and 8 assists in a terrific all-around performance for Macedonia.
Macedonia opened the game with 6 points in a row. The first frame ended with Macedonia leading by 5 points 18:13. Ivica Dimcevski scored 4 points early in the second period to stretch the lead. Finland could not deny the deficit as Macedonia drove to a 34:27 advantage at halftime. The teams cannoned six three-pointers in just five minutes of the third quarter as Macedonia earned a 10-point advantage. Marko Simonovski (190-G-89) and Ahonen added two triples to the cannonade late in the quarter as Macedonia headed into the fourth frame ahead by 8 points. Macedonia started the final stanza with a 9:1 run to build an insurmountable cushion and rolled to the win at the end.
Marko Simonovski knocked down 20 points for Macedonia. Bojan Krstevski (180-G-92) added 16 points in the victory. Antti Kanervo (193-G/F-89) responded with 18 points for Finland. Jesse Petteri Mantyla (197-F-89) finished with 9 points in defeat.

Macedonia U20: Ivica Dimcevski 21, Marko Simonovski 20, Bojan Krstevski 16
Finland U20: Antti Kanervo 18, Jesse Petteri Mantyla 9


INTERNATIONAL: Finland defeated Holland - by Rauno Hurmalainen
An international Basketball Tournament got started on Friday in Szombathely, Hungary. Finland defeated Holland 88-75 (44-39). Quarters: 31-15, 13-24, 26-20, 18-16.
Finland took the command of the game already during the first quarter. Petteri Koponen (193-G-88) led Finnish NT with 20 pts and six rebounds + six assists. Shawn Huff (198-G/F-84, college: Valparaiso) added 13 pts. Hanno Mottola (208-F-76, college: Utah) and Teemu Rannikko (189-G-80) combined 18 (9+9) pts. Hungary - Sweden 95-62 (56-35).
American C-F Clifton Jones (201-F-78, college: Oregon St.) has signed 2-year-contract (2009-2011) with KTP (Kotka). Jones came to Finland nine years ago (2000) and has played before Kotka on four different Finnish rosters: Joensuu, Porvoo, Helsinki and Karkkila. Last season Jones averaged 9,4 ppg, 9,4 rpg in 30 mpg on Team Componenta (Karkkila) roster. Jones may get his double nationality and also Finnish passport this year and so KTP is still after three (3) American players.

Poland stay perfect in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
Poland U18 - Finland U18 80:67

Poland posted the second straight win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They held off Finnish counterparts to climb at 2-0 record in preliminary Group B. Finland on the other hand slipped at 1-2 record.
Poland opened the game pouring in baskets. They reeled off to a 14:7 lead but Finland seemed ready for the challenge. They answered with a 9:2 run to tie things up at 16. Parzenski however gave Poland a 19:16 lead at the first intermission. The teams kept it close throughout the second frame with the lead changing hands for several times. Sokolowski crowned the half with a three-pointer as Poland gained a 42:40 lead. Antto Nikkarinen (185-G-91) fired 7 points in an 8:0 run from the Finnish team at the start of the third period. Poland could not get the lead back until late in the frame when Robert Magnuszewski (193-F-91) dropped a long bomb to trigger an 8:2 rally that put Poland ahead by 5 points at the last break. Robert Magnuszewski scored 8 points in the fourth period as Poland run steadily to the win.
Sebastian Szymanski (184-G-91) finished with 17 points to pace Poland. Wojciech Fras (202-F-91, agency: AB Agency) added 15 points and 11 boards, while Robert Magnuszewski had 14 points in the win. Antto Nikkarinen notched game-high 23 points for Finland. Carl Lindbom (204-F-91) posted 10 points and 9 rebounds in the losing effort.

Poland U18: Sebastian Szymanski 17, Wojciech Fras 15+11 boards, Robert Magnuszewski 14
Finland U18: Antto Nikkarinen 23, Carl Lindbom 10


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  FRANCE   


Cholet lands Jose Olivero - by Eurobasket News
Cholet continued to shape their squad for the upcoming season. They made another market move by signing Jose Olivero (186-G-85, college: Lehigh) yesterday. The 24-year-old US-Dominican Republic guard spent the last season in ProB. There he averaged 17.1 points, 2.8 boards and 2.5 assists per game for Le Portel. Jose Olivero played for Lithuanian Siauliai in the 2007-08 season. His average stats came up to 8.1 points in ULEB Cup and 10.7 points in the BBL.


France hand Czech Republic third straight loss - by Eurobasket News
France U18 - Czech Republic U18 78:67
The French Junior team earned the second victory at the European Championship. The hosts handled Czech Republic to clinch the second spot in Group A. The Czech team slipped at 0-3 record and would fight at the relegation round.
Nikola Stojiljkovic (203-F-91) fired 10 points in the opening quarter to give France a 17:11 lead. Frederic Bourdillon (193-G/F-91) dropped consecutive treys for France early in the second quarter as France opened up a double-digit lead. France took control in the clash and posted a 41:27 lead at halftime. The game turned into a one-way traffic in the third quarter. Les Bleus rallied to a 15-point lead at three-quarter time. Czech Republic made the final push in the dying minutes narrowing the deficit to 5 points. But Westermann knocked down 4 free throws late in regulation to propel France to the win.
Frederic Bourdillon netted 15 points to lead France. Nikola Stojiljkovic dropped 14 points in the winning effort. Ondrej Peterka (192-F-91, agency: PPGroup) responded with 12 points for Czech Republic. Martin Kriz (197-F-93) had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the losing case.

France U18: Frederic Bourdillon 15, Nikola Stojiljkovic 14, Mael Lebrun (194-F-91) 12
Czech Republic U18: Ondrej Peterka 12, Martin Kriz 11+12 boards


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  FYR MACEDONIA   


Macedonia rally past Finland - by Eurobasket News
Macedonia U20 - Finland U20 77:55
Macedonian U20 selection earned the victory over Finland in the classification round of the European Championship in Division B. Macedonia will now fight for the 5th spot against Austria. Finland will take on Georgia for the 7th position tomorrow. Ivica Dimcevski (192-G-89) tallied 21 points, 9 boards, 8 steals and 8 assists in a terrific all-around performance for Macedonia.
Macedonia opened the game with 6 points in a row. The first frame ended with Macedonia leading by 5 points 18:13. Ivica Dimcevski scored 4 points early in the second period to stretch the lead. Finland could not deny the deficit as Macedonia drove to a 34:27 advantage at halftime. The teams cannoned six three-pointers in just five minutes of the third quarter as Macedonia earned a 10-point advantage. Marko Simonovski (190-G-89) and Ahonen added two triples to the cannonade late in the quarter as Macedonia headed into the fourth frame ahead by 8 points. Macedonia started the final stanza with a 9:1 run to build an insurmountable cushion and rolled to the win at the end.
Marko Simonovski knocked down 20 points for Macedonia. Bojan Krstevski (180-G-92) added 16 points in the victory. Antti Kanervo (193-G/F-89) responded with 18 points for Finland. Jesse Petteri Mantyla (197-F-89) finished with 9 points in defeat.

Macedonia U20: Ivica Dimcevski 21, Marko Simonovski 20, Bojan Krstevski 16
Finland U20: Antti Kanervo 18, Jesse Petteri Mantyla 9


Ognen Stojanovski close to Feni Industri - by Eurobasket News
Feni Industri was the most active team in Macedonia trying to bring reinforcements ahead of new season. Recently, they have offered a contract to Ognen Stojanovski (189-G-85) who could become their new guard very soon. Stojanovski's contract with Fersped Rabotnicki has expired and he is currently free to negotiate with teams. As Rabotnicki is currently going through some difficult times, it is not likely that they will offer Stojanovski the extension and Feni Inudstri Management is hoping to act quick and secure his signature. After loosing the title to Rabotnicki in Playoff Finals last season, Feni is looking to form a squad which would try to bring the tile back. Stojanovski is identified as a player who could help the team so now it is up to him to decide if he will join team from Kavadarci. If he does so, he would be reunited with his former teammate Goran Samardziev, with whom he has played at Rabotnicki for several years. Stojanovski is currently recovering from an ankle surgery he had earlier in the summer. The surgery was needed to fix the problems with left ankle which was bothering young guard throughout the whole last season. Ognen Stojanovski started his career with Rabotnicki 2000 in Macedonian D-2 League. In 2002 he signed with Rabotnicki with whom he won host awards. He has won 2 national Cups in 2004 and 2005 as well as 5 National titles including 4 consecutive from 2003-2006. Last season, Stojanovski had a very good season with the club winning the 5th title. Stojanovski also had some good displays Balkans League. He played in 12 games and posted averages of 12.8 ppg and 2.6 apg while shooting 66.1% for 2 and 40.4% behind the arc.

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  GEORGIA   


Netherlands roll past Georgia - by Eurobasket News
Netherlands U18 - Georgia U18 84:65

The Dutch U18 team registered the second win at the European Championship in Division B. They toppled Georgia in preliminary Group C action today to improve at 2-1 record. The Georgian team suffered the second straight loss to stay winless at the bottom of the ladder. Netherlands used a 20:8 second-quarter rally to clear off for good in this one. Jeroen van Vugt (192-G-91) scored 24 points to lift the Dutch team to the victory.
The first quarter saw eight lead changes before Nodar Tenieshvili (195-F-92) sealed the outcome at 18:16 for Georgia. The teams could not account for a basket for more than 3 minutes in the second quarter before Quincy Treffers (199-C-91) nailed a jump shot to initialize a 5:0 run from Netherlands. Jeroen van Vugt closed the first half with a triple giving the Dutch a 36:26 advantage. Georgia got no closer than 7 points during the third quarter. Netherlands were well in control and ensured a 16-point cushion heading into the fourth term. An 8:0 run from Georgia revived the intrigue early in the final frame as they got within 9. But Jeffrey Touw (190-F-91) came up with timely four points to chill off the Dutch opponents. Netherlands eased to the win afterwards.
Jeffrey Touw scored 12 points for Netherlands. Quincy Treffers had 11 points and 9 rebounds in the winning case. Akaki Dvalishvili (203-C-91) knocked down 15 points for Georgia. Tariel Tavartkiladze (193-G-91) finished with 10 points, 6 boards and 4 assists in the loss.

Netherlands U18: Jeroen van Vugt 24, Jeffrey Touw 12, Quincy Treffers 11
Georgia U18: Akaki Dvalishvili 15, Tariel Tavartkiladze 10


Austria hold off Georgia in Skopje - by Eurobasket News
Austria U20 - Georgia U20 88:80
Austrian U20 National Team will fight for the 5th position at the European Championship in Division B. They topped Georgia today in the classification round. Austria will now take on the winner of Macedonia versus Finland clash. Austria faced a 9-point halftime deficit before pulling away in the second half.
The teams stayed close during the opening quarter and when the Levan Tsekvava (190-G-89) capped the period with a three-pointer things were knotted up at 19. Levan Tsekvava and Levan Shengelia opened the second quarter with treys. Levan Shengelia and Metreveli soon extended the margin to 10 points. However Rasid Mahalbasic (207-F/C-90) knocked down 10 points to keep Austria in the game. Georgia led by 9 points at halftime but Austria quickly denied the deficit. They went on an 8:0 run midway through the third quarter to surge in front but Tornike Shengelia and Tsivtsivadze made it 69:65 for Austria at the end of the third term. Thomas Csebits (192-G-89) and Sebastian Schaal (189-G-90) drew things level at the start of the final frame. Austria unleashed an 11:0 rally in the middle of the quarter to collect an 8-point lead. Austria never surrendered the advantage and coasted to the win in the dying minutes.
Rasid Mahalbasic exploded with 30 points and 16 boards for Austria. Thomas Csebits added 17 points in the win. Konstantine Tomaradze (197-G-90) had 18 points for Georgia. Levan Tsekvava contributed 13 points in defeat.

Austria U20: Rasid Mahalbasic 30+16 boards, Thomas Csebits 17, Sebastian Schaal 12
Georgia U20: Konstantine Tomaradze 18, Levan Tsekvava 13


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  GERMANY   


Louis Campbell signs with Eisbaeren Bremerhaven - by Moritz Korff
Louis Campbell (190-G-79, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Buffalo), a 2006 German All-Star, will return to Bundesliga basketball, following a three year-stint in Japan. From 2002 to 2004 the 30-year-old Guard made noise for Paderborn in the 2. Bundesliga and then moved up to the first league to play for the Giessen 46ers. In 2006 Campbell headed east after signing a contract with Toyota Alvark from Japan. He shortly played for the Spanish club Ciudad de Huelva in the spring of 2007, but then returned to Alvark. Campbell had great success in Japan and received Asia-Basket.com All-JBL Superleague Guard of the Year honors in 2007. During 2008-09 the Guard from Rahway, NJ appeared in 37 games on the Alvark team and averaged 10.2 points, 3.2 rebounds as well as 2.4 assists per contest. Now he has signed a deal with Eisbaeren Bremerhaven (1. Bundesliga). Fans in Germany are hoping that Campbell will continue where he left off in 2006, when he decided to part ways with the 46ers to move to Japan.

Chemnitz re-sign Harbut and bring in Allen - by Moritz Korff
Michael Allen (183-G-87, Ohio) will start his overseas career with 2. Bundesliga Pro A side Chemnitz. The native of Detroit, Michigan leaves the Ohio University (NCAA1) after two years to turn pro. He had previously attended Cloud County CC and Daytona Beach CC. During 2008-09 Allen, who will run the point for the Niners, averaged 6.9 points and 4.3 assists per outing for Ohio.
In Chemnitz he will be a team mate of Terren Harbut (198-F-83, college: Ohio), another former Ohio Bobcat. The athletic wing player from Lexington, Kentucky earned a contract extension with the Niners.

Spain record second win in France - by Eurobasket News
Spain U18 - Germany U18 83:56

Spain posted the second straight win at the U18 European Championship in France. They cruised past Germany today to clinch the Qualifying Round birth. Josep Franch (198-G-91) scored 15 points to propel Spain to 2-1 record in Group B. Germany fell at 1-2 in the third position.
Germany led throughout the major part of the opening quarter but Josep Franch and Miguel Servera (199-G-92) scored 5 points in a row late in the quarter to tie things up at 21. Alberto Jodar (204-F/C-91), Miguel Servera and Guigou put Spain on top as they earned a 7-point lead midway through the second stanza. Spain dominated at this point rolling to a 45:26 advantage at halftime. Alberto Jodar and Joan Sastre Morro (201-F-91) opened up a 20-point lead for Spain early in the third frame. The Spaniards completed the third period ahead 64:44. Germany never rebounded and had to surrender at the end.
Alberto Jodar finished with 13 points for Spain. Joan Sastre Morro and Miguel Servera added 11 points apiece in the victory. Mathis Monninghoff (198-G-92) had 16 points for Germany. Daniel Leithner (200-F-91) delivered 12 points in the losing case.

Spain U18: Josep Franch 15, Alberto Jodar 13, Joan Sastre Morro 11, Miguel Servera 11
Germany U18: Mathis Monninghoff 16, Daniel Leithner 12


Casey Jacobsen leaves Berlin, returns to Bamberg - by Moritz Korff
Casey Jacobsen (198-G/F-81, agency: Octagon, college: Stanford) returns to the place where he maybe spent his most successful year as a pro yet, winning the 2007 German championship and being named the 2006-07 Eurobasket.com All-1. Bundesliga Player of the Year. The 2002 Stanford graduate has made a deal with the Brose Baskets Bamberg for the upcoming season. Last season, Jacobsen averaged 9.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest for ALBA in the German League and 6.6 points in Euroleague competition.

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  GREECE   


The home side steps into the Final - by Eurobasket News
Spain U20-Greece U20 76:87 (19-11, 20-20, 20-30, 17-26)

Greece U20 became the first Finalist of the U20 European Championship as they satisfied all their fans. The home side produced 87:76 to advance to the Final.
Even though Greece scored the first two points, Spain replied with 8-0 run and then had 16:11 lead. Tomas closed the first period at 19:11 for the guests. Tomas also made 24:15 and Pablo Aguilar (203-F/C-89) posted for 10-point difference. Konstantinos Sloukas (197-G-90) sent the teams to the lockers for 39:31 as the teams disappeared in the lockers. Lopez made the biggest difference in the game for 46:34, however Greece came back into the game.
Papanikolaou reduced to 56:55, while Giannopoulos gave his team 58:56 advantage. After that time it was hard to follow the Greek side. The latter looked so good in the court and overwhelmed the opponents. Greece pulled ahead by 70-63 only to see Mamadou Samb cut the deficit to 72:69 with just over two minutes left. Most of the points the hosts scored from the free throw line to advance to the Final.
Konstantinos Sloukas top-scored for the winners with 17 points. Giannopoulos nailed 16, while Georgios Bogris (209-C/F-89) added 12. Xavier Rabaseda (199-G-89) ended up with 19 points in the losing effort. Pablo Aguilar had 16 and Tomas netted 15.

Spain U20: Xavier Rabaseda 19, Pablo Aguilar 16, Tomas 15
Greece U20: Konstantinos Sloukas 17, Giannopoulos 16, Georgios Bogris 12


Greece beat Latvia, not enough to advance - by Eurobasket News
Greece U18 - Latvia U18 71:68
Greek U18 National Team wrapped up the preliminary round at the European Championship with victory. They held off Latvia but could not make it into the Qualifying Round of the tournament. Latvia on the other hand claimed the second place in Group C to stay in the title race.
The first quarter did not figure out a leader. The teams were tied at 25 after ten minutes. Rubenis and Ansons helped Latvia to a 5-point lead with under 4 minutes left in the first half. Three-pointers from Ioannis Angelopoulos (194-G-91) and Andreas Kanonidis (198-F-91) pulled Greece in charge. The Hellenes headed into the second half leading by a single point 45:44. Karathanasis drained back-to-back treys to balloon the margin to 7 points. Greece earned a 9-point advantage at the final pause. Rubenis and Antrops narrowed the distance to only two points with 4 minutes to go in the game. Chrysikopoulos canned 7 points in the final two minutes of the encounter to secure the winning outcome for Greece.
Andreas Kanonidis nailed 24 points to lead Greece. Ioannis Angelopoulos added 10 points in the winning case. Martins Meiers (206-C-91) responded with 20 points and 12 rebounds for Latvia. Armands Osins (192-G-91) had 14 points in defeat.

Greece U18: Andreas Kanonidis 24, Ioannis Angelopoulos 10, Dimitrios Katsivelis (194-G-91) 9
Latvia U18: Martins Meiers 20+12 boards, Armands Osins 14


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  GUATEMALA   


Elite Sport defeated by D-Team - by Gianni Pascucci
In the second game of the brand new LPB league, Lanco Elite-Sport felto to favourite D-Team, 97-106 at the end of a very battled game. with 24 points, Otto Rodriguez (192-F-88) led the way in D-Team, follwed by Panamanian Dangelo Vaughn (192-F-80), with 22 and by Enrique Samayoa (193-F-82) with 20. The best in Elite Sport were Walter Morales (184-G-83) with 21 and Jose Luis Lopez (186-G/F-77) with 20

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  HOLLAND   


Kloof brings the Final ticket for Netherlands U20 - by Eurobasket News
Netherlands U20-Sweden U20 71:69

Charlon Kloof (188-G-90) made a jump shot with 2 seconds in the game for 71:69 victory over Sweden. His Netherlands U20 advanced to the Final of U20 European Championship in Division B with an important victory.
That was a real thriller from the beginning until the end in the game. It goes without saying that both teams deserved the Final, however only one of them could step into it. After three stunning quarters, the teams also remained even in the end of the game.
Kassim Nagwere (187-G-90) made 64:61 with less than three minutes in the game. Lindell reduced to 64:62 and Koenis posted for 66:62. Again Kassim Nagwere brought his team to 66:64 after two free throws. Charlon Kloof replied with the same superiority from the line giving his team 68:64 with one minute and a half. He posted only one after Christopher Ryan (196-G-90)'s shot for 69:66 with 24 seconds in the game and Christopher Ryan tied the score at 69:69. Charlon Kloof however made a jump shot with 2 seconds in the game for 71:69 victory over Sweden.
Van Der List top-scored for the winners with 23 points. Charlon Kloof nailed 16, while Jesse Voorn (193-G-90, agency: R.H.Consultancy) posted 11. Nagvere ended up with 20 points for the Swedish side and Christopher Ryan scored 18.
Tomorrow Netherlands U20 will face Czech Republic U20 in the Final of U20 European Championship. Czech Republic U20 became the first Finalist of the U20 European Championship in Division B. The team overcame Poland U20 79:66 in Macedonia to reach the Finals.

