2014-15Regular SeasonRound 9
December 10, 2014 CET: 19:30
Local time: 20:30 PAIS ARENA JERUSALEM

Asesoft prevails in a classic, secures a Last 32 spot

CSU Asesoft Ploiesti punched its ticket to the Last 32 in style, with a double-overtime 110-112 road win over Hapoel Jerusalem on Wednesday. Asesoft improved to 5-4 record in a share of the third place in Group E, while Jerusalem dropped to 2-7 and has been eliminated. Asesoft entered the game needing a win, or a loss by up to 9 points, to progress. It held a double-digit lead on several occasions, and had a control of the game in the fourth quarter before Donta Smith, who had a triple-double, and Jerusalem’s late rally sent the game into overtime. In the extra sessions, the hosts were aiming to force more overtime(s) until they feel they have a chance to win by 9 points. In the second overtime, back-to-back threes from Bracey Wright and Bar Timor made it 106-100, but Dragan Labovic scored 6 key points, and then made a steal in the dying seconds to prevent the game from going into the third extra session, and securing the win for the visitors. Gerald Lee led Asesoft with 24 points, Dee Brown had 21 on 5-for-10 three-point shooting, while Jarvis Hayes had 16 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Marius Runkauskas also netted 16, Labovic finished with 15, and Jonte Flowers had 10 in victory. Smith had a triple-double of 16 points, 13 assists, 12 rebounds, and also had 4 blocks and 3 steals with performance index rating 40 in defeat. Wright scored 24 on 5 of 8 from three-point range, Lior Eliyahu had 17, Pops Mensah-Bonsu 15 points, Derwin Kitchen scored 13 with 9 rebounds, and Timor netted 10 for Jerusalem.

Lior Eliyahu scored first 8 points for the hosts, but baskets from Gerald Lee and a triple from Jonte Flowers helped the visitors to 8-9. Eurocup’s assists leader Dee Brown orchestrated Asesoft’s offense, dishing assists for a dunk from Christopher Cooper, a triple from Runkauskas before scoring on a fast break for 13-20 late in the first quarter. Three-pointers from Brown and Runkauskas made it 15-26 early in the second, before Pops Mensah-Bonsu scored 8 consecutive points and Bar Timor added a three-pointer for 28-34. However, Lee and Runkauskas did not allow hosts and cloer, and Jarvis Hayes helped with a triple and a jumper to give the visitors 38-45 halftime margin.

After the break, a basket from Dragan Labovic and a pair from Lee extended it to 40-51, but Eliyahu and Derwin Kitchen helped Jerusalem close to 50-56. Brown answered with a back-to-back triples to extend it to 12 points, 50-62, and after baskets from Joseph Jones for the hosts, Michalis Pelekanos knocked down a triple to help make it 59-67 going into the fourth period. Hayes assisted Brown on a triple, and Lee on a jumper for 61-72 Asesoft lead, but Kitchen and Bar kept Hapoel with hope before a triple from Bracey Wright and a put-back from Tony Gaffney helped cut it to 71-72. Runkauskas and Wright traded triples, and the visitors held a slim margin as the final minute of the regulation was approaching. A dunk-plus-free throw from Hayes gave Asesoft 78-82, and after Kitchen hit a shot for Jerusalem, split free throws from both Lee and Hayes of Asesoft, allowed Donta Smith to score on a fastbreak, then sink a pair from the foul line with 8.2 seconds left in the regulation, making it 84-84 and sending the game in overtime.

