2006-07Regular SeasonRound 11
January 11, 2007 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 BASKETBALL CENTER DRAZEN PETROVIC

Cibona downing archrivals Partizan 89-72

Cibona took an important step towards reaching the Top 16 from difficult Group B by downing archrivals Partizan 89-72 in a sold-out Drazen Petrovic Basketball Center in Zagreb, Croatia on Thursday. Cibona improved to 5-6 and took sole possession of fourth place in the Group B standings. Meanwhile, Partizan joins a three-way tie for fifth place with Lottomatica Roma and Unicaja, all at 4-7. Should it be needed, Cibona also earned a tie-break advantage over Partizan with Thursday's win. Brent Wright paced the winners with 16 points. Chris Warren and Andrew Wisniewski each added 14 while Davor Kus had 12 for Cibona. Predrag Drobnjak had 20 points for Partizan while Kosta Perovic added 12. Drobnjak and Vonteego Cummings helped Partizan to get a 52-58 edge midway through the third quarter. Wright, Kus and Warren fueled a game-breaking 20-6 run that allowed Cibona to cruise to a big home win.

Warren got Cibona going with a left-handed layup, as Partizan went scoreless in the opening 2 minutes. Meanwhile, Wisniewski buried a six-meter jumper for a 4-0 Cibona lead. Cummings rescued Partizan with a three-pointer and Drobnjak added free throws to give the guests their first lead, 4-5. Wright shined with a jump hook but Drobnjak did better with a layup-plus-foul. Warren fed Marton Bader for an easy dunk that Novica Velickovic erased with a mid-range jumper. Wisniewski nailed another long two-pointer, as Cibona kept the right attitude in defense. Wright stepped up with a floating jumper and soon added a fast break basket for a 14-10 Cibona edge after 7 minutes. Dusan Kecman took over with a three-point play and Perovic dunked, but Kus and Wright kept the hosts ahead, 18-15. A free throw by Milenko Tepic brought the guests within 18-16 at the end of the first quarter.

Tripkovic came off the bench in the start of the second quarter and immediately buried a triple. Wisniewski answered from downtown but Nikola Pekovic dunked it to tie the game, 21-21. Barisa Krasic hit a jumper in transition and soon added free throws to make Cibona regain the lead, 25-22. Petar Bozic banked in a three-pointer while Luksa Andric and Drobnjak exchanged jumpers for a 27-27 tie after 14 minutes. Drobnjak buried a seven-meter triple, as Partizan denied any easy shots now. Cibona called timeout and Andric scored inside but Kecman fired in his second three-pointer to give the guests a 29-33 edge. Kus hit free throws that Cummings matched them with a coast-to-coast layup. Marin Rozic followed Jurica Zuza's foul shots with an easy layup. Pekovic stepped up with a put-back basket while Luka Bogdanovic beat the buzzer with a wild step-back triple to give Partizan a 41-42 halftime edge.

Drobnjak paced Partizan after the break, burying a three-pointer and feeding Pekovic for an easy dunk. Wright stepped up with a mid-range jumper but Bogdanovic fired in one from downtown to give Partizan a 43-50 lead. Warren nailed a jumper from the right wing that Wisniewski followed with a wild basket-plus-foul to bring Cibona back to life, 48-50. Cummings scored in penetration and then followed Perovic's dunk with a high-flying tip-in. Kus nailed consecutive jumpers and soon added a driving layup to bring the hosts within 54-58. Cibona battled for every loose ball now and it paid off. Warren hit free throws while Wright added a three-point play to make the hosts regain the lead, 59-58. Partizan kept struggling to score while Marton Bader capped a 9-0 Cibona run with a long jumper. Drobnjak made free throws, but a layup by Andric and more foul shots by Kus allowed the hosts to get a 65-62 lead after 30 minutes.

Warren kept Cibona's momentum going with a jumper but Tripkovic copied him in the other end for a 67-64 Partizan deficit. Andric fired in one from downtown while Warren scored in penetration to make the Drazen Petrovic Basketball Center go wild. Partizan called timeout and Kecman hit a jumper but Bader copied him for a 74-66 Cibona lead with 6 minutes to go. Wisniewski took over with a driving basket and soon added free throws to break the game for good, 78-66. Partizan kept missing one shot after another against Cibona's aggressive defense, while Warren hit another jumper which capped a 13-2 run. By the time Drobnjak scored inside, Partizan only fought for points differential, as it beat Cibona by 9 points in Belgrade. Wright shined with a three-point play and Rozic added a layup which allowed all Cibona fans in the stands to celebrate a well-deserved win.