Netherlands U20: Van Der List 23, Charlon Kloof 16, Jesse Voorn 11
Sweden U20: Kassim Nagwere 20, Christopher Ryan 18


Jansen's Free throw's Gives Holland 92-91 OT Win Over Sweden - by Fred Roggen
In Kormend the team of coach Gadi Kedar defeated Sweden in overtime 92-91. Sweden trailing 17-22 after the first quarter. Holland slowly brought themselves back into the game with timely baskets and a solid defense, 32-35 at halftime. During the second half, Sweden outscored Holland at a torrid pace, building up a lead that stretched to as big as 12 points towards the end of the third quarter.
Francisco Elson (212-C-76, agency: Court Side, college: California) would put together a rally of scoring six straight points in the final minutes of the fourth Quarter, 75-75. In the overtime period, Jansen dominated and scored eleven of his 16 points, leading Holland to a strong finish. Rogier Jansen (188-G-84, agency: Court Side) utilized in the final stage of the game two free throws for the Netherlands, winning the game with 92-91.
Nederland: Henk Norel (212-F/C-87) 24, Francisco Elson 17, Rogier Jansen 16.


Netherlands roll past Georgia - by Eurobasket News
Netherlands U18 - Georgia U18 84:65

The Dutch U18 team registered the second win at the European Championship in Division B. They toppled Georgia in preliminary Group C action today to improve at 2-1 record. The Georgian team suffered the second straight loss to stay winless at the bottom of the ladder. Netherlands used a 20:8 second-quarter rally to clear off for good in this one. Jeroen van Vugt (192-G-91) scored 24 points to lift the Dutch team to the victory.
The first quarter saw eight lead changes before Nodar Tenieshvili (195-F-92) sealed the outcome at 18:16 for Georgia. The teams could not account for a basket for more than 3 minutes in the second quarter before Quincy Treffers (199-C-91) nailed a jump shot to initialize a 5:0 run from Netherlands. Jeroen van Vugt closed the first half with a triple giving the Dutch a 36:26 advantage. Georgia got no closer than 7 points during the third quarter. Netherlands were well in control and ensured a 16-point cushion heading into the fourth term. An 8:0 run from Georgia revived the intrigue early in the final frame as they got within 9. But Jeffrey Touw (190-F-91) came up with timely four points to chill off the Dutch opponents. Netherlands eased to the win afterwards.
Jeffrey Touw scored 12 points for Netherlands. Quincy Treffers had 11 points and 9 rebounds in the winning case. Akaki Dvalishvili (203-C-91) knocked down 15 points for Georgia. Tariel Tavartkiladze (193-G-91) finished with 10 points, 6 boards and 4 assists in the loss.

Netherlands U18: Jeroen van Vugt 24, Jeffrey Touw 12, Quincy Treffers 11
Georgia U18: Akaki Dvalishvili 15, Tariel Tavartkiladze 10


Finland Too Strong For Holland - by Fred Roggen
The Dutch NT started an international Basketball Tournament in Szombathely, Hungary with a defeat against Finland. Finland was with 88-75 too strong for the team of coach Gadi Kedar.
Holland had a very difficult start of the game. After a 15-31 disadvantage in the first quarter, Finland built a 40-21 lead in the second quarter but Holland reduced the gap at the halftime and finished the second quarter at 44-39 at halftime. Holland came back to life in the third frame as they took on a lead (48-46) but Finland had 59-70 at the end of the third frame. Finland did not allow their opponents to get any closer building a 13-point cushion at the end of the game.
Holland: Arvin Slagter (190-G-85) 17pts, Francisco Elson (212-C-76, agency: Court Side, college: California) 15 pts and Rogier Jansen (188-G-84, agency: Court Side) 10 pts.
Finland: Petteri Koponen (193-G-88) 20 pts and Shawn Huff (198-G/F-84, college: Valparaiso) added 13 pts.

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  HUNGARY   


Great Britain U20 finished Group K of the Classification Round - by Eurobasket News
Great Britain U20-Hungary U20 80:65 (27-19, 15-17, 17-14, 21-15)

Great Britain U20 finished Group K of the Classification Round with 1-1 record after the initial victory today in Macedonia. The British team won over Hungary 80:65 at the U20 European Championship in Division B.
Keller gave Hungary the lead early in the game and Peter Szabo (181-G-89) netted for 7:2. Great Britain U20 meanwhile replied with 15-0 run for 17:7 advantage and had 27:17 as Van Oostrum made a jump shot. Toth closed the opening quarter at 27:19. Andrew Lawrence (186-G-90) reached with his team 31:21 and William Neighbour (203-F-90) kept the difference at 35:25. Mate Medve (197-G-89) reduced the gap tom 35:30 and Toth was again the last to score at the period for 42:36. Peter Szabo brought his team to 44:42, while Mate Medve scored for 46:45. Great Britain U20 produced 17-14 in the frame for 59:50 advantage after thirty minutes. There was no way the Hungarian team could catch up with the opponents. Great Britain looked better also in the end of the game and celebrated the initial victory in Group K of the Classification Round.
William Neighbour top-scored for the winners with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Andrew Lawrence nailed 20, whilst Tyrone Treasure (193-G) collected 19 points and 10 rebounds. Peter Szabo delivered 18 points in the losing effort. Mate Medve posted 16, while Gergely Somogyi (218-C-89) scored 10.

Great Britain U20: William Neighbour 22+8 rebs, Andrew Lawrence 20, Tyrone Treasure 19+10 rebs
Hungary U20: Peter Szabo 18, Mate Medve 16, Gergely Somogyi 10


Market movements - by Tamas Deri
Gabor Fulop (206-C-80) signed with DEKE is so the third domestic newcomer of the team. The 206 cm tall center spent the last season with the team of Enternet in Budapest and averaged 8.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
The management of the team published today, that also Gabor Toth (196-F-78, agency: Laszlo Vinko Services) will stay with the team. The 31 years old hungarian small forward is a very experienced player and coach Fodor is very happy to have 'his weapon' on the roster again. Toth is well known as a very good outside shooter, averaged 7.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in the last season.

As the team of Enternet could not stay in the first division for the next season, all of the players of the team were looking for jobs in the first division. Krasznai, Will, Rujak and Fulop signed already with other teams, now we can publish, that Rafael Keresztes (211-C/F-79) found his new team also. The 211 cm tall hungarian center will play for Sopron in the next season.

Jerome LaGrange (192-G-78, college: Livingstone) will return to Dombovar. The american guard played the last season for the team and had a good season averaging 13.7 points, 4.1 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. As last summer, also this august will he come with one of his friends - last year he got Ivory Clark to Hungary. Carlton Spencer (188-G-83) signed a one year deal with the team and will spend a two weeks tryout in Hungary. The 188 cm tall shooting guard graduated on the University of San Jose State in 2007 and averaged 14.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He started his professional carreer in Sweden with Gothia Basket, but he got injured after two games and left the team.

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  IBL   


Oregon Waves at Los Angeles Lightning tonight for the 2009 IBL Championship - by Trask Frost
News release July 25, 2009 Portland, Oregon

Oregon Waves @ Los Angeles Lightning tonight- for IBL Championship in best of three series at Cal Lutheran University... L.A. Lightning head coach Ron Quarterman predicts tough series in IBL finals

The 2009 IBL Championship will feature the Oregon Waves visiting the Los Angeles Lightning on July 25th, 26th and 28th at 7pm, games to be held at Cal Lutheran University located in Thousand Oaks California. The 2009 IBL season featured the best talent in the league's five year history. The two teams that will play for the IBL 2009 Championship were so intriguing that the IBL decided to make the Championship into a 3-game series (originally a single game event). The Oregon Waves roster features various All Pac 10 players as well as the 2008 Big Sky player of the year Jeremiah Dominguez. The L.A. Lightning features six ex-NBA players. The Los Angeles Lightning coach Ron Quarterman predicts a tough series in the IBL Finals; the following is an excerpt from Los Angeles Lightning Director of Media relations Dave Loveton from July 24th-- With the biggest collection of stars in the five-year history of the International Basketball League, you would think the Los Angeles Lightning would be a big favorite in the IBL Finals, which begin on Saturday night at Cal Lutheran. Not so, says second-year L.A. coach Ron Quarterman. 'I think it will be a tough series,' said Quarterman of his team's best-of-3 pro basketball battle with the Oregon Waves, which opens with 7 p.m. games on Saturday and Sunday at the Gilbert Sports Arena. 'We've been up against younger guys all year, so this will be no different- 'We have a lot of players with different skill sets. We can go up-tempo or play in the half-court. We can also play defense.'

ABOUT THE OREGON WAVES:

The Oregon Waves is a first year basketball team competing in the fifth year International Basketball League. The Waves (15-7) topped Snohomish County (Wash.) 148-135 in the conference final to get to this championship game behind 34 points from David Jackson and 32 points from David Lucas (Oregon State). Featured players for the Waves include the following:
5' 9'' Jeremiah Dominguez led the Portland State University Vikings to two NCAA berths in his junior and senior seasons. Dominquez was the Big Sky Conference player of the year in the 2007/2008 NCAA season.
6' 4'' Lamar Hurd is well known for his play for the Oregon State Beavers- a 4 year starter for Oregon State.
6' 5'' Robert Day was a star player at Western Oregon/has played professionally, internationally over the last 6 years.
7' 2'' Brad Kanis is a late developer who at 7 2 is strong, athletic, injury free and now coming into his own.
6' 8'' David Lucas was a two-time All-PAC 10 performer for the Oregon State Beavers (2004/2005) before moving on to a professional career. Lucas led the IBL in scoring in 2007 and 2008 (37.0 ppg in 2008). David is son of former NBA great Maurice Lucas.
6' 5'' David Jackson finished his collegiate career at the University of Oregon. A veteran of NBA camps (Portland, Cleveland), and NBA summer league teams (Portland, San Antonio, Orlando, Seattle), Jackson also has extensive experience overseas in Italy, China, Spain and Turkey. The following is a link to highlights of a recent Korean basketball league championship game where Jackson scored 44 points http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tejH-5sydjc

Player Name- Height- College- Position- Games- Points- Rebounds- Assists
Robert Day 6'5' Western Oregon University Guard 14 games-- 24.7-- 9.2-- 4.5
Jeremiah Dominguez 5'6' Portland State University Guard 18 games-- 21.2-- 3.6-- 8.2
Lamar Hurd 6'4' Oregon State University Guard 12 games-- 19.3-- 5.7-- 6.4
David Jackson 6'5' University of Oregon Guard 9 games-- 18.7-- 3.4-- 5.3
David Lucas 6'8' Oregon State University Forward 7 games-- 17.5-- 5.1-- 0.8
J.S. Nash 6'5' Oregon State University Guard 13 games-- 17.3-- 4.6-- 4.3
Dominique Deweese 6'3' Western Oregon University Guard 20 games-- 13.1-- 3.9-- 2.0
Brad Kanis 7'2' Southern Utah Center 26 games-- 12.8-- 8.6-- 0.9
Mike Johnson 6'6' Oregon State University Forward 14 games--11.0--5.6-- 0.7
Isiah Fox 6'9' Arizona Forward 11 games-- 10.7-- 4.8-- 1.2
John Jackson 6'8' Mississippi Center 10 games-- 9.7-- 6.8-- 0.9
Irvin Sims 6'5' Northern Montana University Forward 22 games-- 8.3-- 5.6 --1.2


About owner and head coach Terrance Dickens: in 2005, Terrance Dickens started the Vancouver Volcanoes with IBL Commissioner Mikal Duilio in what was- the IBLs first season; Dickens and Duilio sold the team after the two seasons (the Volcanoes are now heading into their fifth year of existence under owner Bryan Hunter). Terrance Dickens has a history as a head coach of an IBL team; Dickens coached the Portland Chinooks to the 2007 IBL Championship losing 113-109 to the Elkhart (Indiana) Express in front of 3,300 fans (video on IBL web site, main page, scroll to video called Elkhart wins). Two years later, owner and head coach Terrance Dickens gets this second chance at an IBL championship. Contact information for Terrance Dickens is (ph) 503-805-3311 and info@oregonWavesbasketball.com. For video about owner Dickens- visit www.iblhoopsonline.com and click on the Oregon Waves.

ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES LIGHTNING:

The Los Angeles Lightning is a second year professional basketball team competing in the fifth year IBL. The Los Angeles Lightning made their name in the 2008 International Basketball League season by assembling a roster full of former NBA players and former UCLA Bruin stars. The Lightning continued the trend of drawing big names (in 2009) with the signings of 13-year NBA veteran Bryon Russell and California State Senator Tony Strickland to a loaded roster, as seen below. The Lightning (16-4) reached the championship series in just this- their second season. They have won eight of their last nine games, capped by victories over the Seattle Mountaineers (128-126) and the Bellingham (Wash.) Slam in the IBL playoffs. Martin, a point guard from UCLA and former NBA playerscored 22 of his 28 points in the final quarter of the conference final as L.A. overcame an early 26-11 deficit to win by 11 points. Featured players for the Lightning include the following:
 6' 7'' Bryon Russell spent most of his pro career with the Utah Jazz, making it to the NBA Finals 3 times (1 time w/ LA Lakers)
 6' 7'' Lamond Murray is a former NBA player who played for the L.A. Clippers among other teams.
 6' 4'' Fred Vinson is a former NBA player who played for the Seattle Supersonics among other teams.
 6' 1'' Darrick Martin- a former NBA player who played with the Toronto Raptors among other teamswas instrumental in getting Los Angeles to the finals with a win over Bellingham (2008 Champions).
 6' 6'' Toby Bailey is former NBA player (Phoenix Suns) and former UCLA Bruin. In 2007 & 2008, Bailey was an IBL All Star. Bailey recorded the first triple-double in team history with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists on June 14 in a 160-123 rout of the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Flight.
 6' 5'' Billy Knight won the 3-point shootout at the 2008 IBL All-Star Festival held in Gary, Indiana last June.
 7' 0'' Adam Parada is a veteran professional who has been with five NBA organizations in various capacities and won championships both internationally and on the NCAA Div-1 conference level.
 6' 7'' Juaquin Hawkins has played with the Houston Rockets
 6' 7'' Trayvon Lathana phenomenal young player with incredible speed, burst and touch around the hoop. Trayvon was instrumental in the two wins that got the Los Angeles Lightning to the finals (wins over Seattle and Bellingham).
 6' 5'' Tony Strickland is a California State Senator and Whittier College alumni. Strickland- a long time basketball player- took no time to agree to the offer from Lightning owner Mark Harwell who tongue in cheek insists, this is not a publicity grab, if the guy were 5-feet-7 and had a pot belly, that would be a publicity stunt,' Harwell said. 'But he (Strickland) is a tremendous athlete. ... I do not think people realize what a great athlete he is... he can still dunk the ball.' For video about Tony Strickland, visit www.lalightning.net

Player Name- Height- College- Position Games-- Points- Rebounds- Assist
Lamond Murray 6'7' California Forward 14 games 24.2--6.7--1.4
Adam Parada 7'0' UC-Irvine Center 9 games 18.4--12.7--0.7
Toby Bailey 6'6' UCLA Guard 8 games 18.2--8.2--7.5
Darrick Martin 5'11' UCLA Guard 9 games 17.6--2.7--6.8
Fred Vinson 6'4' Georgia Tech Guard 17 games 17.5--2.1--2.5
Trayvon Lathan 6'7' Chowan University Guard 15 games 14.0--6.0--2.4
Billy Knight 6'5' UCLA Guard 12 games 14.0--3.2--3.0
Juaquin Hawkins 6'7' Long Beach State Forward 11 games 13.0--5.9--3.0
Chris Ayer 6'10' Loyola Marymount Center 7 games 12.4--6.5--0.1
Bryon Russell 6'7' Long Beach State Forward 18 games 12.1--6.4--2.2
Ronell Mingo 6'9' Wyoming Center 9 games 12.0--4.6--0.4
Phil Givens 6'2' Cal St-Dominguez Hills Guard 9 games 10.4--3.4--1.7
Lavar Simmons 6'7' Master's College Forward 5 games 8.8--6.6--0.8
Leon Jacob 6'3' Texas A&M International Guard 5 games 8.2--1.4--2.0
Lorenzo Davis 6'10' Ft Wayne State Center 4 games 6.5--4.2--0.2
Kenny Barnes 6'6' San Francisco Forward 5 games 5.6--2.4--1.6
Matt Okoro 6'7' UC-Irvine Forward 11 games 5.3--6.6--1.0
Kamran Sufi 5'9' St. Mary's Guard 16 games 5.1--4.6--10.5
Grayson Moyer 6'5' Humboldt State Guard 6 games 5.0--2.3--0.8
Teirance Wright 6'6' Ecclesia (Arkansas) Guard 8 games 4.8--3.8--0.3
Kenny Smith 6'5' San Jose State Guard 5 games 4.6--4.0--0.2
Tony Strickland 6'5' Whittier, CA Forward 13 games 3.1--2.0--0.4
Thomas Shewmake 6'10' Cal St-Northridge Center 4 games 2.5--4.7--0.7

About owner Mark Harwell- for information about Mark Harwell and for video about Mark Harwell, visit www.lalightning.net

Tickets range from $10 per game to $100 courtside. Visit the Lightning web site http://www.lalightning.net for ticket information.

Radio- all games can be heard on Los Angeles radio (KVTA 1520 AM, KKZZ 1440 AM) or on the internet at www.lalightning.net

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE

Unique features that distinguish the IBL from other professional basketball leagues include the following-

Extremely low travel costs --Organizing teams in regional clusters has enabled the IBL to offer owners an unprecedented one flight guarantee. IBL teams can play a variety of opponents from all over the country, indeed, the world but the owners only fly one time. This efficiency also applies to international teams, who can play a complete 20-game schedule in Americanwith just their one flight to the U.S.


An entertaining game--by allowing only one timeout per quarter, and reducing dead time with an immediate inbounds policy, IBL games are always fast and entertaining (the contest only lasts two hours).

Player development: the fast paced play of the IBL produced great players who would then leave the IBL to go overseas after the season expired. After the 2007 IBL season, 102 IBL players went on to play overseas; this 2007 season established the IBL as the league to play into get or maintain an overseas basketball job.

The IBL is international: China (Shanxi) and Canada (Edmonton) competed in 2008 and in the 2009 season- a team from Japan (the Nippon Tornadoes) and a second Canadian team- the Vancouver Titans from British Columbia competed in the IBL. In addition to teams from Asia and Canada playing in the IBL, IBL teams have gone to Asia to compete; both the Central Oregon Hotshots and the Elkhart (Indiana) Express played games in China. To date, ten Asian teams have exchanged games with the IBL

Ex-NBA players that have played in the IBL: Twenty one former NBA players have appeared in the IBL including former NBA All Stars Tim Hardaway, Dennis Rodman and Shawn Kemp. Two former NBA all stars have coached in the IBLTerry Mills (full season) and Slick Watts (All Star game).

Highest attendance: An impressive attendance was garnered at an IBL game played in 2006 in Portland Oregon at the Rose Garden where 4,400 fans watched the Portland Chinooks beat the Vancouver Volcanoes (video available on the IBL web site- click on Vancouver Volcanoes); a year later, that attendance record was eclipsed when 6,000 fans saw the Elkhart Express (IN) beat the Grand Rapids Flight; video found on IBL web site, main page.

About IBL founder Mikal Duilio: Founder Mikal Duilio has operated sports leagues and events for 23 years. As a teenager from 1985 to 1992, Duilio founded & directed the Indianola Jamball League (Iowa). In 1992, Duilio obtained a Masters Degree from Iowa State University and moved to Portland, Oregon where he founded & directed PortlandBasketball.Com. For 15 years and runningPortlandBasketball.Com has been and is- the worlds largest basketball league with 6,000 amateur basketball games per year. Duilio founded PugetSoundBasketball.Com in Seattle in 2004, but sold the business within one year to Tim Kerns of Seattle. In November of 2003, Mikal Duilio founded the International Basketball League with test games in the Pacific NW; the first official IBL game occurred in April of 2005... on that opening night, former NBA All Star Tim Hardaway scored 50 points (for a team in Waterloo, Iowa) in an overtime loss 129-131. The International Basketball League is now heading into its sixth year- starting in April of 2010. Twenty teams are expected to compete in the 2010 IBL season.


