23.02.2010

Liege Shoot Down Zagreb For First Win

Josh Duncan led five players scoring in double figures as Belgacom Liege overpowered KK Zagreb 94-79 to finally record their first win in the EuroChallenge Last 16.

Liege entered the game on the back of three straight defeats, but won this Group J clash thanks to outstanding shooting from the field, as they sank 26 of 42 (61.9%) of their shots from two-point range.

However, they did not have it all their own way, and trailed for much of the first half. Liege started the second half on a 19-5 run, capped by Adrian Banks' jump-shot, that turned the game.

Banks finished with 19 points, while Alex Ruoff had 18, Will Thomas 15 and Michael Green 12 for Liege, who improve to 1-3.

Luka Zoric led Zagreb, who drop to 2-2 with the loss, with 21 points, while Damir Mulaomerovic had 15, Nikola Garma 11 and Nikola Prkacin 10.

23.02.2010

Quotes KK Zagreb vs. Belgacom Liege

Filip Bašljan, Zagreb player:
"After winning the Croatian Cup we messed up our image losing this game. Until the middle of the third quarter we managed to keep together but then we completely lost our composure. We tried once again to come back we did not have enough players in the rotation and we failed. Fortunately we have two road wins so we still have the chance for the next round. Nothing has been lost yet..."

Denis Bajramović, Zagreb coach:
"Our image after this game is very bad. Although we were very tired after playing the finals of the Croatian Cup, we shouldn't have allowed this negative rhythm to sink in. We had to react more professionally, in a more serious manner and not react at referees' decision which made us very nervous. Liege deserved to win and they made use of all our weak points, they outrunned and outrebounded us. We could not keep up with their rhythm changes. We missed energy which caused weak concentration and we deserved to lose. Even six of our players were not able to play today, that has also limited us."

Andrija Stipanović, Belgacom Liege player:
"I 'm glad we have won a strong Zagreb team, and we can only be sorry for losing three times in ther last three games. We have only some theoretical chances for the next round. We'll do our best. If we win Artland at home amd FMP in guests we can reach the second position and enter the second round. This high winning result in Zagreb has shown our quality although we are a very young team and we'll try to do our best. We knew that Zagreb would be tired after the Cup and we prepared very well for this game and this win is very important for the rest of season."

Dario Gjergja, Belgacom Liege coach:
"We entered the game bravely and we did not even think to surreneder. We realized they they did not have a good rhythm and we waited for our chance. We deserved to win after dominating the second half completely. We have made them react nervously which led to them making mistakes. We'll try ro win the remainder of our games and if we have the chance to win we'l try to use it. All three games we lost in the group, we did so at the very end of each game so our luck might be changing with this one and we might win the rest of our games as well."