Eurobasket 2009 qualifying: Turkey, Latvia stay undefeated
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Eurobasket 2009 qualifying continued on Saturday with 16 teams in action that featured a host of Euroleague and Eurocup stars shining bright. Only two teams – Latvia in Group B and Turkey in Group C – remain undefeated, while Group D features four teams with 1-1 records. Serbia pulled into pole position in Group A by demolishing Italy 72-52 at home to improved its record to 4-1. Milos Vujanic of Efes Pilsen led the charge with 13 points. His Efes teammates – Ender Arslan and Kerem Gonlum – came up big in Turkey's 63-78 Group C win in Belgium. That group also provided the day's biggest surprise as Ukraine stunned France 78-77. Group B saw Latvia top Estonia 81-88 as Krstaps Janicenoks of Fortitudo Bologna and Andris Biedrins scored 25 points each. FYROM picked up its first win by blasting Portugal 85-48. In Group D, Great Britain handled the Czech Republic 87-68 and Bosnia-Herzegovina topped Israel 77-71.
In Group A, Serbia took over first place exclusively by demolishing Italy 72-52 at home. Serbia improved its record to 4-1 while Italy fell to 1-4. An 11-0 start to the game put Serbia in charge, and it's defense did the rest. The Serbs had spread the offense such that they had only two double-digit scorers, Milos Vujanic of Efes Pilsen with 13 points and Dusko Savanovic of Cajasol Seville with 12. Italy had only one, Giuseppe Poeta, with 14 points. Serbia had 12 more rebounds and assists, however, and limited Italy to poor shooting all game. Hungary got into the victory column with a dramatic 87-86 home win that stunned Bulgaria. Marton Fodor's three-pointer in the closing seconds won the game as Hungary improved to 2-3 while Bulgaria fell to 3-2. Istvan Nemeth led the winners with 19 points, while Fodor added 17 – they each connected on 4 triples. Dimitar Angelov had 21 points for Bulgaria. In Group B, Latvia stayed undefeated and took over first place by outlasting host Estonia 81-88. Latvia is 2-0 while Estonia fell to 1-1. Krstaps Janicenoks of Fortitudo Bologna was again the hero for Latvia with 25 points, matched by Andris Biedrins. Uvis Helmanis of BK Ventspils made the tip-in with 17 seconds left that secured the victory. Gert Kullamae paced Estonia with 16. FYROM picked up its first win by blasting Portugal 85-48 behind 23 points from Vrbica Stefanov and 13 from Riste Stefanov. Elvis Evora netted 15 for Portugal in defeat.
 In Group C, Ukraine sprung the upset of the day, outlasting mighty France 78-77 as Serhiy Lishchuk of Azovmash Mariupol led the way with 18 points. France had led by 8 points to open the final quarter, but Lishchuk's three-point play with 36 seconds left completed Ukraine's comeback for a victory. Rostyslav Krvych added 15 points in 18 minutes for the winners. France lost despite getting a combined 49 points from Tony Parker and Ronny Turiaf. Turkey now tops the group after handing winless Belgium a 63-78 beating. Turkey led by just 2 early in the fourth quarter, but six different Turkish scorers contributed in a 4-18 charge that put the game away. FC Barcelona forward Ersan Ilyasova led Turkey with 21 points and 9 rebounds, Ender Arslan of Efes Pilsen drilled 4 triples en route to 20 points, Hedu Turkoglu added 12 points and 5 assists and Kerem Gonlum also of Efes produced 10 points and 13 boards. Christophe Beghin led Belgium with 19 points and 10 boards. In Group D, homecourt proved true for both Great Britain and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The British picked up their first victory by trouncing Czech Republic 87-68, while Bosnia topped Israel 77-71. All four teams now have 1-1 records. For Great Britain, Pops Mensah-Bonsu of DKV Joventut had a huge double-double of 13 points, 16 rebounds, while Nate Reinking led the winners with 22 points. The Czechs got 17 points from Jiri Welsch of Unicaja. Later, BC Kyiv big man Kenan Bajramovic and Ivan Opacak scored 13 points apiece to lead Bosnia over Israel. Israel led late in the third quarter and cut the gap to 3 with 87 seconds to play, but a Bajramovic three ended Israel's hopes. Maccabi Tel Aviv's Yaniv Green and Lior Eliyahu scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, for Israel.
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Saturday, September 06, 2008
Euroleague.net
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