2009-10FinalsGame 2
Bizkaia Bilbao 76
Panellinios OPAP Athens 67
April 18, 2010 CET: 18:15
Local time: 18:15 FERNANDO BUESA ARENA
Renaldas Seibutis - Bizkaia Bilbao Basket celebrates - Finals 2010 Vitoria-Gasteiz

Bizkaia Bilbao Basket conquered third place in the 2009-10 Eurocup

Bizkaia Bilbao Basket conquered third place in the 2009-10 Eurocup and registered its best result ever in European club competitions by downing Panellinios Opap BC 76-67 in the Third Place game in Vitoria, Spain on Sunday. Bilbao rounded a solid Eurocup season by finishing third. Despite its back-to-back losses in Vitoria, Panellinios was fourth overall in the 2009-10 Eurocup. Both teams started this Eurocup season in the Qualifying Rounds, which gives even more credit to their amazing run in the competition. Alex Mumbru led the winners with 16 points. Eurocup MVP Marko Banic added 15, Chris Warren had 12, Ronnie Seibutis got 10 while Axel Hervelle pulled down 10 rebounds for Bilbao. Ian Vougioukas had 17 points for Panellinios while Rod Blakney added 11. A fast break layup by Seibutis gave Bilbao ignited an 8-0 run that Marko Banic capped with a long jumper for a 22-15 Bilbao lead early in the second quarter. Josh Davis struck twice from downtown in a 0-11 run that put Panellinios back ahead, 22-26. Vougioukas and Blakney allowed Panellinios to stay ahead, 35-39, at halftime. Bilbao improved its defense after the break and found a go-to guy in Janis Blums to regain the lead, 53-51, late in the third quarter. Banic stepped up early in the fourth period, allowing Bilbao to stay ahead until the final buzzer.

Panellinios head coach Ilias Zouros opted to use Georgios Kalaitzis in his team's starting lineup to guard Warren, who got Bilbao going with free throws. Blakney sank a baseline jumper, but a second-chance lineup by Jerome Moiso gave Bilbao a 4-2 lead. Panellinios switched often from a 2-3 zone to man-to-man defense, but Warren stepped up with a three-pointer. Devin Smith and Blakney both hit from downtown to put their team back ahead, 7-8. Vougioukas scored in the paint, but Panellinios already had 4 team fouls and could not play defense with the same intensity. Banic stepped up with a layup and Mumbru downed a triple from corner for a 12-10 Bilbao lead. Panellinios tried to open the court with Davis at power forward and Kostas Charalampidis as its new scoring reference. Hervelle and Vougioukas traded free throws and Blums gave Bilbao a 15-11 lead. Vougioukas provided a highlight with a big dunk and soon added a layup to tie the score. Ronnie Seibutis shined with a fast break layup off a steal to give Bilbao a 17-15 edge after 10 minutes.

Damir Markota struck from downtown early in the second quarter and Banic added a long jumper to make Panellinios call timeout at 22-15, after a 7-0 run. Manolis Papamakarios joined the three-point shootout, as Panellinios tried to use Djuro Ostojic to guard Banic. Paco Vazquez managed to stop Charalampidis, but Davis downed a key triple to force Bilbao to call timeout at 22-21. Davis insisted from downtown and Vassilis Xanthopoulos scored off a steal to cap a 0-11 run, good for a 22-26 Panellinios lead. Warren tried to change things with free throws, but Xanthopoulos bettered him with a triple. Banic sank a running hook and Warren downed one from beyond the arc to tie it at 29-29. Blakney shined with a fade-away jumper that Vougioukas followed with a layup-plus-foul to put their team back ahead, 29-34. Papamakarios capped a 0-7 run with a six-meter jumper. Mumbru stepped up for Bilbao with an acrobatic layup. Hervelle made free throws that Alekos Petroulas matched with a power layup. A floating layup by Mumbru fixed the halftime score at 35-39.

Kalaitzis buried a three-pointer immediately after the break, as Panellinios started to use longer possessions. Blakney soon sank a mid-range jumper to make it a 9-point game. Mumbru tried to change things with free throws and a layup by Banic got Bilbao as close as 39-44. Panellinios struggled to find open shots and a layup-plus-foul by Banic caused Panellinios to call timeout. Bilbao was all over the place on defense and a fast break layup by Seibutis tied it at 44-44, after a 9-0 run. Papamakarios shined with a no-look assist in traffic, feeding Vougioukas for an easy dunk. Markos Kolokas sank free throws, but a driving layup by Blums kept Bilbao within 46-48. Charalampidis nailed his trademark triple from the corner only to see Warren beat Panellinios's zone defense with a mid-range jumper. Mumbru scored again, as Bilbao was now its usual self on defense. Blums downed a three-pointer that completed its team's comeback, 53-51. Ostojic and Mumbru traded free throws and a layup by Banic got all Bilbao fans involved at 56-52. Papamakarios banked in a jumper, but foul shots by Blums kept Bilbao ahead 58-54 after 30 minutes.

