What could have been one Group K team's crowning moment turned into another's revival on Tuesday as KK Buducnost blew away Banvit BK of Turkey after halftime en route to a 83-73 victory at home in Podgorica, Montenegro. With the win, Buducnost took over second place despite being tied at 2-2 with Banvit, which had won their first game a week ago by just 7 points. Another Banvit victory on Tuesday would have sent it the quarterfinals and taken along first-place Spartak St. Petersburg, too, but Buducnost had other ideas. Tied 47-47 shortly after halftime, Buducnost went on a 19-6 run to end the third quarter and take control of the game and the tie-break advantage between the teams with two games left in the Last 16. Bojan Dubljevic paced the winners with 24 points and 10 rebounds. He gave way to Jermaine Anderson, who scored 12 of his 16 in the 7 minutes after halftime. Nikola Ivanovic also had 16, providing a high fourth-quarter lead of 77-61. And Cedomir Vikovac added 11 for Buducnost. Banvit got 18 points from Chuck Davis, 12 from Lance Williams and 10 from Kieth Simmons but was outrebounded 35 to 25 and missed half of its 20 free throws, which could prove even more costly when this group's second quarterfinals spot is decided in two weeks.
Four different Banvit scorers gave the visitors a quick 4-8 lead after tipoff before Dubljevic lit his fuse with 7 points in a row to put Buducnost up for the first time at 11-10. Davis canned a three-pointer for a 13-13 tie as Banvit stayed close despite Dubljevic soaring to 11 points in the game's first 8 minutes. Two more ties ended at 17-17, when Milan Milosevic and Hasan Rizvic sent Buducnost to a 22-17 advantage, but Banvit reeled it back in with a triple by Kalin Lucas and Serkan Erdogan's first basket to end the first quarter 24-22 in favor of the hosts. Buducnost matched its earlier five-point lead with a triple from veteran Bojan Krstovic and then pushed it to 37-28 as Ivanovic hit 3 free throws and a three-point shot in the span of 45 seconds. Dubljevic returned to make it a double-digit difference, 38-28, before Davis and Simmons shot Banvit back in it, 42-37, from long distance. Kenan Bajramovic and Lance Williams completed the visitors' 4-14 comeback run that was cut short by the halftime buzzer with Buducnost clinging to a 44-43 lead.
Anderson boosted Buducnost's advantage with a three-pointer to open the second half and then tried to break the game open himself, with another strike from downtown after a layup to suddenly make it 54-47. He and his team were not done, either. Another layup and free throws gave Anderson 12 points in less than 7 minutes, before Dubljevic reappeared to restore Buducnost's double-digit lead at 60-49. He and Vitkovac split the last 6 points of the third quarter, which Buducnost won 22-10 to take a commanding 66-53 advantage after 30 minutes. Keith Simmons and Williams scored 4 quick points in the final quarter, trying to mount another Banvit comeback, but Dubljevic blasted his third triple. Soon, when Ivanovic hit his second and third back-to-back on assists from Anderson, Buducnost had the game's biggest lead, 77-61. Now Banvit, which could have qualified with a win, was fighting for survival as its seven-point win from their first game in Bandirma, Turkey was more than doubled by Buducnost with just 5 minutes left. Buducnost let its foot off the gas pedal offensively, but locked down its defense, allowing Banvit just 2 free throws over 4 minutes to lead 83-66. Banvit woke up late with a three-pointer by Simmons highlighting a 0-10 last-minute run to make it 83-73, but it wasn't enough to keep Buducnost from taking the upper hand with two games left in Group K.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Eurocupbasketball.com