CEZ Nymburk clinched its first Last 16 win by edging Turk Telekom on the road 92-97 after overtime on Tuesday in the Turkish capital. Phil Ricci led six Nymburk scorers in double figures with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists to keep his team in the thick of the battle for a quarterfinals berth. Nymburk moved into a tie for second place in Group L with Gran Canaria 2014 with a 1-1 record, while Turk Telekom fell to 0-2. Nymburk hosts Granca next week and Telekom hosts group leader Crvena Zvezda. Turk Telekom used a late run to get back in the game and Huseyin Besok forced overtime from the foul line before Nymburk’s Arthur Lee missed a shot to win the game. In the extra session, Nymburk started with a 6-0 run and never looked back, ensuring a crucial win. Petr Benda and Lee added 13 points each and Pavel Pumprla, Ronald Lewis and Mike Lenzly scored 12 apiece for the winners. Erwin Dudley was the main contributor for Telekom with 18 points and 7 boards, Kris Lang and Besok added 16 apiece, Demond Mallet netted 15 and Tutku Acik dished 11 assists.
Acik from downtown gave a 7-3 advantage to Turk Telekom early in the game. Benda scored all of the first 7 points of his side as it closed to within 9-7 after four minutes. Radek Necas tied the score on 11-11 from the foul line. A Ricci layup put the guests in front 13-15 before Lang in the paint and Mallet from beyond the arc gave a 20-15 cushion to the home team A three-point-play by Ricci and his block on Dudley closed the first quarter at 23-21 for Turk Telekom. Four consecutive free throws by Ricci gave another slim cushion to Nymburk, but the hosts tied the score three times before a 0-8 run
highlighted by threes from Lee and Lenzly put the perennial Czech champs ahead 31-39. Serkan Erdogan, Umit Sonkol and Lang fueled the hosts to get within 45-46 by halftime.
Pavel Pumprla opened the scoring for the guests in the second half. Ricci and Erdogan exchanged layups before Lee and Prumprla gave Nymburk a 50-58 lead that kept the momentum on its side. Dudley sounded the charge for Turk Telekom, but an unstoppable Ricci scored again, adding a free throw to make it 52-61. Acik helped Telekom climb within 59-63 from beyond the arc, and late in the quarter Lewis made 3 of his 4 free throws with Dudley fixing the score at 61-68 at the end of the quarter. Mallet exploded with a deep three to warm up his team beginning the final quarter. Dudley and Necas
scored from mid range and Lee was accurate from the foul line to stay up 68-75. Dudley and Mallet attempted to bring Telekom back, but were rejected by Pumprla and Lenzly
from downtown and with three-and-a half minutes left in the game. Turk Telekom scored 5 straight points to get within 78-81. Benda answered with a deep two, but Besok responded in the paint and few seconds later with a three to tie it at 85-85. Ricci scored 2 free throws, and Besok also hit from the foul line to force the game to the extra session before Lee missed the potential game-winner. The guests started on fire in the overtime with a 6-0 run highlighted by 4 points from Lenzly, then Nymburk used its accuracy from the foul line to escape from Ataturk Arena of Ankara with a crucial victory.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
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