28.02.2006

DKV Joventut Derail Lokomotiv, Reach Final Four

Lokomotiv Rostov were close at half-time but hosts DKV Joventut then ran them out of the gym over the second 20 minutes to storm into the EuroCup Final Four.

Aito Garcia's DVK trailed for the entire first quarter and then led 42-36 at half-time before marching to an 86-57 victory.

DKV, having cruised to an 88-54 win in Game 1 of the quarter-final, expressed real concern before Game 2 but that proved to be unfounded because they were superior in every aspect in front of their own fans.

		Andy Betts had 17 points and 10 boards for Joventut

Now Garcia's men are just two victories away from a major trophy. Dynamo St Petersburg, last year's FIBA Europe League winners, have also booked their Final Four place.

DKV Joventut play in one of Europe's toughest domestic leagues, the ACB, and always looked capable of getting this far in the EuroCup.

They have a deep roster, and one of their key ingredients has been British center Andy Betts, who joined from Tau Ceramica in the close season.

The 2.17m Betts has had some strong games in the ACB and the EuroCup and Tuesday was one of them.

He poured in 17 points - 11 in the first half - and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Marcelinho Huertas also made the most of his extended minutes in place of Elmer Bennett, who saw limited action due to a few knocks.

Marcelinho had 17 points and six assists in 25 minutes on court.

The wheels came off for Lokomotiv at the beginning of the third quarter.

Brazil international Marcelinho, whose alley-oop pass to Rudy Fernandez had completed the first-half scoring, fed his team-mate again.

This time Ferndandez made the lay-up and was fouled. He converted the three-point play for a 45-36 lead.

After a Lokomotiv turnover, DKV's Alex Mumbru buried a three-pointer. Hrisimir Dimitrov split two from the line for the visitors, but then Marcelinho scored on a lay-up and suddenly the lead was 50-37.

It got worse for Lokomotiv because after Evgeny Voronov missed a jump shot, Mumbru struck from inside the arc.

When Panama big man Jaime Lloreda turned the ball over and Al Anogonye dunked at the other end for DKV, the lead ballooned to 54-37.

Lokomotiv never recovered.

The boxscore looks good for DKV.

The hosts shot 60% (24 for 40) inside the arc and 42.1% (eight of 19) beyond it.

Betts was six of 10 (60%) from the floor and five of five (100%) at the stripe.

As a team, DKV made 14 of 17 (82.3%) at the free throw line. Garcia will also appreciate the effort of his players on the boards as they out-rebounded Lokomotiv 39-26 in the game.

For Lokomotiv, it could not have been much worse - particularly from three-point range where they missed all 15 of their shots.