2006-07Regular SeasonRound 9
December 20, 2006 CET: 18:15
Local time: 20:15 SPORTS COMPLEX KRYLATSKOE

Tau Ceramica will start 2007 as the uncontested leader in Group A after edging Dynamo 78-82

Tau Ceramica will start 2007 as the uncontested leader in Group A after edging Dynamo 78-82 on the road Wednesday in Moscow, Russia. Tau stays as the Group A leader with a 8-1 record and handed Dynamo its first-ever loss at the new Krilatskoe Arena, where it had won all its Euroleague and Russian League games before Wednesday. Dynamo fell to 5-4 but will not lose third place, although it may be tied there going into the new year. Luis Scola led the winners with 24 points, making 8 of 12 two-pointers and 8 of 9 free throws. Serkan Erdogan added 20 points while hitting 5 of 9 three-pointers. Igor Rakocevic had 17 while Pablo Prigioni scored 11 points and dished 7 assists for Tau. Obinna Ekezie, replacing injured Lazaros Papadopoulos for Dynamo, finished with 16 points, hitting 8 of 9 two-point shots. Bojan Popovic added 14 points while Antonis Fotsis, Sergey Monya and Travis Hansen each had 12 for the hosts. Tau led for the best part of the game by modest margins, until Fotsis and Monya gave Dynamo a 74-72 in the final 2 minutes. Prigioni hit the go-ahead triple while Rakocevic and Prigioni combined to land 6 of 6 free throws in the final 17 seconds to securd a tough road win for Tau.

Popovic put Dynamo up 2-0 as Tau went scoreless in the opening 2 minute, until Scola hit free throws that Dmitry Domani matched with an acrobatic layup. Kaya Peker stepped up with a basket in the low post for the visitors, but Ezekie erased it with a short jumper. Scola replied with a fast breaklayup but Fotsis and Ekezie kept Dynamo ahead, 9-6. Scola and Rakocevic made consecutive baskets to give Tau its first lead, 9-10, after 6 minutes. Popovic shined with a layup-plus-free throw but Erdogan and Rakocevic answered from downtown to make Dynamo call timeout at 12-16. Erdogan buried another three-pointer to cap a 0-9 Tau run while Hansen nailed a jumper to get the hosts within 14-19. Scola added another layup but a three-pointer by Eddie Gill and a put-back layup by Sergey Monya got Dynamo within 19-23 at the end of the first quarter.

Erdogan stayed on fire and nailed consecutive three-pointers at the start of the second quarter to provide Tau's first double-digit lead, 19-29. Monya tried to change things with free throws while Ekezie added a left-handed layup and Yuri Vasiliyev a baseline jumper to force a Tau timeout at 25-29. Ezekie scored around the basket and Monya added free throws to tie 29-29 midway through the second quarter. Tau could not break Dynamo's zone defense as Popovic capped a 13-0 run with a triple that put Dynamo ahead again, 32-29. Scola rescued Tau with 6 unanswered points in a 0-8 run that Rakocevic finished with an off-balanced jumper as Tau surged in front again, 32-37. Ekezie tried to change things with a dunk, but Scola scored again and fed Erdogan for a late three-pointer to push Tau to a 38-44 lead at halftime.

Peker's jump hook and free throws by Vasilyev got both teams going after the break. When Erdogan scored in penetration, Fotsis replied with a dunk to get Dynamo within 42-48. Tau kept full control and had enough patience on offense, but its shooters were off-target now, while Hansen buried a three-pointer to get Dynamo even closer, 45-48. Splitter helped Tau with a tip-in, as Tau, and after Ezekie's short jumper fell for Dynamo, Prigioni answered from downtown to make it 47-53. Scola had a huge block on Ekezie but Fotsis scored in penetration to keep Dynamo in the game, 49-53. Scola - who else? - buried a short jumper and soon finished a two-on-one opportunity, but Domani buried a corner triple to keep Dynamo close at 52-57. Scola finished the quarter with a jump hook over Ezekie to keep Tau comfortably on top, 53-59 after 30 minutes.

