BC FMP bounced back from a Week 1 loss by routing the Artland Dragons 93-65 on Tuesday evening. The hosts dominated from start to finish, opening the game on an 18-0 tear and never looking back. The closest the Dragons got was 8 in the second period, but FMP stayed the course to lead 43-30 at halftime and to lead by as many as 33 in the fourth quarter. Predrag Samardziski dominated inside with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocked shots for his first double-double since opening night last season. Nemanja Protic led FMP with 19 points and Filip Covic added 15. Chad Prewitt carried Artland with 15 points, while Dirk Madrish added 9 points – all from the line. FMP is now 1-1 in Group G with a home contest against Fortitudo looming next week. Artland, also now 1-1, visits Pamesa next week.

The game got off to a quick start as Covic stole the ball from Will Blalock, who was whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul when he tried to stop Covic from sailing in for an easy basket. After 2 Covic free throws and a Miroslav Raduljica slam on the resulting possession, FMP led 4-0. Covic added a layup and Mladen Jeremic hit a three as the hosts controlled the floor. Samardziski added 5 more points as the FMP lead reached 18-0. Artland missed its first 7 shots and committed 6 turnovers before Prewitt scored the Dragons’ first basket on an offensive rebound after six minutes of action. The visitors slowed the game down and clawed their way back as Will Blaylock made 4 and Dirk Madrich made 2 from the line. Prewitt soon hit from downtown as Artland closed the gap to 21-11 at the end of the period. Blalock cut the gap to 8 with a fastbreak layup early in the second period, but that’s as close as Artand would get. Baskets by Nikola Markovic and Protic restored the double-digit lead and a pair of Samardziski scores made it 16. Prewitt hit 3 free throws to keep the visitors within 43-30 at halftime.

Covic hit a pair of free throws to start the second half and after an Adam Hess layup, Covic drilled a triple to make it 48-32. Guy Pniny took the lead past the 20-point mark for the first time with free throws. A Pniny basket midway through the period made it 61-36 before Artland had a mini-resurgence with points from Darren Fenn, Prewitt and Drew Neitzel. A Jeremic three-pointer kept FMP on track and Covic free throws stretched the lead to 27. Jan Rohdewald hit back for Artland with a three, but Samardziski scored inside to make it 75-48 after three periods. Nikola Ilic scored 5 straight points as FMP went ahead by 32 and the lead peaked at 89-56 on a Protic three-pointer. Zack Whiting tried to narrow the gap with a pair of baskets in the closing minutes, but by that point FMP was already celebrating a convincing win.