Loko Trutnov coach Zdenek Sykora blamed a poor opening quarter for his side's 83-65 home defeat to Delta Kosice.

The visitors stormed to a 25-10 advantage in the first 10 minutes before consolidating their lead in the remaining half hour.

"We lost this game in first minutes of the first quarter. We were too nervous and we had a big problem with scoring from good positions," said Sykora.

		Kosice's Jennifer Smith

"We played very badly in defence and we did not have any chance to stop the good centres of Kosice because of that.

"Kosice were better and deserved to win. We would like to forget this game as soon as possible."

He added that with games against Bourges and Valencia "we still have a small chance" of making the play-offs.

Jennifer Smith finished the game with 24 points for Kosice while the frontline of Gwen Slaughter, who poured in 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and Hana Jendrichovska (17 points) sparkled throughout.

Kosice coach Vladimir Karnay was pleased with how his side performed on the night.

He said: "Our centers played a great game. I expected a hard game - mostly mentally.

"Trutnov wanted to win this game very much but played very nervously right from the first moments.

"I am fully satisfied with our performance today - mostly in the first quarter when we dominated the game."

The win moves Kosice into fifth in group B, ahead of Trutnov, and should earn them a spot in the upcoming play-offs.