Pamesa Valencia is the last undefeated team in the ULEB Cup after it blew to an 80-108 win on the road against Belgian champion Oostende on Tuesday, the only winless team in the competition. Pamesa (5-0) won in dominant fashion again, racing ahead by 15 after one quarter and not letting Oostende (0-5) up for air on its own court. A 19-34 advantage on the backboards said it all about how the visitors got so far ahead, with inside force. Fabricio Overto scored 23 points and had 2 blocks in 24 minutes to lead the winners. Pedro Robles and Nacho Rodilla added 13 points each, Dejan Tomasevic 12 points and 9 rebounts, and Bernard Hopkins 10 points and 7 rebounds. For Oostende, Rony Dorsey led the way with 16 points, while Virgil Stanscu and Rimantas Kaukenas put up 12 each and Alton Mason 11.
Pamesa's superiority was evident to even the most dedicated Oostende fan as the visitors steamrolled to a 6-22 lead in just 6 minutes. Oddly enough, the visitors used a zone defense to surprise Oostende, and it worked like a charm. Under the rims, Pamesa controlled everything, while Oostende's shooters struggled to get going. The hosts tried their own zone defense, but it didn't work as well. Once the Belgians did get in the game, it was all uphill. With Tomasevic running the offense from the low post, Pamesa was able to preserve a lead of 16 points, 42-58, at the half. Although Oostende was now playing Pamesa evenly, it just could not chip into the big points the visitors hoarded early. That became evident in the third quarter as a couple extra baskets by Pamesa pushed the lead over 20 points, at 65-86. As if to make sure, the visitors made another assault in the final quarter, winning it 15-22, their lowest scoring quarter of the four, but enough to go over the century mark and all but assure them passage to the next round.
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Eurocupbasketball.com