For more info, photos & videos about the IBL or about IBL teams, visit www.iblhoopsonline.com





*****************************************************

  ICELAND   


Iceland too good for Slovakia - by Eurobasket News
Iceland U18 - Slovakia U18 80:57

Iceland led from start to finish to handle Slovakia at the U18 European Championship in Division B today. The success marked a 1-2 record for Iceland. Slovakia meanwhile dropped at 0-2 record in preliminary Group B.
Haukur Palsson (197-F-92) opened the game with eight straight points for Iceland. He fired 10 points in the opening quarter as Iceland ensured a 22:19 lead after ten minutes of action. Iceland stayed ahead during the second period to post a 40:32 advantage at halftime. Tomas Heidar Tomasson (-91) became another hero for Iceland as he drained 10 points in the third quarter. Iceland managed a 63:43 lead heading into the final frame. Slovakia had little chance to save the game and had to surrender at the end.
Tomas Heidar Tomasson finished with 18 points for Iceland. Haukur Palsson added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Haukur Oskarsson (194-F-91) had 12 points in the win. Martin Floris (195-F-91) replied with 14 points for Slovakia. Jaroslav Moravek (198-F-92) and Richard Grznar (187-G-91) had 11 points each in the losing effort.
Iceland will next face Sweden, while Slovakia will take on Poland tomorrow.

Iceland U18: Tomas Heidar Tomasson 18, Haukur Palsson 13+10 boards, Haukur Oskarsson 12
Slovakia U18: Martin Floris 14, Jaroslav Moravek 11, Richard Grznar 11


*****************************************************
  INDONESIA   


Derby of Jakarta in IBL championship final - by Anto Hanayudha
Aspac (Jakarta) will face Satria Muda (Jakarta) in IBL championship final on July. In semi final Aspac beat their big rival Garuda (Bandung) with score 2-1 in best of three system. IBL cup tournament champion Garuda must buried their dream to repeat the final again. In the final Satria Muda already wait for Aspac after beat CLS Knights (Surabaya) with score 2-0. The final will use home and away and best of five system, where Satria Muda have advantage home game. The final will take a place in Jakarta at Britama Sports Arena (Satria Muda) and Senayan Basketball Hall (Aspac). The derby of Jakarta will give a sharp competition between both giant club in Indonesia.


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


Iran beats Lebanon 81-70 at William Jones Cup - by Eurobasket News
Iran rallied in the final 10 minutes behind Samad Bahrami (199-G/F-83, agency: ACMT) red-hot shooting to beat Lebanon 81-70 Friday in a rematch of the 2007 Asian Championship final and the most anticipated game of the day.
Bahrami had 29 points, including five 3-pointers, and 8 rebounds in the game. He had 13 points in the game-deciding 18-6 run in the 4th quarter.
The game is full of championship atmosphere not only because this is the rematch of the 2007 Asian Championship final but also because of the presence of three current/former NBA players -- Iran's Hamed Haddadi (218-C-85, agency: Agency No 10) and Lebanon's Jackson Vroman (208-C/F-81, college: Iowa St.) and Matt Freiji, who did not join the team until today.
The dual of Hadadi and Vroman ended early with Hadadi and Vroman both fouling out. All three played well though. Hadadi had 8 points, 5 boards and four blocks while Jackson Vroman had 23 points. Freiji also chipped in 12 points in limited playing time.
Lebanon controlled the tempo early to jump in front, leading by as many as 11 in the first half. It still led by nine, 54-45, in the end of the 3rd quarter.
However, Iran made its outside shots at the time when it mattered most. Four consecutuve threes changed the momentum of the game as Iran took the lead, 60-59, with 7 minutes left in the game.
All of a sudden, Lebanon looked lost on the court in the final five minutes, missing shots time and time again. Bahrami made his 5th three in the game with about one minute left to give Iran a comfortable 73-68 lead.
Lebanon was still in the game before Rony Fahed (182-G-81, agency: Pro Management Agency) was whistled for a traveling violation with 45 seconds left. All they could do after the fatal turnover was fouling Iranians.

(by Chris Wang - Taiwan)

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


Italy use stifling defense to overcome Israel - by Eurobasket News
Italy U18 - Israel U18 66:57

Italian U18 National Team posted the first win at the European Championship in France. They held off Israel to improve at 1-2 record in preliminary Group D. The Azzurri limited their opponents to just 22 points in the first half to set the tone. They never surrendered the advantage after the long break to celebrate a vital victory at the end.
Israeli team led for some time early in the encounter before Luca Fontecchio (202-F-91) capped the quarter with a layup giving the Azzurri a 13:12 advantage. Andrea De Nicolao (185-G-91) and Moraschini stretched the gap to 5 points midway through the second frame. Italy stayed in front and ensured a 25:22 lead at halftime. Nimrod Tishman (195-G-91), Tamir and Guy Dotan (178-G-91) helped Israel to a 29:27 lead midway through the third quarter however Michele Vitali (194-G-91) and Andrea Di Nicolao retained the lead for Italy. An Alessandro Ramagli team headed into the fourth period ahead by 2 points 43:41. Back-to-back three-pointers from Spanghero ballooned the margin 8 points three minutes into the final period. Michele Vitali then unloaded 10 straight points for his team as the Azzurri cleared off to a 10-point buffer. Israel could not overcome the margin and lost the battle at the end.
Michele Vitali came up with 19 points to pace Italy. Andrea De Nicolao had 14 points for the winners. Nimrod Tishman answered with 16 points and 8 boards for Israel. Guy Dotan had 15 points in the losing effort.

Italy U18: Michele Vitali 19, Andrea De Nicolao 14, Luca Fontecchio 9
Israel U18: Nimrod Tishman 16, Guy Dotan 15


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


Omar Thomas signs with Enel Brindisi - by Interperformances
6'6' forward Omar Thomas (197-F-82, college: UTEP, agency: Interperformances ) signed with Enel Brindisi, in the Italian Lega2. After playing two years with the Rimini Crabs, Omar started this past season with Elan Bearnais Pau-Orthez in the French ProA League and later moved to Solsonica Rieti in the Italian SerieA, where he was instrumental in keeping the team from not being demoted to the lower league LegaDue. In the Italian team he averaged 11.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.0 apg and 1.6 spg.

Italy use stifling defense to overcome Israel - by Eurobasket News
Italy U18 - Israel U18 66:57

Italian U18 National Team posted the first win at the European Championship in France. They held off Israel to improve at 1-2 record in preliminary Group D. The Azzurri limited their opponents to just 22 points in the first half to set the tone. They never surrendered the advantage after the long break to celebrate a vital victory at the end.
Israeli team led for some time early in the encounter before Luca Fontecchio (202-F-91) capped the quarter with a layup giving the Azzurri a 13:12 advantage. Andrea De Nicolao (185-G-91) and Moraschini stretched the gap to 5 points midway through the second frame. Italy stayed in front and ensured a 25:22 lead at halftime. Nimrod Tishman (195-G-91), Tamir and Guy Dotan (178-G-91) helped Israel to a 29:27 lead midway through the third quarter however Michele Vitali (194-G-91) and Andrea Di Nicolao retained the lead for Italy. An Alessandro Ramagli team headed into the fourth period ahead by 2 points 43:41. Back-to-back three-pointers from Spanghero ballooned the margin 8 points three minutes into the final period. Michele Vitali then unloaded 10 straight points for his team as the Azzurri cleared off to a 10-point buffer. Israel could not overcome the margin and lost the battle at the end.
Michele Vitali came up with 19 points to pace Italy. Andrea De Nicolao had 14 points for the winners. Nimrod Tishman answered with 16 points and 8 boards for Israel. Guy Dotan had 15 points in the losing effort.

Italy U18: Michele Vitali 19, Andrea De Nicolao 14, Luca Fontecchio 9
Israel U18: Nimrod Tishman 16, Guy Dotan 15


*****************************************************
  JAPAN   


Korea celebrates tiny win against Japan - by Eurobasket News
Korea - Japan 84-81

South Korea escaped with tiny 84-81 win against Japan in Day 7 of the William Jones Cup. It was a very important game, especially for the Koreans, as only with victory they would stay in race for position No.1. They now have pretty good 5-1 record, while Iran and Jordan have the same numbers. On the other side, that was the fifth loss for Japan in six appearances and they joined Taiwan B and Philippines. Kei Igarashi (180-G-80) shined for the Japanese in the first half helping them to create decent 46-52 lead. At that point of game it seemed that Japan is closer to take this one, but the Koreans did not give up. They improved a lot after the breather making couple of fast breaks. The game is decided in the last minute of regular time and Koreans were more concentrated than their rivals.
Head coach of Japan after the game stated that Korea has many young and at the same time very good players. It was very hard to guards them. Anyway, he says Japan has to improve many elements in their game.
Today at the William Jones Cup, Japan will meet Jordan. Korea will take on Lebanon, who has 5-2 record. For sure, Lebanon will look to grab this one in order to takes Korea's spot in the standings.

*****************************************************
  JORDAN   


Jordan celebrates 5th win at William Jones Cup - by Eurobasket News
Jordan - Taiwan 2nd NT 76-69

Jordan managed to recover after Thursday's incident against Iran and to beat Taiwan second National Team 76-69. As reminder, Jordan had 4-0 record before the meeting vs Iran, which ended with fight.
Less than three minutes entering the game, 7-2 Iranian center Hamed Hadadi elbowed Zaid Abbas after pulling down a rebound. Abbas swung back and walked away. Hadadi charged forward, choking and pushing Abbas. Jordanian guard Osama Daghles ran onto the court and punched Hadadai before a bench-clearing confrontation. Taiwanese referee Chen Chuan-jen ruled that Hadadi and Abbas would be ejected as well as all players who left the bench area, which would have left both team with four players each. However, Korean referee Kim Young-woo insisted that it was only an unsportsmanlike foul and overruled Chen. Kim decided that it would be four technical fouls for Hadadi, Abbas and bench of both teams. The call pissed off Mario Palma, who told Kim that if Hadadi stayed in the game, Jordan would not resume play. Kim rejected the request and Palma ordered his player leave the court in a boycott. The official score of the game was Iran 20, Jordan zero.
Anyway, Jordan outplayed Tauwan 2 yesterday for 5-1 record. The same numbers currently have Iran and South Korea and all three teams have a chance for the first place. That was exciting game and both squads had a chance. Jordan is clearly stronger team, but Taiwan 2 also demonstrated promising performance. They were in until the last few minutes, when experience of Jordan' players came on the scene. So Taiwan 2 fell to 1-5 record, the same as Japan and Philippines. Kazakhstan has the worst score so far with only one win in 7 games.
Today at the William Jones Cup, Jordan will meet Japan. There victory for Jordan is expected. Taiwan 2 will meet Philippines.

*****************************************************
  KAZAKHSTAN   


Kazakhstan suffers 7-point loss against Taiwan - by Eurobasket News
Taiwan - Kazakhstan 85-78

Reigning SBL Most Valuable Player Chang Chih-Feng (183-G-81) scored 18 of his game-high 28 points in the second half as Taiwan rallied in the final quarter and beat Kazakhstan 85-78, snapping its two-game losing streak and taking its record back to 4-2.
The game was tied at 37 all at the half. After a see-sawing first three quarters, Taiwan finally put the game away with a late 9-2 run to boost a six-point lead to a 13-point advantage. Chang had 14 points in the final period.
To counter Kazakhstan's height, Taiwan sent a pair of 6-8 centers on the court at the same time and they did not disappoint. Tseng Wen-ting and Wu Tai-Hao (206-C-85, college: BYU-Hawaii) each had 13 points with Tseng also dishing out 7 assists.
Lin Chih-Chieh (192-F-82) also scored 13 points for Taiwan. Taiwan's 19 turnovers was the main reason why they didn't shake off the 8-man Kazakhstan until the final quarter.
Alexandr Tyutyunik (197-G-90) made all three 3PT attempts and had 15 points in the first half. Kazakhstan is now 1-6 and ranks last in the tournament.

(by Chris Wang - Taiwan)

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


Greece beat Latvia, not enough to advance - by Eurobasket News
Greece U18 - Latvia U18 71:68
Greek U18 National Team wrapped up the preliminary round at the European Championship with victory. They held off Latvia but could not make it into the Qualifying Round of the tournament. Latvia on the other hand claimed the second place in Group C to stay in the title race.
The first quarter did not figure out a leader. The teams were tied at 25 after ten minutes. Rubenis and Ansons helped Latvia to a 5-point lead with under 4 minutes left in the first half. Three-pointers from Ioannis Angelopoulos (194-G-91) and Andreas Kanonidis (198-F-91) pulled Greece in charge. The Hellenes headed into the second half leading by a single point 45:44. Karathanasis drained back-to-back treys to balloon the margin to 7 points. Greece earned a 9-point advantage at the final pause. Rubenis and Antrops narrowed the distance to only two points with 4 minutes to go in the game. Chrysikopoulos canned 7 points in the final two minutes of the encounter to secure the winning outcome for Greece.
Andreas Kanonidis nailed 24 points to lead Greece. Ioannis Angelopoulos added 10 points in the winning case. Martins Meiers (206-C-91) responded with 20 points and 12 rebounds for Latvia. Armands Osins (192-G-91) had 14 points in defeat.

Greece U18: Andreas Kanonidis 24, Ioannis Angelopoulos 10, Dimitrios Katsivelis (194-G-91) 9
Latvia U18: Martins Meiers 20+12 boards, Armands Osins 14


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


Iran beats Lebanon 81-70 at William Jones Cup - by Eurobasket News
Iran rallied in the final 10 minutes behind Samad Bahrami (199-G/F-83, agency: ACMT) red-hot shooting to beat Lebanon 81-70 Friday in a rematch of the 2007 Asian Championship final and the most anticipated game of the day.
Bahrami had 29 points, including five 3-pointers, and 8 rebounds in the game. He had 13 points in the game-deciding 18-6 run in the 4th quarter.
The game is full of championship atmosphere not only because this is the rematch of the 2007 Asian Championship final but also because of the presence of three current/former NBA players -- Iran's Hamed Haddadi (218-C-85, agency: Agency No 10) and Lebanon's Jackson Vroman (208-C/F-81, college: Iowa St.) and Matt Freiji, who did not join the team until today.
The dual of Hadadi and Vroman ended early with Hadadi and Vroman both fouling out. All three played well though. Hadadi had 8 points, 5 boards and four blocks while Jackson Vroman had 23 points. Freiji also chipped in 12 points in limited playing time.
Lebanon controlled the tempo early to jump in front, leading by as many as 11 in the first half. It still led by nine, 54-45, in the end of the 3rd quarter.
However, Iran made its outside shots at the time when it mattered most. Four consecutuve threes changed the momentum of the game as Iran took the lead, 60-59, with 7 minutes left in the game.
All of a sudden, Lebanon looked lost on the court in the final five minutes, missing shots time and time again. Bahrami made his 5th three in the game with about one minute left to give Iran a comfortable 73-68 lead.
Lebanon was still in the game before Rony Fahed (182-G-81, agency: Pro Management Agency) was whistled for a traveling violation with 45 seconds left. All they could do after the fatal turnover was fouling Iranians.

(by Chris Wang - Taiwan)

Lebanon finished the Jones Cup with a big performance - by Asia-Basket Lebanon
The Lebanese Men National Finished the Jones Cup with a big win over Korea the only team in the tournament who have beaten the Asian Champions Iran on the score of 97-79.
Lebanon dominated the game from its first minutes and led throughout the first half but the Koreans were answering back and keeping themselves on a small distance.
The third quarter saw a very big dominance from the Lebanese players who cruised to a big lead which reached the 30 points through the great performance of Matt Freije (206-F-81, agency: Priority Sports, college: Vanderbilt) who finished the game with 39 point ad 12 rebounds , Jackson Vroman had 24 points 10 rebounds and Fadi El Khatib 18 points , 8 rebounds , 9 assists.


Q1: 28-23 Q2:53-46 Q3:79-59 Q4; 97-79


*****************************************************
  LITHUANIA   


Lithuania edge Russia to finish preliminary round unbeaten - by Eurobasket News
Lithuania U18 - Russia U18 76:69

Lithuania earned the third straight win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They clinched the top spot in Group D. Russia slipped at 1-2 record but still managed to make it to the Qualifying Round of the tournament.
Lithuania jumped to an early lead and maintained it during the opening stanza. The game stayed close in the second quarter. Deividas Nazarovas (195-G-91) knocked down 7 points late in the first half to give the Baltic team a 49:38 advantage. Russia got within five late in the third period. Lithuania reacted with back-to-back triples from Osvaldas Matulionis (199-F-91) and Deividas Nazarovas and entered the fourth quarter ahead by 9 points. Pavel Antipov (204-F-91) and Nebotov teamed up for all points from the Russian team in the fourth quarter but could not rescue them from falling short at the end.
Jonas Valanciunas (211-C-92) knocked down 20 points and pulled down 15 boards to pace Lithuania. Osvaldas Matulionis added 13 points and 7 boards in the win. Pavel Antipov responded with 25 points for Russia. Gleb Plotnikov (192-G-91) had 13 points in the loss.
Lithuania will start the Qualifying Round against Bulgaria, while Russia will face Turkey on Monday.

Lithuania U18: Jonas Valanciunas 20+15 boards, Deividas Nazarovas 16, Osvaldas Matulionis 13
Russia U18: Pavel Antipov 25, Gleb Plotnikov 13


Lithuania U20 will play for the 5th place - by Eurobasket News
Lithuania U20-Montenegro U20 80:72 (21-24, 24-19, 10-18, 25-11)

Lithuania U20 will play for the 5th place at U20 European Championship. The Baltic side won the second game of the Classification Round for 5th to 8th Places over Montenegro U20 80:72 due to the last period.
Lithuania was very upset with the pity loss from Italy last night and did not look good int he first quarter. Djokovic nailed a three at the end of the first frame for 24:21 lead for Montenegro. Barovic scored for 31:28 and Sead Sehovic (201-C/F-89) increased the lead to 42:38. Lithuania meanwhile bounced back and became the winner of the half as Edgars Zelionis (208-C-89) made the score 45:43. Lithuania kept the opponents scoreless int he first three minutes of the third period and improved to 49:43. Montenegro however replied with 15-0 run for 58:49 advantage. Savovic remained his team in front at 61:55. Lithuanian team however was more experienced and won the game. Sarunas Vasiliauskas (190-G-89) tied it at 65:65, while Edgars Zelionis brought his team 70:68. Sarunas Vasiliauskas finished the game with a lay-up for 80:72.
Edgars Zelionis was unstoppable with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Zygimantas Janavicius (193-G-89, agency: Interperformances) notched 17, while Sarunas Vasiliauskas and Adas Juskevicius (193-G/F-89) added 11 each. Sead Sehovic finished the game with 23 points and Ivanovic scored 13.
In another game Turkey U20 won over Croatia U20 in the first game of the Classification Round for 5th to 8th Places. The Turkish side won the second half to celebrate 78:69 victory.

Lithuania U20: Edgars Zelionis 24+12 rebs, Zygimantas Janavicius 17, Sarunas Vasiliauskas 11, Adas Juskevicius 11
Montenegro U20: Sead Sehovic 23, Ivanovic 13

*****************************************************
  MALTA   


Samuel Deguara propels Malta into the Final - by Eurobasket News
Malta U18 - Andorra U18 102:84

Maltese Junior National Team reached the title game at the European Championship in Division C. They held off Andorra in the semifinal yesterday to secure the birth in the Final. Samuel Deguara (225-C-91) exploded with 38 points and 26 rebounds to lead the charge for the hosts. Malta will now take on Gibraltar in the championship clash. Andorra will play against Moldova in the consolation final.
Malta did not waste too much time going on a 14:2 run in the early minutes. They stretched the gap to 20 points late in the first quarter. Dabad capped the frame with a three-pointer as Andorra trailed 13:30. Andorra tried to reignite the intrigue as they went on a 5:0 run in the second period but Malta stayed calm and posted a 25-point advantage at halftime.
Guillem Colom (180-G-91) hit twice from beyond the arc and Vives added another triple to cut the deficit to 18 points early in the third quarter. But Samuel Deguara knocked down 12 points in the period to allow the hosts enter the final stanza up by the same 18 points. Malta stayed in control throughout the fourth term and recorded a solid win at the end.
Nigel Sultana (191-F-91) finished with 21 points for Malta. Tevin Falzon (-92) added 18 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. Guillem Colom responded with 23 points, 11 boards and 7 assists for Andorra. Oscar Cabanas (162-G-91) had 18 points and 9 assists in the loss.

