
Banvit BK Bandirma held off Buducnost Voli Podgorica 89-80 to pick up its first victory in the Last 16. Both teams now have 1-1 records and are tied for second place in the Group I standings. Banvit grabbed control of the game midway through the second quarter with an 8-1 run. Although Buducnost came within 63-62 in the third quarter, the hosts never gave up their advantage led by Chuck Davis and Vladimir Stimac, while Sammy Mejia sealed the deal in the final two minutes of the game. Stimac finished with 17 points plus 9 rebounds, while Davis also scored 17. Mejia and Serkan Erdogan added 14 points apiece, and Kalin Lucas chipped in with 12 for Banvit. Aleksa Popovic led Buducnost with 16 points. Cedomir Vitkovac finished with 15, Demarquis Bost netted 11, and Strahinja Milosevic scored 10 in defeat.
Davis kicked the game off with a basket-plus-foul, and last week's Eurocup Last 16 MVP Vitkovac opened visitor's account with a three-pointer. The teams traded leads early on, as Mejia and Keith Simmons scored inside to join Davis on Banvit's score-sheet, while Aleksa Popovic made a layup and Vitkovac added a couple more buckets inside for 9-9. Simmons and Aleksa Popovic exchanged triples, and Aleksa Popovic sunk another long-distance shot for 14-15. The same player soon scored a layup for the visitors before Bost’s layup-plus-foul made it 18-22 after 10 minutes. Davis and Kenan Bajramovic scored on back-to-back possession twice to tie the score couple of times at the start after of the second quarter, but Dusko Bunic scored twice inside for the visitors, including a layup-plus-foul for 28-31, and Nikola Ivanovic and Milosevic each added a layup of their own to keep Buducnost in front. Banvit, however, replied through Erdogan and with a dunk from Mejia, before back-to-back layups from Stimac gave the hosts 41-36. Before the quarter's end, Aleksa Popovic and Marko Popovic each hit a triple for Buducnost, but Mejia and Stimac made sure Banvit stayed with the lead, and Erdogan's triple gave the hosts a 48-42 halftime advantage.
Gerald Lee made a pair of free throws to open the third quarter. Mejia hit a jumper, but Bost answered with a triple cutting it to 50-47. Banvit proceeded to go on a 7-1 run, though, as Kalin Lucas converted basket-plus-foul and Stimac scored inside. Bunic made a basket inside, and Vitkovac hit one from long range, before Lucas and Stimac answered right back to keep the lead at 61-53. Vitkovac, however, made a layup and a jumper to spark visitors’ run, and after Milosevic and Bunic each added a layup of their own, Buducnost was within 63-62. The hosts got more separation with free throws from Erodgan and Stimac, before Bajramovic hit a triple making it a 7-point game, but Milosevic replied with a three-pointer that ended the third quarter, 69-65. Lead was back to 9 points in the fourth quarter after baskets from Erdogan and Davis. While a layup from Bost was visitors’ lone field goal in the first 5 minutes of the quarter, Stimac and Lucas went inside to extend the lead to 78-68. Baskets from Lee, and a triple from Milosevic cut it to 79-75, but after Simmons and Marko Popovic traded triples, Mejia and Davis hit jumpers on back-to-back possession and Mejia added a layup for 88-78 and sealed the deal.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Eurocupbasketball.com