2003-04Top 16Round 1
March 04, 2004 CET: 20:10
Local time: 20:10 BASKETBALL CENTER DRAZEN PETROVIC

Tau Ceramica became the first road winner of the season in Zagreb on Thursday when it outlasted Cibona 72-78 after 40 minutes of intensity at the Drazen Petrovic Center. The victory moves Tau into a tie for first place in Group D with CSKA, while Cibona sits beside Olympiacos with one loss each after one game. Arvydas Macijauskas hit a three-pointer with 36 seconds left that settled a back-and-forth battle. Macijauskas had strong first and fourth quarters on his way to 18 points and 4 assists, while Luis Scola missed just one shot and finished with 18 as well. Kornel David was Tau's only other scorer in double digits with 17 points. For Cibona, Slaven Rimac and Adrija Zizic each finished with 20 points but no one else scored more than 8. Tau led throughout the first half, but Cibona came back in the third quarter thanks to Rimac and Zizic. Neither side shot the ball well, as Tau finished 4 of 15 from long range and Cibona, the Euroleague's leading three-point shooting team, made just 2 of 11 attempts.

Offensive ineptitude reigned supreme through the game's first 5 minutes as Cibona started off 0 for 10 from the field with 5 turnovers and Tau jumped out to a 0-9 lead behind Macijauskas's 4 points, 2 steals and an assist. Before things got ugly, Cibona ran off an 8-2 run as Rimac broke the ice with two baskets and Jurica Golemac scored 4 more to make it 8-13 in the 9th minute. Tau struggled to find the bottom of the net in the final minutes of the quarter, but their swarming defense gave them an 8-13 edge as Andres Nocioni missed a triple before the buzzer.

Scola gave Tau a boost to start the second quarter, scoring twice to push the guests' lead to 8-17. Cibona kept pace, making 4 straight free throws, but David scored 4 points of his own and Tau held a 14-23 lead in the 14th minute. Cibona, the Euroleague's top three-point shooting team didn't make their first three-poitner until Rimac ended the drought in the 15th minute. Rimac then scored on a layup and point guard Davor Kus knotted the score 25-25 immediately after entering the game. Tau finished the half with a 0-9 run that was cut off by Kus, whose 3 points made the score 28-34 at halftime.

The game tightend in the third as Rimac caught fire for Cibona. The guard finally found space in Tau's tight defense and led Cibona back in the opening minutes of the second half. Tau's offense stalled meanwhile as they couldn't knock down their three-point attempts. After Tau got Rimac under control, Cibona caught up at the end of the quarter thanks to an offesive outburst by Zizic who tied the score at 48-48 in the 27th minute of action. Scola kept Tau close with his effecitve shooting from the field and the free throw line, but a final basket by Kus gave Cibona a 53-52 lead at the quarter's end.

David brought Tau back into the lead, scoring from inside and outside in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Zizic answered, but Macijauskas drilled his first triple of the game for a 56-59 edge. Several lead changes followed but Tau built a 62-66 edge in the 35 minute after Jose Manuel Calderon burried a triple and David sank another jumper. Cibona knotted the game 68-68 moments later on back-to-back buckets by Josip Vrankovic, causing Tau to call a timeout. Tau outscored Cibona 3-7 in the minute after the timeout and Macijauskas' second triple gave the guests a 70-74 lead. Rimac answered for Cibona with a layup but it was too little, as Tau knocked down 4 straight free throws in the final minute of play to take a 72-78 victory.

Thursday, March 4, 2004
Euroleague.net
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Referees: COLUCCI, GENARO; SPIRIDONOS, LEONIDAS; ROCHA, FERNANDO; CAMPLIN, ANTON
Attendance: 5100
By Quarter1234
Cibona VIP8202519
Tau Ceramica13211826
End of Quarter1234
Cibona VIP8285372
Tau Ceramica13345278
Cibona VIP
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 KUS, DAVOR 20:45 7 3/6   1/1   1 1 2   1     1 2 7
6 RIMAC, SLAVEN 34:30 20 6/12 2/4 2/4 2 2 4 1 1 1   1 4 4 14
7 KRASIC, BARISA 2:15   0/1                   1     -2
8 ZIZIC, ANDRIJA 30:15 20 9/13   2/3 4 4 8     2   1 4 4 20
9 GOLEMAC, JURICA 20:15 8 3/7 0/1 2/2 2 2 4 2 1 2   1 4 2 5
11 STIMAC, ANDREJ 20:00 2 0/1 0/1 2/2 1 2 3   1 1     4 1  
12 MANCE, MARIJAN 11:15 2 1/2     1 1 2     2   1   1 1
15 POLJAK, JOSKO 7:30   0/2     2 2 4   1 2   1      
20 MARKOTA, DAMIR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
24 POPOVIC, MARKO 25:30 6 0/5 0/5 6/8 2 5 7 2 1 2     3 7 6
25 VRANKOVIC, JOSIP 27:45 7 3/5   1/2   2 2 1 2 2 1   2 2 8
33 UGRINOSKI, ALEKSANDAR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team                                
Totals 200:00 72 25/54 2/11 16/22 14 21 35 8 7 15 1 6 22 23 59
        46.3% 18.2% 72.7%
Head coach: ANZULOVIC, DRAZEN
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
Tau Ceramica
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 SCOLA, LUIS 33:45 18 7/8   4/4   3 3 3 1 5 1   4 3 19
5 NOCIONI, ANDRES 15:30 2 1/4 0/4   1 4 5     2     2 2 -2
7 MACIJAUSKAS, ARVYDAS 34:30 18 4/8 2/6 4/4   2 2 4 4 3   1 4 6 18
8 CALDERON, JOSE 17:30 5   1/2 2/2   1 1 4 1       3 1 8
9 VIDAL, SERGI 30:00 7 1/2 0/2 5/6   4 4 2 2       2 6 15
10 PRIGIONI, PABLO 22:45 3   1/1     1 1 3     1   2 1 7
16 BUESA, JAVIER DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 DAVID, KORNEL 24:30 17 6/10   5/6 1 3 4 1   2 3   4 3 17
21 SPLITTER, TIAGO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
51 BETTS, ANDY 21:30 8 4/5     1 4 5     1 1   2   10
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 78 23/37 4/15 20/22 3 23 26 17 8 13 6 1 23 22 93
        62.2% 26.7% 90.9%
Head coach: IVANOVIC, DUSKO
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

ANZULOVIC, DRAZEN
Cibona VIP
"It is a real pity that we didn't take two points because I think we had a good chance. We missed many layups and open shots and it continued during the whole game. They proved that they are one of the strongest teams and it was really tough to chase them. Anyway, nothing is over yet. We go from game to game as we have during the whole season."
IVANOVIC, DUSKO
Tau Ceramica
"This type of game you have to win without concern for playing well. What's more, it is always positive to begin with a road win, especially on a court so difficult as that of Cibona. Here, it is never easy to win and I am convinced that Cibona, at home, can beat any team. Tonight, our great defense was decisive. On offense, we weren't very accurate, but we made up for it well with our work on defense. We have taken an important step, but it is too early to talk about decisive advantages. There is a lot of basketball left to play."

Players

KUS, DAVOR
Cibona VIP
"We played catastrophic offense at the beginning of the game and that was the problem until the end. They played very tough on defense but we managed to answer it with the same kind of game. This is a big minus for us, but I think many unexpected results will happen until the end."
BETTS, ANDY
Tau Ceramica
"We are very happy to win on such a difficult court. We could tell a little that we were tired after the King's Cup in Seville, but we lasted well. The Top 16 is very strong, and each victory away from home increases your chances of qualifying later."
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