Regular Season Game 3 - November 29, 2011 CET: 17:00 Local time: 18:00 - ARENA ARMEEC SOFIA

Records

Ave.   Ave.
0-0 Final 0-0
0-0 Quarter Final 0-0
0-0 Last 16 0-0
2-0 Regular Season 1-1
2-0 Overall 1-1

Referees

Crew Chief
LOVSIN, ANDREJ, Slovenia
Referee
MARICIC,SASA, Serbia
Umpire
NESKOVIC, DRAGAN, Serbia

Team Stats

Ave.   Ave.
66.0 Points 76.5
34.0 Rebounds 35.0
7.0 O. Rebounds 11.0
27.0 D. Rebounds 24.0
10.0 Assists 16.5
5.5 Steals 9.0
1.0 Blocks 1.0
13.5 Turnovers 14.0
56.4 % 2PT 57.7 %
24.1 % 3PT 20.9 %
81.6 % FT 85.7 %
64.5 Index 84.5

Player Stats

Ave.   Ave.
16.5 / Heath Points 14.5 / Caner-Medley
5.0 / MACK, LAMONT Rebounds 8.5 / Lishchuk
1.5 / Marinov OR 3.5 / Lishchuk
4.5 / STOJANOVSKI, DAMJAN DR 5.0 / Lishchuk
3.0 / Heath Assists 4.0 / Martinez
2.0 / Heath Steals 2.0 / Caner-Medley
0.5 / Stoykov Blocks 0.5 / Lishchuk
5.5 / Heath Turnovers 3.0 / Caner-Medley
100.0 % / Banev 2PT 100.0 % / SPLITTER, TIAGO
50.0 % / MACK, LAMONT 3PT 37.5 % / KUKSIKS, RIHARDS
100.0 % / Stoykov FT 100.0 % / Markovic
18.0 / MACK, LAMONT Index 16.0 / Lishchuk

THE TAKE

Lukoil Academic
Valencia Basket Club
RECORDS
2-0, Group D
Regular season 2011-12
1-1, Group D

PROBABLE STARTERS
Guard
Guard
Forward
Forward
Center

THE STAKES

Lukoil is chasing its third win to stay unbeaten and put a foot in the Last 16; Valencia is still looking for its first away win. That’s the scenario for a game in which both sides have to keep an eye on point differential since the regular season could end in a two- or three-way-tie for first. Lukoil’s 21-year-old guard Bozhidar Avramov played for Valencia from 2007 to 2010, making 4 Eurocup appearances, and its big man Bruno Sundov, started the 2010-11 season with Valencia but only played one game in the Spanish League.

THE TAKE

Call it Route 66 – that’s the number of points Academic scored on the way to two wins thus far. They prefer a slow-paced, team-oriented game, while Valencia likes to run more. Neither team is shooting well from downtown – Valencia at 21% and Academic 24%. Valencia’s defense on scorers Brandon Heath and Lamont Mack is one key, while Academic’s effort to stop Tiago Splitter is another. The Spanish size has the edge in size down low, which could be a factor.

REFEREES
Crew Chief
Referee
Umpire
Andrej Lovsin
Andrej Lovsin
Slovenia
Sasa Maricic
Sasa Maricic
Serbia
Dragan Neskovic
Dragan Neskovic
Serbia


Lukoil Academic
Min Pts 2FG
M-A
3FG
M-A
FT
M-A
Rebounds As St To Blocks Fouls Rkg
O D T Fv Ag Cm Rv
Totals 400:00 132 31/55 13/54 31/38 14 54 68 20 11 27 2 4 41 40 129
Average 200:00 66.0 56.4% 24.1% 81.6% 07.0 27.0 34.0 10.0 05.5 13.5 01.0 02.0 20.5 20.0 64.5

Totals 400:00 153 45/78 9/43 36/42 22 48 70 33 18 28 2 4 46 44 169
Average 200:00 76.5 57.7% 20.9% 85.7% 11.0 24.0 35.0 16.5 09.0 14.0 01.0 02.0 23.0 22.0 84.5
Valencia Basket
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Eurocupbasketball.com

Quotes Head Coaches

OLMOS, FRANCISCO
Valencia Basket
"We must be ready for a game that will be very important in Sofia. We have a tough trip and w know we will play against a team that has won its 11 official games this season. They must have something if they have not lost in any competition, including the Eurocup. It's an important game to take a step forward towards qualification and then for an eventual first place in the group."