Malta U18: Samuel Deguara 38+26 boards, Nigel Sultana 21, Tevin Falzon 18+11 boards
Andorra U18: Guillem Colom 23+11 boards, Oscar Cabanas 18


*****************************************************
  MEXICO   


Player Movement Update - LNBP - by Chris Terrell
San Diego, CA - More to update on the movement frontier in the LNBP:

Coach Timmy Gibbs in Puebla has notified EnFuegoHoops that they 'are looking for a 3 and a 5 and a Mex-Am 4/5. They will pay the american players anywhere from 6-12,000 USD per month. We will be bringing guys in the 24th of August.' - Coach Gibbs.

In other news Eric Hare (196-G/F-79, college: Albertson) won't be returning to Durango this season. Although the team does hold his card, Hare has been in communications with Xalapa and Cordoba and those teams along with a few others have impressed upon Durango that if he's not going to be on their roster that a deal should be worked out quickly. With the losses of Adam Parada (213-C-81, agency: Octagon, college: Cal-Irvine) and Gustavo Ayon (209-F/C-85, college: San Jose St.) Xalapa, Hare would brings good size at the 3 and a player that can cause matchup problems at the 4, Hare is an athletic 3/4 that score, rebound, and defend and who has Collegiate experience in the States and a Mexican passport.

The 2009 En Fuego Hoops LNBP Showcase will be played August 15th and 16th in San Diego, California on the campus of Alliant International University. You can stay up to date on the transaction and player movement on the LNBP here at www.latinbasket.com/mexico/basketball.asp Player profiles are still being accepted at cterrell@enfuegohoops.com - also available online www.enfuegohoops.com

*****************************************************
  MOLDOVA   


Gibraltar eke out semifinal win over Moldova - by Eurobasket News
Gibraltar U18 - Moldova U18 59:57
Gibraltar U18 will play in the championship game of the European Championship in Division C in Malta. They topped Moldovan counterparts in the second semifinal yesterday. Christopher McCann (188-F-91) and Jamie Sercombe (187-F-92) came up with two free throws in the final minute of the encounter to seal the winning outcome for Gibraltar. An Edwin Yeats team will now face hosting Malta for the trophy. Moldova will play for bronze against Andorra.
Moldova looked better in the opening frame as they unleashed an 8:0 run to gain a 17:9 lead. Christopher McCann and Moreno narrowed the deficit at 3 points at the first intermission. Moldova maintained the lead throughout the second quarter and arrived at halftime ahead by 6 points 32:26. Jamie Sercombe and Gracia cut the distance but Moldova did not allow their opponents to step in front. Serghei Mescoi (190-F-92) fired two treys late in the quarter as the Moldovan team led by 5 points at the final break. Constantin Culea (196-F-91) and Gordienco extended the margin at 9 points at the start of the fourth quarter. But Gibraltar refused to surrender. They went on an 11:2 run to take a 57:56 advantage with under 3 minutes to go. Cojuhari drew things level at 57 but Christopher McCann and Jamie Sercombe sealed the deal from the stripe in the dying seconds.
Derek Aston-Fox (204-C-92) and Christopher McCann scored 15 points apiece to lead the charge. Jamie Sercombe added 11 points for the winners. Serghei Mescoi responded with 13 points for Moldova. Constantin Culea had 12 points in the losing case.

Gibraltar U18: Derek Aston-Fox 15+12 boards, Christopher McCann 15+14 boards, Jamie Sercombe 11
Moldova U18: Serghei Mescoi 13, Constantin Culea 12


*****************************************************
  MONTENEGRO   


Lithuania U20 will play for the 5th place - by Eurobasket News
Lithuania U20-Montenegro U20 80:72 (21-24, 24-19, 10-18, 25-11)

Lithuania U20 will play for the 5th place at U20 European Championship. The Baltic side won the second game of the Classification Round for 5th to 8th Places over Montenegro U20 80:72 due to the last period.
Lithuania was very upset with the pity loss from Italy last night and did not look good int he first quarter. Djokovic nailed a three at the end of the first frame for 24:21 lead for Montenegro. Barovic scored for 31:28 and Sead Sehovic (201-C/F-89) increased the lead to 42:38. Lithuania meanwhile bounced back and became the winner of the half as Edgars Zelionis (208-C-89) made the score 45:43. Lithuania kept the opponents scoreless int he first three minutes of the third period and improved to 49:43. Montenegro however replied with 15-0 run for 58:49 advantage. Savovic remained his team in front at 61:55. Lithuanian team however was more experienced and won the game. Sarunas Vasiliauskas (190-G-89) tied it at 65:65, while Edgars Zelionis brought his team 70:68. Sarunas Vasiliauskas finished the game with a lay-up for 80:72.
Edgars Zelionis was unstoppable with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Zygimantas Janavicius (193-G-89, agency: Interperformances) notched 17, while Sarunas Vasiliauskas and Adas Juskevicius (193-G/F-89) added 11 each. Sead Sehovic finished the game with 23 points and Ivanovic scored 13.
In another game Turkey U20 won over Croatia U20 in the first game of the Classification Round for 5th to 8th Places. The Turkish side won the second half to celebrate 78:69 victory.

Lithuania U20: Edgars Zelionis 24+12 rebs, Zygimantas Janavicius 17, Sarunas Vasiliauskas 11, Adas Juskevicius 11
Montenegro U20: Sead Sehovic 23, Ivanovic 13

*****************************************************
  MOROCCO   


Tunisia beats Morocco in overtime advancing to Big Final of Arab Basketball Cup - by Eurobasket News
Tunisia - Morocco 80-76

Tunisia did a great job yesterday against the host of the 9th Arab Basketball Cup. It was a very exciting game and both squads showed promising basketball level. It wouldn't be underserved if Morocco won this game as they also had a chance to do it. Anyway, Tunisia was a favorite and they met the expectations. They finished the first stage on Top of Group A with perfect 5-0 record and later smashed Kuwait in the Quarterfinals.
Everything started good for Tunisia, who created 21-17 lead after opening 10 minutes. However, Morocco improved a lot after that stopping the Tunisians on 12 pts in the second frame. On the other side they drained 19 for 33-36 turn. Third stanza also belonged to hosts, who entered to last ten minutes of regular time with plus 5. However, that was not enough as Tunisia managed to tie the score and to reach the overtime. In these extra five minutes the Tunisians were more concentrated advancing to Big Final. The game is scheduled for today and they rival for the Gold will be Egypt. The Egyptians were better than Syria in the Semis 99-78. It just means that Morocco will meet Syria in the battle for Bronze.

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


Forward Jamario Moon joins Cavaliers when Heat decline to match offer sheet - by Eurobasket News
Restricted free-agent forward Jamario Moon (6'8''-F-80, college: Meridian CC) is joining the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Miami Heat said Friday they had decided not to match the offer sheet Moon signed with Cleveland. Moon finished last season with Miami.

The Cavaliers had roughly $3.2 million of its midlevel exception to sign the 6-foot-8 Mooon.

The Heat's decision gives them more flexibility this offseason. They have been courting free-agent forward Lamar Odom, and they've been linked to a potential trade involving Utah forward Carlos Boozer.

Moon and Jermaine O'Neal were acquired by the Heat from Toronto in February for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. Moon, regarded as a good defender, appeared in 80 games last season, with 60 starts, and averaged 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.

Courtesy of www.fox8.com


Trail Blazers sign free agent guard Andre Miller - by Eurobasket News
The Portland Trail Blazers signed veteran free agent guard Andre Miller (6'3''-G-76, college: Utah) to a three-year, $21 million deal on Friday.

Miller, whose NBA career has spanned 10 seasons with four teams, averaged 16.3 points and 6.5 assists as a starter for the Philadelphia 76ers last season.

'I'm just looking forward to the challenge, you know?' Miller said in a conference call. 'I know Portland wants to accomplish a lot of things, and I want to add to that.'

Miller joins point guards Steve Blake and Jerryd Bayless with the Blazers, the second-youngest team in the NBA last season. Portland won 54 games and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

Miller has played an NBA-high 530 straight games. He has missed just three in his career.

The 33-year-old Miller went to the Sixers in 2006 in a midseason trade with the Denver Nuggets that involved Allen Iverson. He did not miss a game for Philadelphia.

Miller met with Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard and coach Nate McMillan at a restaurant in Las Vegas earlier this week.

Pritchard said he was impressed with how much Miller know about the Blazers offense.

'Andre was terrific. He knew our team. He knew how he could help our team. He seemed like a coach,' Pritchard said.

Miller was the eighth overall pick in the 1999 draft out of Utah by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Over his career, he has averaged 14.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists in 815 games, 768 starts. He has 174 career double-doubles.

The Sixers went 41-41 last season and were knocked out of the playoffs in six games for the second straight year. The team reportedly offered Miller a one-year deal for about $6 million.

'Did I think it was a fair offer?' he asked. 'No, I didn't.'

Miller confirmed his deal with the Blazers was for two years with a team option on a third.

Philadelphia forward Andre Iguodala said he sensed Miller would seek a team on the West Coast because he is from Los Angeles.

'Portland's a good team, a young athletic group and he'll fit in perfect with them. He'll thrive in that system without having to do too much. Portland's going to be a much better team,' Iguodala said. 'I don't think they know what type of guy they got.'

Miller's departure means the Sixers will likely turn to fourth-year guard Lou Williams to run the point. They made UCLA's Jrue Holiday their first-round pick and hope he can develop into their point guard of the future. Shooting guard Willie Green is the only other true guard on the roster, leaving the Sixers thin in the backcourt.

The Trail Blazers were $7.7 million under the salary cap after the league set it at $57.7 million for next season. The cap is determined by a percentage of league revenue from the previous season.

Portland had been unsuccessful in the market this summer. First, they went after free agent forward Hedo Turkoglu, who pulled out of talks at the last minute and instead went to the Toronto Raptors.

The Blazers also made a move on Utah forward Paul Millsap, a restricted free agent, but the Jazz matched Portland's offer.

Courtesy of www.startribune.com


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


NetScouts Basketball names All-Tournament Teams from NYC Tryout Camp - by Carl Berman
NetScouts Basketball held a successful International Tryout Camp at John Jay College in New York City on July 23rd. A nice group of players worked hard and generated some excellent performances in front of some basketball industry experts, including NBA scouts, noted basketball blogger Peter Robert Casey and the New York Post.

Aaron Simpson (6'0''-G-87) and Cameron Benson were named co-Most Outstanding Players of the camp. Simpson, a recent graduate of Northwood (MI) College showed shooting range, athleticism and handle in running the point. Simpson averaged 21.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg and 7.0 apg. Benson, a solid 6-7 with experience in China, averaged 25 ppg including a tournament high 32 points.

The All-Tournament First Team consisted of:

Jamal Webb - a 6-5 guard, SUNY-Maritime, averaged 22.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg including a 22 point 9 rebound effort.

Lamar Wright- a 6-3 guard from Kean College, averaged 22 points and 5 rebounds.

Lamont Newell- a 6-3 guard from Montclair State, averaged 18.5 ppg including a 21 point effort.

Adris DeLeon- a 6-0 point guard out of Eastern Washington, known as 2 Hard 2 Guard averaged 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

John Head- a 6-5 swing from Peru State, averaged 15 points and 7 rebounds.

The All-Tournament Second Team consisted of:

Xavier Blain-Cruz- a 6-2 shooting guard from Savannah College, averaged 17.5 points and showed nice range on his shot.

Antonio Taylor- a 6-4 guard from Bascone, averaged 15.5 point and 6.5 rebounds.

Jeff Penno- a 6-5 swing from Dayton, averaged 17 points and 8 rebounds.

Chris Jenkins- a 6-6 forward from Oswego State, averaged 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds.

Adrian Walton, a 6-2 guard from Fordham, averaged 13 points and showed nice athleticism.

Other notable performances included an 18 point 17 rebound game from Andrew Baker, a 6-8 forward from Centenary; a 9 point 11 rebound game from Saliym Wilson, a 6-3 guard from Eastern CT and a solid overall performance by Ryan Phillip, a 6-3 swing fron City Tech who shot 10/17 overall in averaging 12 points and 3 rebounds.

We head to Cheyney University outside of Philadelphia for our second eastern camp. Cheyney has lots of basketball history with John Chaney and C. Vivian Stringer as prior coaches and is the oldest historically black college in the nation. Well make our next report tomorrow night.

*****************************************************
  NORWAY   


Denmark succeed in Scandinavian derby in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
Denmark U18 - Norway U18 90:69

Denmark posted the first victory at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They held off Norway in the third round to stay hopeful about their ambitions for the tournament. Denmark caught up with Norway in Group A ladder.
The lead changed hands for several times throughout the opening quarter. Jonas Zohore Bergstedt (207-C-91) and Thomas Sebastian Laerke (-91) capped the first frame with 6 points in a row to take a 21:15 lead for Denmark. Stian Berg, Bradascio and Magnus Engen (186-F-91) exploded with three-pointers in the second frame to cut the deficit to a single point. Stian Berg and Karamo Jawara (195-F-91) knotted things up at 35 late in the first half but Heidenheim fired from downtown to make it 38:35 for Denmark at halftime. Denmark cleared off in the third quarter. Jonas Zohore Bergstedt nailed 8 points in the term to allow Denmark grab a 69:56 advantage into the final stanza. The Danish team kept their opponents at bay throughout the fourth quarter to record a confident win at the end.
Thomas Sebastian Laerke poured in 36 points for Denmark. Stian Bergstedt added 20 points and 15 rebounds in the win. Magnus Engen replied with 16 points for Norway. Karamo Jawara and Stian Berg netted 11 points in the loss.

Denmark U18: Thomas Sebastian Laerke 36, Jonas Zohore Bergstedt 20+15 boards, Jonathan Gilling (-91) 13
Norway U18: Magnus Engen 16, Karamo Jawara 11, Stian Berg 11


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


A 15-2 end help Czech Republic U20 to reach the Final - by Eurobasket News
Poland U20-Czech Republic U20 66:79 (17-23, 20-11, 16-19, 13-26)

Czech Republic U20 became the first Finalist of the U20 European Championship in Division B. The team overcame Poland U20 79:66 in Macedonia to reach the Finals.
Czech Republic U20 opened the game with five consecutive points, while Piotr Pamula (196-G-90) reduced to 12:9. The Czechs controlled the majority of the period and had 23:17 after the first 10 minutes. Poland seemed to recover in the beginning of the second frame when Snieg cut it to 27:23 and Adam Waczynski (199-F-89, agency: AB Agency) scored for 35:33 later in the game. Moreover Poland went in front for 36:35 with the shot from Piotr Pamula and Adam Waczynski sent the teams to the lockers for 37:35. Vojtech Hruban (197-F-89) tied the game at 39:39, while the score was even four times in the period. It was also tied at the end of thirty minutes when Jakub Wojciechowski (211-C-90) made a jump shot for 53:53. Czech Republic U20 scored the first 6 points in the last quarter and Zampach made it 59:53. Piotr Pamula tied the game at 64:64, but it was the last push from the Polish team. Czech Republic U20 finished the game with 15-2 to grab the final ticket in the tournament. Vojtech Hruban made a lay-up at the end for the total success.
Vojtech Hruban paced all the winners with 21 points. Pavel Harcar (202-F-89) notched 15, while Tomas Voslajer (203-C-90, agency: PPGroup) nailed 14. Adam Waczynski finished the game with 25 points in the losing case. Piotr Pamula netted 15, whilst Jakub Wojciechowski collected 12 points and 10 boards.

Poland U20: Adam Waczynski 25, Piotr Pamula 15, Jakub Wojciechowski 12+10 rebs
Czech Republic U20: Vojtech Hruban 21, Pavel Harcar 15, Tomas Voslajer 14

Poland stay perfect in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
Poland U18 - Finland U18 80:67

Poland posted the second straight win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They held off Finnish counterparts to climb at 2-0 record in preliminary Group B. Finland on the other hand slipped at 1-2 record.
Poland opened the game pouring in baskets. They reeled off to a 14:7 lead but Finland seemed ready for the challenge. They answered with a 9:2 run to tie things up at 16. Parzenski however gave Poland a 19:16 lead at the first intermission. The teams kept it close throughout the second frame with the lead changing hands for several times. Sokolowski crowned the half with a three-pointer as Poland gained a 42:40 lead. Antto Nikkarinen (185-G-91) fired 7 points in an 8:0 run from the Finnish team at the start of the third period. Poland could not get the lead back until late in the frame when Robert Magnuszewski (193-F-91) dropped a long bomb to trigger an 8:2 rally that put Poland ahead by 5 points at the last break. Robert Magnuszewski scored 8 points in the fourth period as Poland run steadily to the win.
Sebastian Szymanski (184-G-91) finished with 17 points to pace Poland. Wojciech Fras (202-F-91, agency: AB Agency) added 15 points and 11 boards, while Robert Magnuszewski had 14 points in the win. Antto Nikkarinen notched game-high 23 points for Finland. Carl Lindbom (204-F-91) posted 10 points and 9 rebounds in the losing effort.

Poland U18: Sebastian Szymanski 17, Wojciech Fras 15+11 boards, Robert Magnuszewski 14
Finland U18: Antto Nikkarinen 23, Carl Lindbom 10


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  PORTUGAL   


Belgium jump on top of Group D in Sarajevo - by Eurobasket News
Belgium U18 - Portugal U18 84:59

Belgium outscored Portugal in the third round of action at the U18 European Championship in Division B. The victory allowed the Belgian team to climb on top of preliminary Pool D with 2-1 record. Portugal on the other hands worsened their situation with the second loss in as many games played. Maarten Rademakers (201-C/F-91) scored 16 points to pace Belgium to the win.
Belgium got to the fast start as they built an 11:2 lead with under two minutes into the game. Portugal closed within one but rademakers, Yannick Desiron (204-C-92) and Devacht pulled Belgium to a 24:18 advantage at the break. Back-to-back three-pointers from Gillet and Maarten Rademakers helped Belgium to a 34:27 lead midway through the second quarter. Loris and Gillet opened the second half with four points as the Belgian team enjoyed a 40:29 lead. They soon opened a 20+ advantage cruising to the win. Portugal never got too close and had to face inevitability at the end.
Yannick Desiron came up with 13 points for Belgium. Dennis Donkor (192-G/F-91) had 11 points for the winners. Renato Moreira Azevedo (186-F-91) and Miguel Queiroz (200-F-91) responded with 16 points apiece for Portugal. Belgium outrebounded their opponents 40:30 and limited those to just 32% from the field.

Belgium U18: Maarten Rademakers 16, Yannick Desiron 13, Dennis Donkor 11
Portugal U18: Renato Moreira Azevedo 16, Miguel Queiroz 16


Portugal U20 won Group L of the Classification Round - by Eurobasket News
Portugal U20-Romania U20 96:63 (23-17, 15-19, 32-11, 26-16)

Portugal won Group L of the Classification Round at the U20 European Championship in Division B. The team finished the group with 2-0 record after 96:63 over Romania.
Adrian Gutoaia (195-C-90) gave Romania the first lead and Ararau netted for 5:4. That was however the last lead for the latter in the game. Portugal produced 23:17 in the first frame and never looked behind. Soares brought his team 30:26, whilst Cristovao Cordeiro (200-F/C-89) nailed for 34:26. Gheorghe managed to reply for 10-2 with Romania to tie at 36:36, but Andre Bessa (179-G-89) gave Portugal 38:36 at the halftime. After 38:38, Portugal created a 12-0 run to take 50:38 advantage. The latter scored 32 points in the frame as Andre Bessa gave his team 70:47 after three quarters. There was no more intrigue in the game as the teams were just killing the time at the end. Portugal added 26-16 to the total victory and won the second straight game in the group.
Antonio Monteiro (202-F/C-89) led the way with 16 points and Andre Bessa added 15. Cristovao Cordeiro chipped in 14 points for the top team in Group L. Adrian Gutoaia ended up with 14 points in the losing effort and Rolland Torok (198-C-90) posted 12.
Tomorrow Romania will face Luxembourg for the initial victory in the group.

