Lukoil Academic vs. Ventspils

2007-08Last 32Round 1

Lukoil Academic 67

Ventspils 64

February 19, 2008 CET: 18:30

Local time: 19:30 UNIVERSIADA

Lukoil Academic took the first step to advancing out of the ULEB Cup Last 32 with a 67-64 victory at home over BK Ventspils with Pero Antic leading the way with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Lukoil's position would have been better going into next week's return contest in Latvia had it not allowed Ventspils to score the game's final 8 points. Nenad Canak added 13 points for Lukoil while Todor Stoykov chipped in 11 points and Haris Mujeznovic had a big fourth quarter to finish with 10 points. Lukoil's star playmaker Willie Deane was held to just 4 points with 4 assists and 7 turnovers. Jimmy Baxter paced Ventspils with 15 points, while Akin Akingbala collected 12 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. Aigars Vitols chipped in 11 points and Justin Love had 10 points for the guests.

Antic's three-pointer opened the scoring and Deane's basket made it 5-0. Uvis Helmanis knocked down a triple to get Ventspils on the board. Antic scored again and the lead grew to 11-3. But Helmanis hit from downtown again and back-to-back baskets by Akingbala made it 13-12. A Baxter three-point play evened the contest at 15-15 and Ventspils pulled ahead 15-17 on a Love score. Riste Stefanov's foul shot left it 16-17 after one period. Love started the second quarter with a three-pointer and the guests were ahead 16-24 after Jerry McNamara's score. Antic tallied 4 points as Lukoil fought back to within 25-26. Canak drained a three-ball and another basket to give the hosts the lead back, with Stoykov's bucket giving Lukoil a 34-31 lead, which Baxter cut to 34-33 at the break.

Stefanov began the second half for Academic and two Canak baskets kept Lukoil ahead until Baxter knocked down a three-pointer to even things at 46-46. He then gave Ventspils a 46-48 lead. Canak converted a three-point play, but Akingbala pushed the guests back ahead. Another Baxter bucket helped Ventspils to a 52-55 lead going into the fourth. The final period opened with two Antic baskets and two scores by Mujeznovic, whose three-pointer finished a 9-0 start for Lukoil and a 61-55 lead. Love's free throw finally gave Ventspils a point in the fourth period, but Antic's foul shots and two Mujeznovic baskets made it 67-56. But Raimonds Gabrans answered with a three-pointer for the guests and 2 Helmanis foul shots tightened the game to 67-61. Deane and Mujeznovic would both miss 2 free throws in the final minute and Baxter's three-point play made it a 3-point game – 67-64 – in the waning seconds.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

ULEBcup.com

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Referees: ANKARALI, RECEP; VOJINOVIC, RADOMIR; BAKALIS, PANAGIOTIS

Attendance: 3000

By Quarter	1	2	3	4
Lukoil Academic	16	18	18	15
Ventspils	17	16	22	9

End of Quarter	1	2	3	4
Lukoil Academic	16	34	52	67
Ventspils	17	33	55	64

Lukoil Academic

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
4	DEANE, WILLIE	39:33	4	2/5	0/2	0/4		3	3	4	3	7			1	4	1
6	MUJEZINOVIC, HARIS	17:43	10	3/3	1/2	1/4		1	1		2	1			3	3	8
7	STEFANOV, RISTE	27:18	5	2/5		1/2		4	4	1				1	3	3	5
8	KOSTOV, CHAVDAR	10:47	2	0/3		2/2					1				4	2	-2
9	ZAFIROV, PETROSLAV	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	PHILLIPOV, DIMITAR	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	ANTIC, PERO	40:00	17	5/8	1/3	4/4	2	9	11	4		2	1	1	3	5	27
14	BANEV, TENCHO	8:00	4	2/3			2	2	4					1	2		4
15	STOYKOV, TODOR	21:23	11	4/5	0/2	3/4	1	1	2			1			1	3	10
20	HRISTOV, KALIN	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
21	CANAK, NENAD	14:17	13	4/5	1/4	2/3				1	3				2	1	11
22	O'BANNON, LARRY	20:59	1	0/3	0/2	1/2		7	7	2	1	1	1		3	1	3
	Team						5		5								5
	Totals	200:00	67	22/40	3/15	14/25	10	27	37	12	10	12	2	3	22	22	72
				55%	20%	56%

Head coach: LUKAJIC, ZELJKO

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

Ventspils

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
4	VESELOVS, PAVELS	11:09	1	0/2		1/2	1	1	2			2			1	2	-1
5	VITOLS, AIGARS	21:07	11	4/4	1/2			1	1			1			3		7
7	GABRANS, RAIMONDS	23:33	3	0/1	1/2		1	1	2	2		1		1	3	1	1
8	AKINGBALA, AKIN	30:39	12	6/13		0/3	3	7	10	2	1	2	3		3	5	18
11	SKIRMANTS, MARTINS	9:21	2	0/1		2/2		2	2			2			2	1
12	LOVE, JUSTIN	21:45	10	2/2	1/4	3/4		3	3	3	2	3		1	5	5	10
13	McNAMARA, JERRY	12:40	2	1/1				1	1	1	3	3			2	1	3
22	BAXTER, JIMMY	34:38	15	5/12	1/5	2/2		5	5	2	1	1			2	6	15
30	ZAKIS, RONALDS	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
32	STRELNIEKS, JANIS	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
33	VAIROGS, AKSELIS	6:17			0/1		1	1	2	1	1	1					2
35	HELMANIS, UVIS	28:51	8	0/1	2/3	2/2	1	4	5	1	1	1			1	1	12
	Team											1					-1
	Totals	200:00	64	18/37	6/17	10/15	7	26	33	12	9	18	3	2	22	22	66
				48.6%	35.3%	66.7%

Head coach: OKORN, GASPER

Head Coaches

LUKAJIC, ZELJKO

Lukoil Academic

"First of all I would like to thank the fans in the sports hall, here in Sofia, for the great support. None of us believed that the game today would be an easy one. Ventspils is a team with great offensive power. Our main task today was to decrease their shooting to the minimum because they got pretty good shooters and they move and pass the ball fast. I can say that I was completely satisfied from our defense only in the second half of the fourth quarter when thanks to our aggressive presence on the defensive side, we managed to go up by 11 points. However, at that point we lost our concentration, we did not play according to the tactical requirements and we almost lost our lead. We definitely had to attack Ventspils more in the low post, where I believe they have some weaknesses and respectively we have an advantage. We’re having trouble with the lack of adequate substitution for Willie Deane, who no matter of his great ambition and desire to show his best, got tired at the end and wasn’t completely efficient. He is a great guy though, and I believe we are going to be able to get everything straight before the next game. Other than that we did not play organised offense and if we had a better percentage from the free-throw line, we would have ended the game with a bigger lead. Today we played only the first quarter of a game that is to be decided on the 26th in Ventspils."

OKORN, GASPER

Ventspils

"I think that today we played only the first half and both teams showed pretty even capabilities. I believe nothing’s decided yet and the outcome of the eliminations is to be determined in the second game. I’m pretty pleased that we managed to stop them on offence, having in mind the fact that Lukoil is definitely an offensive team. An example of their offensive force is the game that they played against Benetton, when they scored 96 points, and the game against Pau when they were able to score 110. Scoring of this kind cannot simply come as a result of the current internal problems of the team that they played against. When they faced Riga, Lukoil were so aggressive offensively that they decided the game in three minutes. Our main concern before the game was Lukoil’s fast and aggressive offence and I believe we managed to handle it pretty well. Their shooting percentage was obviously not that good, and they didn’t score too much."

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