Beghelli Fortitudo Bologna achieved its first win of the Uleb Cup season by beating CEZ Nymburk 82-71 at home in Italy on Tuesday. With a win in its first-ever ULEB Cup home game, Fortitudo is now 1-1 in Group F, while Nymburk fell to 0-2. Scoring ace Horace Jenkins led Fortitudo with 26 points, Kristaps Janicenoks added 17 from the bench and James Thomas contributed 8 points and 17 rebounds. Nymburk got 16 points by Ladislav Sokolovski and 12 each from Black Schilb and Radoslav Rancik. After trailing by up to 9 points, 8-17, Fortitudo took over the game in the second quarter. Janicenoks gave the biggest help in the first quarter as he scored 8 points off the bench to push Fortitudo up by 7 at halftime. When Nymburk tied the game early in the third quarter, it was Jenkins who broke open the game as he scored 6 in the third quarter. Nymburk tried to come back again in the fourth quarter, but Fortitudo managed to keep its margin safe as Janicenoks and Calabria fired from downtown to lock the win.

Petr Benda got Cez Nymburk going as the guests could open the game with a 3-6 lead. Horace Jenkins soon tied with a three-pointer but Blake Schilb’s five points in a row opened a 10-0 Nymburk run that Ladislav Sokolovski capped with a triple, 8-16. After Rado Rancik hit a free-throw, Kristaps Janicenoks’s three-pointer helped Beghelli Bologna to revive and build an 11-0 run that put the hosts in front, 19-17, before Arthur Lee tied at 19-19 after 10 minutes. Three-point shots by Janicenoks and Jenkins led Fortitudo to a good start in the second. When Dalibor Bagaric added a skyhook, the guests reached a 28-21 lead. Ales Chan and Pavel Slezak’s inside baskets made it closer on 30-27, but the guests replied with five consecutive free- throws to hit the maximum lead on 35-27. Later Nymburk kept going inside but trimmed the gap by only 1 point, staying 39-32 behind at the halftime.

Nymburk gave big effort to open the third quarter as Rancik, Lee and a three-pointer by Schilb posted a 7-0 run that tied the game for the guests, 39-39. Fortitudo, however, replied with a bigger spur when Jenkins, Torres and Thomas built a 12-2 break that pushed the hosts’ lead up to 51-41. But Nymburk didn’t give up as Petr Benda hit long jumpers down the stretch to bring its team within 7, 58-51, after 30 minutes. Sokolovski’s three-pointer made it a 4-game point with 9 minute left, 58-54, just before Dante Calabria hit back-to-back buckets to revive Fortitudo. It was the right run for the hosts as Pavel Benes’ three-pointer, that made it 64-57, was erased by a 8-0 Beghelli partial that Janicenoks capped on fastbreak, 72-57. There’s no much more to do for Nymburk and Fortitudo could enjoy its first ULEB Cup win of the season.