Vazquez beat the shot clock with a rainbow three-pointer early in the fourth quarter, as the game turned into a physical battle. Kalaitzis buriVazquez beat the shot clock with a rainbow three-pointer early in the fourth quarter as the game turned into a physical battle. Kalaitzis buried a baseline jumper, as Bilbao tried to slow down the game tempo with Blums and Vazquez at the guards, opening the court to feed Banic down low. Vougioukas hit free throws, but Warren fed Banic for an easy layup, good for a 63-58 Bilbao lead with over six minutes left. Chris Owens made foul shots, but he didn't find much help around. Mumbru scored in the paint at the other end. Panellinios tried its best scoring lineup with Blakney and Charalampidis together on court, but Bilbao kept dominating the game with strong defense. Moiso followed free throws with a two-handed dunk that gave Bilbao a 69-63 lead with three minutes to go. Panellinios was not done, however, as Vougioukas shined with a backdoor layup that made Bilbao call timeout at 69-65. Mumbru hit foul shots with 1:06 left. More free throws by Seibutis and Javi Salgado sealed the outcome, 73-65, as the Bilbao players and fans earned the ability to go back home with a consolation win.

Axel Hervelle - Bizkaia Bilbao Basket - Finals 2010 Vitoria-Gasteiz - EC09
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Javier Gancedo, Eurocupbasketball.com, Vitoria, Spain
No results found.
Referees: DOZAI, SRDAN; VIATOR, EDDIE; LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT
Attendance: 5200 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Bizkaia Bilbao17182318
Panellinios OPAP Athens15241513
End of Quarter1234
Bizkaia Bilbao17355876
Panellinios OPAP Athens15395467
Bizkaia Bilbao
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 WARREN, CHRIS 28:03 12 1/4 2/5 4/4       1   1     3 3 6
5 MOISO, JEROME 19:47 6 2/8   2/2 4 2 6       2   3 2 7
6 RODRIGUEZ, JAVI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 HAMPL, TOMAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 VAZQUEZ, PACO 13:05 3   1/3         1   1     2 1  
10 SEIBUTIS, RENALDAS 19:14 10 2/6 1/2 3/4 3 2 5 3 3 1   1 4 4 13
11 MARKOTA, DAMIR 12:28     0/1     3 3   1           3
13 BANIC, MARKO 20:13 15 7/11 0/1 1/1 1   1         1 4 4 10
14 SALGADO, JAVI 11:25 2   0/2 2/2   1 1 1   2       3 3
15 MUMBRU, ALEX 30:59 16 4/6 1/3 5/6 2   2 1   1     2 4 15
17 HERVELLE, AXEL 27:30 3 0/2 0/1 3/4 2 8 10 4 3   1 1 4 7 19
45 BLUMS, JANIS 17:16 9 1/1 1/4 4/4       1   1       4 10
Team           3 2 5               5
Totals 200:00 76 17/38 6/22 24/27 15 18 33 12 7 7 3 3 22 32 91
        44.7% 27.3% 88.9%
Head coach: KATSIKARIS, FOTIS
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
Panellinios OPAP Athens
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 XANTHOPOULOS, VASSILIS 8:51 5 1/1 1/1     1 1 2 1       5   4
5 PAPAMAKARIOS, MANOLIS 30:26 8 2/2 1/4 1/2   1 1 2 2 3     2 2 6
6 CHARALAMPIDIS, KOSTAS 16:18 5 0/2 1/3 2/2 1 1 2 1 1       3 2 4
7 KALAITZIS, GEORGIOS 21:35 5 1/1 1/2   1 2 3 3   5     4 1 2
8 OWENS, CHRIS 21:37 2 0/1 0/1 2/2   5 5 1 1 2     3 3 5
9 SMITH, DEVIN 12:19 3 0/1 1/1     1 1           1   2
10 PETROULAS, ALEKOS 6:16 2 1/1                         2
12 BLAKNEY, RODERICK 25:59 11 3/6 1/1 2/2   2 2 2         5 3 10
14 DAVIS, JOSHUA 8:25 6 0/2 2/2                   1   3
15 VOUGIOUKAS, IAN 29:30 17 6/10   5/7   3 3 1   4 3 3 4 7 14
16 OSTOJIC, DJURO 10:28 1     1/2 1 4 5           2 2 5
17 KOLOKAS, MARKOS 8:16 2 0/1 0/1 2/2       1 1 1     2 2 1
Team             3 3               3
Totals 200:00 67 14/28 8/16 15/19 3 23 26 13 6 15 3 3 32 22 61
        50% 50% 78.9%
Head coach: ZOUROS, ILIAS

