Venice makes history, grabs road win in Nancy

Umana Reyer Venice grabbed its first-ever Eurocup road win by downing SLUC Nancy 62-71 in France on Wednesday. Venice improved to 4-3 in Group C while Nancy dropped to 1-6. Mike Bramos and Benjamin Ortner led the winners with 12 points. Andy Panko had 21 points for Nancy while Randal Falker added 11 and 13 rebounds for the hosts. Venice opened the game with a 0-7 run and boosted its margin to 15-27 behind an inspired Ortner. Back-to-back triples by Bramos and Jeff Viggiano soon made it a 14-point game, 22-36. Panko, Flo Pietrus and Falker fueled a 12-0 run but Mike Green hit 4-of-4 free throws for a 34-40 Venice lead at halftime. Panko had 5 points in a 7-0 run which gave Nancy its only lead of the game, 41-40. Goss and Bramos stepped up or the guests to keep Venice ahead, 49-54, at the end of the third quarter. Back-to-back triples by Viggiano and another one by Michele Ruzzie broke the game open, 55-67, as Nancy never recovered.

Phil Goss and Josh Owens combined for all points in 0-7 opening run. Bandja Sy buried a three-pointer and a layup-plus-foul by Falker brought Nancy within 6-8. Hrvoje Peric and Sy exchanged baskets and Bramos struck from downtown for a 8-13 score. Falker and Panko stepped up with consecutive baskets but Peric and Green kept the guests ahead, 12-18. Venice found a new go-to guy in Ortner, who had 6 points late in the first quarter and got help from Jarrius Jackson to boost the guests' lead to 15-27 after 10 minutes. Falker banked in a one-handed floater early in the second quarter which Stefano Tonut erased with a driving layup. Benjamin Sene swished a six-meter jumper, as Nancy kept powering the offensive glass with Falker and Pietrus together on court. Sy and Bramos traded three-pointers and Viggiano joined the three-pointer shootout for a 22-36 Venice lead. Sene hit a mid-range jumper, Falker scored again and a corner triple by Panko made the guests call timeout at 29-36. Panko downed a jumper and Pietrus sank a catch-and-shoot three-pointer which capped a 12-0 run for a 34-36 score. Free throws by Green restored a 34-40 Venice lead at halftime.

Derwin Kitchen found his first points immediately after the break and Panko followed a triple from the right win with a jump hook to give Nancy its first lead, 41-40. Venice went scoreless for more than 3 minutes until Goss struck from downtown. Kitchen hit a one-handed jumper in the lane but Bramos improved that with a corner triple and found Goss for a fast break layup that made the hosts call timeout at 43-48. Pietrus shined with a tip-in but Peric and Bramos soon made it a seven-point game, 45-52. Sene banked in a floater and Pietrus added free throws but a layup by Ortner gave Venice a 49-54 edge after 30 minutes. Ortner shined with a power layup early in the fourth quarter which Panko bettered with a corner triple. Owens scored down low and Viggiano buried consecutive three-pointers that boosted the guests' lead to 55-64 with under 6 minutes left. Ruzzier joined the three-point shootout and even when Panko stepped up with back-to-back baskets, Ortner kept the guests way ahead, 59-69. Nancy struggled to score when it mattered most and even when Panko got the hosts as close as 62-69 with a minute left, it was already too little, too late for the hosts.