2002-03Regular SeasonRound 8
December 18, 2002 CET: 00:00
Local time: 00:00 BALLSPORTHALLE

In a crucial game to survive in the fight to reach the berth in the second round, Opel Skyliners defeated Pivovarna Lasko 75-68 at home in Frankfurt to force a real race for the last two spots available in Group B. Both Skyliners and Pivovarna are now 3-5 and tied for fourth place, one victory behind third-place Eurocellulari Roseto. The top two teams, FMP Zeleznik and Pamesa Valencia, have qualified, while last-place Oostende is eliminated already. On Wednesday, Skyliners had another good performance from its big men, including 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 blocks by Mario Kasun. The winners were led in scoring by the duo of Robert Garrett and Pascal Roller, who both netted 15 points. Forwards Jukka Matinen and Andrzej Kwiatkowski added 11 and 10, respectively. The home team dominated under the boards with 37 rebounds pulled down against just 23 for Pivovarna, with Robert Maras grabbing 10 as best rebounder for the winners. As usual the best contributor for Pivovarna Lasko has been guard Kenyan Weaks with 25 points. Dragan Dojcin added 12 and Ermal Kuqo followed with 10 points for the visitors.

The game was close throughout the first two quarters, with the two teams taking slim advantages and showed fine defensive performnaces Opel was ahead after 10 minutes, 18-12, while in the second period the amazing night of Weaks gave to Lasko the way to rally and tie the game at the buzzer, 34-34. Both teams knew how important this win would be to survive or to make a decisive step, so the third period was nervous, with poor percentages a 17-14 partial for the hosts and Kasun dominating under the glasses. In the last period, Pascal and Garrett showed good accuracy from the line, while none of the Slovenians was able to score from behind the arc. Neither did Skyliners giv e the guests any opportunities to get offensive rebounds. Skyliners not only took the victory, but also overcame the four-point advantage by which Pivovarna won their first meeting. In the event of a head-to-head tie between the two teams, Skyliners would win.

Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Eurocupbasketball.com
No results found.
Referees: PITSILKAS, NIKOLAOS; ARTEAGA, JUAN CARLOS; CMIKIEWICZ, MAREK
Attendance: 1870
By Quarter1234
Opel Skyliners18161724
Zlatorog Lasko12221420
End of Quarter1234
Opel Skyliners18345175
Zlatorog Lasko12344868
Opel Skyliners
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 KWIATKOWSKI, ANDRZEJ 22:00 10 2/3 2/4   5 2 7     1     1 3 15
5 WEATHERS, RAY 13:00 4 2/4     1   1 1   4     4 1 -3
6 KASUN, MARIO 26:00 12 3/6   6/7 2 3 5     1 5   3 6 20
7 NURNBERGER, KAI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 GARRETT, ROBERT 30:00 15 4/6 0/2 7/10 1 3 4 1 2 3     3 7 16
9 CONLAN, TRAVIS 26:00 6 1/2 0/2 4/6   2 2 5 4 3     5 3 7
10 MATINEN, JUKKA 19:00 11 2/4 1/2 4/4 1 1 2     1 1   1 3 12
11 ROLLER, PASCAL 27:00 15 1/3 3/5 4/4 1 1 2 1   2     4 3 11
12 PAPIC, STIPO 16:00 2 1/1     1 3 4       2   3   5
13 MARAS, ROBERT 21:00   0/4     2 8 10 1   3     1 2 5
Team                   1 2         -1
Totals 200:00 75 16/33 6/15 25/31 14 23 37 9 7 20 8 0 25 28 87
        48.5% 40% 80.6%
Head coach: HERBERT, GORDON
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
Zlatorog Lasko
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 NECAS, RADEK 9:00 3 0/3 0/1 3/4 1   1         1 2 3 -1
5 MILETIC, DRAGAN 15:00 6 2/4 0/1 2/2   1 1 2 1 1   1 4 1 2
6 KUQO, ERMAL 25:00 10 5/7     2 1 3 3   1     5   8
7 DOJCIN, DRAGAN 29:00 12 5/7   2/3 3 1 4     1   1 2 5 14
9 KOBALE, PRIMOZ 23:00 4 1/4 0/1 2/4   1 1 2         1 2 2
10 POPOVIC, VLADIMIR 17:00 4   0/1 4/4   2 2 2 1 1   1 3 4 7
11 BROLIH, PRIMOZ 23:00     0/3     2 2 3 1       1 4 6
12 FANTINATTO, ALJAZ DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 PAVIC, SMILJAN 22:00 4 2/6       5 5     1   3 5   -4
15 WEAKS, KENYAN 37:00 25 6/9 3/4 4/8 1 1 2 1 3 4   1 5 6 19
Team           1 1 2   2 1         3
Totals 200:00 68 21/40 3/11 17/25 8 15 23 13 8 10 0 8 28 25 56
        52.5% 27.3% 68%
Head coach: KRUSCIC, PREDRAG
This game has no play by play yet

Head Coaches

HERBERT, GORDON
Opel Skyliners
"We played pretty good defense and rebounded well. Pascal Roller, as our captain, stepped up and took control. Mattinen and Kwiatkowski gave us quality minutes from the bench. We fought like a mouse in a corner, and after this victory we still have a chance in the ULEB Cup."
KRUSCIC, PREDRAG
Zlatorog Lasko
"Today we have shown our worst face of the season. We knew this game would be very difficult mentally for both teams. The reason why we lost is simple: Frankfurt had many more rebounds and we played bad."

Players

ROLLER, PASCAL
Opel Skyliners
"We are happy with the win. Recently, we went through tough times, so it is more important that we made this step. In the defensive end we did a good job and in the end we even won the direct scoring average to Lasko."
MILETIC, DRAGAN
Zlatorog Lasko
"We tried to play without pressure, just with control in our heads. Our team controlled the game for 38 minutes, but in the end Frankfurt made the important moves."
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