18.12.2007

Ural Great Edge Out Banvit

Brindley Wright and Ivan Koljevic combined for 39 points as Ural Great maintained their 100 percent record in EuroCup Group B following a narrow 77-74 victory over Banvit BC.

Vanja Plisnic converted a three-point play with five seconds left to secure the win, while Wright scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Russian outfit Ural move to 2-0 and stay top of the group.

As well as Koljevic's 19 points, both Plisnic (13) and Alexey Zozulin (11) notched double-figure scores.

		Brindley Wright was one of the protagonists in Ural Great's hard-fought victory

Drazen Anzulovic's Ural did a great job defensively in the second half, holding the Turks to just 33% shooting after Banvit shot 57% in the first half.
 
Banvit dropped to 0-2 in Group B despite 14 points and 16 rebounds from Andrew Adeleke, who had already scored 14 and grabbed 11 rebounds at the break.
 
Inanc Koc scored all 10 of his points in the first half, while Yunus Cankaya scored 14 and Michael Mokongo added 11 for Burak Ernak's team.
 
The first quarter saw Wright and Adeleke go back and forth in the scoring with Wright scoring six points to put Ural ahead 10-8 and his seventh point left the Russians up 17-14.
 
However, Adeleke's jump-shot just before the first quarter buzzer gave him nine points and evened the score at 19-19.

Adeleke's basket opened the second period but Koljevic twice hit three-pointer to pull Ural Great ahead - his second for the ninth lead change of the game for a 29-28 lead.
 
Banvit responded with Koc and Cankaya each knocking down two long-balls of their own and Yigitcan Tuma hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to finish off a 19-8 Banvit run to go into the break ahead 47-39.

Mokongo's three to begin the third quarter pushed the lead to 11 points at 50-39, and it was 53-43 after Cankaya's three-pointer.
 
A jump-shot from Wright started a 15-5 run, which included triples by Zozulin and Koljevic to even the game at 58-58, but Yannier answered with a three-pointer and Banvit led 61-60 going into the fourth.

Andrew Wisniewski's basket opened the fourth to gave Ural Great the lead and Zozulin's jumper made it 68-64 for the Russians before Mokongo's lay-up gave Banvit back the lead 69-68 with three minutes left.
 
Two Mokongo foul shots made it 73-69 but Koljevic hit a jumper and Wright's free throws evened the game at 73-73.

Adeleke missed a jump shot with 22 seconds left and Plisnic converted a three-point play with five seconds left for a 76-73 lead, while Mokongo and Koljevic swapped foul shots for the final scoreline.

18.12.2007

Quotes Ural Great vs. Banvit BC

Drazen Anzulovic, coach Ural Great Perm:

"Before this game we had many problems. Bashminov, Surovtsev and Ionov could not play today because of injuries. So we had a problem in our center position. Having lost the first half, we managed to lead the game in the second half. We started to play more aggressive, faster, we pulled rebounds and stopped their transitions. I would like to thank my player Koljevic, he was number one for me today."

Brindley Wright, player Ural Great Perm:

"This was a very tough game. I like such games where we can see the results of our hard work. I would not say it was luck that helped us win. It does not matter if you win the game by one or twenty one points, the victories come only through hard work."

Burak Ernak, coach BC Banvit:

"We played very well in the first half of the game. However we did not manage to continue the same in the second half. My team missed ten free throws which is too much for such important games. Ural Great took the initiative. Nevertheless, I want to congratulate my players. They are very young but played so well against a more experienced team."

Inanc Koc, player BC Banvit:

"We knew it was going to be a very tough game. We had to show our best. In the first half we managed to put hassle on the court. We lost this game because of our own mistakes."