20.01.2005

MBC Odessa 91 vs. EURAS 83

Ukrainian team MBC Odessa had to overcome Russian visitors EURAS Ekaterinburg by 16 points if they were to earn a spot in the Conference Final Four. It was a task that proved beyond them, and although they won the game, the 8-point margin was not enough to further their 2005 FIBA Europe Cup hopes.

		Dubravko Zemljic

Odessa produced a strong opening quarter, outscoring EURAS 26-15 and seemed on the way to complete their task. But, led by veterans Roy Hairston and Dubravko Zemljic, EURAS worked their way back into the game and trailed by just 4 points at halftime, 43-39.

Odessa stuck to their task and managed to increase their lead to 10-points in the third quarter. But Zemljic came to the rescue again for EURAS and his scoring touch saw the lead reduced to six at the end of the third, 69-63.

The home side produced a scoring spurt at the end of the 4th quarter, which was enough for victory, but not enough to finish with the required 16-point difference.

Zemljic top scored for EURAS with 24 points and Hairston added 20 and 9 rebounds.

Odessa point guard Yevgeniy Annyenkov produced his best game of the season for his side, scoring 22 points (4/5 three-pointers) and dishing 7 assists.