Thursday, January 11, 2007
Euroleague.net
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Referees: SUDEK, PETR; BACHAR, SHMUEL; VIATOR, EDDIE
Attendance: 6000
By Quarter1234
Cibona18232424
Partizan16262010
End of Quarter1234
Cibona18416589
Partizan16426272
Cibona
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 WRIGHT, BRENT 24:15 16 6/9   4/4 2 5 7 1 2 1     4 6 24
4 WARREN, CHRIS 32:45 14 5/8 0/2 4/4 1 7 8 3   1   1   4 22
5 KUS, DAVOR 34:30 12 3/4 0/5 6/9   1 1 4 1 5   1 1 6 8
6 BULIC, MARKO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 KRASIC, BARISA 8:00 4 1/1 0/2 2/2   1 1   1       1 3 6
8 ANDRIC, LUKSA 15:45 9 3/4 1/1     2 2   2       3 1 10
9 McCULLOUGH, JERRY 11:45 4 0/1   4/4 1 1 2 2 3         2 12
14 BADER, MARTON 23:15 8 4/6     3 4 7 1 1 3     5 1 8
16 ZUZA, JURICA 7:15 4 0/1   4/6 1   1     1     1 3 3
20 ROZIC, MARIN 13:45 4 2/2     1 3 4 1   2     3 1 5
21 MANCE, MARIJAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
44 WISNIEWSKI, ANDREW 28:45 14 4/4 1/2 3/3   2 2 1 2 4     2 5 17
Team                                
Totals 200:00 89 28/40 2/12 27/32 9 26 35 13 12 17 0 2 20 32 115
        70% 16.7% 84.4%
Head coach: ANZULOVIC, DRAZEN
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
Partizan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 TEPIC, MILENKO 17:00 1 0/1 0/1 1/2   1 1   1 1     1 2  
5 BOGDANOVIC, LUKA 16:45 8 1/2 2/3     1 1 2   1     2   6
7 KECMAN, DUSAN 27:00 8 2/3 1/3 1/1   1 1 3 1 2     4 1 5
8 BAKIC, BORIS 1:00                   1     2   -3
10 BOROVNJAK, DEJAN 0:15                         1   -1
11 TRIPKOVIC, UROS 22:45 5 1/3 1/3 0/2   1 1 2 2 2     4 2  
12 VELICKOVIC, NOVICA 5:00 2 1/1               1     2   -1
13 PEROVIC, KOSTA 23:15 12 6/9   0/2 3 3 6   1 1 2   4 3 14
14 PEKOVIC, NIKOLA 16:30 4 2/3     2 3 5     2     2 2 6
18 DROBNJAK, PREDRAG 34:00 20 3/9 2/5 8/10 1 3 4 3 2 3     4 8 19
20 BOZIC, PETAR 6:00 3   1/2   1 1 2           2   2
25 CUMMINGS, VONTEEGO 30:30 9 3/6 1/2 0/1 1 2 3 2 1 4     4 2 4
Team                                
Totals 200:00 72 19/37 8/19 10/18 8 16 24 12 8 18 2 0 32 20 51
        51.4% 42.1% 55.6%
Head coach: VUJOSEVIC, DUSKO
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

ANZULOVIC, DRAZEN
Cibona
"This is a big victory, I am really happy. The fact that we had to win the game made us very nervous in the first 25 minutes. We just did not have enough of decisiveness and quickness. It ended in the best possible way - with a win by a bigger margin than our loss in Belgrade, and that could be very important. I am proud that my players continued doing for the entire 40 minutes what we had agreed to do before the game."
VUJOSEVIC, DUSKO
Partizan
"My concept is to try to win the games with an extremely young team, but this is no excuse for the loss tonight. Our and Cibona's concepts are completely different and experience was decisive in the game. Also, no team has been so much better than us in rebounds this season, and that was supposed to be our advantage before the game. Anyway, nothing is over yet. We still have our destiny in our hands, so we must work hard to try to go through to the Top 16."

Players

ZUZA, JURICA
Cibona
"We started the game really nervous, because of the importance of the game and our great wish to win it. We started to look like a team in the third and fourth quarter when we shifted in higher gear ondefense. A 17-point margin is important going into the final rounds of the battle for the Top 16."
BADER, MARTON
Cibona
"We made 75 percent of our three-pointers in the first half and we did not lead, but when we started playing defense after 25 minutes everything strarted to move for us. I hit two important shots and helped stop Perovic and Pekovic, so I am satisfied."
KUS, DAVOR
Cibona
"We played 40 minutes of quality defense with a lot of pressure, but it payed
off only in the last minutes when we started scoring some easy points. Our
fans were a big boost and I thank them for support."
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