2005-06Regular SeasonRound 9
January 05, 2006 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 FERNANDO BUESA ARENA
Tau Ceramica reasserted its power in Group A by blasting to a 94-73 victory at home over Zalgiris Kaunas, who had held first-place exclusively before the game but had to share it with two other teams after. A good first quarter by Tau set the pace as Zelgiris never led nor managed to mount a serious comeback. The win lifts Tau to first place of the group, even though it is part of a three-way tie with Zalgiris and Benetton, all with 6-3 records. Luis Scola led Tau with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Travis Hansen added 18 points, making 4 of 6 triples. Kornel David nailed 16 points and pulled 9 rebounds while Casey Jacobsen added 10 points and Pablo Prigioni dished 10 assists for Tau. Tanoka Beard was once again the best man for Zalgiris with 17 points. Darjus Lavrinovic added 12 with 13 rebounds, Reggie Freeman 11 and Paulius Jankunas 10.

Although Ed Cota got Zalgiris going, Tau needed less than a minute to get ahead with an 8-0 run in which Pablo Prigioni shined. Even when Tanoka Beard made free throws and Reggie Freeman hit a three-pointer, the hosts even widened the gap to 16-7 midway through the first period due to a couple of baskets by Kornel David, as well as a pair of fast break dunks by Hansen and Jacobsen. Zalgiris coach Antanas Sireika stopped the game with a timeout, but Splitter scored 6 points in a row for a 22-11 lead after 6 minutes. Zalgiris also made deep changes in its roster, replacing Jankunas, Cota and Ayuso with Lavrinovic, Simonas Serapinas and Vidas Ginevicius, but that new look was not enough to make things change quickly. It was Beard's basket-plus-foul which fueled a slight reaction which brought Zalgiris within 28-19 after 10 minues.

Serapinas fueled the Zalgiris comeback with a couple of free throws, as Ukic and Jankunas exchanged baskets for a 30-23 score. Zalgiris' zone defense seemed to put the hosts in trouble, as Tau's perimeter found nothing but the rim from outside. Zalgiris' offense was not brilliant either, but Lavrinovic managed to bury a three and Serapinas brought the guests within 32-28 with a fast break layup. Tau reacted pretty quickly thanks to Serkan Erdogan and Scola, who returned an 11-point lead at 39-28 midway through the second quarter. The game went crazy at that point, as both teams started to play an aggressive and fast basketball that led to a 43-34 score after 18 minutes. This kind of run-and-gun game benefited Tau, that closed the half with back-to-back threes by Hansen and Jacobsen to get a 14-point lead, 54-40, at the break.

Another three-pointer by Hansen opened the third quarter by giving to give Tau 17-point lead. But Zalgiris didn't panic as Beard and Cota kept pushing to reduce the gap to 59-46 after 22 minutes. Hansen came to the rescue again with back-to-back threes that increased the lead even more, to 66-48, midway through the third period. When David blocked a shot by Beard, it was a clear example of the visitors' frustrations. Zalgiris tried zone defense, but nothing worked as Sergi Vidal and Roko-Leni Ukic broke it with back-to-back three-pointers as Tau cruised to a 77-58 margin after 30 minutes.

