Enisey Turn Back Determined Antwerp

Serbian guard Marko Marinovic led the way for BC Enisey with 17 points

BC Enisey picked right up where they left off in the Qualifying Round for the EuroChallenge by beating Antwerp Giants in the first game of the Regular Season on Tuesday in Krasnoyarsk.

Marko Marinovic, the hero of the come-from-behind triumph over Spartak Primorye which booked a place in the competition for Enisey, led the way with 17 points in a 76-72 Group E victory over Antwerp.

Just as he did against Spartak in the decisive second leg when he poured in 29 points, Marinovic hurt the Giants with his three-point shooting, making five of 11.

Veteran forward Sergey Toporov had a terrific all-round game for Enisey as well with 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Enisey had their biggest lead midway through the second quarter when center Elmedin Kikanovic split a pair of free-throws for a 35-21 advantage.

A shot from the arc by Andrey Komarovskiy gave the hosts a 43-29 lead at the break.

Jasmin Hukic had all eight of his points at half-time to lead Enisey's balanced attack.

Michael Roll, however, was on a roll for Antwerp. He went to the changing rooms with 14 of his game-high 27 points.

The Belgian outfit chipped away at the deficit in the third quarter and got to within four points but went to the last frame down 58-51.

Eddy Casteels' team eventually pulled level.

Roll's lay-up reduced the lead two and a Darnell Wilson bucket knotted the game at 63-63 with 4:52 to play.

Komarovskiy answered with a three-point play after being fouled on a drive.

When Antwerp closed the gap to 70-68 with 55 seconds to play, Enisey went back to Komarovskiy and he drew a foul before making two free-throws.

Enisey made six shots from the charity stripe in the last 42 seconds of the contest to seal the victory.

Salah Mejri had 10 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots for Antwerp.

Quotes BC Enisey vs. Antwerp Giants

Roel Moors, Port of Antwerp Giants player:
"In the first half we played bad defence, in the second half we improved. The influence of free-throws it huge. The opponents had a high percentage, they made 20 whereas we made only 8 which also made the score difference.

Eddy Casteels head coach of Port of Antwerp Giants:
"Today you could see two different teams from Antwerp. One has let the opponent run their plays and do whatever they wanted to, the other one could play defense and dominate in the game. Unfortunately that team was not playing for the whole 40 minutes."

Andrey Komarovskiy, Enisey player:
"despite of the fact that we won, we played awfully. And we still have to play the road game against the Giants. After the first half we were leading by 14 points, but we let them equalize the score."

Stevan Karadzic, Enisey head coach:
"Today we had a great difference in the two halfs. In the second half we had too many turnovers, which were not the result of the pressure, we just let the opponent back into the game. Fortunately they did not punish us for those mistakes and we still won the game."