Cibona VIP vs. Tau Ceramica

2001-02Regular SeasonRound 1

Cibona VIP 96

Tau Ceramica 95

October 10, 2001 CET: 20:30

Local time: 20:30 BASKETBALL CENTER DRAZEN PETROVIC

It was anything but easy, but Cibona VIP was able to knock off Tau Ceramica of Spain, 96-95, in overtime on Wednesday in their Group D opening game. The victory gave Cibona the unbelievable achievement of having knocked off the top four European teams of last season - the finalists of both the Euroleage and the Suproleague - in the span of just 8 days. There may have won with less drama against Panathinaikos, Kinder Bologna and Maccabi Tel Aviv in the friendly Euroleague Opening Tournament, but Wednesday's matchup with Tau was the official Euroleague opener, and that made it even sweeter. Cibona seemed to struggle to win all last season, though it was eventually vindicated when three of its group opponents reached the Euroleague semifinals. Cibona preferred real victories to moral ones, and Wednesday's thriller meant that all the promise of preseason had paid off.

Cibona came back from a 70-74 down late in regulation time on a three-pointer by Reggie Freemen (24 points) that followed an unsportsmanlike foul on Tau's Dejan Tomasevic (28 points) and two free throws by Niksa Prkacin. That turnaround eventually led to an 83-83 tie after regulation. In overtime, Tau ran into similar trouble and Cibona similar good fortune. This time, Tau's other leader, Elmer Bennett (30 points) was whistled for his fifth foul and a technical to boot. Zoran Planinic (14 points) sank all four free throws and a fifth when Bennett's substitute, Chris Corchiani, came in for the extra possession. Cibona now led 92-88. Tomasevic couldn't be slowed, however, and made a three-point play to put Tau back ahead, 92-93. Only a putback bu Matej Mamic, who had been quiet except for a key three-pointer, regained the lead for Cibona, then Marijan Mance sealed it with a pair of free throws.

Wednesday, October 10, 2001

Euroleague.net

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Referees: FACCHINI, FABIO; LOVSIN, ANDREJ; ROTH, ANDREAS

Attendance: 5000

By Quarter	1	2	3	4	Extra 1
Cibona VIP	17	23	23	20	13
Tau Ceramica	22	20	17	24	12

End of Quarter	1	2	3	4	Extra 1
Cibona VIP	17	40	63	83	96
Tau Ceramica	22	42	59	83	95

Cibona VIP

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
4	LONGIN, BRANIMIR	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	KUS, DAVOR	1:53		0/1			1		1		1						1
8	PRKACIN, NIKOLA	16:31	8	3/5		2/4	2	4	6	2	1	3	2		5	3	10
9	BOWMAN, CALVIN	45:00	21	7/11	0/1	7/10	2	9	11	1		3	1		3	9	29
10	PLANINIC, ZORAN	27:17	14	3/4	1/2	5/6		1	1	3		5	1		5	5	11
12	MANCE, MARIJAN	41:07	16	2/7	2/3	6/10		1	1	1	1	2			4	7	10
13	MAMIC, MATEJ	39:35	7	2/4	1/4		3	3	6	4					1	1	12
14	FREEMAN, REGGIE	25:08	23	4/4	3/4	6/8	1	2	3			5			5	6	19
15	DZIDIC, BORIS	4:49			0/1		1	1	2						1
17	OKUNSKYY, ALEKSANDAR	23:40	7	3/6		1/1		3	3	1	2	3	1		5	1	4
	Team
	Totals	225:00	96	24/42	7/15	27/39	10	24	34	12	5	21	5	0	29	32	96
				57.1%	46.7%	69.2%

Head coach: SPAHIJA, NEVEN

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

Tau Ceramica

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
4	SCOLA, LUIS	13:50		0/2				2	2		1	2		2	4	1	-6
5	NOCIONI, ANDRES	2:02	3	1/3		1/2	1		1							1	2
6	BENNETT, ELMER	40:44	30	9/13	2/8	6/7	3		3	8	2	1		1	5	7	32
7	FOIREST, LAURENT	30:18	15	3/4	2/4	3/4	1	3	4		3	3			4	3	14
8	HERNANDEZ, EDUARDO	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	VIDAL, SERGI	36:27	4	1/8	0/1	2/4	2	1	3	1	2	1			5	2	-4
10	TIMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS	21:55	6	2/4	0/1	2/2				1	2	4			5	1	-2
11	LOPEZ, FERRAN	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	TOMASEVIC, DEJAN	40:42	28	10/15		8/16	4	7	11	2	1	1			4	9	33
14	OBERTO, FABRICIO	34:46	9	3/6		3/4	4	6	10	4	2			1	4	4	20
15	CORCHIANI, CHRIS	4:16		0/1	0/1							1			1		-4
	Team
	Totals	225:00	95	29/56	4/15	25/39	15	19	34	16	13	13	0	4	32	28	85
				51.8%	26.7%	64.1%

Head coach: IVANOVIC, DUSKO

This game has no play by play yet

Head Coaches

SPAHIJA, NEVEN

Cibona VIP

"It was a tough game. The first half we won playing five-on-five, they never put things easy to us. At the end we needed another outside shooter like Freeman, and I knew we would be all right. A very good win for us, since Planinic was not at his best"."

IVANOVIC, DUSKO

Tau Ceramica

"Great game for the crowd, but it had some faults. Cibona showed the same level they had in the opening tournament they had in Ljubljana. My team played better than the last games in the Spanish championship, and that is the only thing that made me happy. The road is long, we will get better."

Players

BOWMAN, CALVIN

Cibona VIP

"This one is for the fans, they were really great. The crowd showed us the way, I did not expect that much, honestly. I would say the free throws were decisive. We shot better when it was necessary. Also, we never gave up, and that's another quality of this Cibona. Tau is a great team. They play hard, quick, and aggressive. And that's the definition of a great team in my dictionary. That also makes our victory even better and bigger"."

TOMASEVIC, DEJAN

Tau Ceramica

"Cibona deserved to win and so did we. We made some mistakes when we had to play better, at the end, and we paid the price. I agree with Dusko, because we played much better than in the Spanish League."

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