Portugal U20: Antonio Monteiro 16, Andre Bessa 15, Cristovao Cordeiro 14
Romania U20: Adrian Gutoaia 14, Rolland Torok 12

*****************************************************
  ROMANIA   


Portugal U20 won Group L of the Classification Round - by Eurobasket News
Portugal U20-Romania U20 96:63 (23-17, 15-19, 32-11, 26-16)

Portugal won Group L of the Classification Round at the U20 European Championship in Division B. The team finished the group with 2-0 record after 96:63 over Romania.
Adrian Gutoaia (195-C-90) gave Romania the first lead and Ararau netted for 5:4. That was however the last lead for the latter in the game. Portugal produced 23:17 in the first frame and never looked behind. Soares brought his team 30:26, whilst Cristovao Cordeiro (200-F/C-89) nailed for 34:26. Gheorghe managed to reply for 10-2 with Romania to tie at 36:36, but Andre Bessa (179-G-89) gave Portugal 38:36 at the halftime. After 38:38, Portugal created a 12-0 run to take 50:38 advantage. The latter scored 32 points in the frame as Andre Bessa gave his team 70:47 after three quarters. There was no more intrigue in the game as the teams were just killing the time at the end. Portugal added 26-16 to the total victory and won the second straight game in the group.
Antonio Monteiro (202-F/C-89) led the way with 16 points and Andre Bessa added 15. Cristovao Cordeiro chipped in 14 points for the top team in Group L. Adrian Gutoaia ended up with 14 points in the losing effort and Rolland Torok (198-C-90) posted 12.
Tomorrow Romania will face Luxembourg for the initial victory in the group.

Portugal U20: Antonio Monteiro 16, Andre Bessa 15, Cristovao Cordeiro 14
Romania U20: Adrian Gutoaia 14, Rolland Torok 12

*****************************************************
  RUSSIA   


Lithuania edge Russia to finish preliminary round unbeaten - by Eurobasket News
Lithuania U18 - Russia U18 76:69

Lithuania earned the third straight win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They clinched the top spot in Group D. Russia slipped at 1-2 record but still managed to make it to the Qualifying Round of the tournament.
Lithuania jumped to an early lead and maintained it during the opening stanza. The game stayed close in the second quarter. Deividas Nazarovas (195-G-91) knocked down 7 points late in the first half to give the Baltic team a 49:38 advantage. Russia got within five late in the third period. Lithuania reacted with back-to-back triples from Osvaldas Matulionis (199-F-91) and Deividas Nazarovas and entered the fourth quarter ahead by 9 points. Pavel Antipov (204-F-91) and Nebotov teamed up for all points from the Russian team in the fourth quarter but could not rescue them from falling short at the end.
Jonas Valanciunas (211-C-92) knocked down 20 points and pulled down 15 boards to pace Lithuania. Osvaldas Matulionis added 13 points and 7 boards in the win. Pavel Antipov responded with 25 points for Russia. Gleb Plotnikov (192-G-91) had 13 points in the loss.
Lithuania will start the Qualifying Round against Bulgaria, while Russia will face Turkey on Monday.

Lithuania U18: Jonas Valanciunas 20+15 boards, Deividas Nazarovas 16, Osvaldas Matulionis 13
Russia U18: Pavel Antipov 25, Gleb Plotnikov 13


*****************************************************
  SERBIA   


Serbia stop Slovenian streak in France - by Eurobasket News
Serbia U18 - Slovenia U18 69:50
Serbia outgunned Slovenia at the U18 European Championship in France. The middle of the game turned decisive in this one. Serbia overwhelmed their opponents by 20 points in the second and third quarters to ensure the winning margin. Serbia improved at 2-1 record after the win and caught up with Slovenia in Group A standings. The lead changed hands for several times throughout the first quarter. Panic uttered the last word in the frame draining a three-pointer to give Slovenia a 14:13 lead at the first break. Lazar Radosavljevic (201-F-91) however opened the second period with a triple to retain the lead for Serbia. A Vladimir Jovanovic team closed the half on a 6:0 run to earn a 29:20 advantage. Dejan Musli (214-C-91) and Rondovic widened the gap to 13 points midway through the third quarter. Dejan Musli knocked down 9 points in the quarter to put Serbia up by 19 into the final frame. Serbia maintained the lead well throughout the fourth term to post the second victory at the tournament.
Dejan Musli nailed 13 points to pace Serbia. Nemanja Jaramaz (198-G-91) and Lazar Radosavljevic added 12 points apiece for the winning team. Edo Muric (202-F-91) and Jakob Cebasek (198-G/F-91) had 8 points apiece for Slovenia. Buda finished with 7 points in the loss.

Serbia U18: Dejan Musli 13, Nemanja Jaramaz 12, Lazar Radosavljevic 12
Slovenia U18: Edo Muric 8, Jakob Cebasek 8


*****************************************************
  SLOVAKIA   


Iceland too good for Slovakia - by Eurobasket News
Iceland U18 - Slovakia U18 80:57

Iceland led from start to finish to handle Slovakia at the U18 European Championship in Division B today. The success marked a 1-2 record for Iceland. Slovakia meanwhile dropped at 0-2 record in preliminary Group B.
Haukur Palsson (197-F-92) opened the game with eight straight points for Iceland. He fired 10 points in the opening quarter as Iceland ensured a 22:19 lead after ten minutes of action. Iceland stayed ahead during the second period to post a 40:32 advantage at halftime. Tomas Heidar Tomasson (-91) became another hero for Iceland as he drained 10 points in the third quarter. Iceland managed a 63:43 lead heading into the final frame. Slovakia had little chance to save the game and had to surrender at the end.
Tomas Heidar Tomasson finished with 18 points for Iceland. Haukur Palsson added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Haukur Oskarsson (194-F-91) had 12 points in the win. Martin Floris (195-F-91) replied with 14 points for Slovakia. Jaroslav Moravek (198-F-92) and Richard Grznar (187-G-91) had 11 points each in the losing effort.
Iceland will next face Sweden, while Slovakia will take on Poland tomorrow.

Iceland U18: Tomas Heidar Tomasson 18, Haukur Palsson 13+10 boards, Haukur Oskarsson 12
Slovakia U18: Martin Floris 14, Jaroslav Moravek 11, Richard Grznar 11


*****************************************************
  SLOVENIA   


Serbia stop Slovenian streak in France - by Eurobasket News
Serbia U18 - Slovenia U18 69:50
Serbia outgunned Slovenia at the U18 European Championship in France. The middle of the game turned decisive in this one. Serbia overwhelmed their opponents by 20 points in the second and third quarters to ensure the winning margin. Serbia improved at 2-1 record after the win and caught up with Slovenia in Group A standings. The lead changed hands for several times throughout the first quarter. Panic uttered the last word in the frame draining a three-pointer to give Slovenia a 14:13 lead at the first break. Lazar Radosavljevic (201-F-91) however opened the second period with a triple to retain the lead for Serbia. A Vladimir Jovanovic team closed the half on a 6:0 run to earn a 29:20 advantage. Dejan Musli (214-C-91) and Rondovic widened the gap to 13 points midway through the third quarter. Dejan Musli knocked down 9 points in the quarter to put Serbia up by 19 into the final frame. Serbia maintained the lead well throughout the fourth term to post the second victory at the tournament.
Dejan Musli nailed 13 points to pace Serbia. Nemanja Jaramaz (198-G-91) and Lazar Radosavljevic added 12 points apiece for the winning team. Edo Muric (202-F-91) and Jakob Cebasek (198-G/F-91) had 8 points apiece for Slovenia. Buda finished with 7 points in the loss.

Serbia U18: Dejan Musli 13, Nemanja Jaramaz 12, Lazar Radosavljevic 12
Slovenia U18: Edo Muric 8, Jakob Cebasek 8


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  SOUTH KOREA   


Korea celebrates tiny win against Japan - by Eurobasket News
Korea - Japan 84-81

South Korea escaped with tiny 84-81 win against Japan in Day 7 of the William Jones Cup. It was a very important game, especially for the Koreans, as only with victory they would stay in race for position No.1. They now have pretty good 5-1 record, while Iran and Jordan have the same numbers. On the other side, that was the fifth loss for Japan in six appearances and they joined Taiwan B and Philippines. Kei Igarashi (180-G-80) shined for the Japanese in the first half helping them to create decent 46-52 lead. At that point of game it seemed that Japan is closer to take this one, but the Koreans did not give up. They improved a lot after the breather making couple of fast breaks. The game is decided in the last minute of regular time and Koreans were more concentrated than their rivals.
Head coach of Japan after the game stated that Korea has many young and at the same time very good players. It was very hard to guards them. Anyway, he says Japan has to improve many elements in their game.
Today at the William Jones Cup, Japan will meet Jordan. Korea will take on Lebanon, who has 5-2 record. For sure, Lebanon will look to grab this one in order to takes Korea's spot in the standings.

2009 KBL DRAFT SELECTION - by Rick Ross
KBL Draft 2009 Selects

3 Teams Resign
Samsung Thunders Leather Terrence (204-C-81, college: S.Florida) South Florida
KCC Egis Brand Micah (210-C-80, college: Massachusetts) Massachusetts
Mobis Phoebus Bryant Dunston Fordham

Orions Select 1st Round Pick Herbert Hill (203-F-84, college: Providence) Providence
2nd Round Pick Kevin Martin Florida

KT Select 1st Round Pick Gregory Stiemsma (211-C-85, agency: N.E.T., college: Wisconsin) Wisconsin
2nd Round Pick Jasper Johnson (201-C-83, college: Delta St.) S.Mississippi

SK Select 1st Round Pick Walker Samaki (206-F/C-76, college: Louisville) Louisville
2nd Round Pick Joe Dabbert (210-C-81, agency: Sports Plus International, college: Creighton) Creighton

KT&G Select 1st Round Pick Nigel Dixon (210-C/F-80, college: W.Kentucky) W. Kentucky
2nd Round Pick Rashad Bell (201-F-82, college: Boston U.) Boston

ET Black Slam Select 1st Round Pick Daniels Chris (211-C-84) Texas A&M
2nd Round Pick Amal Mccaskill Marquette

LG Saker Select 1st Round Pick Chris Alexander Iowa St.
2nd Round Pick Craig Bradshaw Winthrop

Dongbu Promy Select 1st Round Pick Marquin Chandler (202-F-82, college: San Jose St.) San Jose St.
2nd Round Pick Gary Wilkinson (206-F-82, college: Salt Lake CC) Salt Lake CC

Samsung Thunders 2nd Round Pick Bryant Mathews Virginia Tech

KCC Egis 2nd Round Pick Mack Tuck Colorado

Mobis Phoebus 2nd Round Pick Abdullahi Kuso Gonzaga
<<>><<>>

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  SPAIN   


Spain record second win in France - by Eurobasket News
Spain U18 - Germany U18 83:56

Spain posted the second straight win at the U18 European Championship in France. They cruised past Germany today to clinch the Qualifying Round birth. Josep Franch (198-G-91) scored 15 points to propel Spain to 2-1 record in Group B. Germany fell at 1-2 in the third position.
Germany led throughout the major part of the opening quarter but Josep Franch and Miguel Servera (199-G-92) scored 5 points in a row late in the quarter to tie things up at 21. Alberto Jodar (204-F/C-91), Miguel Servera and Guigou put Spain on top as they earned a 7-point lead midway through the second stanza. Spain dominated at this point rolling to a 45:26 advantage at halftime. Alberto Jodar and Joan Sastre Morro (201-F-91) opened up a 20-point lead for Spain early in the third frame. The Spaniards completed the third period ahead 64:44. Germany never rebounded and had to surrender at the end.
Alberto Jodar finished with 13 points for Spain. Joan Sastre Morro and Miguel Servera added 11 points apiece in the victory. Mathis Monninghoff (198-G-92) had 16 points for Germany. Daniel Leithner (200-F-91) delivered 12 points in the losing case.

Spain U18: Josep Franch 15, Alberto Jodar 13, Joan Sastre Morro 11, Miguel Servera 11
Germany U18: Mathis Monninghoff 16, Daniel Leithner 12


Paolo Quinteros extends with Zaragoza - by Eurobasket News
CAI Zaragosa has offered its point guard Paolo Quinteros (186-G-79) a two-year extension which he has accepted. Quinteros stated he was pleased with the conditions he received from the club and that was mutual pleasure that the extension was agreed. He hopes to repay the faith shown in him by continuing to put in good performances for the club. Starting point guard has impressed last season for Zaragoza averaging 17.4 ppg in Spanish ACB League. This was enough for team's management to keep him at the club.
Paolo Quinteros started his career with La Union in 1999 and following season he moved to Estudiantes Olavarria. In his first season he has won Argentinean title in 2001 as well as Liga Sudamericana title. Quinteros also played for Uruguayan Trouville and Argentinean Boca Juniors Capital Feder with whom he has won another Argentinean title in 2004. In 2006 he moved to Spain and signed with Leon Caja Espana. In 47 games LEB League games, Quinteros averaged 17.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 2.1 assist per game while shooting 52.0% from the filed. Following season he moved to CAI Zaragoza where he has been playing last two seasons. Quinteros is also a member of Argentina National Team as he has represented them at Tournament of the Americas winning the silver medal. In 10 games, Quinteros averaged 12.3 ppg. He also played with Argentina at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Quinteros helped the team to win bronze medal contributing 3.4 points in 7 games.

The home side steps into the Final - by Eurobasket News
Spain U20-Greece U20 76:87 (19-11, 20-20, 20-30, 17-26)

Greece U20 became the first Finalist of the U20 European Championship as they satisfied all their fans. The home side produced 87:76 to advance to the Final.
Even though Greece scored the first two points, Spain replied with 8-0 run and then had 16:11 lead. Tomas closed the first period at 19:11 for the guests. Tomas also made 24:15 and Pablo Aguilar (203-F/C-89) posted for 10-point difference. Konstantinos Sloukas (197-G-90) sent the teams to the lockers for 39:31 as the teams disappeared in the lockers. Lopez made the biggest difference in the game for 46:34, however Greece came back into the game.
Papanikolaou reduced to 56:55, while Giannopoulos gave his team 58:56 advantage. After that time it was hard to follow the Greek side. The latter looked so good in the court and overwhelmed the opponents. Greece pulled ahead by 70-63 only to see Mamadou Samb cut the deficit to 72:69 with just over two minutes left. Most of the points the hosts scored from the free throw line to advance to the Final.
Konstantinos Sloukas top-scored for the winners with 17 points. Giannopoulos nailed 16, while Georgios Bogris (209-C/F-89) added 12. Xavier Rabaseda (199-G-89) ended up with 19 points in the losing effort. Pablo Aguilar had 16 and Tomas netted 15.

Spain U20: Xavier Rabaseda 19, Pablo Aguilar 16, Tomas 15
Greece U20: Konstantinos Sloukas 17, Giannopoulos 16, Georgios Bogris 12


DKV Joventut gets Serbian NT player Uros Tripkovic - by Eurobasket News
DKV Joventut is the winner of the battle for Serbian NT player Uros Tripkovic (196-G-86, agency: Beo Basket). There was big number of teams interested for his service, but it seems that the one from Badalona did the best job and now will be stronger for the ex player of Partizan Belgrade.
Uros Tripkovic spent last 8 years with the Serbian powerhouse. With them Tripkovic won big number of trophies and personal awards. In Serbia Partizan Belgrade is totally untouchable almost a decade, while in Adriatic league they won three consecutive trophies. This season was the second one when Partizan reached Euroleague Quarterfinals and Uros Tripkovic averaged 10.6 ppg in 18 games. In 2006 Tripkovic was a member of Team Serbia on World Championship in Japan. With Serbia Tripkovic appeared 8 times in EuroBasket 2009 qualifications averaging 8.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg and 1 apg. They managed to reach the target and will compete in Poland this summer.
Joventut Badalona parted ways with talented Pau Ribas, who moved to Tau Ceramica. Ricky Rubio is still under the big question mark for the next season. According to his interviews he for sure will not play in Joventut due to conflict with the club's management registering the buy-out fee.

Meanwhile, Bruesa announced the deal for another season with the Spanish center David Doblas (207-C-81). The player will so play his fifth season with the club.

Also, Estudiantes and Petar Popovic (211-C-79) have agreed terms on a contract extension. Popovic will stay with the club from the Spanish capital for one more season.

*****************************************************
  SWEDEN   


Kloof brings the Final ticket for Netherlands U20 - by Eurobasket News
Netherlands U20-Sweden U20 71:69

Charlon Kloof (188-G-90) made a jump shot with 2 seconds in the game for 71:69 victory over Sweden. His Netherlands U20 advanced to the Final of U20 European Championship in Division B with an important victory.
That was a real thriller from the beginning until the end in the game. It goes without saying that both teams deserved the Final, however only one of them could step into it. After three stunning quarters, the teams also remained even in the end of the game.
Kassim Nagwere (187-G-90) made 64:61 with less than three minutes in the game. Lindell reduced to 64:62 and Koenis posted for 66:62. Again Kassim Nagwere brought his team to 66:64 after two free throws. Charlon Kloof replied with the same superiority from the line giving his team 68:64 with one minute and a half. He posted only one after Christopher Ryan (196-G-90)'s shot for 69:66 with 24 seconds in the game and Christopher Ryan tied the score at 69:69. Charlon Kloof however made a jump shot with 2 seconds in the game for 71:69 victory over Sweden.
Van Der List top-scored for the winners with 23 points. Charlon Kloof nailed 16, while Jesse Voorn (193-G-90, agency: R.H.Consultancy) posted 11. Nagvere ended up with 20 points for the Swedish side and Christopher Ryan scored 18.
Tomorrow Netherlands U20 will face Czech Republic U20 in the Final of U20 European Championship. Czech Republic U20 became the first Finalist of the U20 European Championship in Division B. The team overcame Poland U20 79:66 in Macedonia to reach the Finals.

Netherlands U20: Van Der List 23, Charlon Kloof 16, Jesse Voorn 11
Sweden U20: Kassim Nagwere 20, Christopher Ryan 18


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  SWITZERLAND   


Brian Savoy leads Switzerland past Austria - by Eurobasket News
Switzerland U18 - Austria U18 80:64

Switzerland celebrated the second win at the U18 European Championship in Division B. They shot down Austria to stay among the leaders in preliminary Group D. Austria suffered the second straight defeat and slipped at the bottom of the table. Brian Savoy (191-G-92) scored 27 points and pulled down 5 boards to pace the Swiss team to the win.
Savoy scored 7 points in a row midway through the opening quarter to give Switzerland a 15:6 lead. Kashama and Stefan Petkovic (187-G-92) stretched the gap to 12 points. Savoy and Jonathan Eric Dubas (202-F/C-91) ballooned the gap to as many as 16 points late in the opening quarter. Switzerland began the second period ahead by 13 points but Austria showed character. Carlos Novas Mateo (195-F-92) scored 6 points in a 7:0 run as the margin grew thin. Savoy kept scoring for Switzerland as he restored a 16-point advantage late in the first half. The Swiss outfit arrived at halftime leading by 17 points. Austria revived the intrigue late in the third stanza as Carlos Novas Mateo and Anton Maresch (188-G-91) clipped the deficit at 13 points heading into the final frame. Novas and Anton Maresch dragged Austria within 7 midway through the fourth quarter. Novas followed with 5 points as Austra trailed by only 5 with just over 3 minutes remaining. Savoy exploded with 9 points in the reminder of the contest to win the game for Switzerland.
Stefan Petkovic finished with 15 points and 10 assists for Switzerland. Jonathan Eric Dubas had 10 points and 9 boards in the win. Carlos Novas Mateo answered with 23 points and 13 boards for Austria. Anton Maresch added 13 points in the losing case.

