2014-15Regular SeasonRound 7
November 28, 2014 CET: 19:30
Local time: 19:30 DRAZEN PETROVIC ZAGREB

Unstoppable Bilan lifts Cedevita over Limoges

Cedevita Zagreb used a great shooting performance and a dominant center to beat Limoges CSP 102-83 in the Croatian capital on Friday, keeping alive its hopes of advancing to the Top 16. With career nights from both Miro Bilan, who dominated inside, and Fran Pilepic who hit 5 three-pointers, Cedevita improved to 2-5 in Group B and moved in front of Limoges, which lost its fifth game in a row to fall to 1-6. Cedevita also overcame an 11-point loss from Round 2, thanks in great part to its 31 assists, as well as 65% two-point shooting and 56% behind the arc. Limoges had 15 triples for the night, 8 of them in the first half. But Cedevita buried as many three-pointers in the first two quarters, and took better care of the ball to build a 52-43 halftime lead. After the break Limoges did briefly come within 6 points, but Pilepic and Bilan quickly restored a double-digit margin, then a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter broke the game open. Bilan finished with a career-high 24 points along with 8 rebounds in victory, while Pilepic netted career-high 21 points on 5-of-7 three-point shooting. Nemanja Gordic contributed 11 points and 7 assists, while Karlo Zganec had career-highs of 9 points and 10 rebounds. For Limoges, Nobel Boungou-Colo scored 18 points, and Ramel Curry scored 15 on 4 of 5 from three-point range. Jamar Smith had 14, and Leo Westermann 11 points with 4 assists and 6 steals in the losing effort.

First quarter: Cedevita misses only 1 shot, takes control

Pilepic got things going with a jumper on the opening possession, and after Curry punished one of Cedevita's turnovers with a triple, a tough shot by Ivan Ramljak gave the hosts a 4-3 lead. Ukic scored a fastbreak layup, and after Nobl Boungou-Colo sank a three-pointer for Limoges, Pilepic knocked down back-to-back shots from downtown, 12-6. The visitors answered with another triple, this time from Jamar Smith, but Ukic and Pilepic converted a pair of fastbreaks for Cedevita to make it 16-9. However, Smith nailed another three, and Boungou-Colo muscled his way for a layup, made couple of foul shots, and then dunked on a breakaway to tie things at 18-18. Bilan and Andrien Moerman traded baskets from close range, before Gordic buried a three against Limoges’s zone defense to go up 23-20. Bilan scored a layup-plus-foul, and after Boungou-Colo buried a tough long jumper, Tomislav Zubcic and Luka Babic hit back-to-back threes. It was Cedevita's fifth three-pointer in six attempts, enough for a 32-24 lead.

Second quarter: Three-pointers keep on coming

The hosts forced 3 turnovers to start the quarter, and with a layup from Bilan and a corner triple from Ante Delas increased the margin to 37-24. Ousmane Camara drove for a layup, to end the visitors’ drought, but two more Limoges turnovers led to a fastbreak layup from Babic and another three from Ante Delas. Marko Arapovic made a turnaround jumper to extend the lead to 44-26, but Limoges countered with a jumper from Westermann and a triple from James Southerland. After Arapovic scored from close range, Westermann answered with another one from long range to make it 46-34. Curry’s triple – the seventh shot from downtown by Limoges – cut the margin below 10 points. Ramljak answered from downtown, and Moerman made a pair of free throws for Limoges to make it 49-39. In the final 10 seconds of the half, Delas finished Cedevita’s fast break with a one-handed slam, but Curry nailed a buzzer beating triple on the other end, cutting it to 52-43 at halftime.

Third quarter: Pilepic and Bilan keep Cedevita on top

Smith opened the second half with a three-pointer that cut the deficit to 6 points, but Mario Delas answered with a long jumper and Ramljak went coast-to-coast for a fastbreak layup. Bilan made a put-back, before Pilepic and Smith traded three-pointers to make it 61-49. Then Pilepic traded threes with Boungou-Colo. Limoges closed the deficit with Smith and Westermann each scoring on a fast break, with latter being a basket-plus-foul to get within 64-57. Bilan muscled his way for a tough layup in the crowd, then fed Pilepic for another three to put the hosts up 12. J.P. Batista sank a jumper, but Arapovic made a dunk after a sweet dish by Babic. After Camara and Bilan traded layups, Curry drove to the hoop. Karlo Zganec foul shots gave the hosts a 77-65 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

Fourth quarter: Gordic and Bilan close it out

Moerman banked in a basket-plus-foul, but Gordic hit from downtown on the ensuing trip down the floor, and Bilan scored once again from close range to make it 82-68. Zganec continued the run with free throws. Gordic buried another three and threw an alley-oop pass to Bilan for a layup and a 21-point lead. Westerman snapped a 12-0 run with a corner triple, but Gordic found Bilan with a behind-the-back pass for a monster dunk, then sank a tough jumper to make it 93-72. With Cedevita clearly on the way to its second win, there was a matter of a tie-break advantage to be settled. Southerland buried a three-pointer, but that was the only basket the visitors managed in three minutes. Zganec hit a baseline jumper , and after a three-pointer from Curry, Bilan scored a layup, then found Babic with a no-look pass as Cedevita reached the century mark and its biggest lead, 100-78. Moerman scored for Limoges, but Bilan had another great assist, this time for Zganec, before Southerland ended the game with a triple.

