2005-06Regular SeasonRound 4
November 24, 2005 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 RHENUS SPORT
Before its own fans, SIG Basket Strasbourg wrote a brilliant page in its history book on Thursday by registering its first-ever Euroleague victory, 90-82 over Union Olimpija in Group A. Strasbourg's record improved to 1-3 in Group A, a victory above still-winless Olimpija. Alvin Young led the winners with 26 points, and his last 5 capped a 7-0 final run that sealed the outcome. Ricardo Greer had 17 points on 11 of 12 free throws while Aymeric Jeanneau scored 11 for Strasbourg, who were without center John McCord tonight. Teemu Rannikko led Olimpija with 20 points.Yotam Halperin and Jimmy Oliver each had 14, Vedran Morovic scored 12 points and Szymon Szewczyk 10 for the guests. Young had 15 points in the opening quarter to give Strasbourg a 31-19 lead that Olimpija reduced throughout the game, drawing within 83-82 with less than 3 minutes to go. Ricardo Greer made free throws and Young a big three-pointer to give the Strasbourg fans a first taste of Euroleague triumph.

Strasbourg started the game at full speed, as Young followed Palmer's turnaround jumper with a triple for a 5-1 opening lead. A three-point play by Jeanneau ignited a 7-0 run which Zelly Wesson capped with a basket for a 14-5 Strasbourg lead, as Rannikko had briefly left the game due to an injury. Halperin tried to wake the guests up with a three-pointer and Oliver added another one from downtown to bring Olimpija within 18-13. It didn't last long, as Young had 4 points in a 7-0 run which pushed the hosts' lead to double digits, 25-13. Olimpija struggled in defense, entering the foul bonus too early and allowing too many easy baskets. Meanwhile, Young took over with consecutive baskets and Ricardo Greer added free throws to make Strasboutg get a 31-19 lead after 10 minutes. Young already had 15 points.

Ondrej Starosta followed Jeff Greer's three with consecutive baskets which made it a 16-point game, 38-22, as Olimpija looked for answers in both end of the court. Remon Van de Hare scored in the paint, but an outstanding Ricardo Greer had 5 quick point to give Strasbourg its biggest margin of the night at 45-24. That's when Olimpija started its comeback, as a big basket by Rannikko ignited a 0-12 run which he capped with a basket-plus-foul and in which Morovic scored from downtown, enough to bring the guests within 45-36. Strasbourg went scoreless for more than 2 minutes and its fans had already started to wonder, but Palmer came to the rescue with 2 foul shots while Jackson buried a three-pointer to boost the hosts' margin to 50-38 before Rannikko fixed the score at 50-40 as both teams headed to the locker rooms.

Olimpija came back after the break with outstanding defense, making Strasbourg go scoreless for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, Szewczyk stepped up with a key basket and Rannikko simply took over with back-to-back three-pointers which brought Olimpija back into the game, 50-48, after 22 minutes. It didn't last long, as Young - who else? - came to the rescue for the hosts with consecutive baskets, good for a 54-48 Strasbourg lead. It didn't last long, as an unsportsman foul on Halperin and a long jumper by Szewczyk kept Olimpija alive, 54-52. Even when Olimpija did not score in the next couple of minutes, Halperin found spce to nail a triple which made it a three-point game, 58-55, after 26 minutes. Ricardo Greer drew a foul and made both shots, but Olimpija found a go-to guy in Morovic, who followed a three with another basket to tie the game at 60-60. Jeanneau came to the rescue for Strasbourg, as he made free throws and a dded a big triple for a 65-60 edge at the end of the third quarter.