Switzerland U18: Brian Savoy 27, Stefan Petkovic 15+10 assists, Jonathan Eric Dubas 10
Austria U18: Carlos Novas Mateo 23+13 boards, Anton Maresch 13


*****************************************************
  SYRIA   


Egypt destroys Syria in Arab Basketball Cup Semifinals - by Eurobasket News
Syria - Egypt 78-99

Another fantastic performance for Team Egypt at the 9th Arab Basketball Cup. Egypt was confident in the first stage beating all rivals. They advanced to Quarterfinals as No.1 from Group B with 4-0 record. On the other side, Syria was No.2 in Group A with 3-2. In the QFinalsEgypt blasted Libya 84-54, while Syria outplayed Saudi Arabia 83-73.
Syria had a better start yesterday. After 10 minutes of the game the score was 27-23 for the Syrians. That was a sign that surprise maybe is not mission impossible in this match. However, it seems it was just a sign for the Egyptians to wake up. They immediately did it draining 30 more points until the half time. At the same time they stopped Syria on 17 for 9-point lead after 20 minutes. Third quarter was the crucial one as Egypt totally controlled rhythm of the game. It was 24-14 in this period and all hopes of Team Syria immediately disappeared. Last 10 minutes was just the formality.
Egypt will meet Tunisia today in the Big Final. The Tunisians escaped with overtime win against Morocco in the Semifinals. It means that Syria will take of the host of this event in the battle for Bronze.

*****************************************************
  TAIWAN   


Jones Cup Men Day 8 - Freiji shines; Jordan favored to win it all - by Chris Wang
Lebanon 97-79 Korea

Matt Freiji had a tournament-high 39 points and 11 rebounds as Lebanon routed Korea 97-79 in a somewhat meaningless game.

Freiji made 14 of 20 shots, including 6-of-8 from three-point land. His performance and the vision of a Freiji-Faris-Feghali-Khatib frontline will boost Lebanon's confidence in the upcoming Asian Championship so much stronger.

I'm saying this game is somewhat meaningless is because many players sat out the game, including Korea's Kim Min-soo, Lee Dong-jun and Lebanon's Brian Feghali. They were all reported having bad stomachs.

I think these teams are playing tricks and being conservative in the Jones Cup because the Asian Championship in Tianjin is the real deal.

Taiwan 80-76 Iran
Taiwan: Tseng Wen-ting 23p, Wu Tai-hao 10p+7rb, Yang Chin-min 13p
Iran: Nikkah Bahrami 25p (5-9 3PT)

Jordan 93-58
Philippines 94-90 Taiwan 2nd

Standing
Jordan 6-1
Iran 5-2
Korea 5-2
Taiwan 5-2
Lebanon 6-2
Philippines 2-5
Japan 1-6
Taiwan 2nd 1-6
Kazakhstan 1-6

Let's take a look at the standing now and break it down. The remaining games tomorrow are Jordan vs. Kazakhstan, Taiwan 2nd NT vs. Japan, Taiwan vs. Korea and Iran vs. Philippines.

Under normal circumstances, Jordan should have no problem beating Kazakhstan, which means it will win its third straight Jones Cup title with a 7-1 record while other teams have two losses at least.

If Jordan loses and Iran beat Philippines, things will be much complicated. Jordan will be tied at 6-2 with Iran, Lebanon and either Korea or Taiwan in a four-way tie.

The first tiebreaker will be the won-loss record of the matches between tying teams.

Situation 1: Jordan, Iran, Lebanon, Korea
Jordan 2-1
Iran 2-1
Korea 1-2
Lebanon 1-2

In this case, Iran will be the champion because it defeated Jordan.



Situation 2: Jordan, Iran, Lebanon, Taiwan
Jordan 2-1
Iran 2-1
Lebanon 1-2
Taiwan 1-2

In this case, Iran will still be the champion.

Which means if Jordan loses tomorrow, Iran will win the 2009 Jones Cup title.


Jones Cup Men Day 8 - Freiji shines; Jordan favored to win it all - by Chris Wang
Lebanon 97-79 Korea

Matt Freiji had a tournament-high 39 points and 11 rebounds as Lebanon routed Korea 97-79 in a somewhat meaningless game.

Freiji made 14 of 20 shots, including 6-of-8 from three-point land. His performance and the vision of a Freiji-Faris-Feghali-Khatib frontline will boost Lebanon's confidence in the upcoming Asian Championship so much stronger.

I'm saying this game is somewhat meaningless is because many players sat out the game, including Korea's Kim Min-soo, Lee Dong-jun and Lebanon's Brian Feghali. They were all reported having bad stomachs.

I think these teams are playing tricks and being conservative in the Jones Cup because the Asian Championship in Tianjin is the real deal.

Taiwan 80-76 Iran
Taiwan: Tseng Wen-ting 23p, Wu Tai-hao 10p+7rb, Yang Chin-min 13p
Iran: Nikkah Bahrami 25p (5-9 3PT)

Jordan 93-58
Philippines 94-90 Taiwan 2nd

Standing
Jordan 6-1
Iran 5-2
Korea 5-2
Taiwan 5-2
Lebanon 6-2
Philippines 2-5
Japan 1-6
Taiwan 2nd 1-6
Kazakhstan 1-6

Let's take a look at the standing now and break it down. The remaining games tomorrow are Jordan vs. Kazakhstan, Taiwan 2nd NT vs. Japan, Taiwan vs. Korea and Iran vs. Philippines.

Under normal circumstances, Jordan should have no problem beating Kazakhstan, which means it will win its third straight Jones Cup title with a 7-1 record while other teams have two losses at least.

If Jordan loses and Iran beat Philippines, things will be much complicated. Jordan will be tied at 6-2 with Iran, Lebanon and either Korea or Taiwan in a four-way tie.

The first tiebreaker will be the won-loss record of the matches between tying teams.

Situation 1: Jordan, Iran, Lebanon, Korea
Jordan 2-1 (lost to Iran)
Korea 2-1 (beat Iran, Jordan)
Iran 1-2
Lebanon 1-2

In this case, Korea will be the champion because it defeated Jordan.

Situation 2: Jordan, Iran, Lebanon, Taiwan
Jordan 2-1
Iran 1-2
Lebanon 1-2
Taiwan 1-2

In this case, Jordan will still be the champion.
Which means Jordan is favored to win the 2009 Jones Cup title.

Jones Cup Men Day 8 - Philippines secures second win - by Chris Wang
Jordan 93-58 Japan
Three Japanese players were reported having food poisoning and two were injured, leaving Japan with only seven players suiting up for the game.

Worse yet, it lost Ryota Sakurai to waist injury before halftime. Japan had to finish the game with six players. Yusuke Okada led Japan with 24 points, making 8 of 13 from three.

Jordan won the game easily, leading by as many as 40 points in the third quarter. Rasheim Wright had 22 points in 20 minutes.

Philippines 94-90 Taiwan 2nd NT
Willie Miller scored 9 of his team-high 22 points in the final period as Philippines held on for a 94-90 victory over Taiwan 2nd NT. Philippines scored its second win in the tournament.

Trailing 91-82 with three minutes left, Taiwan 2nd NT ignited a 7-0 run before Philippines answered with a 9-2 attack to secure the win.

Jet Chang led Taiwan with 24 points and 10 rebounds and Lin Chieh-min had 17. Miller paced Philippines with 22 points and three steals. Arwind Santos had 16.

Jones Cup Men Day 8 - Taiwan upset Asian champ Iran - by Chris Wang
Tseng Wen-ting had a dunk, a block and two free-throws in the final minute as Taiwan upset defending Asian champion Iran 80-76 in the Jones Cup Saturday night.

Without starting center Hamed Hadadi, who was reported sitting out the game due to illness, Iran engaged in a dogfight with the home team. The score was tied 38-38 at the half and 76 all with 1:05 to go.

Tseng Wen-ting faked a give-and-go before driving in for a left baseline tomahawk dunk to put Taiwan ahead by two. In the following possessions, Tseng blocked Iran's shot in the paint and was fouled on the offensive end.

He sank a pair of free-throws to put Taiwan ahead by four and Iran quickly called timeout with 8.5 seconds to go.

However, Iran didn't even have a chance for the final shot. The inbound pass was stolen by Taiwanese guard Chang Chih-feng.

Tseng had 23 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and two blocks in the game. Taiwan and Iran are now both 5-2.

This is definitely an inspiring win for Taiwan. But remember that Hadadi did not play and Jones Cup was used by participating teams as a tune-up tournament before the big prize -- the Asian Championship in Tianjin.

So, it's just a good win and that's it. Taiwanese fans should not get carried away because what happens in Tianjin is definitely another story.

*****************************************************
  TUNISIA   


Tunisia beats Morocco in overtime advancing to Big Final of Arab Basketball Cup - by Eurobasket News
Tunisia - Morocco 80-76

Tunisia did a great job yesterday against the host of the 9th Arab Basketball Cup. It was a very exciting game and both squads showed promising basketball level. It wouldn't be underserved if Morocco won this game as they also had a chance to do it. Anyway, Tunisia was a favorite and they met the expectations. They finished the first stage on Top of Group A with perfect 5-0 record and later smashed Kuwait in the Quarterfinals.
Everything started good for Tunisia, who created 21-17 lead after opening 10 minutes. However, Morocco improved a lot after that stopping the Tunisians on 12 pts in the second frame. On the other side they drained 19 for 33-36 turn. Third stanza also belonged to hosts, who entered to last ten minutes of regular time with plus 5. However, that was not enough as Tunisia managed to tie the score and to reach the overtime. In these extra five minutes the Tunisians were more concentrated advancing to Big Final. The game is scheduled for today and they rival for the Gold will be Egypt. The Egyptians were better than Syria in the Semis 99-78. It just means that Morocco will meet Syria in the battle for Bronze.

*****************************************************
  TURKEY   


Turkey U20 won over Croatia U20 in the first game of the Classification Round - by Eurobasket News
Turkey U20-Croatia U20 78:69 (17-18, 16-17, 22-12, 23-22)

Turkey U20 won over Croatia U20 in the first game of the Classification Round for 5th to 8th Places. The Turkish side won the second half to celebrate 78:69 victory.
Bilan opened the game from the perimeter and then Mario Delas (207-C/F-90) added another one for 6:2. Turkey also tasted the lead int he first quarter, however trailed 18:17 after the first 10 minutes. Batuk tied the game at 21:21, while Croatia produced a 6-0 run for 27:21 and Tureky replied with 8-0 run. Karlo Vragovic (191-G-89) made the last shot in the end of the first half for 35:33. Right after that Turkey became the leading team and had 55:47 at the end of thirty minutes. Ozcan made such a score after 22-12 in the third quarter. It was home for 62:52 and then Ilkan Karaman (205-F-90) made 66:60. Karlo Vragovic posted for 70:64 and Ibrahim Yildirim (188-G-90) brought the winners 74:66. Ostric scored the last three-pointer in the game for the total, 78:69 margin.
Ilkan Karaman led the way with 19 points as Turkey will play tomorrow for the 5th place. Mukremin Kilicli (206-F/C-90) nailed 12, while Ibrahim Yildirim had 11. Karlo Vragovic ended up with 16 points for Croatia. Matej Karlovic (200-F-89) posted 14, while Mario Delas added 13.
Lithuania U20 will play for the 5th place at U20 European Championship. The Baltic side won the second game of the Classification Round for 5th to 8th Places over Montenegro U20 80:72 due to the last period.

Turkey U20: Ilkan Karaman 19, Mukremin Kilicli 12, Ibrahim Yildirim 11
Croatia U20: Karlo Vragovic 16, Matej Karlovic 14, Mario Delas 13

Turkey march past Bulgaria in Hagondange - by Eurobasket News
Turkey U18 - Bulgaria U18 74:58

Turkey posted the third straight win at the U18 European Championship. They thumped Bulgaria to clinch the top spot in preliminary Group C. Bulgaria slipped at 1-2 record in the third position in the pool.
Turkey stunned their opponents early going on a 14:3 run. They stayed in charge throughout the starting frame and completed it ahead by 14 points. Burak Yuksel (204-F-92) and Toz drained consecutive three-pointers to give Turkey a 21-point lead midway through the second period. Plamen Hristov (196-F-91) cut the margin to 14 points late in the half before Toz capped it at 47:32 for Turkey.
Koev triggered a 7:0 rally for Bulgaria in the third quarter as they got within 9. But the Turkish team answered with 5 straight points to enter the final stanza ahead by 14. Turkey did not give a single chance for Bulgaria in the fourth period cruising to the win.
Can Maxim Mutaf (193-G-91) finished with 14 points to pace Turkey. Burak Yuksel added 13 points, while Safak Edge (185-G-92) had 11 points in the winning case. Plamen Hristov replied with 16 points for Bulgaria. Planimir Dafinov (181-G-92) netted 10 points in the loss.

Turkey U18: Can Maxim Mutaf 14, Burak Yuksel 13, Safak Edge 11
Bulgaria U18: Plamen Hristov 16, Planimir Dafinov 10


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  U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS   


Grounded Kemba Walker doesn't forget his roots - by David Edole
By Zachary Braziller

July 24, 2009

The qualities that made Kemba Walker (185-G-90) a Big-East All-Rookie team selection at UConn are on display at Dyckman, a streetball tournament in Inwood.

First is his finishing ability, the former Rice star soaring through the air and lofting a silky smooth runner that cuts through the nets like a knife through butter. Then there is his defense, an in-your-face style that has endeared him to coaches, and makes life so difficult for the opposition. Just ask Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose, who Walker shut down in high school.

His speed is next, Walker flying past defenders like they arent there, zooming from one end of the court to other in mere seconds. Last is his fearlessness, his habit of driving into the lane, amongst the trees, flying over men twice his age built with muscle upon muscle.

Bingo Cole, Walkers coach on the Bingo All-Stars and a longtime friend, cherishes these qualities. But the veteran AAU coach has one he likes even more.

Kemba is so humble, he said of the Bronx native. He doesnt act like he played in the Big East and went to the Final Four. He doesnt change who he is. Thats why I love him. He doesnt come back to get 50 or 60 points. He plays team ball and does what he can to help the Bingo All-Stars win a game.

Before he joined the Bronx-based Gauchos AAU program and emerged as a McDonalds All-American for Mo Hicks at Rice, Walker learned the game on the black top. He played in The Ruckers unlimited league when he was 16 and spent time at Dyckman, Hoops in the Sun and the Tri-State Classic last summer. If not for NCAA rules, Walker said he would play in more leagues this summer.

Its always fun to come and play in front of the New York crowd, he said. If I make it to the next level, Im going to try my best to play or at least show up at the games. Streetball is where it all started for me.

Walker, 19, said it still helps him, the physical games against former pros. At Dyckman, he is simply known as EZ Pass, the nickname he was given for his frequent forays into the lane. Nothing is handed to him. His Big East pedigree doesnt hold special meaning.

It helps me mentally and physically, he said. Out here you dont get calls. It toughens you up. Guys out here just compete.

Walker enjoyed a solid freshmen year for UConn coach Jim Calhoun, averaging 8.9 points per game and 3.5 rebounds, as the Huskies made the Final Four. In the Elite Eight, he put forth a remarkable performance 23 points, five rebounds, five assists in an 82-75 win over Missouri.

That hasnt stopped him from striving to get better. Walker is relentlessly working on his jump shot, the one admitted weakness to his game. Every morning, he goes to St. Raymonds gym with former Ravens and Division I standouts like Brian Laing and Frank Elegar and his Bingo All-Stars teammate Kenny Satterfield, who starred for Cincinnati.

Repetition, he said. Im trying to shoot the same way every time. I just shoot for a long period of time.

Walker has a month until he returns to Connecticut, when he looks to build on his first year in the Big East. Until then, he will be working like he always has, playing streetball like he always has.

So much has changed in Kemba Walkers life in the last year. Yet so much has remained the same.


Rakeem Christmas to be on ESPNU on Sunday - by David Edole
Orlando -- Virgin Islander Rakeem Christmas will be one of the featured players in ESPNs RISE Games Presented by Target. Christmas, a 6-9 post, and his Team Final AAU teammates will take on Baltimore Elite Sunday night at 5:35pm on ESPNU. ESPNU will show four games in a two days span.
ESPNU will provide viewers with in-depth analysis of the players and interviews by Andy Katz with 30-plus college coaches, including Bruce Pearl (Tennessee), John Calipari (Kentucky), Roy Williams (North Carolina), Billy Donovan (Florida) and Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh). Meanwhile ESPNU anchor Lowell Galindo and ESPN Scouts, Inc. Basketball Recruiting Director Paul Biancardi will be announcing games between some of the top AAU teams in the nation during the live four-hour telecast from 5 -9 p.m., July 26-27.
The inaugural event takes place at Disneys Wide World of Sports Complex; the nations leading multi-sport complex for amateur and professional sports, in suburban Orlando, Fla.
Christmas and Team Final has won two games in the 17 and under Gold Division of the AAU play. Team Final defeated Alabama Lasers, 53-51 and Rising Stars, 71-56. Team final is scheduled to play Hoop Planet for Group Supremacy at 9:55 am.

Staying in Orlando, St. Thomas Zero Tolerance (ZT) basketball organization lost all four games in the 16 and under division of the Super Showcase. Florida Elite made quick work of ZT, 59-22. Florida Elite led at the half 38-9. DC Assault Blue thumped ZT, 71-51. On Thursday morning Southfield Transition, 82-46, win sent ZT to the Copper Division. In the first round of the Copper Division, ZT fell to Team Nashville, 77-68.
Note: While attending a grocery store the boys of Zero Tolerance ran into Jahmal Lees aunt. Lee is ranked 65 in point guards in the class of 2011.


Virign Islands 81, Dominican Republic 74 - by David Edole
Aguas Calientes, Mexico - The Virgin Islands mens u17 is going somewhere no other team before them has gone. The team from Americas paradise held off Dominican Republic, 81-74, to advance to the Tournament of Americas that will be held in 2010. By the way the Virgin Islands picked up a bronze medal. The game was close throughout with neither team getting a major advantage until the final quarter.
The fourth period began with the Virgin Islands up by six, 53-47. Eddie Peralta nailed a long three pointer that capped a 5-to-8 run which brought Dominican Republic within three, 58-55. The run prompted head coach Jareem Dowling to call a time out. Coach Dowling reinserted Kadeem Jones (-94) who nailed a three pointer to give the Virgin Islands some breathing room. On the ensuing possession, Jones found Salim Ross for an easy basket. Then scoring machine Aaron Brown (-92) joined the fray when he got an old fashion three point play that gave the Virgin Islands a, 66-55, lead at 5:12.
Dominican Republic showed no quit as they responded with a run of their own. The run lasted about three minutes as DR outscored the Virgin Islands 9-to-4 to get within six, 70-64 at 2:35. Virgin Islands responded with Brown scoring the next two baskets followed by a free throw by Jones and a basket by Merwin Potter (-93). Those seven points gave the Virgin Islands a commanding thirteen point lead, 77-64, with 1:25 left in the game. It was a promenade to the free throw line by the Virgin Islands the rest of the way.
Brown led the Virgin Islands attack with 31 points. Merwin Potter and the youngest player in the tournament Rasheed Swanston (-95) both tallied 14 points. Kadeem Jones was the only other Virgin islander in double figures as he chipped in with 11 points and a team high six assists.
Peralta led Dominican Republic with 28 points, and big man Bemil Fernandez had a double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Johan Polanco and Jose Hernandez added 11 and 10 points respectively.
The Virgin Islands won the first period 19-14 and Dominican Republic (2-3) won the second 14-18. VI led 33-32 at the half. The Virgin Islands had a good third frame with outstanding three-point shooting by Swanton and Brown that helped them to a 20-15 period score.
The Virgin Islands (2-2) had their best three point shooting (9-of-25, 36%) in the tourney. Swanston was 4-of-8.
Puerto Rico finished the tourney undefeated (4-0) and is bathing in gold after routing Mexico (4-1), 92-58. Both Puerto Rico and Mexico also qualified for the Tournament of Americas that will be held in 2010.

Box Score Below
http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/18/00/89/70/24tpOrCk3mQwQ/


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  UKRAINE   


Croatia prevail against Ukraine to stay undefeated - by Eurobasket News
Croatia U18 - Ukraine U18 73:69
Toni Prostran (183-G-91), Luka Babic (200-G-91) and Ivan Batur (202-F-91) did not play for Croatia in the third round but it did not prevent Ukraine from falling short in Group B game. Croatia thus celebrated the third straight victory at the tournament and clinched the top spot in the pool. Ukraine suffered the third loss in a row to remain in the fourth spot in the ladder.
Ukraine got to a brave start and led by 5 points at the first break. Croatia unleashed an 8:0 run midway through the second frame to pile up a 34:29 lead. Prokopenko nailed 4 points late in the half as Ukraine ensured a 41:39 advantage. Winless Ukraine tried hard to record the initial victory. They maintained the lead throughout the third quarter and entered the fourth frame up by 5 points. Croatia closed the gap the pressure grew higher late in the game. Pasko Vrlika (204-C-91) put Croats ahead by two with just over 2 minutes to go. Prokopenko nailed a free throw to cut the distance but Jakolis drained a big-time triple to silence Ukraine.
Pasko Vrlika had 17 points to pace Croatia. Toni Brnas (200-F-91) added 15 points, while Dragan Sekelja (210-C-91) notched 11 points in the win. Kostyantyn Anikiyenko (214-C-92) responded with 13 points and 12 boards for Ukraine. Prokopenko finished with 12 points in the losing case.

