Qualifying Round B, Game 2 report: Ural Great 57-69 BC FMP
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 BC FMP didn't give Ural Great much of a chance, beating the hosts 57-69 for a 20-point aggregate victory to advance to the Eurocup Regular Season. FMP took the lead in the middle of the first quarter and never let it go, playing tough defense that forced Ural Great into a disastrous 16 of 58 from the field and 2 of 22 from three-point land. Just like in the first-leg game in Zeleznik, Ural Great couldn't stop star forward Dragan Labovic, who scored 19 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Nemanja Protic matched Labovic's offensive contribution with 19 points of his own, while Predrag Samardziski came off the bench to add 8 points and 10 rebounds for the guests. Darius Washington led Ural Great with 17 points, Fedor Likholitov posted 11 points and 2 blocks and Vanja Plisnic chipped in with 10 points. FMP goes on to the regular season to compete in Group G together with Pamesa Valencia of Spain, Artland Dragons of Germany and Italy’s Fortitudo Bologna.
FMP opened best, as Labovic nailed a triple to give the guests a 2-5 lead. An aggressive Likholitov forced Miroslav Raduljica into early foul trouble, and after he and Alexey Surovtsev combined for 5 from the line for Ural Great, Labovic made another bucket to even it a 7-7. Protic stepped up for the guests with three layups in a span of three minutes and finished the first quarter by splitting two from the line to put FMP ahead 13-17. Protic continued to dominate at the start of the second quarter, forcing Sergey Chernov to foul him twice and he hit all 4 free throws. Then Pedja Stamenkovic and Nikola Markovic added a bucket each, before Labovic made a basket-and-a-foul to cap the huge 0-14 run. Ural Great head coach Roman Dvinyaninov was forced to call for a timeout with the scoreboard showing 13-28 and a disastrous 2 of 21 shooting for the hosts. Though FMP expanded the lead to 15-32, Ural Great finally found its rhythm, as Plisnic came off the bench to immediately hit one from downtown and spark a 16-4 surge. Plisnic and Vashington combined for 14 of those 16 points to cut FMP's lead to 32-26, before Raduljica hit one from the line to make it 32-37 at halftime.
The second half started with an exchange of missed shots before Washington made two from the line for Ural Great, but FMP scored the next 7 points to put the lead back at double digits, 34-44. A Ural Great timeout didn't seem to help much, as Samardziski scored his sixth point of the period and Labovic added a jump shot to expand it to 35-50 and give FMP a combined 23-point lead with 13:46 left on the clock. Washington made 6 points to give the spectators in Perm renewed hope, but the unstoppable Labovic hit a buzzer-beater at the other end to make it 46-59 with 10 minutes to go. The fourth quarter was no different from the rest of the game, as Ural Great once again struggled to hit anything, while a Filip Covic triple and another layup from Potic put FMP up 46-64 with six minutes to go. Ural Great found strength for one last 9-0 run, but Covic and Protic made sure FMP wouldn't collapse. Symbolically, it was Labovic who hit the last shot of the game and the series, leading FMP to an impressive 57-69 road victory and advancement to Eurocup regular season.
QUOTES
Ural Great head coach Roman Dvinyaninov
"We did not carry out the gameplan that we intended. Our plays were broken in the middle and did not reach the logical completion. Everything we accomplished in practice did not happen in the game. I do not know why. We reduced the deficit when we pressed, but we could not do that all game. In summation, we did not have control of the game."
FMP head coach Slobodan Klipa
"We could not allow ourselves to lose by more than 7 points and in the end we won. I am very happy about the fact that we beat a good, experienced rival. During the game, we improved our play and they acted well tactically. Our zone defense helped us a lot."
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Eurocupbasketball.com
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