Starosta made free throws for a 69-62 Strasbourg lead, but Oliver nailed a triple to keep Olimpija close with 8 minutes to go. Giffa nailed a long two-pointer from the left corner and soon added a five-meter jumper to make it an eight-point game, 73-65. Szewczyk tried to change things with a short hook, but Jackson matched that with a running layup to keep Strasbourg ahead. Morovic came to the rescue for Olimpija with a driving layup and a six-meter jumper for a 75-71 deficit, but Young made free throws and Wesson worked his way in the low post to restore a safe Strasbourg margin, 79-71. Olimpija took too many three-pointers but it finally paid off. Oliver fired in one from downtown and added a wide open triple from the right wing to keep Olimpija alive at 83-77. Rannikko buried a seven-meter three to get Olimpija within striking distance and Halperin scored off a steal to turn the game into a thriller, 83-82, already in the final 2 minutes. It didn't last long, as Ricardo Greer made free throws while Young sealed the win with a corner three and a four-meter jumper which allowed all Strasbourg fans to celebrate their team's first-ever Euroleague win!
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Euroleague.net
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Referees: PITSILKAS, NIKOLAOS; KLAAR, LARS; PILOIDIS, ANASTASIOS; SLEDZ, ULI
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Strasbourg31191525
Union Olimpija19212022
End of Quarter1234
Strasbourg31506590
Union Olimpija19406082
Strasbourg
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 WESSON, K'ZELL 29:30 6 3/6 0/1   1 3 4 2   2 1 1   3 9
6 YAICI, BOUDJI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 GREER, RICARDO 34:30 17 3/7   11/12 4 2 6 3 2 1     1 8 29
8 GREER, JEFF 16:00 3 0/1 1/2     1 1   1 2   1   1 1
9 JEANNEAU, AYMERIC 21:30 11 2/3 1/2 4/4 1 2 3 3 2 3     3 3 14
11 BACH, JASON DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 McCORD, JOHN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 PALMER, CRAWFORD 14:45 4 1/3   2/2 2 2 4 1   2 1   3 1 4
20 YOUNG, ALVIN 29:30 26 8/12 2/4 4/5 2 3 5 1 3 3     3 5 27
23 JACKSON, STANLEY 18:30 9 3/3 1/2     2 2 2         1   11
31 GIFFA, SACHA 19:30 8 3/5 0/1 2/2   6 6 1         2 1 11
33 STAROSTA, ONDREJ 16:15 6 2/3   2/4 5 2 7 1   2     1 2 10
Team                     1         -1
Totals 200:00 90 25/43 5/12 25/29 15 23 38 14 8 16 2 2 14 24 115
        58.1% 41.7% 86.2%
Head coach: GIRARD, ERIC
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
Union Olimpija
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 POLJAK, JOSKO 8:45 2 1/1       1 1     1     1   1
7 SZEWCZYK, SZYMON 25:15 10 4/4 0/2 2/2   2 2   2 2 1   3 2 10
8 RIZVIC, HASAN 14:00 1 0/2   1/2       1         3 1 -3
9 RANNIKKO, TEEMU 32:00 20 3/6 4/7 2/3 2   2 5 3     1 3 5 24
10 MOROVIC, VEDRAN 20:30 12 3/4 2/4         6 1 5     2 2 11
12 DIJAN, TONI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 DROBNJAK, DRAGISA 3:00 2 1/1           1             3
15 VAN DE HARE, REMON 11:00 2 1/2     2 1 3   1 1     5   -1
21 HALPERIN, YOTAM 37:00 14 2/6 2/6 4/4   1 1 6 4 2 1   3 1 14
24 OLIVER, JIMMY 27:30 14 1/3 4/8   1 2 3     2         9
32 EVTIMOV, VASSIL 18:00 5 1/2   3/4 1 1 2     1     3 3 4
33 ZORIC, LUKA 3:00                   1   1 1   -3
Team           1   1               1
Totals 200:00 82 17/31 12/27 12/15 7 8 15 19 11 15 2 2 24 14 70
        54.8% 44.4% 80%
Head coach: BAJRAMOVIC, DENIS
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Head Coaches

GIRARD, ERIC
Strasbourg
"It was important for us to win this game tonight, our second match at home, after only just losing to Benetton. I think we played well and it's the first Euroleague victory in the club's history so it will always be a moment to treasure. But we cannot stop there as we must immediately get back to work and think of our next championship match this weekend at home against Cholet. After that we will think about our next Euroleague game which shortly follows."

Players

YOUNG, ALVIN
Strasbourg
"I think it's a good team victory. I thought everyone did a good job when they came into the game and contributed what they could. Ondrej did a great job. He hasn't played much and I thought he had a great attitude when he came in. The guys fought hard but I just thought this was one of the games we deserved to win and I'm so happy we did."
JEANNEAU, AYMERIC
Strasbourg
"It was a good victory and we can see now that we can also win matches. This win did us a lot of good and is reassuring. We will certainly look better in the standings. Four losses would have been difficult to live with. I hope that this victory will put us back in the competition. Our next Euroleague game is also at home, but against a top team in the group. It was certainly a team victory tonight. Everyone contributed something. Those who had not been playing so well regained confidence and those who normally play well continued to do so."
RANNIKKO, TEEMU
Union Olimpija
"We lost once again and it was the same type of game we've been playing all year. They were 15 points up, we managed to come back, but we could not hold them. We were almost asleep for the first fifteen minutes and we lost too many rebounds. That was really the key to the match, as when you lose so many rebounds and the game is tight, that's how you're sure to lose."
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