| 19.03.2009
BC Triumph thrashed Ural Great 91-65 in Perm on Thursday to level the EuroChallenge Quarter-Final tie at 1-1. Just two days removed from a 102-100 Game 1 defeat to Ural Great in the Moscow Region, Stanislav Eremine's Triumph hit the road and struck back with a vengeance. Marcus Goree, held to just six points on Tuesday, poured in 10 in the first five and a half minutes in Game 2 to help Triumph establish a 19-5 advantage. Sergey Toporov's three-ball With 3:12 to go in the opening frame extended the lead to 24-7. With 17 seconds to go in the first period, Goree hit another jumper to take his points haul to 12 and make it 31-14. Ural Great's Darius Vashington drilled a trey to reduce the deficit to 14 at the end of the quarter, but the home side never recovered from the great Triumph start. Things got worse in the second quarter with Ernest Bremer, Ognjen Askrabic and Toporov all scoring to make it 39-17. There was no way back for Ural Great when Askrabic, who led Triumph with 19 points, buried a jumper to make it 45-21 with 4:25 to go before half-time. At the break, Triumph had a 55-31 stranglehold on proceedings and they cruised the rest of the way. Triumph finished 28 of 48 (58.3%) inside the arc compared to Ural Great's 16 of 36 (44.4%). The visitors were also 20 of 32 at the free-throw line, with Ural Great just nine of 14. Bremer and Goree finished with 17 points apiece for Triumph. Ralph Biggs topped the scoring for Ural Great with 17 points and Vashington contributed 15. Triumph also had just five turnovers, while Ural Great committed 14. The deciding Game 3 will be played next Wednesday (March 25) back in the Moscow Region in front of the Triumph fans. |