11.12.2007

Perm Hammer Mavpy

Vanja Plisnic was the star of the show as Ural Great Perm got their EuroCup Qualifying Round Group B campaign off to a flying start with a 101-72 demolition of Cherkaski Mavpy on Tuesday.

The power forward, supported by the 16-point contribution of Brindley Lambert Wright,

		Gjorgij Chekovski was one of the few bright spots for Cherkaski Mavpy with 15 points.

drained 26 points and claimed 10 rebounds in a clash the Russians dominated from start to finish.

By the end of the first quarter they led 24-11 and at half-time their advantage was 53-29.

The third quarter saw Perm extend their lead to 83-47, before the Ukrainians rallied with a 25-18 final quarter.

El Cheikh Fadi El Khatib was the brightest spark for the losers, the power forward bettering his 14.7-point average with a 19-point performance, but it was not enough to prevent his side suffering a defeat that looked likely from the opening exchanges.

Alexander Bashminov got the ball rolling with a lay-up after just 19 seconds, and two free-throws and a jump-shot from Wright soon had the visitors 6-0 up.

Mavpy eventually pulled the score back to 13-11, but their task looked steep when Wright rounded off the quarter with a dunk 19 seconds from the buzzer.

Plisnic netted a three-pointer to kick-start the second - he scored two from four attempts in all - and a 10-0 run put the Russians 34-11 ahead.

Ralph Nehimiah Biggs added a dunk to put Perm 53-26 ahead, but there was no immediate let-up.

An eight-point run put the Russians in firm control going into the last, before the Ukrainians salvaged some pride at the death.

11.12.2007

Quotes Cherkaski Mavpy vs. Ural Great

Ural Great head coach Drazen Anzulovic:

"Before we came to Cherkasy, we watched some games of Cherkasy, especially with BC "Kiev" and "Azovmash" and we respect the team and the court. Really we must be happy, how wit how we played the first three quarters today. And it's one of our best games in this season. We didn't see the teams from Belgium and Turkey yet. The Belgian team is the first in their championship. We'll see, we will prepare for every game. But now I can't say anything."

Ural Great's Vanja Plisnic:

"This game was tough for us. In five days we played three games. My team did a very good job during this game. And it was very important for us to win the first Euro Cup game away game. The next three games we play at home. We played first of all very good defense. We were also good on offensive rebounds. And I will lie, if I say that I can't play better than today. Our team had easy shots, because of our offensibe rebounds."