Arka Gdynia vs. Tofas Bursa

2018-19Regular SeasonRound 7

Arka Gdynia 77

Tofas Bursa 87

November 13, 2018 CET: 20:15

Local time: 20:15 GDYNIA ARENA

Tofas tops Arka for its first road win

Tofas Bursa claimed its first road win of the EuroCup season by holding off Arka Gdynia 77-87 on Tuesday night at Gdynia Arena. Sammy Mejia starred with 22 points, 5 assists and 5 steals and Diante Garrett scored 21 points and dished 5 assists to pace Tofas, which improved to 3-4 in Group B. Kenny Kadji added 17 points and Jeff Withey 11 for Tofas, which made 10 of 18 three-pointers (55.6%) and forced Arka into 15 turnovers. Robert Upshaw and Josh Bostic scored 21 points apiece and Deividas Dulkys netted 15 for Arka, which slipped to 1-6.

Upshaw scored Arka's first 7 points and James Florence and Bostic each added threes as the hosts jumped out to a 13-9 lead, but Withey kept the visitors close. Demonte Harper scored twice and set up Kadji for a triple in a 0-7 run that gave Tofas a 15-18 lead. The lead would change hands a few more times before Bostic – with Arka's 8th triple of the first quarter – made it 32-28 after 10 minutes. An Upshaw slam extended the hosts' lead to 6 early in the second quarter, however, Tofas turned steals into points in a 0-7 run led by Garrett to edge back ahead, 38-39. The teams traded baskets for some time, but Tofas scored on five straight possessions with Mejia shining as the visitors jumped ahead to 44-51. Garret's layup gave Tofas a 47-56 halftime advantage. Arka scored the first 7 points of the second half to get right back in the game. Upshaw tied it at 59-59 only to see Garrett score 5 in a 0-7 Tofas response. Kadji's slam gave the visitors a 62-68 lead through three quarters. A three-point play by Mejia followed by a triple by Garett gave Tofas its first double-digit lead, 62-74. A Kyle Weems jumper saw the difference peak at 14 and despite the best efforts of Arka down the stretch, the home team was unable to mount a serious late challenge.

Key performer

For the second week in a row, 35-year-old Sammy Mejia turned back the clock with a vintage performance for Tofas. Mejia scored 8 points in the second quarter and then peppered the nets for 11 in the fourth as he finished with 22 points, 5 assists and 5 steals. He also made personal history by going over the 1,000-point mark for his EuroCup career.

Arka's three-point show

The home team led 32-28 after 10 minutes, but would not even score half as many points as it amassed in the first quarter in any subsequent quarter. The difference came down to three-pointers. Arka nailed 8 of 11 tries from downtown (72.7%) in the first quarter, but made just 5 of 17 (29.4%) the rest of the way. The 13 total triples matched the club record, but were not enough to beat Tofas.

Next games

Tofas faces a tough test next week in Round 8 when it hosts Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar. Arka goes on the road to the Croatian capital to face Cedevita Zagreb.

Sammy Mejia - Tofas Bursa (photo Ozan Demir - Tofas) - EC18

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Eurocupbasketball.com

Referees: CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS; BAUMANIS, INGUS; RADOJKOVIC, JOSIP

Attendance: 1376

By Quarter	1	2	3	4
Arka Gdynia	32	15	15	15
Tofas Bursa	28	28	12	19

End of Quarter	1	2	3	4
Arka Gdynia	32	47	62	77
Tofas Bursa	28	56	68	87

Arka Gdynia

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
0	FLORENCE, JAMES	29:01	7	0/2	1/4	4/5		3	3	3		3	1		2	3	6
3	BOSTIC, JOSH	33:48	21	1/3	5/10	4/4		6	6	5	1	3		1	2	7	27
7	SZUBARGA, KRZYSZTOF	21:43	5	1/2	1/3			2	2	2	2	2		1	2		3
10	WITLINSKI, MIKOLAJ	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	PONITKA, MARCEL	26:11		0/1			1	2	3	5		3		1		3	6
16	LAPETA, ADAM	6:32	1			1/2		1	1			1			2	2
23	KAMINSKI, GRZEGORZ	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
30	GARBACZ, JAKUB	10:58			0/2			1	1								-1
44	DULKYS, DEIVIDAS	25:00	15	3/4	3/5		1	3	4		1	1			2	1	15
55	UPSHAW, ROBERT	26:15	21	7/12	2/3	1/2	1	6	7	1		1	1		3	2	21
91	WYKA, DARIUSZ	20:32	7	2/3	1/1							1		1	1	1	4
	Team						1	3	4								4
	Totals	200:00	77	14/27	13/28	10/13	4	27	31	16	4	15	2	4	14	19	85
				51.9%	46.4%	76.9%