Miro Bilan - Cedevita Zagreb - EB14
Friday, November 28, 2014
Euroleague.net

Referees: ANKARALI, RECEP; GARCIA, JUAN CARLOS; CORTES, CARLOS
Attendance: 3298
By Quarter1234
Cedevita Zagreb32202525
Limoges CSP24192218
End of Quarter1234
Cedevita Zagreb325277102
Limoges CSP24436583
Cedevita Zagreb
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 MAZALIN, LOVRO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 ZUBCIC, TOMISLAV 6:45 3 0/1 1/1         2 2 1   1     4
7 RAMLJAK, IVAN 20:41 7 2/3 1/1     2 2 3   1     3 1 8
8 PILEPIC, FRAN 17:49 21 2/3 5/7 2/2   1 1   2 2     3 2 18
9 BABIC, LUKA 22:17 7 2/3 1/4     4 4 3 2 1       1 12
10 DELAS, ANTE 19:13 6 0/1 2/5         2 2 1     2 1 4
11 ZGANEC, KARLO 17:38 9 2/4   5/7 5 5 10 2 2 3   1 2 4 17
15 BILAN, MIRO 31:01 24 10/12   4/6 2 6 8 3   1   1 2 7 34
17 DELAS, MARIO 12:31 4 2/5     1   1     1   2 3 1 -3
20 GORDIC, NEMANJA 19:26 11 1/2 3/3     1 1 7 1 1     4 4 18
32 UKIC, ROKO 20:34 4 2/2       1 1 9 1 3     2 3 13
35 ARAPOVIC, MARKO 12:05 6 3/4 0/2   2 2 4   1 1   1 3   3
Team           2   2               2
Totals 200:00 102 26/40 13/23 11/15 12 22 34 31 13 16 0 6 24 24 130
        65% 56.5% 73.3%
Head coach: REPESA, JASMIN
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
Limoges CSP
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 TCHICAMBOUD, STEED 13:26           2 2 4   3     3 2 2
5 SMITH, JAMAR 27:39 14 1/3 4/5     2 2 1   4       1 11
9 WESTERMANN, LEO 20:03 11 2/2 2/2 1/1       4 6 1     3 4 21
12 CAMARA, OUSMANE 10:44 5 2/4 0/1 1/2 2 1 3     2     3 3 2
13 BATISTA, J.P. 16:23 2 1/3       1 1 2   1 1   1   2
18 MOERMAN, ADRIEN 26:51 9 3/5 0/4 3/4   2 2 4 1 2     3 5 9
25 CURRY, RAMEL 21:12 15 1/2 4/5 1/2 1 1 2 2   2       3 17
31 SOUTHERLAND, JAMES 17:28 9   3/6     2 2   1   4   3   10
41 BOUNGOU-COLO, NOBEL 25:16 18 3/5 2/4 6/8 2 2 4 3 1 4     2 6 20
44 PLAISTED, TRENT 8:24           1 1       1   4   -2
50 KANTE, LAMINE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
55 ZERBO, FREJUS 12:34   0/1           1 1 1     2   -2
Team           1   1               1
Totals 200:00 83 13/25 15/27 12/17 6 14 20 21 10 20 6 0 24 24 91
        52% 55.6% 70.6%
Head coach: DUPRAZ, JEAN-MARC

Head Coaches

REPESA, JASMIN
Cedevita Zagreb
"The most important thing for us is to stay in the race for the Top 16 until the end. I would like to congratulate my players and say thanks to our fans, who showed us great support. We shot well tonight, but we could have been more consistent on defense. We played well in transition and outrebounded them, which is not easy against any French team."
DUPRAZ, JEAN-MARC
Limoges CSP
"We started the game terribly and we cannot expect much with this kind of defense. We knew it was going to be tough, but we didn't play hard enough. We can win in the French League even in games when we don't play our best basketball, but in the Euroleague we have to play at 100 percent."

Players

BILAN, MIRO
Cedevita Zagreb
"For most of the game we played well and I think we deserved this win. We didn't play the way we wanted to play on defense and we made some mistakes, allowing them to stay in the game for too long. I thought we should have closed the game earlier."
WESTERMANN, LEO
Limoges CSP
"Cedevita played great. They have great shooters and we let them shoot and allowed them to play basketball the way they wanted to play. We lacked energy and intensity in this game and that was crucial in our loss."