2016-17Regular SeasonRound 9
RETAbet Bilbao Basket 97
Montakit Fuenlabrada 83
December 07, 2016 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 BILBAO ARENA
Jonathan Tabu - RETAbet Bilbao Basket - EC16 (photo Bilbao Basket - Aitor Arrizabalaga)

RETAbet beats Fuenlabrada to stay alive

RETAbet Bilbao Basket survived a do-or-die situation in Group B by downing Montakit Fuenlabrada 97-83 at home on Wednesday. It was a make-or-break game for Bilbao, which would have been eliminated with a loss. Both teams now have 3-4 records in Group B with one game left, just like Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius. Both teams can qualify with a win next week, regardless of other scores. Bilbao will qualify it if beats Khimki Moscow Region or if it loses and Rytas beats Fuenlabrada. Fuenlabrada advances with a win and is out with a loss. Ivan Buva and Michael Eric led the winners with 16 points apiece. Scott Bamforth and Alex Mumbru each added 13 points, while Dejan Todorovic scored 11 for Bilbao, which made 20 of 22 free throw attempts (90.9%) and outrebounded Fuenlabrada 30-21. Alex Llorca led Fuenlabrada with 16 points and Pako Cruz and Rolands Smits each added 14 for the visitors.

A corner triple by David Wear and free throws by Moussa Diagne gave Fuenlabrada an early 4-5 lead. Todorovic struck from downtown and Eric dunked, but Diagne and Llorca kept the guests in charge, 9-11. Jonathan Tabu and Bamforth joined the three-point shootout and Miha Lapornik did even better with a 4-point play to give Bilbao a 20-15 lead, which Ivan Paunic cut to 20-18 after 10 minutes. Buva took over early in the second quarter to boost Bilbao's lead to 26-20. Xavi Rey and Cruz fueled a 0-6 run that tied the game, 26-26, but Javi Salgado, Bamforth and a wild alley-oop dunk by Eric restored a 36-30 Bilbao margin. Eric dunked again and added a put-back layup to make it 42-33, which Fuenlabrada cut to 45-37 at halftime. Axel Hervelle and Todorovic boosted their team's lead back to double digits, 51-41, soon after the break. Three-pointers by Todorovic, Buva and Lapornik helped Bilbao to a 13-point lead. Bamforth stepped up with consecutive baskets and a buzzer-beating corner triple by Buva fixed the score at 74-59 after 30 minutes. Both teams struggled to score early in the fourth quarter and a layup by Mumbru sealed the outcome, 81-64. Both teams started to fight for points difference, a critical issue to qualify - or not - next week. Mumbru stepped up when it mattered most and an alley-oop slam by Eric allowed Bilbao to make it a 20-point game, 93-73, enough to get a well-deserved win and to control the tiebreak advantage.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Eurocupbasketball.com
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Referees: KOWALSKI, MARCIN; DRAGOJEVIC, IGOR; BAUMANIS, INGUS
Attendance: 6438
By Quarter1234
RETAbet Bilbao Basket20252923
Montakit Fuenlabrada18192224
End of Quarter1234
RETAbet Bilbao Basket20457497
Montakit Fuenlabrada18375983
RETAbet Bilbao Basket
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 BAMFORTH, SCOTT 21:03 13 3/5 1/3 4/4 3 1 4 1 1 2     2 4 15
8 BORG, TOBIAS 0:44                         1   -1
9 TABU, JONATHAN 26:05 8 1/3 1/4 3/3 1 1 2 5   2     4 3 7
10 MENDIA, BORJA 16:07 4     4/4 1   1     1     3 3 4
13 LAPORNIK, MIHA 15:24 8 0/1 2/4 2/3   1 1   1   1   2 2 7
14 SALGADO, JAVI 13:40 2 1/2 0/2         5   1     2   1
15 MUMBRU, ALEX 25:56 13 4/5 1/4 2/2   2 2 6 1 3     2 3 16
17 HERVELLE, AXEL 23:44 6 1/1 1/5 1/2   1 1 3   1     2 1 3
20 TODOROVIC, DEJAN 17:56 11 1/2 3/5   1 2 3           1   10
25 BUVA, IVAN 17:32 16 4/6 2/3 2/2 3 3 6   1 3   1 1 3 18
34 NIKOLIC, DANILO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
50 ERIC, MICHAEL 21:49 16 7/9   2/2 3 7 10     2 1 1 3 5 24
Team                                
Totals 200:00 97 22/34 11/30 20/22 12 18 30 20 4 15 2 2 23 24 104
        64.7% 36.7% 90.9%
Head coach: DURAN, CARLES
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
Montakit Fuenlabrada
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 O'LEARY, IAN 14:40 3   1/2         1           1 4
5 RUPNIK, LUKA 19:13 6 1/2 1/2 1/2       5 1 2     2 1 6
6 HAKANSON, LUDDE 21:00 3 0/3 1/2     1 1 2   3     1 2  
8 LLORCA, ALEX 25:30 16 5/5 1/1 3/5 1 3 4 3 1 1     1 5 25
9 SEKULIC, BLAGOTA 7:31 2     2/2           2     3 1 -2
11 CRUZ, PAKO 17:29 14 6/10 0/1 2/2       1   1     3 2 8
12 WEAR, DAVID 18:20 8 0/1 2/5 2/2   2 2 1 2 2     4 3 6
13 SMITS, ROLANDS 26:33 14 5/8 1/2 1/3 3 3 6 3 1 2   1 4 3 14
14 REY, XAVI 22:37 8 4/5   0/2 1 4 5 3 1 3 1 1 4 3 10
15 GONZALEZ, CHEMA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 DIAGNE, MOUSSA 9:15 4 1/1   2/2 1 2 3       1   1 2 9
31 PAUNIC, IVAN 17:52 5 1/2 1/2         3   2     1   3
Team                     1         -1
Totals 200:00 83 23/37 8/17 13/20 6 15 21 22 6 19 2 2 24 23 82
        62.2% 47.1% 65%
Head coach: CUSPINERA, JOTA

Head Coaches

DURAN, CARLES
RETAbet Bilbao Basket
"We were cold in the first quarter and played much better in the second quarter. Our second unit really got into the game. We got a lot of advantages in direct screens. The third quarter was, I think, the best moment of the game for us, playing very good defense and looking for advantages on offense. We shot the ball better than in the first half. We played well until the final four, five minutes and after that, we disconnected a little bit, thinking that we already had it. Logically, Fuenlabrada kept fighting and we lacked experienced. It was important to win and get the tie-break advantage. It is all in our hands."
CUSPINERA, JOTA
Montakit Fuenlabrada
"I believe that we lost the game due to our first half. I think Bilbao had 8 offensive rebounds and we had 5 defensive rebounds, which means that 2 of every 3 rebounds in our paint went to them. We were down by 8 points in a situation in which they didn't miss many shots, but had grabbed a lot of offensive rebounds. That was where the game was broken, due to the lack of defensive rebounds and our many turnovers. After that, losing by 8 on the road against a team like Bilbao, you have to start doing things differently. We were able to improve under the boards, but when we were able to get closer - maybe not to win, but to get the tie-break advantage - we missed free throws and gave away some determinant offensive rebounds. Congratulations to Bilbao, they did their job."

Players

LAPORNIK, MIHA
RETAbet Bilbao Basket
"We played a really good game tonight, especially on defense, and I think they got only 6 offensive rebounds and that was the key of the game. On defense we pressed them on the whole court and in my opinion, this was very important and this was the key of the win. "
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