2009-10QuarterfinalsGame 2
March 31, 2010 CET: 20:15
Local time: 20:15 Bizkaia Arena/BEC
Arthur Lee - CEZ NymburkThe Fernando Buesa Arena in Vitoria, Spain will make a fashion statement of basic black during the Eurocup Finals after Bizkaia Bilbao Basket survived a 46-52 home loss to CEZ Nymburk to advance from their two-game quarterfinal series by an aggregate lead of 6 points. Bilbao had won the first game by 11, and was not in serious danger of seeing that difference eclipsed until the next-to-last minute, when Mike Lenzly's free throws made it 45-52. Alex Mumbru answered with a free throw, however, and Bilbao's defense held the rest of the way to point the hosts down the road to Vitoria-Gasteiz and the semifinals on April 17. Bilbao will play Alba Berlin in the semis on April 17 in Vitoria. In a defensive-minded Game 2 of their quarterfinal, Arthur Lee led Nymburk to victory with 12 points and 4 assists. Petr Bendad added 10 and Lenzly 8 in the second half, but the visitors were hurt by 4-for-18 three-point accuracy. Bilbao was worse, making only 2 of 16 from the arc as Marko Banic had 12 points and Mumbru 10 for the hosts. Bilbao makes the Eurocup semifinals for a second consecutive season, its first two in international competition.

Phil Ricci's short basket for Nymburk held up as the only points for 2 minutes before Mumbru and Chris Warren scored in close for Bilbao's first lead. Benda tied for Nymburk, but Warren restored the lead for Bilbao. That only lasted until Ronald Lewis canned the game's first triple, puttin the guests up 6-7. The lead see-sawed back and forth on a layups by Banic sandwiched around another by Benda. Mumbru seemed to win the quarter for Bilbao with another strong drive, but Arhtur Lee appeared then to pump in another triple to forge a tie. Mumbru answered with a final free throw, however, to keep the hosts up 13-12 after 10 minutes. Radek Necas and Lee combined to steal back a 13-16 lead with layups to open the second quarter. Nymburk's defense held steady as Benda added a two-pointer and Lee 3 of 3 free throws to suddenly make it 13-21. The visitors' 0-9 run was ended as Janis Blums launched and landed a big triple for Bilbao, but Necas fed Benda for 2 more points and a 16-23 Nymburk advantage. Nymburk's incredible run ended with Michal Kremen burying his first shot from way downtown to make it a double-digit lead, although Banic got a pair back at the foul line, lowering the difference to 18-26 at the half.

