2015-16Last 32Round 1
January 06, 2016 CET: 15:00
Local time: 17:00 KRISTALL ARENA
Travis Peterson - Avtodor Saratov - EC15 (photo Avtodor Saratov)

Avtodor Saratov outlasts Hapoel in high-scoring thriller

Avtodor Saratov’s high-octane offense opened Group H play of the Last 32 with a thrilling 105-96 victory at home over Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem. There were 27 lead changes and 18 ties before Avtodor used a 13-0 fourth quarter run to decide the game. Travis Peterson had a monster double-double of 29 points and 14 rebounds to go with 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block for a ranking of 39 in the win. Jeremy Chappell nailed 5 three-pointers in scoring 21 points while Jeff Brooks had 11 points and 12 rebounds, Artem Klimenko and Paul Stoll both scored 11 points and Evgeny Kolesnikov added 10 points. Donta Smith poured in 29 points in the loss for Jerusalem while E.J. Rowland had 19 points, Yotam Halperin scored 14 points, Bar Timor added 13 points and Lior Eliyahu chipped in with 12 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in the defeat.

Peterson started the game on fire for Avtodor with the team’s first 12 points while the game went back and forth with 8 lead changes by the time he tied it at 12-12. Brooks scored Avtodor’s first points by someone other than Peterson to make it 14-12. Smith and Rowland both moved to 6 points in the quarter for Jerusalem, which was up 20-21. Artem Zabelin pushed Avtodor back ahead 25-23 before Timor’s three-ball and 4 points from Eliyahu opened the biggest lead of the game 25-30. Avtodor had evened it 30-30 before the end of the first quarter. Jerusalem hit the first 4 points of the second quarter but the game remained tight with Klimenko pushing Avtodor back ahead 36-34. Jerusalem reclaimed the lead and Matt Janning and Timor both nailed three-pointers for the guests after Avtodor had tied the game to lead 41-44. Chappell knotted the game again with a three-ball and Peterson’s 2 free throws were followed with a Klimenko basket to make it 48-44. Jerusalem twice got the gap to 1 point but Peterson scored 5 straight points as Avtodor pushed the lead out to 57-49. It was 57-51 at intermission.

Halperin and Smith hit three-pointers early in the second half but Stoll and Kolesnikov answered for the home team to remain up 65-59. Timor and Smith were on target again from long range as Jerusalem went on an 0-8 spurt to pull ahead 65-69. Avtodor stopped the run with the next 4 points but could not regain the lead until Peterson’s fast break layup to make it 75-73. Rowland’s free throws put Jerusalem ahead 75-77 and the lead switched hands on each of the final 7 scores of the quarter, which ended with Avtodor up 86-84 on Chappell’s fourth three-pointer. Jerusalem twice tied the game early on in the fourth quarter but Brooks and Chappell nailed three-balls to force a Jerusalem time out down 96-88. Kolesnikov added another three-pointer and Stoll’s steal and layup made it 101-88 with less than 5 minutes left – and another Jerusalem time out after the 13-0 run. Rowland and Smith both scored as the margin was down to 101-92 – and an Avtodor time out. Two Halperin free throws made it 101-94 before Denys Lukashov stopped the run after an offensive rebound and Stoll pushed the gap back to 11 points – 105-94 with 55 seconds to play to decide the game for good.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Eurocupbasketball.com
No results found.
Referees: SHULGA, BORIS; KOWALSKI, MARCIN; MAJKIC, MARIO
Attendance: 3500 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Avtodor Saratov30272919
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem30213312
End of Quarter1234
Avtodor Saratov305786105
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem30518496
Avtodor Saratov
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 STOLL, PAUL 29:00 11 3/4 1/7 2/2       8 3 2     3 4 14
7 LUKASHOV, DENYS 12:11 4 2/3     3 1 4 2 1 1     3 1 7
11 BEKKIEV, TAMIRLAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 KLIMENKO, ARTEM 18:56 11 5/6   1/1   1 1 2   3     4 5 11
19 FIDII, EVGENY 2:25 2 1/1     1   1               3
21 CHAPPELL, JEREMY 31:22 21 3/7 5/9   1 3 4 4 1 2     3 1 18
23 RUSETSKIY, IVAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
24 KOLESNIKOV, EVGENY 24:42 10 1/1 2/7 2/2 1 1 2 3   1     2 3 10
32 BROOKS, JEFF 36:18 11 4/7 1/2   7 5 12 3 2 1 1   1 1 24
35 ZABELIN, ARTEM 11:35 6 3/4     1   1     1 1   1   5
42 PETERSON, TRAVIS 33:31 29 6/10 3/9 8/8 3 11 14 3 2 3 1 1 1 5 39
77 MAKIEV, ALAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team                                
Totals 200:00 105 28/43 12/34 13/13 17 22 39 25 9 14 3 1 18 20 131
        65.1% 35.3% 100%
Head coach: VASILYEV, ALEXEY
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
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 DUNCAN, JOSH 10:52 2 1/1 0/1     1 1 1   1     3 2 1
3 GAFFNEY, TONY 18:56 2 1/3 0/1   2   2 2   1       4 6
4 ROWLAND, EARL 36:04 19 6/11 1/2 4/4   5 5 1 1       3 4 21
6 ZUCKERMAN, YOCHAI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 ELIYAHU, LIOR 22:06 12 6/10     1 3 4 5 2 3 1   4 2 15
10 HALPERIN, YOTAM 32:39 14 2/2 2/6 4/4   3 3 3   2     1 2 15
11 TIMOR, BAR 26:32 13 2/5 3/3     1 1 3   1     4 1 10
12 MENCO, RAFI 5:13 2 1/1                     2    
15 SMITH, DONTA 34:20 29 7/12 4/4 3/3 4 3 7 4 2 3   1 4 3 32
23 JANNING, MATT 13:18 3 0/3 1/2         1 1 2   2     -3
24 MAYOR, IGOR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           1   1               1
Totals 200:00 96 26/48 11/19 11/11 8 16 24 20 6 13 1 3 21 18 98
        54.2% 57.9% 100%
Head coach: FRANCO, DANNY

Head Coaches

VASILYEV, ALEXEY
Avtodor Saratov
"It was a tough game against a tough opponent. There are a lot of experienced, well-skilled players in their roster who know how to play basketball. They shot perfectly tonight, so it was very difficult for us to stop them. I should emphasize the fantastic atmosphere in the arena. I am glad our fans enjoyed the game tonight and got a lot of positive emotions too. Honestly, we didn’t expect such great performance from the opposing team. We didn’t have a player in our roster that was able to stop Donta Smith. So we allowed them to feel the game from the very beginning and they started to score unreal baskets. I am happy we could win."
FRANCO, DANNY
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem
"First of all, let me congratulate Avtodor for the win. It was really exciting game for the fans and all people who saw it. We played against the best offensive team in the Eurocup. That’s why we expected to meet such intensity. It took time for us to get into the game. Unfortunately, we missed a lot of our players tonight. We were not well enough physically to play such an intense game against such a good team. For us it was only first game of the group, which consists of very strong teams and now we are waiting for the next game to try to get our first win in the Last 32."

Players

PETERSON, TRAVIS
Avtodor Saratov
"It was a good game for us. We got the first win in the Last 32... We played well, particularly on offense. Our defense became better in the second half. What was the secret of my great performance in the first half? Nothing special. I just started to play hard from the opening tip-off and found my rhythm. I was making shots."
ROWLAND, EARL
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem
"We knew Avtodor is a very dangerous team. They had a lot of alternatives in offense. We played as much as we could and our efforts were sustained. The game was very close, but they decided the game in the fourth quarter."