2001-02Regular SeasonRound 11
January 17, 2002 CET: 00:00
Local time: 00:00 BALLSPORTHALLE
Opel Skyliners has taken one step closer to the cherished Top 16 by holding serve at home in Frankfurt on Thursday by 84-75 despite being tailed closely until late in the game by visiting Zalgiris Kaunas. The victory raised Skyliners' Group B record to 8-3, good for a deserved share of second place with just three games left to play. Already having their best European campaign ever, Opel raised its chances of reaching the elite by turning back several rallies. Zalgiris (3-8) lost even the most outside mathematical chance for survival, but once again showed what it can do when its shooters are on. Having been limited to 36 points through the middle of the third quarter, Zalgiris zoomed back on the strength of its fine shooting to within 64-63 with 6 minutes left in the game. Now it was Opel's turn to reassert itself with a 13-6 run led by Chad Austin and Robert Maras that led to a 77-71 lead after which Zalgiris would only score four more points.

Both teams started slow in the first quarter with Kaunas applying early pressure to Opel guard Pascal Roller. Kaunas took the early lead at 4-9 after just four minutes and took advantage of some poor defense by the Frankfurt squad. Opel out-fouled their guests 5 to 1 in that span which showed just how much the nerves were affecting the hosts. Marcus Goree and Virgil Stanescu revitalized their team and got Frankfurt back to within just two at 12-14 at the quarter break.

The Opel Skyliners got their first lead of the game on a nice spin-move by Marcus Goree, which made the score 19-18 three minutes into the second quarter. Kaunas meanwhile was not impressed and kept on scoring. Center Grygorij Hizhjak swatted out three blocks all against Marcus Goree but picked up three fouls as well, and was taken off the court. Two three-pointers by Austin and Alexander Lokhmanchuck brought the score to 29-23 three minutes before the half, and a couple of free-throws later made the score 34-25 for the hosts after finishing the half on a 14-2 run.

At the beginning of the third quarter it looked even better for Frankfurt when Austin and Lokhmanchuk combined for another one-two punch combination of three-pointers. Just five minutes into the period the game seemed decided when Kai Nürnberger stole the ball from Steve Woodberry and passed it to Austin who gave Frankfurt a comfortable 52-34 lead. Kaunas decided to shake things up and completely altered their game strategy. They changed their defense and began to use a full-court press. Frankfurt couldn't react to the changes. They began to turn the ball over and saw Kaunas rally back to close within three points at 54-51 after an 17-2 run. Austin began to wake up and ended the quarter with another three-pointer that made it 57-51 going into the final period.

In the fourth quarter, Kaunas continued using the press and suddenly took the lead after just two minutes. Things started to look bad for Frankfurt after Stanescu and Lokhmanchuck each received their 5th foul and had to leave the game, but now Chad Austin stepped up again and made some incredible shots over center Khizhnyak. With just three minutes to go before the end, Kaunas was only down by one 72-71, but it was then when they began to lose control as Robert Maras grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds for easy tip-ins. Several free-throws later by Pascal Roller sealed the victory for Frankfurt as they went on to win by a final of 84-75.
Thursday, January 17, 2002
Holger Werner, Frankfurt
No results found.
Referees: MITJANA, JUAN CARLOS; AMOROS, XAVIER; GKONTAS, SPIROS
Attendance: 2030
By Quarter1234
Opel Skyliners12222327
Zalgiris14112624
End of Quarter1234
Opel Skyliners12345784
Zalgiris14255175
Opel Skyliners
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 STANESCU, VIRGIL 13:25 8 3/4 0/1 2/4 1 3 4           5 3 6
6 DIARRA, IBRAHIM 12:11           3 3 1 1       2   3
7 NURNBERGER, KAI 12:37     0/1     1 1 1 1 2     2   -2
8 GOREE, MARCUS 37:52 12 4/10 1/2 1/3 5 7 12 2 2 1 2 4 1 4 19
11 ROLLER, PASCAL 34:00 6 1/2 0/4 4/5   2 2 6   1     3 4 8
12 AUSTIN, CHAD 37:58 31 9/17 3/5 4/4 1 1 2 2   3     4 3 21
13 MARAS, ROBERT 27:18 14 6/12   2/2 4 3 7   3 1 1 1 3 2 16
14 LUTCKE, NIKLAS 4:24         1   1           2   -1
15 LOKHMANCHUK, ALEXANDER 20:15 13 2/5 3/4   4 1 5   1 1 2   5 1 12
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 84 25/50 7/17 13/18 17 23 40 12 8 9 5 5 27 17 85
        50% 41.2% 72.2%
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
Zalgiris
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 GINEVICIUS, VIDAS 29:05 6 1/4 0/2 4/4 2 1 3 4   1   1 3 5 8
6 KHIZHNIAK, GRYGORII 34:09 14 4/8   6/7 5 8 13 1 2 1 5   4 7 32
7 WOODBERRY, STEVE 20:50 4 2/8 0/1   1 2 3     5   1   1 -5
8 MATULIS, ROLANDAS 3:59 2 1/1               1     1    
9 SALENGA, DAINIUS 25:05 12 3/8 1/3 3/4   1 1 1   2   1 1 4 6
10 HAMILTON, SHERMAN 9:51                 1         1 2
12 MASIULIS, TOMAS 36:01 14 4/5 2/3 0/2 3 5 8 3 1 2     3 4 21
13 SLANINA, DONATAS 35:09 23 2/6 4/9 7/8       4   5   1 3 5 13
14 MASIULIS, ARTURAS 5:51   0/1       1 1         1 2   -3
Team                                
Totals 200:00 75 17/41 7/18 20/25 11 18 29 13 4 17 5 5 17 27 74
        41.5% 38.9% 80%
Head coach: BRAZYS, ALGIRDAS
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

HERBERT, GORDON
Opel Skyliners
"This was our sixth game in the last eighteen days. My players mentally were down a little bit for some parts of the game but stuck together in the end. Chad Austin made some huge shots and Robert Maras grabbed important rebounds at the end. We had problems with their defense in the third quarter but Austin gave us a big push with his big points. I'm glad we won this game, which was very important in the race for position."
BRAZYS, ALGIRDAS
Zalgiris
"I congratulate Frankfurt for the win. Everybody could see tonight that we did not come in to give Frankfurt an easy victory. We were down by 18 and got back into the game. I'm proud that my team showed willingness at this point of the game. Frankfurt is a very good team and they play on a higher level, due to the better league they have in Germany. The competition is much better in Germany. We had too many turnovers at the end and allowed them to grab too many offensive boards."
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