 Everything worked out perfectly for CEZ Nymburk as it cruised to victory against BCM Gravelines, 61-91, and Valencia defeated VEF Riga, giving the Czech champs a trip to the Eurocup Quarterfinals from Group I. The visitors led 36-46, then responded to a 9-0 Gravelines run to open the third quarter with a 45-16 shellacking. Lamayne Wilson led the way for the winners with 22 points along with 9 rebounds, while Pavel Pumprla tallied 19 points and Petr Benda and AJ Abrams added 14 apiece. Yannick Bokolo netted 14 points and Ludovic Vaty had 11 in losing effort. Gravelines finished the Last 16 with a 0-6 record.
Gravelines and Nymburk both opened scoring with layups, setting the scoreboard at 4-4. Benda took over for Nymburk, scoring 8 straight points, but Abudaye Loum and Andrew Albicy each buried a triple to keep the game close, 10-12. After a rapid exchange of two-pointers, Pumprla nailed a triple followed by a layup to give Nymburk a 16-19 edge. The lead soon evaporated as Rudy Jomby answered from downtown and Vaty added two-points in the paint, giving Gravelines a 21-19 margin. Nymburk’s Abrams scored 4 straight with under a minute to go, handing the visitors a 22-25 margin at the end of the first quarter. Benda and Abrams each contributed two-pointers but J.R. Reynolds kept the hosts close with a triple, as the scoreboard moved to 25-29 early in the second quarter. Nymburk did not relent, going on a 5-0 spurt with a Tre Simmons triple and a layup by Benda to extend the lead to 25-33. Gravelines pushed back as Valentin Bigote scored 4 points in the paint, then after an exchange of layups Wilson drained a short-range jumper to keep the visitors out front 31-38. The hosts’ Bokolo and the visitors’ Mike Lenzly took over the scoring for their respective teams, as each scored 5 straight points, but then Ladislav Sokolovsky nailed a triple with 33 seconds on the clock to lift Nymburk to a 36-46 halftime lead.
After an early dry spell, Gravelines erupted with a 9-0 run on a pair of layups by Bokolo, one more by Vaty, and a three-pointer by Jomby to reduce the deficit to 45-46. Nymburk responded with a 5-0 run as Abrams drained a triple and Pumprla scored in the paint to give Nymburk some breathing room again, 45-51. After a Vaty layup, Pumprla scored 4 straight and Benda added 2 more in the paint, pushing the lead back to double-digits 47-57. Nymburk’s offensive thrust continued as Wilson scored 8 straight, including a pair of three-pointers, to extend the lead to 47-65. After Abrams and Reynolds exchanged two-pointers, Eugene Lawrence hit a pair of foul shots to give the visitors a 49-69 lead at the end of 30 minutes. Abrams opened scoring in the final quarter with a triple as Nymburk stretched its lead even further, 49-72. The scoring proceeded as Gravelines pared the lead slightly until Wilson drained another three-pointer, keeping Nymburk safely out front 56-83. The visitors continued to rack up points, punctuated with a Pumprla dunk with 48 seconds on the clock, to end the game with a resounding 61-91 victory.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Eurocupbasketball.com
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