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

Charleroi of Belgium prevented two teams from taking a place in the next round when it stopped visiting Group D leader Metis Varese 79-71. The victory boosted Charleroi into a third-place tie with Zadar at 4-4. It also forced Varese to share first place with Caprabo Lleida at 5-3, and both teams would have advanced to the next round had Charleroi lost. Jim Potter led the winners with 20 points and was decisive in breaking a tie game with 2 minutes left in Charleroi's favor. LeRon Ellis added 14 points for Charleroi. Boris Gorenc was the scoring ace for Varese with 19 points.

Charleroi entered very well in the game (16-5) but Varese reacted with a zone defense which managed him to limite the gap after the first quarter: 23-17. Charleroi tried then again to launch Italians (44-33) but they refused (47-42 at halve time). So the game was very tied till the 38th minutes (71-71), time chosen by Potter and faison to enter a 3 points. It was over.

Charleroi had no choice but to beat the leader of the group, Varese. And that urgency could be felt from the very beginning of the game. Charleroi's defense was playing very hard and its shooters started out very precise in staking a 9-1 lead The first Italian basket did not fall for a full 5 minutes. Varese was trying to accelerate and penetrate but Charleroi was still playing faster, so it got free shoots. Ellis took full advantage for 8 points in the first quarter. But the zone defense of Varese soon made Charleroi doubt and it took vetern Jacques Stas to maintain an advantage of 23-17 for Charleroi after 10 minutes.

Varese came back with the intention of imposing itself under the rims, and succeeded inasmuch as Charleroi was suddenly missing rebounds. Gorenc and Sasa Knezevic were doing a great job together on the perimeter, and Varese took the commands for the first time at 25-26. Varese had already used 10 players in 15 minutes and tried to maintain intensity levels that way. But Ellis poured in his fourth three-pointer and Potter was dominating the quarter with 13 points. So Charleroi reached halftime ahead 47-42.

The second half was a long battle under the rims, with both defense refusing to let the other control game. But Charleroi became nervous as attested by three offensive fouls, which was contrasting with the serenity and patience of Varese, where Gorenc was everywhere. The entry of Stas brought back calm to Charleroi, which concluded the third quarter still ahead, 61-58. But the locals did not completely solve their problem of making it to the basket. Slowly but surely, Varese was now taking the game under control, though not going beyond a tie score of 71-71 with 2 minutes left. That is when Potter stepped out with a three to end the discussion and Marcus Faison copied him to make sure. Charleroi had not only kept its hopes up for the next round, but had shaken the foundations of Group D a little.

Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Eurocupbasketball.com
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Referees: MPOTITSIS, NIKOS; SHARRO, LAHDO; MANTYLA, PETRI
Attendance: 6000
By Quarter1234
Spirou Charleroi23241418
Metis Varese17251613
End of Quarter1234
Spirou Charleroi23476179
Metis Varese17425871
Spirou Charleroi
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 ELLIS, RONALD 29:00 14 1/3 4/6   1 2 3 1 5 1   1 1   16
5 TISON, STEPHEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 DRMIC, FRANK DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 FAISON, MARCUS 35:00 12 1/6 1/5 7/8 4 4 8 2 1 4 2   3 5 13
9 MOORS, ROEL 18:00 7 3/4   1/2   1 1   1 3     4 3 3
10 RIDDICK, ANDRE 28:00 5 1/7   3/6 4 5 9 2   1 1   3 3 7
11 HUGGINS, ROGER 18:00 4 2/2       2 2   1 5     2 4 4
12 KUZMANOVIC, VLADIMIR 20:00 4 2/2 0/2   1   1 1 2 1     2 3 6
13 STAS, JACQUES 18:00 13 2/3 2/5 3/3       4         3 2 12
14 POTTER, JIM 29:00 20 2/5 4/6 4/5 4 1 5   2 2     2 4 21
15 JORSSEN, DIMITRI 5:00   0/1     1 1 2           1    
Team                                
Totals 200:00 79 14/33 11/24 18/24 15 16 31 10 12 17 3 1 21 24 82
        42.4% 45.8% 75%
Head coach: VUCEVIC, SAVO
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
Metis Varese
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 KNEZEVIC, SASA 11:00 6 0/1 2/3         1         1 2 6
6 GORENC, BORIS 35:00 19 7/12 0/2 5/7   2 2 3 1 4   1 4 6 13
8 VESCOVI, FRANCESCO 28:00 10 2/5 2/5     2 2 1 3 2 1   2   7
9 McCORMACK, RYAN 29:00 10 4/5   2/2 2 2 4 1   6   1 3 5 9
10 ALLEGRETTI, MARCO 17:00 5 1/1 1/1     1 1     1     2   3
12 PODKOLZINE, PAVEL 9:00 4 2/4   0/2 3 1 4     1     2 1 2
13 DI GIULIOMARIA, CHRISTIAN 14:00 5 2/3   1/1 2 1 3     1     1 1 6
14 ZANUS, CRISTIANO 21:00 8 3/3   2/4 2 4 6     4   1 5 4 6
17 OSELLA, DIEGO 29:00 4 1/3   2/4 1 1 2     2     4 2 -2
20 MARIN, FEDERICO 7:00   0/2       1 1   1       1   -1
Team                                
Totals 200:00 71 22/39 5/11 12/20 10 15 25 6 5 21 1 3 25 21 49
        56.4% 45.5% 60%
Head coach: BEUGNOT, GREGOR
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Head Coaches

VUCEVIC, SAVO
Spirou Charleroi
"We show the reaction I was expecting today. Unlike last week, we still had a great mentality in the end. And this is what made the difference because this team was able to cope with the score evolution, and caused us big problems. Thanks to their experience in high-level games each weekend, which is a difference with us, they hit us bad, especially Gorenc and McCormack. But I am happy, we needed this win to come back."
BEUGNOT, GREGOR
Metis Varese
"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.""It would be too easy to say we lost only because of our four injured players. Because during 35 minutes, we played like we had to. We were moving the ball and had a great passing game, when suddenly we stopped to move the ball and took the bad options. But actually I was expecting such a tight group from the beginning. The difference could be made by the home wins in the end."
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