Oktyabr’s sinks Cedevita in victorious farewell to Eurocup

Krasny Oktyabr Volgograd finished its maiden Eurocup campaign in style, downing Cedevita Zagreb 92-101 in Croatian capital on Wednesday. Previously-eliminated Oktyabr finished Group I with 3-3 record in the third place, while Cedevita dropped to 4-2 and into the second place, meaning it will face Herbalife Gran Canaria in the eighthfinals. Behind Randy Culpepper and Cuthbert Victor, Oktyabr led for essentially entire game, building a 15-point margin on couple occasions, with Cedevita responding. Marko Tomas, Marko Arapovic and Ante Delas combined to hit six triples for the hosts in the third and fourth quarters, cutting it to 76-81, but Victor fueled another Oktyabr push, before the visitors iced the game. Culpepper finished with 30 points on 5-for-11 from three-point range. Victor scored 19 points, Donnie McGrath had 17 points and 7 assists, while Romeo Travis also scored 17 in victory. Lamont Hamilton chipped in with 13 for the visitors who also had help from their club president Dmitry Gerasimenko, making his Eurocup debut at age 36, playing 5 minutes. Nemanja Gordic scored 17 points to pace Cedevita which was without point guard Roko Ukic and big man Mario Delas. Marko Arapovic had 14, while Fran Pilepic scored 11 in defeat.

First five Oktyabr's baskets came from downtown, with Culpepper burying three triples, while Victor and Travis one apiece for 8-15 lead. Arapovic and Nemanja Gordic fueled Cedevita's 7-0 run to tie the game, but the visitors regained the lead through Culpepper and Travis, before McGrath hit Oktyabr's sixth first quarter three-pointer for 17-26 after 10 minutes. Tomislav Zubcic scored a pair of baskets early in the second for Cedevita, but two more three-pointers from Victor and one from Culpepper extended it to 27-39. McGrath helped on defense, while Culpepper and Travis scored for 32-47, before Arapovic and Pilepic made free throws, while Ivan Ramljak hit a triple and a jumper to cut the deficit to 41-49 at halftime.

Gordic hit a three-pointer, and Stanko Barac added a basket-plus-foul to continue the hosts’ run, and get them to 47-51, but Culpepper, Travis and Victor responded with a 0-8 run, before McGrath strung together 6 points 52-65. Marko Tomas and Culpepper traded threes, and a jumper from the latter made it 57-72. But Tomas hit back-to-back from long range, and made a steal that led to a fastbreak dunk from Arapovic and 65-72 after three quarters. Arapovic cut it even more with a three-pointer early in the fourth, but Victor had a put-back and Travis a triple for another double-digit lead. However, back-to-back threes from Ante Delas cut it to 76-81. However, Victor scored from close range on consecutive trips down the floor for the visitors, and a basket-plus-free throw by Lamont Hamilton made it 80-92 with under 3 minutes to go, sealing the deal.