Croatia U18: Pasko Vrlika 17, Toni Brnas 15, Dragan Sekelja 11
Ukraine U18: Kostyantyn Anikiyenko 13+12 boards, Prokopenko 12


Ukraine U18 Team: Narrow defeat in last group game - by Aleks
Ukraine lost its 3rd game against Croatia today to finish up last in group A. Both teams had nothing to play anymore as Croatia already moved on to the next round and Ukraine would play the elimination round for the U18 A Championships. Therefore both teams rather played the bench players and gave their usual key players rest. Toni Prostran (183-G-91) and Luka Babic (200-G-91) didnt get into the game at all, and Oleksandr Lypovyy (200-G-91) and Andriy Lebedintsev (186-G-91) played only the starting 6 minutes.
Croatia been chasing the Ukraine almost the whole game yet never allowed them to take the lead with too many points. Oleg Ruban team showed in the previous games that they cant play 40 minutes focused and will soon or later have a weak period. That happened at the beginning of the 4th quarter where Croatia gave many chances away but the Ukraine has been unable to make it count. Moreover, the high FT % from previous quarters was suddenly off and Croatia stayed in the game. Ukraine still unable to find the basket, the opponents started now to play better defense and score easy points from fast breaks. But also Croatia didnt manage to fully punish the Ukrainian team as they only lead by 4 points towards the end of the game. In the end Croatia won the game due to being ready in the final quarter while the Ukraine took a time out.

Pasko Vrlika (204-C-91) lead the winners with 17 points while Konstantin Anikienko (215-C-92) had 13 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort.


Tomorrow is day off and on Monday the relegation games start.


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  UNITED KINGDOM   


Great Britain U20 finished Group K of the Classification Round - by Eurobasket News
Great Britain U20-Hungary U20 80:65 (27-19, 15-17, 17-14, 21-15)

Great Britain U20 finished Group K of the Classification Round with 1-1 record after the initial victory today in Macedonia. The British team won over Hungary 80:65 at the U20 European Championship in Division B.
Keller gave Hungary the lead early in the game and Peter Szabo (181-G-89) netted for 7:2. Great Britain U20 meanwhile replied with 15-0 run for 17:7 advantage and had 27:17 as Van Oostrum made a jump shot. Toth closed the opening quarter at 27:19. Andrew Lawrence (186-G-90) reached with his team 31:21 and William Neighbour (203-F-90) kept the difference at 35:25. Mate Medve (197-G-89) reduced the gap tom 35:30 and Toth was again the last to score at the period for 42:36. Peter Szabo brought his team to 44:42, while Mate Medve scored for 46:45. Great Britain U20 produced 17-14 in the frame for 59:50 advantage after thirty minutes. There was no way the Hungarian team could catch up with the opponents. Great Britain looked better also in the end of the game and celebrated the initial victory in Group K of the Classification Round.
William Neighbour top-scored for the winners with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Andrew Lawrence nailed 20, whilst Tyrone Treasure (193-G) collected 19 points and 10 rebounds. Peter Szabo delivered 18 points in the losing effort. Mate Medve posted 16, while Gergely Somogyi (218-C-89) scored 10.

Great Britain U20: William Neighbour 22+8 rebs, Andrew Lawrence 20, Tyrone Treasure 19+10 rebs
Hungary U20: Peter Szabo 18, Mate Medve 16, Gergely Somogyi 10


Austria lose opener to England - by Eurobasket News
Austria U18 - England U18 76:90

English U18 team posted the second straight win at the European Championship in Division B. They faced Austria in the second round of action and drove to a comfortable 14-point victory at the end. The win kept England on top of Group D. Austria meanwhile slipped at 0-1 record in the pool. Ryan Richards (210-F-91) was once again impressive for England with 24 points and 13 rebounds.
Ryan Richards accounted for 6 points in the opening two minutes of the game to provide England with a 6:2 lead. Austria got their noses in front midway through the frame but England regained the advantage. Ryan Oneil Martin (-91) capped the stanza with 5 points in a row to ensure a 22:16 lead for the English squad. Ryan Oneil Martin knocked down 6 points in an 11:0 run from England midway through the second frame. They took over to enjoy a 12-point advantage into halftime.
Three-pointers from Levi Noel (196-G-91) and Houghton helped England to a 16-point buffer early in the third period. Austria trailed by 20 points heading into the fourth frame and could not threaten the margin in the final quarter.
Levi Noel scored 20 points for England. Ryan Oneil Martin added 15 points in the victory. Anton Maresch (188-G-91) replied with 19 points for Austria. Daniel Friedrich (178-G-92) netted 11 points in the loss.

Austria U18: Anton Maresch 19, Daniel Friedrich 11
England U18: Ryan Richards 24, Levi Noel 20, Ryan Oneil Martin 15


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  VENEZUELA   


Venezuela's Senior NT begins practice in Birmingham, Alabama - by Francisco Vega
Barquisimeto, Venezuela.- A few of the players that belong to Venezuela's Senior NT made the trip to Birmingham, Alabama, in the United States, to take part in the Freewill Games against the Birmingham Gladiators, of the Americas Basketball International (ABI), in a three-game series to be played at Bill Harris Arena that serves as preparation for the FIBA Americas World Cup Qualy Tournament to be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from August 26th till September 6th.

Heissler Guillent (186-G-86), Carlos Cedeno (193-G/F-85), Jesus Centeno (190-G-85), Jose Vargas (196-G/F-82), Eduardo Torres (195-F-81), Alejandro Barrios (205-C-79), Roque Osorio (206-C-76) and Miguel Marriaga (206-C-84) made the trip from Caracas, while Rafael Perez arrived directly from Puerto Rico. Head coach Nestor Salazar went along with assistant coaches Carl Herrera (206-C-66) and Nelson Solorzano , alongside physical trainer Jose Dos Santos , doctors Juan Leticia and Wilmer Pineda and delegate Francisco 'Paco' Diez .

Players Richard Lugo (209-C-73), Oscar Torres (195-F/G-76), Luis Bethelmy (200-C-86), Axiers Sucre (198-F-78), Juan Herrera (197-F-81) and Hector Romero (202-F-80) are still in Venezuela due to passport and visa related issues. Players Greivis Vasquez (198-G-87) and Gregory Echenique (206-F-90) were not given permission by their NCAA teams, Maryland and Rutgers, to join the team in Alabama. They'll have to do so next week in Caracas.

The tournament was supposed to have teams from Nigeria, Liberia and Uruguay but they ultimately folded due to different reasons.

LNB 2009 News: Duros de Lara will defend the throne - by Francisco Vega
Barquisimeto, Venezuela.- Duros de Lara, current title holders of Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, after their spectacular 2008 season which ended with a sweep over Caciques de Trujillo, will play again in the 2009 edition of LNB and their first move was to ratify head coach Silverio Leal in his position, according to new general manager, former player Luis Jimenez, a member of Venezuela's Senior NT in the Olympic Games of Barcelona 1992. The tournament will being on August 28th.

Leal guided the team to the throne after taking over the job from head coach Ivan Garcia, who was removed from the position prior to the beginning of the playoffs and was later joined by assistant coach Carl Herrera (206-C-66) in a surprising decision taken by the general management. However, Leal coped with the situation very well and led a group of stars to the Finals.

The team will not have Heissler Guillent (186-G-86) with them, since he'll return to his original franchise in LNB. However, they'll have players such as Diego Guevara (184-G-77, college: Charlotte), Jesus Centeno (190-G-85), Carlos Cedeno (193-G/F-85), Miguel Marriaga (206-C-84), Juan Herrera (197-F-81), Francisco Centeno (201-G/F-85), Kevin Palacios (203-F/C-84), Kenji Urdaneta (188-G-85), Francisco Sanabria (190-G-77), Jackson Zapata (198-F-85), Graddy Osorio (193-F-87), Gerardo Chourio (193-F-87), Carlos Quintero (202-F-85) and probably Jesus Urbina (201-F-84) and Jorge Parra (206-C-84).


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  WILLIAM JONES CUP   


Jones Cup Men Day 8 - Taiwan upset Asian champ Iran - by Chris Wang
Tseng Wen-ting had a dunk, a block and two free-throws in the final minute as Taiwan upset defending Asian champion Iran 80-76 in the Jones Cup Saturday night.

Without starting center Hamed Hadadi, who was reported sitting out the game due to illness, Iran engaged in a dogfight with the home team. The score was tied 38-38 at the half and 76 all with 1:05 to go.

Tseng Wen-ting faked a give-and-go before driving in for a left baseline tomahawk dunk to put Taiwan ahead by two. In the following possessions, Tseng blocked Iran's shot in the paint and was fouled on the offensive end.

He sank a pair of free-throws to put Taiwan ahead by four and Iran quickly called timeout with 8.5 seconds to go.

However, Iran didn't even have a chance for the final shot. The inbound pass was stolen by Taiwanese guard Chang Chih-feng.

Tseng had 23 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and two blocks in the game. Taiwan and Iran are now both 5-2.

This is definitely an inspiring win for Taiwan. But remember that Hadadi did not play and Jones Cup was used by participating teams as a tune-up tournament before the big prize -- the Asian Championship in Tianjin.

So, it's just a good win and that's it. Taiwanese fans should not get carried away because what happens in Tianjin is definitely another story.

Jones Cup Men Day 8 - Freiji shines; Jordan favored to win it all - by Chris Wang
Lebanon 97-79 Korea

Matt Freiji had a tournament-high 39 points and 11 rebounds as Lebanon routed Korea 97-79 in a somewhat meaningless game.

Freiji made 14 of 20 shots, including 6-of-8 from three-point land. His performance and the vision of a Freiji-Faris-Feghali-Khatib frontline will boost Lebanon's confidence in the upcoming Asian Championship so much stronger.

I'm saying this game is somewhat meaningless is because many players sat out the game, including Korea's Kim Min-soo, Lee Dong-jun and Lebanon's Brian Feghali. They were all reported having bad stomachs.

I think these teams are playing tricks and being conservative in the Jones Cup because the Asian Championship in Tianjin is the real deal.

Taiwan 80-76 Iran
Taiwan: Tseng Wen-ting 23p, Wu Tai-hao 10p+7rb, Yang Chin-min 13p
Iran: Nikkah Bahrami 25p (5-9 3PT)

Jordan 93-58
Philippines 94-90 Taiwan 2nd

Standing
Jordan 6-1
Iran 5-2
Korea 5-2
Taiwan 5-2
Lebanon 6-2
Philippines 2-5
Japan 1-6
Taiwan 2nd 1-6
Kazakhstan 1-6

Let's take a look at the standing now and break it down. The remaining games tomorrow are Jordan vs. Kazakhstan, Taiwan 2nd NT vs. Japan, Taiwan vs. Korea and Iran vs. Philippines.

Under normal circumstances, Jordan should have no problem beating Kazakhstan, which means it will win its third straight Jones Cup title with a 7-1 record while other teams have two losses at least.

If Jordan loses and Iran beat Philippines, things will be much complicated. Jordan will be tied at 6-2 with Iran, Lebanon and either Korea or Taiwan in a four-way tie.

The first tiebreaker will be the won-loss record of the matches between tying teams.


Situation 1: Jordan, Iran, Lebanon, Korea
Jordan 2-1
Iran 2-1
Korea 1-2
Lebanon 1-2


In this case, Iran will be the champion because it defeated Jordan.



Situation 2: Jordan, Iran, Lebanon, Taiwan
Jordan 2-1
Iran 2-1
Lebanon 1-2
Taiwan 1-2


In this case, Iran will still be the champion.


Which means if Jordan loses tomorrow, Iran will win the 2009 Jones Cup title.


Jones Cup Men Day 8 - Philippines secures second win - by Chris Wang
Jordan 93-58 Japan
Three Japanese players were reported having food poisoning and two were injured, leaving Japan with only seven players suiting up for the game.

Worse yet, it lost Ryota Sakurai to waist injury before halftime. Japan had to finish the game with six players. Yusuke Okada led Japan with 24 points, making 8 of 13 from three.

Jordan won the game easily, leading by as many as 40 points in the third quarter. Rasheim Wright had 22 points in 20 minutes.

Philippines 94-90 Taiwan 2nd NT
Willie Miller scored 9 of his team-high 22 points in the final period as Philippines held on for a 94-90 victory over Taiwan 2nd NT. Philippines scored its second win in the tournament.

Trailing 91-82 with three minutes left, Taiwan 2nd NT ignited a 7-0 run before Philippines answered with a 9-2 attack to secure the win.

Jet Chang led Taiwan with 24 points and 10 rebounds and Lin Chieh-min had 17. Miller paced Philippines with 22 points and three steals. Arwind Santos had 16.



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Women News

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  ARGENTINA - Women  


U19 WC in Bangkok: Argentina outsmarts France for No.2 in Preliminary Group A - by Eurobasket News
U19 France - U19 Argentina 58-60

Argentina grabbed very important 60-58 victory against France in Day 3 of the FIBA U19 World Championship in Bangkok. Despite it was already know that these two teams, together with undefeated Australia advanced to the next stage, this meeting was important as the score will be transfered. So now Australia, Argentina and France will create a new group together with three best teams from Preliminary pool B (Brazil, Czech Republic and Lithuania). Argentina will start with 1-1 there, while France is on 0-2. Agostina Burani (189-F/C-91) led the Argentineans today collecting 13 points and 6 rebounds. Debora Gonzalez (174-G-90) followed her with 2 points less. In Team France, Allison Vernerey (194-C-91) was close to double-double, 12 pts and 9 rebs.
Argentina was clightly better in the first frame creating 17-15 lead. That was thanks to Agostina Burani's triple and Nayla Kraft's one free throw, which closed the period. France answered in the second quarter making 23-25 turn. That was the last time when France was in lead today. Argentina grabbed back plus two and until the half time extended it to 6 points. Burani and her teammates never trailed again. At the middle of the last period they had plus 11. France came closer later, but it was too late.
The championship in Bangkok continues on Monday.

France: Allison Vernerey 12+9 boards
Argentina: Agostina Burani 13+6 boards, Debora Gonzalez 11

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  AUSTRALIA - Women  


Third straight win for Australia in Bangkok - by Eurobasket News
U19 Australia - U19 South Korea 99-41

As it was expected, the Opals devastated South Korea ending the Preliminary Stage with perfect 3-0 record. It means that Australia goes to the next stage as No.1 from Group A, what was known even yesterday. They will continue in new group together with Argentina, France, Brazil, Czech Republic and Lithuania. Rachel Jarry (185-G-91) this time was the best player in the winning squad with 24 points and 5 boards. Elizabeth Folake Cambage (203-C-91) had 15 pts and 7 boards, while Alice Kunek (186-G/F-91) also scored 15. Lee Jeonghyun (-92) answered with 12 points for the Koreans.
Australia was better than Korea today in all basketball elements. The Koreans scored more than ten in just one quarter, and it was the second one (17). Opening ten minutes belonged to Australia 28-6. Until the half time Korea made 16-17, but in third stanza Rachel Jarry and her teammates once again shined. Actually, until the end of the game Australia scored 55 points stopping their rivals on just 18. The rebounding totals talk everything for itself, 47-16 for the Opals.
The championship in Bangkok continues on Monday. Korea will play in Classification Round.

Australia: Rachel Jarry 24+5 boards, Elizabeth Folake Cambage 15+7 boards, Alice Kunek 15
South Korea: Lee Jeonghyun 12

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  BARBADOS - Women  


Tigers take 1-0 lead over Bulls - by Justin Marville
PEPSI TIGERS have bided their time in hopes of a victory over a team with a winning record.

The wait is over!

Prolific combo guard Maria Cumberbatch came up huge in a decisive fourth quarter stretch, scoring eight of her game high 18 points as Tigers overcame a double-digit deficit on their way to a thrilling 67-65 Game 1 victory in their best-of-three womens basketball semi-final series with Act II Popcorn Clapham Bulls at the Barbados Community College on Friday night.

It seemed business as usual for the previously listless Tigers though, losers of two straight regular season contests to the same opponents, when Clapham opened up a ten-point advantage (62-52) early in the games final period.

Especially once seasoned forward Jacqui Browne was given a technical for an inadvertent elbow to the face of the Bulls Antonia Baptiste during Claphams 10-0 run.

But the veteran poise of a dominant franchise came to bear in the third-seeded Tigers subsequent rally, as national forward Denise Alleyne and Ingrid Folkes responded with ensuing baskets before Cumberbatchs romp.

The former Senators fleet-footed guard added a pair of lay-ups in transition, then capped her personal run by crossing up Ruth Gill on the way to drawing a shooting foul on a taller Bulls defender and scoring the ensuing free throws to tie the game at 63.

Ingrid Jordan gave Tigers their first lead in about 15 minutes, finishing yet another basket in transition only for national forward Jennifer Joseph-Hackett to reply with a lay-up of her own just seconds later.

There was no denying the one-time powerhouses though as Alleyne hit the eventual game-winner on a dramatic runner deep into the shot clock after up-faking fellow national Shakira Shorey out of her shoes.

The Bulls still had a chance to force overtime, having the games final possession with 14.5 seconds remaining, but Tammy Hope missed a short-range bank shot while Sade Clarkes ensuing right-handed floater bounced off the ring as time expired.

Neither side could be separated for much of the first three quarters, with Clapham previously holding the games biggest lead at seven points before entering the fourth period with the scores locked at 52 apiece.

However, the favoured lady Bulls appeared headed to their third successive win in the head-to-head matchup when they opened that period by scoring ten unanswered points.

It was their customary open court play that had brought them the brief advantage as Clarke and Nadia-Rose Hinds forced the issue in transition, finding Shorey for a couple easy baskets when she beat her defenders down court.

Browne and Andre Puckerin finished with ten points each to assist Cumberbatch while Shorey top-scored for Clapham with 17 points. Game 2 of the series is on Wednesday night at the YMCA.

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  CANADA - Women  


Canada beats Japan, both advance to U19 World Championship Quarterfinals - by Eurobasket News
U19 Canada - U19 Japan 73-51

Canada outplayed Japan securing the second place in Preliminary Group C of the FIBA U19 World Championship in Bangkok. That is the second win for Canada, after one against Tunisia. Japan is No.3 now and it also reached the next stage. These two teams will with Russia, Spain, China and USA create a new pool. Michelle Plouffe (-92) stepped up for Canada with 14 pts and 5 boards. Taryn Wicijowski (188-F/C-91) had 12 and Kayla Alexander (195-F/C-91) followed with 11 pts and 16 boards. The Japanese got 15 points from Yuka Mamiya (-90).
Canda was way better team during the entire time. Actually the Canadians slowed down during the last ten minutes, when everything was already solved. After opening quarter Michelle Plouffe already created decent 22-13 lead. Japan struggled with tough defense by their rival scoring just 10 more points until the half time. Canada exploited this to jump on plus 19. Third quarter is another one which belonged to Canada 16-7 and after that there was not any doubt who will be the winner of this match.
The championship continues on Monday. So far it seems that Canada's first rival in the next stage will be USA. Japan will take on Spain.