Head coach: FRASUNKIEWICZ, PRZEMYSLAW

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

Tofas Bursa

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
2	GARRETT, DIANTE	37:30	21	6/8	3/5			1	1	5		4			2	1	18
3	DURMAZ, BERKAN	11:00	4	2/4				2	2	1	1		2				8
7	ARSLAN, YIGIT	18:47	2	1/2	0/2			1	1	2					1		1
9	MEJIA, SAMMY	30:04	22	4/8	4/5	2/2		3	3	5	5				3	3	30
21	KONUK, MERT	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
22	HARPER, DEMONTE	29:42	4	2/7				3	3	6	1	2		1	3	1	4
23	MUSTAFA, MUHAYMIN	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
24	WITHEY, JEFF	18:41	11	5/12		1/2	2	2	4	1			2		3	1	8
34	WEEMS, KYLE	32:57	6	3/4	0/2			6	6	2	1			1	5	1	7
35	KADJI, KENNY	21:19	17	3/5	3/4	2/3		6	6	1	2				2	7	27
77	YASAR, MUHSIN	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Team						2		2			1					1
	Totals	200:00	87	26/50	10/18	5/7	4	24	28	23	10	7	4	2	19	14	104
				52%	55.6%	71.4%

Head coach: ENE, ORHUN

Head Coaches

FRASUNKIEWICZ, PRZEMYSLAW

Arka Gdynia

"It's a tough loss for us because we were really fighting throughout the game. We executed well, but the size of the players from Bursa is amazing and sometimes, even over the hands of our good defense they made some really tough shots. In games like this we cannot make two or three simple mistakes in a row and we did and that cost us the victory."

ENE, ORHUN

Tofas Bursa

"I liked the second quarter. We played very good in the second quarter. The rest of the game we made too many mistakes, but because our opponents also made mistakes we won by this difference. This was an important game for us. It's not easy to win on the road. Gdynia beat Limoges here and they competed well against most of the strong teams here. We got one more win and we have two home games now."

Players

WYKA, DARIUSZ

Arka Gdynia

"What's a pity. We stayed in the game for all four quarters, even in the fourth quarter we played on the same high level, but again we weren't able to win. At the end of the game we had our chances, had open shots, but we missed and missed. So this is why we can say, 'what's a pity.'"

DULKYS, DEIVIDAS

Arka Gdynia

"Tough loss at home. We came out and we were fighting. We needed to make better decisions throughout the game. I think we played hard and the team was fighting. We have to give respect to Tofas. I think they played well. They made some really tough shots. We have to regroup and go look for another game."

MEJIA, SAMMY

Tofas Bursa

"It was a very important game for us against a very good team that plays well at home. We tried to focus as much as we can for this game and prepare. We know how important it is to get to the next group. So this was a big game for us. We now gave ourselves a little bit of extra distance from this team in regards to the next round, so it's huge for us. We also can learn a lot from this game-changing. We have to be better. We have to learn from our mistakes. We have a long way to go to continue to improve as a team. If we can focus on some of the mistakes we made, it will help us for these next three games we have in the EuroCup. I'm proud for the win, but we still have work to do."

GARRETT, DIANTE

Tofas Bursa

"they came out and were hitting a lot of shots on us. We just wanted to stay aggressive. We knew they were going to play hard. We withstood the storm and came out with a win. They played more aggressive [in the second half] and denied me [the ball] more. My teammates came in and did their job and helped me out and I helped them. We are going to watch film, get better, learn from our mistakes and get ready for the next game."

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