Pamesa Valencia became the last team to reach the ULEB Cup final series by winning its two-way Last 16 series against Zadar on points differential. Pamesa overcame a five-point first-leg deficit by thrashing Zadar 93-70 in Valencia on Wednesday. As such, Pamesa will face DKV Joventut in the quarterfinals in Turin, Italy on April 10-11. Ruben Douglas paced the winners with 29 points on 6-for-9 three-pointers. Fred House added 16 on 4-for-4 three-pointers, Dejan Milojevic had 14 while Shammond Williams dished 10 assists for Pamesa. Juby Johnson had 20 points for Zadar while Corey Brewer added 17. House led Pamesa to a strong start, as he buried 3 three-pointers in the first quarter to make the hosts get a 28-21 edge after 10 minutes. Brewer and an unstoppable Johnson took over in the second quarter to keep Zadar ahead in the series, 47-43, at halftime. Douglas became Pamesa's go-to guy after the break, as he had 16 points in the third quarter to boost the hosts' margin to 72-51 after 30 minutes. Williams capped a 15-0 run with a three-pointer to break the series open, 77-51, as Zadar never recovered.
House got Pamesa going with a bomb from downtown but Shammel Stallworth answered with a fast break layup for a 3-2 Zadar deficit. House insisted with his second triple and soon added a driving layup to put Pamesa ahead in the series, 8-2. Johnson buried a three-pointer but an unstoppable House scored again. Brewer shined with a driving layup that Ruben Garces took over with consecutive jump hooks for a 14-7 Pamesa lead. Albert Miralles and Brewer traded baskets while Johnson sank a jumper for a 16-12 Zadar deficit. Douglas followed a triple with a jumper to make the guests call timeout at 21-12. Milojevic scored inside but Johnson answered from downtown for a 23-15 Zadar deficit. Brewer, Johnson and House fired in respective triples to fix the score at 28-21 after 10 minutes. Brewer and Douglas exchanged three-pointers right at the start of the second quarter while an easy layup by Alex Urtasun gave Pamesa a 33-24 lead. Urtasun and Douglas struck from downtown to break the game open, 39-24, after an 11-0 run. Brewer kept pacing Zadar while Todor Gecevski buried back-to-back triples for a 43-32 Zadar deficit. Milojevic made free throws that Gecevski erased with a second-chance basket. Miralles found an uncontested layup that Brewer erased with an acrobatic basket. Johnson fired in his fourth three-pointer to get Zadar within 47-40. Johnson rounded an incredible first half with a layup-plus-foul for a 47-43 Zadar deficit at the break.
Johnson kept pacing Zadar with a driving basket after the break, as Pamesa went scoreless for more than 2 minutes. Pamesa found a go-to guy in Douglas, who sank a corner three-pointer that Garces followed with a layup for a 52-45 edge. Douglas shined with a coast-to-coast layup that made Zadar call timeout at 54-45. Zadar dominated the offensive board, as Andrej Stimac finished a four-chance offense with a free throw. Milojevic stepped up with a layup while Douglas buried his fifth triple for a 59-46 Pamesa lead. Milojevic joined the three-point shootout but free throws by Stimac and a triple by Rok Stipcevic brought Zadar back in the series, 62-51. Douglas sank another triple and soon added 3-for-3 free throws to make it a 17-point game, 68-51. A turnaround jumper by Shammond Williams and a layup by Douglas gave Pamesa a 72-51 margin after 30 minutes. Stanko Barac scored inside early in the fourth quarter while Williams struck from downtown to cap a 15-0 Pamesa run. Stipcevic tried to change things with a layup and Jere Macura added a put-back basket but they only managed to get Zadar within 77-55. Pamesa had started to use long possessions but Zadar kept fighting, as Brewer and Stimac got Zadat even closer, 77-60, with 4 minutes to go. Williams followed a jumper with free throws while House sank a triple that allowed all Pamesa fans to celebrate that their team will keep fighting for ULEB Cup glory!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
ULEBCup.com