Hot-Shooting Hampton Guns Down Roanne

Marcus Arnold had a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds for Pardubice on opening night

Maurice Hampton wasted no time in making his mark on the EuroChallenge with an all-star performance to lead BK Pardubice to a thrilling Group C win over Roanne Basket.

On the opening day of the Regular Season, Hampton had 25 points, including a go-ahead three-ball with 47 seconds remaining, as the Czech team prevailed 82-77.

After John Holland's two free-throws had pulled Roanne level at 77-77 with 1:11 to go, Corey Muirhead missed from long range for Pardubice.

But Muirhead chased down the offensive rebound and passed to Hampton, who made no mistake with the vital three-pointer - his fifth from seven attempts.

Roanne called a timeout but when play resumed, point guard Andre Barrett was off target with a potential game-tying three and Pardubice grabbed the board.

Pardubice ended up making two of four free-throws the rest of the way to secure the victory.

Muirhead finished with 21 points while Marcus Arnold scored 12 and grabbed a game-high 11 boards.

Andre Barrett poured in 22 points and Holland had 14 along with nine boards for Roanne.

Quotes BK JIP Pardubice vs. Chorale Roanne Basket

Roanne Head Coach Jean Denys Choulet:
"We started too slow. We didnt want to rebound. We had only one offensive rebound in the first half. I think we didn´t respect this team as we should have. We thought this game was going to be easy. But we did not play. You can discuss the level of the Czech league but if you do not do the job we loose against anybody. And we didnt do the job. I am sure we will do it at home but that is not enough. It is a good win for them. They played hard, playing good defense. But we played like we were kings."

Roanne Forward Johm Holland of Roanne:
"I give a lot of credit to them. I think the key was that they played hard from the beginning. That really made the difference. We cannot wait untill the second half. They also made some big shots."

Padubice Head Coach Jan Slowiak:
"I am really proud of our team. I think it was one of the best games of this team in this arena. I think also it was a nice game for the spectators. We started the game with a lot of effort and confidence and that was important. After this, our opponent created pressure on defense and we had problem to score especially in the second quater. Our performance was limited in the second half by our poor defensive rebounding. We allowed many second chances. But our offense kept us in the game in the second half. Muirhead and Hampton were excellent. It was one of the best games in my career."

Pardubice Forward Corey Muirhead:
"After watching film we knew they have good offensive systems - especially we knew they were running a lot of pick and rolls. We had to play them honestly. We knew they had great shooters like Holland. We just wanted to come out and start the game really strong and give ourself a chance to be in the game. Fortunately we were able to hit some shots. In the second half we didn't start so well but we stopped the bleeding early. We got confidence again. As the game went down we knew we had a chance to win. We didn't rebound as well in the second half but we got stops when we needed them."