Round 8 (Regular Season): Keila C. lose to Slovan

European North Basketball League is at the halfway of the Regular Season and there are still another 8 rounds left. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

Bottom-ranked Estonian Keila C. (0-3) is still winless. This time they could not use their home court advantage losing their third consecutive match to seventeenth ranked Slovakian Slovan (2-4) 95-79 on Tuesday evening. Worth to mention a great performance of Canadian Shamiel Stevenson (198-1998, college: Nebraska, agency: Octagon Europe) who helped to win the game recording 29 points and 4 assists and center Tomas Pavelka (217-2000) who added 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks during the contest. Slovan's coach used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. responded with 20 points (was perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line). Slovan moved-up to fifteenth place. Keila C. at the other side still closes the standings with three games lost. They share the position with Alkar. Slovan will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Keila C. will play on the road against Brussels (#17) and hopes to get finally their first victory.
Important game to mention about took place in Thessaloniki. Top-ranked Greek Iraklis (3-0) saved a 3-point victory at home edging 20th ranked Bulgarian Spartak Pleven (2-2) 72-69 on Wednesday evening. Americans were the main players on the court. The winners were led by point guard Justin Wright-Foreman (183-1997, college: Hofstra) who scored that evening 24 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists and DJ Funderburk supported him with 15 points and 5 rebounds. Iraklis' coach allowed to play the deep bench players in such tough game. Even 20 points and 6 rebounds (perfect from the field making all nine shots !!!) by center Noel Brown (211-2000, college: St.Bonaventure) did not help to save the game for Spartak Pleven. Iraklis have a solid three-game winning streak. They moved-up to second place, which they share with Weissenfels and Opava. Spartak Pleven at the other side dropped to the fifth position with two games lost. They share it with 4 other teams. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest.
An interesting game took place in Zagreb where 20th ranked Latvian Rigas Z. (2-2) was upset on the court of twenty third ranked Croatian Dubrava (2-1) 86-74 on Tuesday. The best player for the winners was Lovro Gnjidic who had a double-double by scoring 13 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Dubrava's coach used an eleven-player rotation and allowed the starting five to rest. Frankie Fidler produced 32 points and 5 rebounds for the guests. Dubrava moved-up to third place, which they share with 3 other teams. Loser Rigas Z. dropped to the fifth position with two games lost. They share it with 4 other teams. Dubrava will meet Olomoucko (#25) on the road in the next round which should be an easy win for them. Rigas Z. will have a break next round.

In the last game of round 8 Manchester lost to Tindastoll on the opponent's court 96-100.



Keila C. - Slovan 79-95

Bottom-ranked Estonian Keila C. (0-3) is still winless. This time they could not use their home court advantage losing their third consecutive match to seventeenth ranked Slovakian Slovan (2-4) 95-79 on Tuesday evening. Worth to mention a great performance of Canadian Shamiel Stevenson (198-1998, college: Nebraska, agency: Octagon Europe) who helped to win the game recording 29 points and 4 assists and center Tomas Pavelka (217-2000) who added 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks during the contest. Four Slovan players scored in double figures. Slovan's coach used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. responded with 20 points (was perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line) and American point guard KD Johnson (183-2001, college: GMU) scored 16 points. Slovan moved-up to fifteenth place. Keila C. at the other side still closes the standings with three games lost. They share the position with Alkar. Slovan will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Keila C. will play on the road against Brussels (#17) and hopes to get finally their first victory.
Top scorers:
Slovan: S.Shamiel 29+4reb+4ast, P.Tomas 19+10reb+2ast, K.Viktor 15+6reb, M.Lester 10+4reb+6ast, M.Szabo 9+3reb+1ast, A.David 5+3reb+3ast
Keila C.: L.Christopher 20+2reb+1ast, K.Johnson 16+2reb+3ast, S.Patrik 12+7reb+1ast, M.Spaleta 8+1reb+1ast, K.Ralf 7+1reb+2ast, P.Margus 6+4reb

