2001-02Regular SeasonRound 13
February 06, 2002 CET: 00:00
Local time: 00:00 ASTROBALLE
With a 99-84 Group D home win over Cibona Zagreb of Croatia, Asvel of France preserved its chance to qualify for the second round of the Euroleague on Thursday. For Cibona (5-8), who could not rely on Zoran Planinic and Josip Sesar, injured and sick, respectively, the Euroleague season is over. Nikola Radulovic being absent for this game, Asvel relied on a very good Yann Bonato, who scored 21 points in the first half as the home team established solid leads. Kyle Hill was the big gun, however, coming off the bench to score 25 points in the game, and hitting 5 of 7 three-pointers he attempted. Bonato was right behind with 22 points and Nikola Vujcic added 14 for the winners. Cibona had the top scorer in Marijan Mance with 26 points among five players in double figures. Niksa Prkacin added 13, Barisa Crasic 12, Calvin Bowman and Darko Krunic 10 each.

Asvel could not rely on Nikola Radulovic, who was back in Italy for personal reasons, but Cibona's latest scoring ace, Josip Sesar, did not play because of a flu, and neither did Zoran Planinic, who is still injured. What would be the consequences of these absences? Both teams started pretty well, settling into an efficient offensive game that saw them tied 11-11 after 5 minutes. That's when Marijan Mance began to show that he could compensate for Sesar's absence. Mance, who would reel off 11 points in the quarter, got Cibona ahead 14-18, but then Nikola Vujcic and Kyle Hill entered the game. Hill seconded the scoring of Yann Bonato, who had 9 points in the quarter, to give Asvel a three-point lead, 21-18, but Cibona was able to come back and tie it 22-22 after 10 minutes.

The second quarter started with an outstanding performance by Bonato, who did not hesitate to take Radulovic's usual shots. After 13 minutes, the French forward had already scored 16 points and his team was ahead 35-26. More than this, Bonato kept on doing everything on the court. He finished the first half with 21 points and the gap went up to a high of 19 points, 45-26, midway through that second quarter. Cibona, though, managed to preserve its chance thanks to Marijan Mance (16 points in the half) and Branimir Longin (two consecutive three-pointers) notably. With their help, the deficit at the half was shaved to 11, 55-44.

Asvel coach Bogdan Tanjevic decided to put the young Amara Sy in its five for the third quarter, which turned out to be a contestable decision since Cibona took advantage of the lack of experience of Sy to cut the lead to just 6 points, at 59-53, in just four minutes. Vujcic's number was called again, and in front of his fellow Croatian opponents, Vujcic answered with class. Helped with an accurate Kyle Hill (22 points after three quarters), Vujcic restored a 13-point Asvel lead, 79-66, after 30 minutes.

From the start of the game, John Celestand, Asvel's point guard, was dishing one assist after another, and he did not stop in the last quarter, sending Amara Sy for a dunk to give a 14-point advantage to his team, 84-70, which looked decisive. Simon Petrov then put the icing on the cake with 8 points in the quarter, and Asvel was already looking ahead to a final game and a possible trip to the Top 16.
Wednesday, February 6, 2002
Fabien Friconnet, France
No results found.
Referees: DE KEYSER, ARMAND; ARAUJO, JOSE; BAKALIS, PANAGIOTIS
Attendance: 3877
By Quarter1234
Asvel Basket22332420
Cibona VIP22222218
End of Quarter1234
Asvel Basket22557999
Cibona VIP22446684
Asvel Basket
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 TRAORE, ALI 1:00           1 1               1
5 SY, AMARA 20:00 8 4/7     2 2 4 1   2 3   2   9
6 GUEDEGBE, DENAPOKA 1:00                   1     1   -2
7 VUJCIC, NIKOLA 27:16 13 4/5 1/2 2/3   1 1 1   2 1   4 5 12
8 BONATO, YANN 30:47 23 5/7 2/3 7/8 2 4 6 4 1 2     3 11 36
9 MRAZEK, HAROLD 14:01 5 1/1 1/2   1 1 2 2   1     4 1 4
10 PETROV, SIMON 6:56 8 1/1 1/2 3/3   1 1           1 1 8
11 HILL, KYLE 32:31 25 5/7 5/7   2 3 5 1 1 1 1   3 2 27
12 NEES, TIM 15:15 4 1/4   2/2 1 3 4 2 1     1 3 1 5
13 FRIGOUT, DAVID 16:29 4 2/5     2 1 3 3   1 1   2 1 6
14 CELESTAND, JOHN 33:45 9 3/7 1/4     3 3 12   2     3 2 14
15 TOURE, HERVE 1:00                              
Team           2   2               2
Totals 200:00 99 26/44 11/20 14/16 12 20 32 26 3 12 6 1 26 24 122
        59.1% 55% 87.5%
Head coach: TANJEVIC, BOGDAN
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
Cibona VIP
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 LONGIN, BRANIMIR 27:36 9 1/2 2/3 1/2   4 4 3 2 1     5 3 12
5 KUS, DAVOR 40:00 4 1/3 0/2 2/4 1   1 5 2 3   1 2 4 4
7 KRASIC, BARISA 29:46 12 1/3 1/5 7/8   2 2 1 1     1 4 3 7
8 PRKACIN, NIKOLA 23:05 13 4/9   5/6 1 4 5 1   4     5 7 11
9 BOWMAN, CALVIN 25:01 10 4/8   2/2 1   1     2 1 1 2 2 5
12 MANCE, MARIJAN 34:17 26 11/16 0/1 4/5 2 2 4 1   1   2 4 4 21
14 MARKOTA, DAMIR 0:20                              
16 KRUNIC, DARKO 19:55 10 0/1 2/3 4/4 1 1 2 2       1 3 3 11
Team           5 1 6     1         5
Totals 200:00 84 22/42 5/14 25/31 11 14 25 13 5 12 1 6 25 26 76
        52.4% 35.7% 80.6%
Head coach: REPESA, JASMIN
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

TANJEVIC, BOGDAN
Asvel Basket
"Our offense worked very well and if Cibona scored many points, the reason is that Cibona is a good team! Of course, Josip Sesar could not play but the others players, like Marijan Mance, showed that they are skilled. On our side, Yann Bonato was great tonight. Not only did he score but he also grabbed rebounds, put a lot of intensity in the contest. He was a warrior really. Now, we shall give everything to win in Belgrade (next week)."
REPESA, JASMIN
Cibona VIP
"We knew that we had little chance to qualify since winning here is not easy, all the more since Josip Sesar was out. We had a lot of problems to cope with last week, with Matej Mamic's turned ankle, the departure of Reggie Freeman and now this flu of Josip. When you face a team like Asvel, with such a deep bench, it is too hard. The key of the game, to me, was the second quarter when we gave them many open shots. Now, we have to focus on the Adriatic league and the Croatian one as soon as we integrate into it. I say good luck to Asvel and Coach Tanjevic."

Players

BONATO, YANN
Asvel Basket
"Of course, I am happy with my game tonight. But the most important think is that the crowd enjoyed the game, it was obvious, and that we still have a chance to advance in the Euroleague. We've been working a lot since the beginning of the season so it pays off one day or another. We are now playing steady, good basketball. About next week, it is very simple. We do not have to think about the other teams' results. First we will play the game in Belgrade, and try to win it. After, we will look at the other results. We'll see. We know that it is always tough to win in Belgrade, but we did it last season, so the key is to play with intensity."
No results found.