Head Coaches

KATSIKARIS, FOTIS
Bizkaia Bilbao
"I take away two main things from this victory, the feeling from our fans and the professionalism of our players. It was a hard game to play for us. The players were drained after yesterday's game, and all the emotions involved. The team was disappointed about that, and we had problems at our point guard position today. We played good defense, with the right attitude. It's difficult to ask such effort after less than 24 hours. And with that, we leave these finals, but it was a big experience for the players, our club and our fans. Continuing like this, with patience and hard work, we can become a big club one day in the near future. We're on a good path, and I'm optimistic that with hard work and everything going well, we can be in the Eurocup Finals again."

"We have mixed emotions. First, yesterday, we didn't play well, had lots of problems, but even so had options to win in the last minutes. On the other hand, I am happy with the reaction of the team and the fans. Today, we were much more competitive. We leave here thinking that we need that same spirit moving into the final stretch of our domestic season, the five regular season games we have. We have to keep fighting."
ZOUROS, ILIAS
Panellinios OPAP Athens
"First of all, congratulations to Bilbao for their victory. We faced a problem with Devin Smith, who was injured from yesterday and during the game injured one more time. So the doctor said he couldn't play. The same thing happened with Josh Davis. So we made the rotation with everybody else. We had a little lack of size because of that, but I believe we tried hard all the game and I am satisfied with my players. We came to the Eurocup Finals and gave everything. We continue with our job in the Greek League and we hope again to be in another finals round in the future."

"I would like to thank everybody here. Everything was perfect, the organization, journalists and everything. So before we go I would like to say thank to everybody who is here and likes basketball, just like we like basketball."

Players

BANIC, MARKO
Bizkaia Bilbao
"We were fully aware that it was really complicated to take part in the third place game. We showed we have a good team and even when we didn't make it to the semifinals, at least we managed to finish third. We have taken a step forward by finishing third and every team needs experience and be in this kind of situation to end up winning a big competition like the Eurocup. With the experience we gained, I am sure we will have the chance to lift trophies. We have five very important games in the Spanish League and need to get a playoff spot, which will not be easy. This win will help us to get in the right track and try to reach the playoffs."
HERVELLE, AXEL
Bizkaia Bilbao
he"I think that the keys to beat Panellinios were to play physical and intense throughout the entire game. We didn't slow down in defense but they played a good game. We are able to challenge there with the help of our fans, fight and managed to make the difference with free throw accuracy and the calmless we didn't have against Alba Berlin yesterday. I think we have had a good Eurocup season. This is a young club and this is our second semifinal in as many years. That means a lot and I hope that Bilbao will have the chance to win titles in upcoming years. We really deserve it."
MUMBRU, ALEX
Bizkaia Bilbao
"It is always better to finish third instead of fourth. We didn't play well last night and had to show we were a good team. We did so by winning the game and had to carry on growing as a team and club. We finished our semifinal at 23:00 last night, so playing at 18:00 tonight wasn't easy. We were ready to play, did a good job and managed to beat Panellinios. We have to go back to the Spanish League and have confidence to make it to the playoffs."
VOUGIOUKAS, IAN
Panellinios OPAP Athens
"From the Eurocup standpoint, it has been a fantastic season for Panellinios. Panellinios had never reached the semifinals in an European club competition, so we are happy about that. We are unhappy not to be able to come away with a win, but are not turning our attention to the Greek League and try to reach our goals. Bilbao played smart basketball and controlled the game. They are a good team and we knew that, because we have played against them twice this year. I guess they drew more fouls near the basket and were more calmed down. Being here was a very good experience and will remember this for the rest of my career. I hope to come back here one way. It is a very well-organized event and I had a lot of fun."
CHARALAMPIDIS, KOSTAS
Panellinios OPAP Athens
"It was very difficult for us to play this game after losing to Valencia yesterday. It was hard to be focused but we fought as much as we could. It is the end of a very nice trip we had in the Eurocup since October. I am proud of Panellinios and my teammates. It was great to be in Vitoria. Even when we didn't win, the big thing for us was being one of the best four teams in the Eurocup. We hope to be back next year."
PAPAMAKARIOS, MANOLIS
Panellinios OPAP Athens
"I think we played a very good game tonight but Bilbao has more experienced players and made the right choices at the right time. We missed Devin Smith, who left the game at halftime due to an injury. He is a very important player for us. I think that it has been a fantastic Eurocup season for Panellinios. If somebody had said in the beginning of the season that Panellinios would be in the Eurocup Finals, even losing our two games to be fourth, nobody would have believed him. We had chances to win the game, but faced teams with bigger budgets and resources. Being here for a big success for us."