Eurobasket 2009 qualifying: Big wins for Bulgaria, Turkey
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 The four qualifying groups for Eurobasket 2009 are at least at the halfway point after another set of action-packed games on Wednesday. Euroleague and Eurocup stars remained at the forefront of the day's eight games, which saw only two teams remain undefeated. Latvia pounded winless Portugal 79-43 to stay perfect in Group B, while Turkey whipped France 77-65. BC Triumph guard Kerem Tunceri led five Turkish scorers in double figures with 16 points. Meanwhile Ibrahim Jaaber kept Bulgaria hot on Serbia's heels in Group A by leading his team to a 102-90 win over Finland. The Virtus Roma guard with 29 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Italy bounced back from back-to-back losses by beating Hungary 75-68. In Group D, Great Britain bested Bosnia-Herzegovina 82-74 and the Czech Republic outclassed Israel 91-70 behind 20 points apiece from Unicaja guard Jiri Welsch and CEZ Nymburk big man Petr Benda. So far all six games in Group D have gone to the home team. In other games, Real Madrid power forward Jeremiah Massey posted 20 points and 10 rebounds as F.Y.R. of Macedonia beat Estonia 78-90 and Belgium picked up its first win by topping Ukraine 72-61.
 In Group A, Ibrahim Jaaber kept Bulgaria hot on Serbia's heels by leading his team to a 102-90 win over Finland. Jaaber shined with 29 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists for Bulgaria, which improved to 4-2. Finland dropped to 2-3. Serbia sits in first in the group at 4-1. Bulgaria hosts Serbia in the Group A finale on September 20. Bulgaria raced out to an early lead, but new Maroussi signing Shawn Huff led Finland to a 46-47 halftime lead. However Jaaber came alive with half the points in a 16-0 third-quarter charge that set the stage for the Bulgaria win. Dejan Ivanov scored 18 points and Lukoil Akademic forward Todor Stoykov added 16 among five Bulgarian scorers in double figures. Huff paced Finland with 26 points and 7 rebounds. Italy bounced back from back-to-back losses by beating Hungary 75-68. Italy avenged a surprise loss to Hungary two weeks ago and matched its opponent at 2-4 in the standings. Armani Jeans Milano guard Massimo Bulleri’s jumper broke a 57-57 tie with six minutes to go and two more baskets by Andrea Crosariol of Air Avellino ignited a 16-4 charge that put Hungary away. Giuseppe Poeta led Italy with 15 points, Air Avellino guard Daniele Cinciarini scored 13 and Valerio Amoroso posted 12 points and 10 rebounds. Istvan Nemeth led Hungary with 19 points. Latvia remained perfect in Group B by blasting winless Portugal 79-43 to close in on a spot at the European championships next summer. Latvia is now 3-0 and will face second placed FYROM is a key encounter on Saturday. Andris Biedrins led the way for Latvia with 21 points and 12 rebounds, Janis Blums of iurbentia Bilbao Basket added 16 and Kristaps Valters had 15 points and 5 assists for the winners. Carlos Andrade led Portugal with 15. FYROM scored a key road win at Estonia 78-90 to move into sole possession of second place in the group. Five different players scored for F.Y. R. of Macedonia in a 4-14 third quarter charge that broke the game open and gave the visitors a 37-46 halftime lead, from which Estonia never recovered. Real Madrid power forward Jeremiah Massey led FYROM with 20 points and 10 rebounds, Todor Gecevski of KK Zadar added 18 and 9 and Pero Antic and Vrbica Stefanov netted 13 points apiece for the winners, now 2-1. Gregor Arbet led Estonia with 18 points and Kristjan Kangur posted 17 points and 8 boards. Estonia is now 1-2.
 Turkey secured its status as the team to beat in Group C by whipping France 77-65. Turkey improved to 3-0, while France lost its second straight and is 1-2. A well-balanced team that featured five Turkish scorers in double figures was too much for the French, despite the best efforts of Tony Parker. The France point guard scored 7 points in the last 75 seconds of the first half to keep his team within 38-35 at halftime, but Oguz Savas, Ender Arslan and Sinan Guler teamed up on a 10-0 third-quarter run that put the hosts up 56-41 and France never got within 10 the rest of the way. BC Triumph guard Kerem Tunceri led Turkey with 16 points, Fenerbahce Ulker center Savas had 15, Efes Pilsen teammates Kerem Gonlum and Arslan scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, and Hedu Turkoglu posted 10. Parker had 32 for France, which only had 4 assists as a team. Belgium picked up its first win by beating Ukraine 72-61. Belgium scored the first 10 points of the game and never looked back. Christophe Beghin paced the winners with 16 points, while Artur Drozdov netted a game-high 27 for Ukraine. In Group D, the home teams remained perfect as Great Britain and the Czech Republic recorded wins to improve to 2-1. The Czechs outclassed Israel 91-70 behind 20 points apiece from Unicaja guard Jiri Welsch and CEZ Nymburk big man Petr Benda. Welsch also recorded 8 assists and 5 rebounds. The Czechs controlled the glass 42-23 including 22 offensive rebounds. Hapoel Jerusalem's Guy Pnini led Israel with 22 points and Yotam Halperin of Olympiacos added 13. Great Britain and Bosnia were tied at 41-41 at halftime, but a 15-0 third-quarter run during which Luol Deng hit a pair of threes and Nate Reinking added another set the stage for the win. Luol Deng paced the Brits with 29 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists and Pops Mensah-Bonsu of DKV Joventut recorded 15 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. BC Kyiv's Kenan Bajramovic led Bosnia with 15 points and 8 boards.
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Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Euroleague.net
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