Players

Nik Caner-Medley - Valencia Basket (photo Asvel Basket)Valencia Basket got a crucial 64-72 away win over Lukoil Academic on Tuesday, in Sofia, Bulgaria, to go atop the Group D table with a 2-1 record. Academic opened the scoring from downtown before a 0-12 run for Valencia gave it the lead and they never looked back! Nick Caner-Medley had an outstanding performance by draining 27 points in 23 minutes, Tiago Splitter amassed 9 points and 12 rebounds and Nando De Colo chipped in 8 for Valencia. Todor Stoykov paced Academic with 17 points, Bozidhar Avramov nailed 13 and Damjan Stojanovski 8.

Lamont Mack opened the scoring from downtown for Academic, but the answer from the 2010 Eurocup winners was amazing, a 12-0 run capped by an astonishing dunk by De Colo. Eurocup’s all-time scoring leader Todor Stoykov nailed a triple to close back within 10-14 and heat the fans, Florent Pietrus found two easy in the open court for 10-18, while three consecutive free throws posted by Stojanovski and Avramov made it 15-18 after 10 minutes. Rihards Kuksiks and Nick Caner-Medley highlighted an 11-0 run for Valencia for a 19-30 advantage at the midway point of the quarter. Avramov hit a three for the hosts, Splitter scored a jump-hook while Pavel Marinov and Caner-Medley exchanged free throws to go on 24-36. Caner-Medley again and Mack scored the final basket to be 28-38 for the visitors at halftime.

