27.11.2007

Cherkaski Mavpy Win Thriller To Advance

Rolandas Jarutis scored 32 points as Cherkaski Mavpy overcame a 16-point first leg deficit to advance to the EuroCup Qualifying Round with a 104-83 overtime victory over Apoel Nicosia.

Jarutis, who also dished out 10 assists, hit a three-pointer at the end of regulation to force the extra session and then hit five of six foul shots in the final 38 seconds to lead the

		Pavlo Revzin had nine points in Cherkaski Mavpy's stunning victory.

Ukrainians into the next round.

Andrii Lebediev added 17 points including a number of important three-pointers and Fadi El Khatib also had 17 points while Martynas Andriukaitis chipped in with 13 for Cherkaski, who advanced with a 178-173 aggregate win.

Nicosia failed to take advantage of a 16-point home win despite 18 points from both Loren Stokes and Tyson Wheeler.

JoJo Garcia added 12 points in the losing effort while Grigoris Pantouris hit for nine points, including a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining in regulation which would have pushed the Cypriots into the next round.

The lead switched hands early and Wheeler's three-pointer gave Nicosia a 12-10 advantage.

Jarutis scored seven straight points to push Cherkaski ahead 19-12.

Two more Jarutis baskets make it 28-18 and Lebediev's three-pointer gave the Ukrainians a 31-19 cushion after one period, with Juratis scoring 14 points.

A Wheeler long ball trimmed the deficit to 33-24 but two three-balls by Lebediev and one by Gjorgij Chekovski had the advantage back up to 47-28 midway through the second, and another long ball by Jarutis gave the Ukrainians a 21-point gap - 56-35 - at the break.

Four points by El Khatib and a lay-up by Jarutis gave Cherkaski a 66-41 lead midway through the third, and it was still 22 points 73-51 going into the fourth.

After the Cypriots had trimmed the margin to 17 points, Andriukaitis made a lay-up to make it 85-65 with four minutes left.

Neither team scored for three minutes until Pantouris hit back-to-back baskets to make it an 85-69 game with 47 seconds left - leaving the teams even on aggregate score.

Pantouris appeared to have sent Apoel into the next round with a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining, but Jarutis knocked down a long ball of his own with five seconds left to force the game into overtime - despite Cherkaski leading 88-72.

Pavlo Revzin opened the extra session with a three-pointer and the advantage was up to 22 points 95-73 on Jarutis's foul shots.

Garcia made two baskets and Slobodan Ocokoljic hit a lay-up to even the aggregate score at 97-81 with 51 seconds left.

But Farutis made five of six foul shots and El Khatib hit two free throws in the final 38 seconds to secure the win.

27.11.2007

Quotes Cherkaski Mavpy vs. Apoel Nicosia

Cherkaski Mavpy head coach Andrey Podkovyrov:

"Today the captain of the team Rolandas Jarutis played a good game, which was expected from him. Also I’m satisfied with the game of our new centre John Edwards. I do not expect Edwards to score 30 points yet - what we need from him is to be reliable on defense and show some toughness in the paint. And then let them try to score from the three-second zone."

Apoel head coach Kyriakos Yiangoulis:

"The interest of Ukrainians is clear for me concerning today’s game of our player Balsa Radunovic, as he is the only one, who had experience in performing for Cherkaski Mavpy. I mean, he is a good player, but unfortunately he didn’t make his best for 100% today.
I wish success for Cherkaski Mavpy in further games of EuroCup."