Ezekie dunked to give Dynamo hope early in the fourth quarter but again Prigioni hit from downtown, keeping Tau ahead 55-62. Hansen took over then with a fastbreak dunk and a three-pointer to force a Tau timeout at 60-62. Dynamo stayed intense on defense and, despite free throws that Erdogan, saw Popovic tie it up 64-64 with a layup-plus-free throw before Monya buried a turnaround jumper for Dynamo's first lead of the half, 66-65. Tau was ready, as Splitter nailed a baseline jumper to ignite a 0-7 run that Rakocevic punctuated with a sideline triple, putting the guests on top, 66-72. Dynamo was far from done, however, as Monya hit from downtown while Fotsis followed a layup with a critical triple at 74-72, causing a Tau timeout with 91 seconds left. The key came with 1:08 to play, when to beat the shot clock, Prigioni fired in a key three-pointer. Monya missed in the other end before Splitter made the first of 2 free throws with 21 seconds remaining, 74-76. He also rebounded the miss, allowing Rakocevic to go to the line and make 2 foul shots for a 74-78 edge. Popovic scored a quick layup with 14 seconds to go that Prigioni erased with free throws. Fotsis gave Dynamo hope with a jumper, after which the hosts immediately fouled Rakocevic. When he hit both attempts with 4.4 seconds, Tau had enough to walk off with a big 78-82 road win.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Euroleague.net
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Referees: KOUKOULEKIDIS, STELIOS; BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS
Attendance: 3500
By Quarter1234
Dynamo Moscow19191525
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz23211523
End of Quarter1234
Dynamo Moscow19385378
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz23445982
Dynamo Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 POPOVIC, BOJAN 24:30 14 4/4 1/2 3/6 1 1 2 5 2 2   2 4 8 19
6 HANSEN, TRAVIS 34:00 12 2/7 2/4 2/4   3 3 3 3       4 4 12
7 KHVOSTOV, DMITRY 7:00               2 1 3     1   -1
8 GILL, EDDIE 15:30 3 0/1 1/2         2   2   1 1 1  
10 BYKOV, SERGEY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 MONIA, SERGEY 21:15 12 2/3 1/2 5/6   4 4   2 1     5 3 12
13 TRUSHKIN, ANDREI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 DOMANI, DMITRY 17:45 5 1/2 1/1     2 2 1 1 2     1 2 7
15 FOTSIS, ANTONIS 34:15 12 4/7 1/5 1/2 2 2 4     1     1 1 7
17 VASILYEV, YURI 14:30 4 1/2 0/1 2/2 1 2 3 2 2   2   1 1 11
19 EKEZIE, OBINNA 31:15 16 8/9     1 5 6 1 2   2 1 3 1 23
31 RAICEVIC, MIROSLAV DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team                   4 3         1
Totals 200:00 78 22/35 7/17 13/20 5 19 24 16 17 14 4 4 21 21 91
        62.9% 41.2% 65%
Head coach: IVKOVIC, DUSAN
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
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 SCOLA, LUIS 36:00 24 8/12   8/9 3 4 7 2   4 1 1 3 4 25
5 PRIGIONI, PABLO 37:00 11   3/4 2/2 1 2 3 7 4 2     2 2 22
7 CILLA, JESUS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 RAKOCEVIC, IGOR 30:15 16 2/4 2/6 6/6   4 4 3 1 2   1 3 5 17
11 ERDOGAN, SERKAN 29:00 20 1/2 5/9 3/5   3 3 2   3     3 3 15
12 TELETOVIC, MIRZA 5:45     0/2     1 1           2   -3
14 PEKER, KAYA 15:00 4 2/3   0/2   1 1           4 2  
20 ESLAVA, ARIEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 SPLITTER, TIAGO 23:15 7 2/4   3/6 2 2 4   2 3 2   3 4 8
32 HOUSE, FRED 23:45     0/1     3 3 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 2
Team           1 1 2   5 1         6
Totals 200:00 82 15/25 10/22 22/30 7 21 28 15 14 17 4 4 21 21 92
        60% 45.5% 73.3%
Head coach: PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

IVKOVIC, DUSAN
Dynamo Moscow
"It was a high-voltage game with great tempo and rhythm. Even our experienced players were nervous! We were very close to beating Tau, but lost in the very end - literally one shot and one rebound. We started aggressively, made fastbreaks. We played quick basketball. The eagerness and desire of my players should be praised. Lazaros Papadopoulos wanted to take part in today's game very much - but I didn't want to risk him. He is ill and we need him to be absolutely healthy for our next games. Our goal is the same: we want to qualify to the Top 16."
PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz
"I think we won the last minute today, after the whole game. I am not satisfied with our defense: it wasn't at the level I expected. However, we found our rhythm on offense, made easy baskets, especially in paint, hit some important threes. I can't say it was the most difficult match this year but it would be completely another story if Papadopoulos would have taken part in the game."

Players

POPOVIC, BOJAN
Dynamo Moscow
"It was a match in which one shot, one rebound could decide the game's destiny. We lost a couple of rebounds, especially in the second quarter. In the second half, we finally become hot on offense, strong on the boards, we made baskets. But when there were 2 minutes left to play, we didn't collect a very important rebound again - maybe it was a key mistake. I think we played very well for most of the game, which was a real intriguing show for fans and an exciting fight for players. We lost, but we don't feel shame."
HOUSE, FRED
Tau Ceramica Vitoria-Gasteiz
"We had a desire to start quickly, to have a serious advantage before the last quarter. And while we were close to doing it, Dynamo found an opportunity to cut the difference. Dynamo is not a team that can be afraid of anybody: they made things happened today, they used our mistakes. But we made a couple of big plays in the end: Pablo hit a very important three-pointer which was a key to our win. Dynamo didn't stop even the end, when Fotsis nearly scored from behind the arc, so it was a really tough win."
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