Medley remained on fire coming back from the lockers with back-to-back three pointers answered by Stoykov to stay 34-44. Pietrus dunked and a Brandon Heath basket from long distance put Academic within 37-46. Akida McLain slammed in between back-to-back baskets by Splitter to make it 41-52 with three minutes left in the quarter. Rafa Martinez from beyond the arc extended the difference to 43-57. Stoykov drove to the rim and Splitter from the foul line fixed the final 47-60 at the end of the third quarter. Former Valencia guard Avramov dunked and hit a three-pointer to close to 54-61, but Serhiy Lishchuk established again a double digit cushion at 54-64. Stoykov sounded the charge for the hosts by scoring free throws and an easy layup after a ball stolen by Mack to go 58-64. Then Splitter and Bruno Sundov exchanged baskets underneath before De Colo iced Valencia win with a layup and 2 free throws to make it 62-70.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: LOVSIN, ANDREJ (SLO), MARICIC,SASA (SRB), NESKOVIC, DRAGAN (SRB)
Attendance: 5000
By Quarter1234
Lukoil Academic15131917
Valencia Basket18202212
End of Quarter1234
Lukoil Academic15284764
Valencia Basket18386072
Head coach: ARSIC, JOVICA
Lukoil Academic
# Player Min Pts 2FG
M-A
3FG
M-A
FT
M-A
Rebounds As St To Bl Fouls PIR
O D T Fv Ag Cm Rv
4 HEATH, BRANDON 24:29 5 1/2 1/4     3 3 2 1 4     1 3 5
5 McLAIN, AKIDA 20:23 6 2/5   2/2 4 4 8         1 2 2 10
8 MINKOV, KRIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 AVRAMOV, BOZHIDAR 25:28 13 2/2 2/6 3/4 1 2 3 1 1 3     3 2 9
12 MARINOV, PAVEL 5:30 3 1/3   1/2 1 1 2 1   1   1   1 2
14 BANEV, TENCHO 14:29   0/2       1 1   2 1     3   -3
15 STOYKOV, TODOR 25:57 17 3/6 3/4 2/2   3 3 2 1 2     4 2 15
20 OWENS, ANDRE 26:43   0/2 0/1 0/2 1 5 6 1 1 2 1   3 3 2
22 MACK, LAMONT 20:38 7 2/2 1/5     7 7 2 1       5 1 9
24 VESELINOV, VESELIN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
30 STOJANOVSKI, DAMJAN 12:09 8 2/7 0/1 4/5   1 1 1 1     2 4 5 3
41 SUNDOV, BRUNO 24:14 5 1/3 0/2 3/5   1 1           3 4 1
Team           1   1     1          
Totals 200:00 64 14/34 7/23 15/22 8 28 36 10 8 14 1 4 28 23 53
41.2% 30.4% 68.2%
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Head coach: OLMOS, FRANCISCO
Valencia Basket
# Player Min Pts 2FG
M-A
3FG
M-A
FT
M-A
Rebounds As St To Bl Fouls PIR
O D T Fv Ag Cm Rv
00 SAN MIGUEL, RODRIGO 14:03   0/1       2 2 4 2 1     3 4 7
4 MARKOVIC, STEFAN 25:57 2 1/1 0/2     4 4 6 1 2 1   2 1 9
7 SPLITTER, TIAGO 29:19 9 4/11 0/1 1/9 3 9 12 1   3     2 5 6
12 LISHCHUK, SERHIY 19:24 7 0/3   7/10   6 6 1   1 2   3 7 13
17 MARTINEZ, RAFA 23:56 8 1/1 1/6 3/4       2 1 1     4 2 2
20 PIETRUS, FLORENT 25:03 6 2/2   2/4 3 4 7 1 2 1     4 3 12
22 DE COLO, NANDO 22:09 8 2/6 0/2 4/4       1 1     1 1 4 6
30 KUKSIKS, RIHARDS 16:26 5 1/2 1/3   1 1 2           3   1
32 ABIA, LARRY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
33 CANER-MEDLEY, NIK 23:43 27 8/10 3/5 2/4   4 4 1 2 1 1   1 2 29
Team           1 3 4     2         2
Totals 200:00 72 19/37 5/19 19/35 8 33 41 17 9 12 4 1 23 28 87
51.4% 26.3% 54.3%
This game is not yet played

Head Coaches

ARSIC, JOVICA
Lukoil Academic
"Our defense was weak. We played all game under pressure. Valencia play in a strong domestic championship and this helped them. They played very aggressive and they were quick."
OLMOS, FRANCISCO
Valencia Basket
"I think we showed a good defensive level tonight. We had some mistakes in defense, but wanted to be more solid in defense than we were in other games. Our defense allowed us to run and Nik Caner-Medley played really well as much as he could play - he had physical problems and wanted to be back on the floor, but it was a big risk for us. We missed many free throws, and even when we had the game under control, those free throw attempts missed did not allow us to get a 10- to 14-point lead to break the game open. The game was more complicated for us due our own, not very common mistakes. This was the most important game in this group and under normal circumstances, we would have won by a bigger margin. Winning comes first and that is what matters. We just hope that our physical problems disappear, as they break our team's rotation."

Players

AVRAMOV, BOZHIDAR
Lukoil Academic
"We played shyly and let them play their game. In the first part our defense wasn’t tough enough. We have chances to continue in the tournament. It’s rare to play against such a team, as Valencia. We could have played better in defense."
PIETRUS, FLORENT
Valencia Basket
"I have been slowed by injuries in the last two weeks, but I have to keep playing. We managed to get a very important win on the road. We are very happy with our good work. The team is battling injuries, but manages to carry on. I am not 100%, but this is not the right time to stop. We have challenging games ahead of us."
No pictures yet
There is no video yet
No tv schedules yet