A new 6-2 Tau run to start the last quarter made things even clearier. Zalgiris tried another timeout with 7:30 toplay and 83-60 on the board, but it was already too late for the guests. Tau kept increasing the gap step by step. First, it was a fastbreak layup by Scola. Later, there was a free throw by Vidal and then back-to-back baskets from David as Zalgiris continued wasting the ball in offense. That gave Tau a 30-point lead, 92-62, for the first time in the game, with more than 4 minutes to the end. With the outcome beyond doubt, Zalgiris took advantage of the remaining time to reduce the difference as the game ended with Tau's 94-73 win.
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Natxo Mendaza, Vitoria
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Referees: PITSILKAS, NIKOLAOS; CEREBUCH, GUERRINO; ROCHA, FERNANDO; ORTIZ DE ZÁRATE, JOSÉ MANUEL
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz28262317
Zalgiris19211815
End of Quarter1234
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz28547794
Zalgiris19405873
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 SCOLA, LUIS 27:00 19 7/12   5/6 2 7 9 3 2 2 1   4 3 25
5 PRIGIONI, PABLO 23:45 8 2/3 1/2 1/2   1 1 10 2       1 3 20
6 HANSEN, TRAVIS 23:45 18 3/3 4/6     1 1   1   1   1 1 19
9 VIDAL, SERGI 20:45 7 1/2 1/1 2/4   3 3 2 4 1     1 4 15
10 UKIC, ROKO 16:15 5 1/4 1/2   1   1 2   2     1   1
11 ERDOGAN, SERKAN 12:45 3   1/3                   1    
14 DROBNJAK, PREDRAG 8:30   0/2     1 1 2   1 3   1 1   -4
15 GRIMAU, JORDI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
16 GARCIA, OSCAR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 DAVID, KORNEL 28:45 16 6/11   4/4 1 8 9   3 2 1 2 3 2 19
21 SPLITTER, TIAGO 16:00 8 3/6   2/7       1 1   1   5 4 2
23 JACOBSEN, CASEY 22:30 10 1/2 2/3 2/2   1 1   2 2   1 1 1 8
Team           1   1     1          
Totals 200:00 94 24/45 10/17 16/25 6 22 28 18 16 13 4 4 19 18 105
        53.3% 58.8% 64%
Head coach: PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Zalgiris
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 GINEVICIUS, VIDAS 20:15 3   1/2 0/2   2 2 1 2 6     2 1 -2
5 FREEMAN, REGGIE 21:00 11 2/3 2/3 1/2           1     1 1 7
6 BEARD, TANOKA 23:15 17 7/12 0/1 3/5 3 2 5 4 1 3   3 2 5 16
7 LAVRINOVIC, DARJUS 28:00 12 3/7 1/3 3/5 1 12 13 1 1 2 3   2 6 24
8 MACIULIS, JONAS 24:30 8 3/6 0/2 2/2 1 2 3   1 2   1 3 2 3
10 COTA, ED 25:45 4 2/6 0/1   1 3 4 2   3     2    
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 25:00 10 5/9 0/1   3 2 5     5 1   5 2 3
14 SILINSKIS, DARIUS 3:45                              
15 SERAPINAS, SIMONAS 17:45 4 1/1 0/1 2/3   1 1 1 2       1 2 7
23 AYUSO, LARRY 10:45 4 2/3               1         2
Team           2 1 3   1           4
Totals 200:00 73 25/47 4/14 11/19 11 25 36 9 8 23 4 4 18 19 64
        53.2% 28.6% 57.9%
Head coach: SIREIKA, ANTANAS
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz
"It's been a game in which we played with tons of energy, with intense desire of forgetting our last two defeats on the road. We didn't lower our intensity in the third quarter, but we even managed to increase the difference after halftime. Winning was very important tonight, as well as do it by a high margin, as we managed to get in the end. We gave some rest to our starting five because we have to play another game in 48 hours. I got a bit surprised because they stopped pushing hard too early, especially because they are a team that uses to start the games in not a very good way, but they always react later. We performed a very good defense, concentrated and aggressive, and that was the key of the game."
SIREIKA, ANTANAS
Zalgiris
"Congratulations to Tau. We were the leaders of the group before the game and maybe it was not good for us to feel that pressure. We could not practice together in the last days and that was harmful for us. We could not compete tonight because we committed as many as 23 turnovers, and that's a suicide especially against a team like Tau, that is fighting for the first place of the group. We tried to rally, but we find the mission impossible. Tau played too good to beat them tonight."

Players

DAVID, KORNEL
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz
"It was a very important game. Zalgiris is a hard contender in the Euroleague but we fought very hard tonight and played a very good game. I'm happy because I play several minutes, but it's tough for everybody because we have a powerful frontcourt and it's not easy to play a lot, but tonight it was time for me. We stole many balls tonight and I think that was one of the keys of the game."
JANKUNAS, PAULIUS
Zalgiris
"The game was very bad for us, and I don't know exactly why. We played a weak defense and let them try too many open shots and three-pointers. But, in the end, it's only a game, and there are a lot of games left so we have to think only of winning the next ones. I don't think the holidays were harmful for us because we worked hard in the last days."
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