May 24, 2012
Spanish League semifinals, Game 1: May 31-June 1, 2007
Serkan Erdogan - Tau Ceramica Home teams held on for difficult but key victories to open the best-of-five semifinals in the Spanish League. Real Madrid needed some heroics at home on Thursday to outlast DKV Joventut 72-70 thanks to a late triple by Axel Hervelle in a game full of ties and lead changes. Louis Bullock led the winners with 13 points, including 9 in a row that got Madrid back in the game late in the third quarter. Felipe Reyes had 12 points and Hervelle 10. For Joventut, only Rudy Fernandez and Lubos Barton reached double digits, with 17 and 12 points, respectively. In the other semifinal, Tau Ceramica downed Winterthur FC Barcelona 81-73 on Friday in an game of different halves. Tau raced ahead by as many as 19 points late in the first half, but had to hold off a Barcelona rally in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory at home. Serkan Erdogan was Tau's big gun, with 20 points, while Luis Scola and Igor Rakocevic added 12 each. Juan Carlos Navarro led Barcelona with 16 points.

In Madrid, Joventut raced to a 2-10 lead after tipoff as Fernandez, Ferran Laviña and Lubos Barton all blasted three-pointers. Madrid worked its way back into the lead at 15-14 on free throws by Alex Mumbru, but Dimitry Flis and Elmer Bennett lifted Joventut back to a 15-19 lead after one quarter. Charles Smith shot Madrid back in front early in the second, but the lead briefly returned to Joventut before Kerem Tunceri's triple got the hosts ahead again for a little while. The half ended with a tug-of-war over the lead, but Joventut got to the break ahead 38-39 on another basket by Barton. The guests lengthened their advantage to 44-52 late in the third quarter, but Bullock scored all the points in an 9-2 run that got Madrid back in the game. The hosts took a 61-59 lead on Tunceri's triple to begin the final quarter, but soon Robert Archibald's basket put Joventut ahead 63-64. Marko Tomas and Hervelle took it back for Madrid, but Andrew Betts dunked to get Joventut within 69-68 with 3 minutes left. Hervelle hit his triple on the next shot, then Madrid's defense dictated the rest, even denying Joventut any shot at all with the game's final and potentilly game-tying or game-winning possession. Game 2 is set for Saturday on Joventut's home court in Badalona.

In Vitoria, Barcelona started the game with a triple by Jaka Lakovic, but Tau scored the next 9 points to establish the first of what soon became sizeable leads. Barcelona got as close as 21-19 before Tau scored the last 6 points of the first quarter, including a Zoran Planinic triple that made it 27-19. Fred House and Lou Roe helped Tau go ahead for the first time by double digits, then the hosts kept adding to it until an Erdogan triple made it 49-30 late in the half. Navarro, Denis Marconato and Michalis Kakouizis helped Barcelona trim the difference to 51-37 at the break. The visitors kept getting closer as Navarro scored the only 5 points on the floor during a four-minute defensive spell, leaving Barcelona within 63-57. A pair of Erdogan triples boosted Tau to a 69-57 advantage going into the final quarter, but Barcelona made one last charge to force a 75-70 score with just over 5 minutes left. The visitors could score only 3 points after that, however, as Tau's defense assured the victory. Game 2 is on Sunday in Barcelona.

SPANISH LEAGUE: Semifinal Playoffs, best of 5 games
RecordTeam
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Game 4
Game 5
1
Tau Ceramica (1)
81
June 3
June 8
June 10
June 12
0
Winterthur FCB (4)
73
-
-
-
-
1
Real Madrid (2)
72
June 3
June 7
June 9-10
June 12
0
DKV Joventut (3)
70
-
-
-
-

Semifinal Playoffs Games
Game 1
Tau Ceramica vs. Winterthur FCB
81-73
June 1
Game 1
Real Madrid vs. DKV Joventut
72-70
May 31
Game 2
Tau Ceramica vs. Winterthur FCB
-
June 3
Game 2
Real Madrid vs. DKV Joventut
-
June 3
Game 3
Winterthur FCB vs. Tau Ceramica
-
June 8
Game 3
DKV Joventut vs. Real Madrid
-
June 7
Game 4
Winterthur FCB vs. Tau Ceramica
-
June 10
Game 4
DKV Joventut vs. Real Madrid
-
June 9-10
Game 5
Tau Ceramica vs. Winterthur FCB
-
June 12
Game 5
Real Madrid vs. DKV Joventut
-
June 12
Saturday, June 02, 2007
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