In a clash of the undefeated teams, depleted FoxTown Cantu overcame the absence of its leading scorer Pietro Aradori, leading from start to finish en route to a comfortable 83-58 win over Telenet Ostend on Wednesday. Win improves Cantu to 3-0 atop of Group A, while Ostend drops to 2-1 in a share of the second place. Cantu stormed out of the gate, hitting 5 triples and using a 14-1 run to build 32-11 lead after the first quarter, and the hosts never looked back. Michael Jenkins paced the winners with 22 points, going 6 of 9 behind the arc. Joe Ragland scored 19 and dished 8 assists, Adrian Uter had 12 points plus 7 rebounds, while Stefano Gentile added 10 in victory. For the visitors, Andrija Stipanovic collected 11 points plus 10 rebounds, Ryan Thompson scored 9, and Quentin Serron 8 points in defeat.
Ragland started things for the host with a triple on the first possession. Jenkins and Marco Cusin worked inside, before back -to-back three-pointers from Jenkins and Ragland made it 13-5. Jared Berggren scored those buckets for Ostend, and was its lone scorer in the first 6 minutes of encounter, and Cantu made a use of the visitors' futility. Jenkins hit another triple, sparking a 14-1 run that also had Ragland make couple of layups, and Gentile scoring a basket-plus-foul, helping Cantu to 27-8. With Gentile's triple and Awudu Abass' layup, the hosts made it 32-11 after 10 minutes. More triples from Ragland and Jenkins extended the lead that was as big as 41-17, but Niels Marnegrave got Ostend's offense rolling midway through the second quarter. With triples from Thompson and Veselin Petrovic, and put-backs from Serron and Stipanovic, Ostende cut it to 48-34 at halftime. After the break, Serron and Stipanovic got the visitors within 49-40, but Jenkins answered from close range and long range to get Cantu back into a safe zone. Marcel Jones added a dunk as margin reached 58-42 and Cantu never looked back. Uter extended it to 66-47 at the start of the fourth quarter, and after a triple from Pierre Antoine Gillet, Genitle started a 9-0 run capped with a triple for Jenkins for 77-51, and the hosts cruised the rest of the way.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Eurocupbasketball.com