 CEZ Nymburk Basketball edged Uxue Bilbao Basket 83-85 on the road Wednesday night, handing the Spanish side its first Eurocup defeat of the 2012-13 campaign. The Czech champs recovered from a late Bilbao surge to ice the win on free throws by Radoslav Rancik. The big man paced Nymburk with 30 points and 7 rebounds, while Drew Naymick provided 20 points and 7 rebounds. Jiri Welsch added 12 points and 6 assists and Miljan Pavkovic netted 10 for the winners. Alex Mumbru led five Bilbao scorers in double figures with 13 points. Lamont Hamilton added 12, Raul Lopez and Kostas Vasiliadis scored 11 each and Milovan Rakovic 10.
The first quarter began in low-scoring fashion, consisting of an Axel Hervelle two-pointer for Bilbao and a Rancik triple for Nymburk as the only baskets in the opening two minutes. Nymburk's primary offense came from beyond the arc, as Welsch and Pavkovic joined Rancik in sinking three-pointers. Bilbao would not allow its opponent pull away, however, and the quarter ended 17-19. Rakovic came alive in the second quarter with 8 points, including two baskets via Roger Grimau assists, to bring the men in black to life. The hosts took their first lead since the opening basket when Adrien Moerman hit a three-pointer, 36-34. Petr Benda's free throws added symmetry to the halftime scoreline: The game went into the break tied at 36-36.
A prolific scoring spell by Naymick that involved layups, dunks and free throws edged his team into the lead, 45-48, midway through the third quarter. Newly signed guard Demond Carter showed off his rebounding and assist-providing continuously in the quarter, as the visiting team began to pull further ahead. Vasiliadis and Lopez made shots from behind the arc to keep Bilbao in touch, but these dried up by the end of the quarter. Nymburk hit the last basket of the half, from three-point range, through Lukas Palyza to make it 53-63. Bilbao rallied with 8 unanswered points early in the fourth quarter. Nymburk sprang back into action, and a series of six successful visits to the free throw line for Rancik in the space of a minute re-established the lead for the visitors.Rancik hit hit a triple for his 25th points of the game a couple of minutes later, keeping Bilbao at bay until a fantastic finale: Mumbru sent down a three-pointer, Lopez collected a defensive rebound and scored on the fast break, then Vasiliadis put Bilbao 80-79 ahead from the charity stripe. There was room for one final twist, as Rancik hit the triple that put Nymburk definitively on the road to an 83-85 win.
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
Eurocupbasketball.com
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