Spirou Charleroi managed to get its first win in the column on Tuesday night by defeating CSU Asesoft at home by 64-58. It was a close game in which neither team had big leads and only in the final quarter, Charleroi managed to have a 6-point lead that lasted until the end. In Group C now, both Spirou Charleroi and CSU Asesoft then are 1-1 in the standings. Tremmell Darden was the best scorer for Charleroi with 12 points, Adam Hall added 10 and Justin Hamilton had 11 boards. For the guests, Arvydas Cepulis led the way with 15 points and Rashard Griffith had 12.
 The opening basket by Arvydas Cepulis for Asesoft was replied by an 8-0 run capped by 4 points from Roel Moors that lifted Charleroi to an 8-2 burst. Rashard Griffith started to impose his law in the paint but Tremmell Darden scored six points to make it 14-11 in minute 7. Cepulis hit a three to put the guests ahead again but a basket by Andre Riddick left it at 18-16 after one quarter. The trend remained in the second quarter as Charleroi dominated by 24-21 after 15 minutes when defenses took over as Asesoft controlled the rebounding battle, led by Virgil Carutasu with 7 boards at that point. Adam Hall led Charleroi in offense as at halftime the scoreboard showed a 31-28 Charleroi edge. Justin Hamilton and Riddick got Charleori going early in the second half, 36-30, but when Bojan Obradovic finally appeared for the hosts the gap was trimmed to 48-44 after 30 minutes. The last quarter continued with Spirou dominating the situation, even if it was by slim margins that were of six points in minute 37, 58-52, and were maintained until the final buzzer.
Spirou Charleroi head coach Eddy Casteels
"We played great defense and had a great collective effort. This is our first win, which is always very important. It's a shame what happened to us in Vrsac, as we played a terrific game and we could already have two wins. But that's it. Today, I think we missed 20 points we could have had, as we are still searching for confidence and rythmn. We are sometimes too nervous and we forgot some details. The most positive point for me is the way Justin Hamilton played, as reflected by his 11 rebounds. He may be not very spectacular, but he played with a lot of energy and for the others."
Spirou Charleroi guard Justin Hamilton
"There won't be any easy game in the ULEB Cup, and this one wasn't, either. We were impressed when watching Ploiesti's first home game and we knew it would be a difficult team to play. You now we are a new team and we kept getting better, but we are still searching for chemistry. So at this time, the only thing that is important, and what we play for, is the win."
CSU Asesoft Ploiesti head coach Mladan Jojic
"This was a very tough game. Charleroi, a club I followed for a long time and that I have a lot of respect for, had prepared it very well. That was obvious in the way they defended. We could have come back but we missed six offensive boards on the same possession, which lasted three minutes. At this level, you can't forgot boxing out in this way, especially when you are in a position to come back in the last quarter. Actually we had some opportunities to take the advantage, but we didn't manage to get them. We lack some players reaching their top shape and we are experiencing a new competition, where you can't make big mistakes and still win.
CSU Asesoft Ploiesti forward Arvydas Cepulis
"This was a game very close. Charleroi's defense was excellent, but I think we lost by ourselves because of our lack of defensive boards and our poor attack. By the way, the positive point was our defense, but you can't win a game playing such a way as we did on offense."
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
ULEBCup.com
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