Stelmet Zielona Gora wins Eurocup opener at Ludwigsburg

Stelmet Zielona Gora started its Eurocup campaign on the right foot by beating MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 73-82 in the Group L opener. After falling behind early and trailing by 3 at halftime, Zielona Gora took charge in the second half, in which it outscored the hosts 32-44. Mateusz Ponitka paced the Polish champs with 14 points, Dejan Borovnjak scored 13, Dee Bost 11, Nemanja Djurusic posted 10 points and 8 rebounds and Lukasz Koszarek tallied 10 points and 7 assists. Jon Brockman led Ludwigsburg with 12 points, Shawn Huff scored 11, Kerron Johnson added 11 points and 5 assists and Royce O’Neale posted 10 points and 7 rebounds.

Borovnjak opened the scoring for the visitors before Rocky Trice got Ludwigsburg going and an O’Neale triple made it 7-2. Johnson got on the scoreboard too and a Huff three put the hosts up 14-4 in less than four minutes, which prompted Zielona Gora to call an early timeout. Free throws by Borovnjak and Ponitka revived the visitors, but Ludwigsburg did increase its advantage to 11. Djurusic’s basket-plus-foul started a 0-7 Zieloba Gora run to close within 20-16. A Brad Loesing triple made it 25-16 after 10 minutes. Karol Gruszecki’s three-point play closed the gap to 4 once more. And a Bost triple had Zielona Gora back in it. Adam Hrycaniuk’s first two baskets brought the visitors within 31-30 midway through the quarter. Przemyslaw Zamojski corrected his own miss to tie things at 36-36, but his foul on Tekele Coton’s next score made it a three-point play, which Ludwigsburg used for a 41-38 halftime lead.

Ponitka’s three-point play and Vlad Moldoveanu’s three-pointer put Zielna Gora ahead 43-44 early in the second half. Brockman scored the next 4 points for the hosts. Huff and Szymon Szewczyk traded threes, but Jason Boone put Ludwigsburg up 55-50. Zielona Gora rallied through a Moldoveanu triple and Ponitka three-point play before Djurusic and Bost gave the visitors a 57-61 lead through three quarters. Djurusic opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer and Hrycaniuk made it 57-66. Brockman sparked the hosts with a pair of baskets and O’Neale split free throws to close the gap to 4. It stood at 65-68 after a Loesing triple with five minutes to go. But Koszarek and Borovnjak scored the next two baskets and a Ponitka triple made it 66-75. Borovnjak scored twice more in the final 90 seconds to ice the game and give Zielona Gora a key road win.