Marko Banic - Bizkaia Bilbao BasketRenaldas Seibutis got Bilbao off on the right foot after halftime with his first points of the night, a layup-plus-free throw. That seemed to unstick the hosts' offense as Mumbru scored again before Seibutis struck from downtown and Banic inside to forge a 28-28 tie. Nymburk didn't sit still, but got a big four-point triple and free throw combination from Mike Lenzly, who had also initiated his scoring since the start of the second half. When Pavel Pumprla dunked, the guests were up again by 28-34. Mumbru, Seibutis and Javi Rodriguez again rallied Bilbao to take the lead, but Lee finished the third quarter with a buzzer-beater to keep the visitors in front, 35-36. Although Lewis opened the final quarter with a basket for Nymburk, Banic and Axel Hervelle quickly re-took the lead for Bilbao. The lead exchanged hands four times again on shots by Benda and Ricci for Nymburk, Blums and Salgado for Bilbao. Ricci's next layup made it 43-44 and Nymburk started adding to the lead this time. Lee scored again, then back-to-back baskets from Pumprla were followed by Lenzly's free throws with just over a minute left, making it 46-52. There, however, the Nymburk challenge stopped, as Mumbru's basket assured a series victory and a second consecutive semifinals appearance for Bilbao.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Eurocupbasketball.com
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Referees: PUKL,SASA; MARICIC,SASA; JAVOR, DAMIR
Attendance: 5782 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Bizkaia Bilbao1351711
CEZ Nymburk12141016
End of Quarter1234
Bizkaia Bilbao13183546
CEZ Nymburk12263652
Bizkaia Bilbao
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 WARREN, CHRIS 20:02 4 2/6 0/3   1 1 2 1 2 1 1   2 2 2
5 MOISO, JEROME 8:40   0/2       1 1     2 2 1 1   -3
6 RODRIGUEZ, JAVI 27:19 3 1/1 0/1 1/2 1 4 5 2 2 4     3 2 5
7 HAMPL, TOMAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 VAZQUEZ, PACO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 SEIBUTIS, RENALDAS 18:13 8 2/5 1/2 1/1   1 1 1 2         1 9
11 MARKOTA, DAMIR 7:11     0/1                       -1
13 BANIC, MARKO 30:59 12 5/8   2/2 1 4 5   1 2     2 2 13
14 SALGADO, JAVI 12:41 2 1/3 0/1                   1   -2
15 MUMBRU, ALEX 26:49 10 4/6 0/2 2/4   1 1 2 1 2     3 5 8
17 HERVELLE, AXEL 32:49 2 1/3 0/2   1 7 8 2 2 2   1 2 4 9
45 BLUMS, JANIS 15:17 5 1/1 1/4     5 5     1     2 3 7
Team           3 1 4     5         -1
Totals 200:00 46 17/35 2/16 6/9 7 25 32 8 10 19 3 2 16 19 46
        48.6% 12.5% 66.7%
Head coach: KATSIKARIS, FOTIS
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
CEZ Nymburk
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 BENDA, PETR 35:16 10 5/11     1 7 8   1 1 1   3   10
5 SOKOLOVSKY, LADISLAV 7:12   0/2           2 1 3     1   -3
6 PUMPRLA, PAVEL 21:35 6 3/5 0/2     2 2           3 2 3
8 VALC, PETR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 KREMEN, MICHAL 10:02 3 0/1 1/2   1 1 2   1 1   1 2    
12 NECAS, RADEK 16:01 2 1/1     1 2 3 2 2 2 1   2 1 7
15 LEE, ARTHUR 36:43 12 3/7 1/5 3/3 1   1 4 2 2       6 15
16 SLEZAK, PAVEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
22 LEWIS, RONALD 17:21 5 1/3 1/3 0/2 1   1 2 1 3   1 2 2 -1
33 RICCI, PHIL 25:30 6 3/6 0/1   2 2 4     3   1 3 1  
34 LENZLY, MIKE 29:59 8 1/1 1/5 3/3 2 3 5 1 1       3 4 12
43 TSIARAS, GEORGIOS 0:21   0/1                         -1
Team           3 2 5               5
Totals 200:00 52 17/38 4/18 6/8 12 19 31 11 9 15 2 3 19 16 47
        44.7% 22.2% 75%
Head coach: KATZURIN, MULI

Head Coaches

KATSIKARIS, FOTIS
Bizkaia Bilbao
"We made it to the Eurocup Finals, a great success for a young club that reached the semifinals for the second consecutive season. I want to congratulate my player for this success that we all must share with Txus Vidorreta. It has been a very intense game. Nymburk did not allow us to run or be aggressive. We made a lot of mistakes. It is tough to lose at home but we managed to reach our goal. I understand our fans, but I expected more support from them in our last Eurocup home game. Things like this can happen and if they want to boo someone, they should boo me and not the team. We all stayed together in a tough moment, like when we were down by 8 at halftime, and I expected more support from our fans in such a dangerous situation. You have to give credit to this team and remember where we were not so long ago - and where we are now. People have to respect that. My players are hungry and ambitious, but also human. This game left a bitter taste. We want to win and play well, but it is not always possible. Alba Berlin - our opponent in the semifinals - is a strong defensive team, very disciplined."
KATZURIN, MULI
CEZ Nymburk
"I am happy for this win. I promised after Game 1 in Pardubice that my team would be more competitive in Bilbao and I am satisfied we were. We ran out of breath in the fourth quarter. We managed to beat a very good team, in which Fotis Katsikaris is doing a great job. We are halfway satisfied because we won the game but did not reach the Eurocup Finals. We now want Bilbao to win the competition."
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