Spirou hangs on for first victory


Proximus Spirou Charleroi led from start to finish, holding off CEZ Basketball Nymburk 82-73 for its first 2014-15 Eurocup victory on Wednesday night. Both teams now hold 1-2 record in a share of the fourth place in Group C. Spirou led from the get-go, but did not pull away until Dylan Page hit a three-pointer to cap a 11-2 run midway through the third quarter for 58-47. The hosts entered the final quarter up by 15 points, enough to hang on to it until the final buzzer. Page led the way with 22 points on 4-for-5 three-point shooting. Eric Wise amassed 17 points and 10 rebounds, Leigh Enobakhare scored 11, and William Hatcher had 10 in victory. For Nymburk, Darius Washington had 17 points and 9 rebounds, Pavel Houska scored 12 with 6 rebounds, while Derek Raivio netted 10.

Hatcher and Page hit triples for 10-2 opening lead. Nymburk got it going with strong play on the offensive boards, and put-backs from Garrett Stutz and Martin Kriz cut it to 12-8. But Enobakhare had a dunk, before Andre Collins and Esben Reinholt, the latter with a triple, helped make it 21-14 after 10 minutes. Houska hit for three, while Vojtech Hruban and Raivio made two-point shots to keep Nymburk close, 26-21 early in the second. Back-to-back threes from Washington and Raivio made it 28-27, but Hatcher answered with a triple for the hosts, and a pair of close-range baskets from Wise got them to 37-31. A three-pointer from Washington made it 39-36 at halftime.

Long range shots from Page and Loic Schwartz were answered by a three-point dagger from Raivio and a jumper from Jiri Welsch. Nymburk got within 47-45, but Wise had a pair of steals, which lead to basket-plus-fouls from both him and Reinholt, 55-45. Page added a triple to his tally, and Wise had couple more baskets to help make it 68-53 going into the final quarter. Houska opened the final period with a jumper, before trading triples with Reinholt. The hosts kept the double-digit lead with a pair of baskets from Hatcher, before 5 points from Washington and a three-pointer from Tre Simmons got Nymburk to 77-71. The visitors stepped it up on defense, but Spirou did not allow another basket for 2 minutes, either. Petr Benda scored a layup for 77-73 with 39 seconds on the clock, but a triple from Page, his fourth, sealed the deal on the ensuing possession.