Serbia, Bulgaria open qualifying with wins
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 Serbia got its EuroBasket 2009 qualifying round started on the right foot with a big 64-78 road win against Italy on Wednesday in Cagliari. A 2-24 run that started late in the third quarter proved the difference for the winners in their first game under legendary coach Dusan Ivkovic. Milos Vujanic of Efes Pilsen led Serbia with 16 points, while Partizan Belgrade forward Novica Velickovic had a double-double of 15 points, 11 rebounds. Marco Mordente of Armani Jeans Milano poured in 18 points for Italy. Bulgaria also started strong, with a 89-71 home victory in Sofia over Hungary in the team's first official win under new head coach Pini Gershon. Ibrahim Jaabar led Bulgaria with 23 points, while Filip Videnov had 15, all on three-pointers. Bulgaria led by double digits in the first half, but found its lead eclipsed when a triple by Istvan Nemeth gave Hungary a 57-58 edge in the third quarter. Jaaber answered with a triple of his own, and Bulgaria soared again to leads as high as 21 points in the final quarter. All games were in Group A, where Finland was off. Three other groups with a total of 12 teams begin play on September 3.
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Thursday, August 21, 2008
Euroleague.net
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