Canada: Michelle Plouffe 14+5 boards, Taryn Wicijowski 12, Kayla Alexander 11+16 boards
Japan: Yuka Mamiya 15

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  FRANCE - Women  


U19 WC in Bangkok: Argentina outsmarts France for No.2 in Preliminary Group A - by Eurobasket News
U19 France - U19 Argentina 58-60

Argentina grabbed very important 60-58 victory against France in Day 3 of the FIBA U19 World Championship in Bangkok. Despite it was already know that these two teams, together with undefeated Australia advanced to the next stage, this meeting was important as the score will be transfered. So now Australia, Argentina and France will create a new group together with three best teams from Preliminary pool B (Brazil, Czech Republic and Lithuania). Argentina will start with 1-1 there, while France is on 0-2. Agostina Burani (189-F/C-91) led the Argentineans today collecting 13 points and 6 rebounds. Debora Gonzalez (174-G-90) followed her with 2 points less. In Team France, Allison Vernerey (194-C-91) was close to double-double, 12 pts and 9 rebs.
Argentina was clightly better in the first frame creating 17-15 lead. That was thanks to Agostina Burani's triple and Nayla Kraft's one free throw, which closed the period. France answered in the second quarter making 23-25 turn. That was the last time when France was in lead today. Argentina grabbed back plus two and until the half time extended it to 6 points. Burani and her teammates never trailed again. At the middle of the last period they had plus 11. France came closer later, but it was too late.
The championship in Bangkok continues on Monday.

France: Allison Vernerey 12+9 boards
Argentina: Agostina Burani 13+6 boards, Debora Gonzalez 11

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  GERMANY - Women  


Germany triumph at the international tournament in Portugal - by Eurobasket News
German National Team traveled to Portugal to take part in the international tournament involving teams from Bulgaria, Holland and Portugal. Germany celebrated the victory posting three straight wins at the competition.
They opened their campaign against Bulgaria. The German side led by a single point at halftime but accounted for 46 points in the second half to knock their opponents down 70:57. Anne Breitreiner (183-G/F-84, agency: LBM Management) scored 19 points for the winners. Romy Bar (188-F-87) added 16 points for Germany.
Next Germany faced the hosts and ran away for a 78:68 success. The visitors looked better from the start piling up a 40:29 lead at halftime. Portugal failed to recover in the second half and had to surrender at the end. Sarah Austmann (179-G/F-85) scored 17 points for Germany. Romy Bar provided 15 points in the winning case.
Finally Germany took on Netherlands. The German team raced to a 31:24 halftime advantage. They maintained it well throughout the second part of the encounter to register a 61:44 victory at the end. Anne Breitreiner finished with 19 points for Germany. Romy Bar contributed 13 points in the win.


Donau-Ries sign former WNBA player - by Moritz Korff
WWK Donau-Ries (DBBL) have completed the signing of Maxann Reese (176-G-78, college: Michigan St.) for the 2009-2010 campaign. The 31-year-old veteran guard and former WNBA player will add a lot of experience to the squad. Reese knows the European game very well, as she previously shot hoops in the Czech Republic, Portugal (making the 2007-08 Eurobasket.com All-Portuguese League First Team) and most recently Poland. In January 09 she joined AZS KK Jelenia Gora of the Polish PLKK league. In nine appearances Reese averaged 9.9 points as well as 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists.

Eagles sign second Lithuanian player - by Moritz Korff
Sarune Jasiunskaite (188-F-88) makes the move from Chemnitz to Leipzig, as she agreed to terms with the BBV Eagles (DBBL). During 2008-2009 the 20-year-old Forward/Center, who has played internationally for Lithuania as a junior, joined the ChemCats to strengthen the team in the last games of the season. She saw action in eight encounters and produced 5.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per contest. Jasiunskaite will be the second player from Lithuania on the Leipzig team. The Eagles had also signed Laima Rickeviciute (188-F-88) recently.

Halle Lions land Monmouth standout - by Moritz Korff
The SV Halle Lions (DBBL) have completed their 2009-2010 roster. The last spot that needed to be filled was on the 4 position. And the Lions decided to hand the last available shirt to Jennifer Bender (185-F-87, college: Monmouth). The American is 22 years of age and finished her collegiate career earlier this year. Bender played four years at Monmouth University (NCAA1) and had outstanding stats in her senior season. She appeared in 31 games for Monmouth during 2008-09 and led the Hawks in scoring (16.1ppg) and rebounds per contest (7.9rpg).

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  JAPAN - Women  


Canada beats Japan, both advance to U19 World Championship Quarterfinals - by Eurobasket News
U19 Canada - U19 Japan 73-51

Canada outplayed Japan securing the second place in Preliminary Group C of the FIBA U19 World Championship in Bangkok. That is the second win for Canada, after one against Tunisia. Japan is No.3 now and it also reached the next stage. These two teams will with Russia, Spain, China and USA create a new pool. Michelle Plouffe (-92) stepped up for Canada with 14 pts and 5 boards. Taryn Wicijowski (188-F/C-91) had 12 and Kayla Alexander (195-F/C-91) followed with 11 pts and 16 boards. The Japanese got 15 points from Yuka Mamiya (-90).
Canda was way better team during the entire time. Actually the Canadians slowed down during the last ten minutes, when everything was already solved. After opening quarter Michelle Plouffe already created decent 22-13 lead. Japan struggled with tough defense by their rival scoring just 10 more points until the half time. Canada exploited this to jump on plus 19. Third quarter is another one which belonged to Canada 16-7 and after that there was not any doubt who will be the winner of this match.
The championship continues on Monday. So far it seems that Canada's first rival in the next stage will be USA. Japan will take on Spain.

Canada: Michelle Plouffe 14+5 boards, Taryn Wicijowski 12, Kayla Alexander 11+16 boards
Japan: Yuka Mamiya 15

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  PORTUGAL - Women  


Portugal clinch third spot at Torneo de Oliverira do Hospital - by Eurobasket News
Portugal claimed the third overall position at the international tournament played these days in Oliveira do Hospital. They celebrated one win in three games played.
The hosts opened their campaign against Netherlands and ensured a 67:61 victory. Portugal led by 8 points at halftime and entered the final stanza ahead by 7. Holland came within 6 points but could failed just short at the end. Sonia Reis (189-C-84) finished with 22 points and 7 boards for Portugal. Sara Filipe (187-F-82) added 10 points in the win.
Portugal next took on eventual winners Germany. The visitors used a 9:0 run in the second quarter to gain a 32:22 lead. Germany never surrendered the advantage and coasted to a 78:68 victory at the end. Paula Muxiri (184-F/C-81, college: ODU) scored 17 points to pace Portugal. Sonia Reis had 15 points in the losing case.
Portugal wrapped up the action at the tournament against Bulgaria. The hosts could not get things going their way and came up short 56:69 at the end. Portugal trailed by 10 points after the starting quarter and never recovered in the reminder of the battle. Paula Muxiri knocked down 19 points in defeat.


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  RUSSIA - Women  


U19WC in Bangkok: Russia ends Preliminary Round in Style - by Eurobasket News
U19 Tunisia - U19 Russia 41-93

Russia did not have any troubles to beat Tunisia today with huge 93-41. That means that Russia advanced to second stage of the FIBA U19 World Championship perfect. In the new pool Russia will be together with Canada, Japan, Spain, China and USA. Yana Panevina (-91) and Anna Ostroukhova (170-G-90) led the scores today with 13 points each. Veronika Dorosheva (188-F-91) and Anastasiya Shilova (185-F-91) had 11, while Ekaterina Kiryanova (179-F/G-90), Liubov Paskalenko (203-C-90) and Anastasia Logunova (188-C-90) helped with 10 points each. In Tunisia, Lilia Inoubli (-92) had 18 points and 5 boards.
Russia dominated in this match during the entire time. The Russians did amazing job at the defensive end stopping Tunisia on just 12 points in the first half. On the other side, they scored 41 and it was already clear who will be the winner of this game. Second half was just the formality. Russia slowed down a little bit, but it still was enough to continue with increasing their lead. All players in Team Russia palyers at least 12 minutes and all of them managed to score.
The championship in Bangkok continues on Monday. Russia will most probably take first on China. Tunisia goes to the Classification Round from 13th-16th place.

Tunisia: Lilia Inoubli 18+5 boards
Russia: Yana Panevina 13, Anna Ostroukhova 13, Veronika Dorosheva 11, Anastasiya Shilova 11, Ekaterina Kiryanova 10, Liubov Paskalenko 10, Anastasia Logunova 10

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  SOUTH KOREA - Women  


Third straight win for Australia in Bangkok - by Eurobasket News
U19 Australia - U19 South Korea 99-41

As it was expected, the Opals devastated South Korea ending the Preliminary Stage with perfect 3-0 record. It means that Australia goes to the next stage as No.1 from Group A, what was known even yesterday. They will continue in new group together with Argentina, France, Brazil, Czech Republic and Lithuania. Rachel Jarry (185-G-91) this time was the best player in the winning squad with 24 points and 5 boards. Elizabeth Folake Cambage (203-C-91) had 15 pts and 7 boards, while Alice Kunek (186-G/F-91) also scored 15. Lee Jeonghyun (-92) answered with 12 points for the Koreans.
Australia was better than Korea today in all basketball elements. The Koreans scored more than ten in just one quarter, and it was the second one (17). Opening ten minutes belonged to Australia 28-6. Until the half time Korea made 16-17, but in third stanza Rachel Jarry and her teammates once again shined. Actually, until the end of the game Australia scored 55 points stopping their rivals on just 18. The rebounding totals talk everything for itself, 47-16 for the Opals.
The championship in Bangkok continues on Monday. Korea will play in Classification Round.

Australia: Rachel Jarry 24+5 boards, Elizabeth Folake Cambage 15+7 boards, Alice Kunek 15
South Korea: Lee Jeonghyun 12

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  TUNISIA - Women  


U19WC in Bangkok: Russia ends Preliminary Round in Style - by Eurobasket News
U19 Tunisia - U19 Russia 41-93

Russia did not have any troubles to beat Tunisia today with huge 93-41. That means that Russia advanced to second stage of the FIBA U19 World Championship perfect. In the new pool Russia will be together with Canada, Japan, Spain, China and USA. Yana Panevina (-91) and Anna Ostroukhova (170-G-90) led the scores today with 13 points each. Veronika Dorosheva (188-F-91) and Anastasiya Shilova (185-F-91) had 11, while Ekaterina Kiryanova (179-F/G-90), Liubov Paskalenko (203-C-90) and Anastasia Logunova (188-C-90) helped with 10 points each. In Tunisia, Lilia Inoubli (-92) had 18 points and 5 boards.
Russia dominated in this match during the entire time. The Russians did amazing job at the defensive end stopping Tunisia on just 12 points in the first half. On the other side, they scored 41 and it was already clear who will be the winner of this game. Second half was just the formality. Russia slowed down a little bit, but it still was enough to continue with increasing their lead. All players in Team Russia palyers at least 12 minutes and all of them managed to score.
The championship in Bangkok continues on Monday. Russia will most probably take first on China. Tunisia goes to the Classification Round from 13th-16th place.

Tunisia: Lilia Inoubli 18+5 boards
Russia: Yana Panevina 13, Anna Ostroukhova 13, Veronika Dorosheva 11, Anastasiya Shilova 11, Ekaterina Kiryanova 10, Liubov Paskalenko 10, Anastasia Logunova 10

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  VENEZUELA - Women  


Venezuela's Senior NT will begin trainings for FIBA Americas Tournament in Brazil - by Francisco Vega
Barquisimeto, Venezuela.- The Venezuelan Basketball Federation (FVB) announced the list of players that have been called up by head coach Enrique Gil towards the FIBA Americas World Cup Qualy Tournament to be played in Mato Grosso, Brazil, from September 23rd till the 27th and that will allow three teams to advance to the 2010 FIBA World Cup in Czech Republic.

Maria Villarroel (174-G-78, college: Oklahoma), a former WNBA player and current Most Valuable Player for Switzerland's Sdent Sierre Basket, is the star of the team. The experienced guard will get help from NCAA players Ivaney Marquez (-83) and Jessy Castillo (-82), alongside veteran Fanny Diaz. The list includes players Germary Blanco (-90) of Carabobo, Yosimar Corrales (-G-90), Sharol Renault and Maria Requena (-G-90) from Aragua, Cleider Blanco (-C-90) and Roselis Silva (-G-90) from Distrito Capital, Jofranny Guerra (-88) from Anzoategui, Endrina Bolivar (-F-90) from Guarico, Maria Cabrices (-C-90), Emmy Blanco and Melanie Lucena from Miranda and Yoseimar Diaz from Vargas.

Venezuela will face Argentina, Chile and Cuba in Group B of the tournament and is looking for its first appearance in a Women's FIBA World Cup. Physical trainer will be Milton Martinez, assistant coach will be Alecia Landaeta and Eligio Liscano will be the general manager. Doctors Karen Hernandez and Carlos Sarmiento, alongside room and equipment manager Rafael Rojas complete the staff.


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  WNBA - Women  


Nike and WNBA reach multiyear marketing partnership extension - by Eurobasket News
Nike and the WNBA today announced an extension of their marketing partnership, which dates to the league's inception in 1997, with a new multiyear agreement.
As part of the partnership, Nike will receive courtside signage and will advertise during WNBA national game telecasts on ABC, ESPN2 and NBA TV. Nike will feature its WNBA players in advertising and promotional campaigns for the brand. The sportswear giant also will continue to have its players wear Nike footwear on the court during WNBA games.

Nike currently has endorsement relationships with 43 WNBA players, including Sue Bird (5'9''-G-80, college: Connecticut), Rebecca Hammon (5'6''-G-77, college: Colorado St.), Diana Taurasi (6'0''-G-82, college: Connecticut), Candice Wiggins (5'11''-G-87, college: Stanford), and veteran Lisa Leslie (6'5''-C-72, college: USC), who is in the midst of her final season. Leslie has been wearing special commemorative Nike shoes since the beginning of this season, in recognition of breast health awareness and in celebration of the conclusion to her illustrious career.

Nike also will feature the Minnesota Lynx's Wiggins in its Delicious Training campaign, which in conjunction with other pro female athletes, is designed to inspire teen girls and lead them in being the best they can be. The campaign will launch in August and will be promoted through advertisements in Teen Vogue, highschoolsports.net, Seventeen Magazine, and seventeen.com, along with exposure on nikewomen.com.

'Nike has long been an ardent supporter of women's basketball and a wonderful partner of the WNBA,' said WNBA President Donna Orender. 'We are thrilled to continue our successful partnership and look forward to working with Nike to engage our fans and continue the growth of the game among women, men and young fans.'

'We are pleased to continue our long-standing partnership with the WNBA. We share the common goals of development and growth of the league both on and off the court,' said John Slusher, Nike VP of Global Sports Marketing.



About the WNBA

The WNBA is a unique global sports property combining competition, sportsmanship, and entertainment value with its status as an icon for social change, achievement, and diversity. Comprised of 13 teams, the WNBA is the most successful women's professional team sports league in the world. The league concluded its historic 12th regular season with increases in attendance, ratings, Web traffic, and merchandise sales. The 2009 WNBA season tipped off June 6 on ABC.

Through WNBA Cares, the WNBA is deeply committed to creating programs that improve the quality of life for all people, with a special emphasis on programs that promote a healthy lifestyle and positive body image, increase breast and women's health awareness, support youth and family development, and focus on education. For more information on the WNBA, log on to www.wnba.com.



About Nike

NIKE, Inc., based near Beaverton, Oregon, is the world's leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly-owned Nike subsidiaries include Cole Haan, which designs, markets and distributes luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and coats; Converse Inc., which designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories; and Umbro Ltd., a leading United Kingdom-based global football (soccer) brand. For more information, visit www.nikebiz.com.


Courtesy of WNBA (www.wnba.com)


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  WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS U19 - Women  


The last day of Preliminary Round in Bangkok - by Eurobasket News
Group A
Australia - South Korea 99-41
As it was expected, the Opals devastated South Korea ending the Preliminary Stage with perfect 3-0 record. It means that Australia goes to the next stage as No.1 from Group A, what was known even yesterday. They will continue in new group together with Argentina, France, Brazil, Czech Republic and Lithuania. Rachel Jarry (185-G-91) this time was the best player in the winning squad with 24 points and 5 boards. Elizabeth Folake Cambage (203-C-91) had 15 pts and 7 boards, while Alice Kunek (186-G/F-91) also scored 15. Lee Jeonghyun (-92) answered with 12 points for the Koreans.

France - Argentina 58-60
Argentina grabbed very important 60-58 victory against France in Day 3 of the FIBA U19 World Championship in Bangkok. Despite it was already know that these two teams, together with undefeated Australia advanced to the next stage, this meeting was important as the score will be transfered. So now Australia, Argentina and France will create a new group together with three best teams from Preliminary pool B (Brazil, Czech Republic and Lithuania). Argentina will start with 1-1 there, while France is on 0-2. Agostina Burani (189-F/C-91) led the Argentineans today collecting 13 points and 6 rebounds. Debora Gonzalez (174-G-90) followed her with 2 points less. In Team France, Allison Vernerey (194-C-91) was close to double-double, 12 pts and 9 rebs.

Group B
Lithuania - Brazil 69-65
Lithuania handed Brazil the first defeat at the FIBA U19 World Championship. Now the situation in Group B is that Brazil, Czech Republic and Lithuania have the same 2-1 record. Despite this defeat, Brazil is first due to best difference in this circle, while Lithuania is No.3. Anyway, all three teams advanced to the next stage and all will start with 1-1 record. They will create new pool, together with Australia, Argentina and France. Marina Solopova (180-G/F-90) was a key player in Lithuania today draining impressive 31 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Gabriele Gutkauskaite (174-G-90) was second scorer in victory with 12 pts. Tatiane Pacheco Nacimiento (180-G/F-90) responded with 15 points in defeat.

Thailand - Czech Republic 45-97
Czech Republic devastated Thailand in the last day of FIBA U19 World Championship Preliminary Round. That is the second win for the Czechs, who advanced to the next stage as No.2 in Group B (2-1). The host of this event will continue in Classification Round as they are winless so far (0-3). Renata Brezinova (189-C-90) once again shined in the winning squad netting 19 points and pulling down 6 rebounds. Katerina Zavazalova (171-G-90) followed her with 15 and Michaela Stara (172-G-90) delivered 11 points. Petra Zaplatova and Dana Kuslitova stopped on 10 each. In Team Thailand, Charinee Sangtad posted 10 pts.

Group C
Tunisia - Russia 41-93
Russia did not have any troubles to beat Tunisia today with huge 93-41. That means that Russia advanced to second stage of the FIBA U19 World Championship perfect. In the new pool Russia will be together with Canada, Japan, Spain, China and USA. Yana Panevina (-91) and Anna Ostroukhova (170-G-90) led the scores today with 13 points each. Veronika Dorosheva and Anastasiya Shilova had 11, while Ekaterina Kiryanova (179-F/G-90), Liubov Paskalenko and Anastasia Logunova helped with 10 points each. In Tunisia, Lilla Inoubli had 18 points and 5 boards.

Canada - Japan 73-51
Canada outplayed Japan securing the second place in Preliminary Group C of the FIBA U19 World Championship in Bangkok. That is the second win for Canada, after one against Tunisia. Japan is No.3 now and it also reached the next stage. These two teams will with Russia, Spain, China and USA form a new pool. Michelle Plouffe (-92) stepped up for Canada with 14 pts and 5 boards. Taryn Wicijowski (188-F/C-91) had 12 and Kayla Alexander (195-F/C-91) followed with 11 pts and 16 boards. The Japanese got 15 points from Yuka Mamiya.

Group D
Mali - USA 38-100
Huge and expected win for USA against Mali. All players in Team USA managed to score and the best one was Kelly Faris with 13 points. Shenise Johnson (180-F) had 12, while Kelsey Bone (196-C-91), Taber Chalee Spani (183-G-91) and Deron Williams (191-G-84, college: Illinois) drained 11 pts each. Mali got 18 points from Aissata Djibo (-90). USA ended Preliminary Stage at the U19 World Championship as No.2 in Group D with 2-1 record. Spain is first with 3-0 and China third with 1-2. All three teams advanced to the next round, while Mali goes will continue in classification games.

Spain - China 77-75
Spain escaped with 77-75 overtime win against China for perfect 3-0 record in Preliminary Group D. China demonstrated fantastic performance today, but at the end they failed to 0-2. However, both squads advanced to the next stage where Spain starts with 2-0 and China with 0-2. In the new pool also will be USA, Russia, Canada and Japan. Marta Xargay Casademont (180-G-90) stepped up in victory with 24 points and 6 rebounds. Doukole Ble Ossepe (189-C-91) had 14 pts and 8 rebs, while Vega Gimeno Martinez (183-F-91) helped with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Wen Lu (188-F-90) almost had double-double in loss, 24 points and 9 rebounds.