The extra sessions started with Hayes hitting a three-pointer and Asesoft scoring the first 5 points, but Gaffney had free throws and a layup, before a three from Smith gave the hosts 91-89. Jerusalem needed a 9-point win to keep its Last 32 hopes alive, and Asesoft went in front 93-96 with a wide open layup and a triple from Labovic, but Wright nailed a second-chance three-pointer with 10 second to go in the first overtime to send the game into the second extra session, 96-96. Back-to-back threes from Wright and Timor made it 106-100, but Asesoft scored on the next three possessions, with Labovic making a pair of baskets and Flowers knocking down a tough triple for 106-107. After a series of free throws, Asesoft ended up leading 110-112 with 8 seconds to play, and Hapoel with a chance to send the game into third OT. Ball went to Smith’s hands, but Labovic stripped the ball away from Smith, securing Asesoft a win and its first-ever ticket to the next stage.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Eurocupbasketball.com
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Referees: VOJINOVIC, MILIJA; HORDOV, TOMISLAV ; VAN DEN BROECK, NICK
Attendance: 4300 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234Extra 1Extra 2
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem152321251214
CSU Asesoft Ploiesti202522171216
End of Quarter1234Extra 1Extra 2
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem1538598496110
CSU Asesoft Ploiesti2045678496112
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 GAFFNEY, TONY 22:07 8 3/3 0/2 2/2 2 4 6 1   2 1   1 1 12
6 ARIEL, ADAM 0:09                              
7 KITCHEN, DERWIN 36:27 13 4/9 0/3 5/8 2 7 9 3 4 4 1   5 6 16
8 ELIYAHU, LIOR 36:04 17 8/12   1/2   3 3 1 2   2   4 1 17
9 JONES, JOSEPH 14:19 7 3/6   1/2   1 1     1   1 2 2 2
10 HALPERIN, YOTAM 9:42           1 1           1    
11 TIMOR, BAR 27:38 10 2/2 2/4     1 1 1 2 1     5 1 7
12 GUR-ARIE, DANIEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 WRIGHT, BRACEY 39:57 24 0/4 5/8 9/10 1 1 2 3   5     1 7 22
14 GREEN, YANIV DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 SMITH, DONTA 46:44 16 2/7 1/2 9/12 1 11 12 13 3 4 4   4 9 40
21 MENSAH-BONSU, POPS 16:53 15 6/7   3/4 1   1   1   1   1 2 17
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 250:00 110 28/50 8/19 30/40 8 31 39 22 12 17 9 1 24 29 136
        56% 42.1% 75%
Head coach: FRANCO, DANNY
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
CSU Asesoft Ploiesti
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
6 SZIJARTO, LEVENTE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 PELEKANOS, MICHALIS 19:33 3 0/1 1/1   1 1 2 2       1 3 1 3
8 LABOVIC, DRAGAN 21:46 15 5/8 1/1 2/3   1 1 1 1     1 2 2 13
10 BURLACU, CATALIN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 BROWN, DEE 41:32 21 2/7 5/10 2/3   3 3 6   5   2 5 4 11
12 NEGOITESCU, VLAD DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 MOHAMMED, ALHAJI 28:18 5 2/5 0/1 1/4 2 5 7 5 2 1   1 4 4 10
15 LEE, GERALD 28:52 24 10/13   4/6 3 2 5 1 3 6   2 5 5 20
20 COOPER, CHRIS 13:12 2 1/3       5 5   1 1 1 1 1   4
21 FLOWERS, JONTE 30:27 10 2/3 2/3   2 1 3 4 3       4 1 15
22 RUNKAUSKAS, MARIUS 30:10 16 2/6 3/10 3/4   2 2 1 2 5   1 3 3 3
24 HAYES, JARVIS 36:10 16 4/7 2/5 2/3 3 8 11 7   1     2 4 28
Team           4 2 6               6
Totals 250:00 112 28/53 14/31 14/23 15 30 45 27 12 19 1 9 29 24 113
        52.8% 45.2% 60.9%
Head coach: ARNAUTOVIC, VLADIMIR

Head Coaches

FRANCO, DANNY
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem
"We are very disappointed we didn't qualify for the next round. In the first half we were under a tremendous amount of pressure and we didn’t execute very well at all. The second half, including the two overtimes, were a different story. The team left all they had on the court and gave it their best. We had momentum at 106-100 in our favor, but weren't able to capitalize. We will now focus on the local competitions."
ARNAUTOVIC, VLADIMIR
CSU Asesoft Ploiesti
"I think we controlled most of the game, although we made some mistakes in the last quarter. I knew they wanted to go into overtime. We showed a lot of character and tried to win. I think it was a very entertaining game and I am very happy we qualified for the next round."

Players

KITCHEN, DERWIN
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem
"I think we gave it our best shot out there tonight. They are a very good and well-coached team. They have a lot of talent and at the end they played good enough to win and we didn’t. I'm very disappointed at our Eurocup record, and feel we should have done a lot better."
BROWN, DEE
CSU Asesoft Ploiesti
"It was a great game. Both teams fought hard. We knew we had to win or lose by less than 9 points. They did a great job protecting their home court, but we executed well down the stretch and I'm very happy we won."
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