Dubrava - Rigas Z. 86-74

An interesting game took place in Zagreb where 20th ranked Latvian Rigas Z. (2-2) was upset on the court of twenty third ranked Croatian Dubrava (2-1) 86-74 on Tuesday. Dubrava made 25-of-29 free shots (86.2 percent) during the game. The best player for the winners was guard Lovro Gnjidic (197-2001) who had a double-double by scoring 13 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. American guard John-Michael Wright (185-2001, college: OK State) chipped in 16 points and 5 assists. Five Dubrava players scored in double figures. Dubrava's coach used an eleven-player rotation and allowed the starting five to rest. point guard Justin Wright-Foreman (183-1997, college: Hofstra) produced 32 points and 5 rebounds and forward Janis Berzins (201-1993) added 16 points and 7 rebounds respectively for the guests. Dubrava moved-up to third place, which they share with 3 other teams. Loser Rigas Z. dropped to the fifth position with two games lost. They share it with 4 other teams. Dubrava will meet Olomoucko (#25) on the road in the next round which should be an easy win for them. Rigas Z. will have a break next round.
Top scorers:
Dubrava: W.John-Michael 16+4reb+5ast, K.Kristijan 15+4reb+1ast, G.Lovro 13+11reb+7ast, S.Cody 12+1reb+3ast, P.Matej 10+8reb, S.Emir 9+5reb+2ast
Rigas Z.: F.Frankie 32+5reb+1ast, J.Berzins 16+7reb+1ast, S.Rolands 6+1reb, V.Juris 6+3ast, D.Viksne 4+4reb, R.Macoha 4+3reb+3ast

Tindastoll - Manchester 100-96

Everything could happen in Sauoarkrokur at the game between two tied teams. Both thirteenth ranked Icelandic Tindastoll and 14th ranked British Manchester had identical 2-1 record. This time Tindastoll used a home court advantage and beat the opponent from Manchester 100-96 on Tuesday night. Tindastoll made 22-of-27 free shots (81.5 percent) during the game. Tindastoll outrebounded Manchester 35-22 including a 26-15 advantage in defensive rebounds. The best player for the winners was American point guard Dedrick Basile (178-1994, college: CSUB) who scored 23 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists. Serbian Ivan Gavrilovic (205-1996) chipped in a double-double by scoring 28 points and 11 rebounds (on 14-of-16 shooting from the field). Four Tindastoll players scored in double figures. Guard Lovro Gnjidic (197-2001) produced 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists and Kayne Henry-McCalla (202-1999, college: Jax State) added 21 points (on 7-of-8 shooting from the field) respectively for the guests. Tindastoll (3-1) moved-up to eleventh place, which they share with Sigal Prishtina. Loser Manchester dropped to the fifth position with two games lost. They share it with 4 other teams. Tindastoll will have a break next round, and it should allow them to practice more before next game. Manchester will play against Sigal Prishtina (#11) and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Tindastoll: G.Ivan 28+11reb, B.Dedrick 23+7reb+9ast, B.Taiwo 22+2reb, G.Davis 12+3reb+1ast, D.Adomas 6+2reb+1ast, A.Julius 5+2reb+4ast
Manchester: K.Henry-McCalla 21+1reb+1ast, S.PJay 20+5reb+5ast, K.Cleary 19+3reb+1ast, T.Adetukasi 10+1ast, M.Jones 9+3reb+2ast, K.Carey 8+2reb

Iraklis - Spartak Pleven 72-69

Important game to mention about took place in Thessaloniki. Top-ranked Greek Iraklis (3-0) saved a 3-point victory at home edging 20th ranked Bulgarian Spartak Pleven (2-2) 72-69 on Wednesday evening. Americans were the main players on the court. The winners were led by point guard Justin Wright-Foreman (183-1997, college: Hofstra) who scored that evening 24 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists and forward DJ Funderburk (208-1997, college: NC State) supported him with 15 points and 5 rebounds. Iraklis' coach allowed to play the deep bench players in such tough game. Even 20 points and 6 rebounds (perfect from the field making all nine shots !!!) by center Noel Brown (211-2000, college: St.Bonaventure) did not help to save the game for Spartak Pleven. Forward Kavaughn Scott (201-1998, college: Loyola, MD) added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the guests. Iraklis have a solid three-game winning streak. They moved-up to second place, which they share with Weissenfels and Opava. Spartak Pleven at the other side dropped to the fifth position with two games lost. They share it with 4 other teams. Both teams do not play next round, which will be an opportunity for some rest.
Top scorers:
Iraklis: W.Justin 24+8reb+7ast, F.DJ 15+5reb, S.Chris 11+4reb, D.Zaccheus 9+6reb, M.Dimitris 5+3reb+7ast, W.Lance 4+5reb
Spartak Pleven: N.Brown 20+6reb+2ast, M.Rusev 17+4reb+2ast, K.Scott 14+10reb+1ast, M.Sotirov 9+5reb+1ast, J.Lewis 3+4reb+2ast, N.Titkov 2+2reb+2ast