24.01.2006

Dexia Continue Unlikely Run

Dexia Mons-Hainaut produced a 10-0 surge in the final two minutes to kill off a resilient BC Zadar and seal their place in the last eight of the EuroCup.

Omar Cook landed two treys at a decisive time for Dexia, who have been the surprise package this season and continue their unlikely surge in the competition.

		George Evans grabbed a season high 13 rebounds for Dexia

That gave Cook six of 10 shooting (60%) from behind the arc and a game-high 23 points.

But Dexia were paced by a balanced scoring attack, with four other players making it into double figures.

George Evans, who also grabbed 13 rebounds, and Dragan Markovic both registered 16 points, while Jim Potter had 15 and Matthias Desaever 11.

The Croatians will be dejected having had four players of their own in double figures, namely Dean Oliver (22 points), Jure Lalic (16), Julius Johnson (15) and Jakov Vladovic (13).

Oliver got Zadar off to a flyer in a high-scoring first quarter with all of their opening eight points as they went into a 14-5 lead.

But Potter nailed four three-pointers for Dexia as the Belgians hauled themselves 29-24 in front at the interval.

The scoring slowed as Dexia consolidated their advantage, leading 46-39 at the halfway point.

Lalic then scored nine points in a 13-3 run that put the Croatians back in front at 53-51, only for Dexia to respond with an unbroken surge of 10 points before Zadar made it 63-63 going into the fourth.

Zadar twice went four points clear before two three-pointers from Cook put Dexia back in the driving seat, leading 83-79 with 38 seconds remaining.

Oliver's trey put Zadar within three with three seconds left.

Sinisa Stemberger stopped the clock but Desaever made no mistake from the charity stripe, meaning Vladovic's three-pointer was futile.