 Benetton Basket finished its Eurocup season in style by downing Brose Baskets Bamberg 86-70 on Tuesday in Treviso, Italy. Benetton finished Group K in third place with a 2-4 record, the same as Brose Baskets. A 17-0 run early in the third quarter put Benetton in front 61-42. Davor Kus, Gary Neal and Sandro Nicevic made the main offensive efforts in those minutes after Tibor Pleiss fueled his side early in the third quarter. Nicevic paced the winners with 22 points and 10 rebounds, Neal recorded 16 points and 4 assists, Kus scored 13 and KC Rivers 12. Pleiss led Bamberg with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Mark
Worhthington added 18 with 8 boards and 4 steals, Brian Roberts chipped in 12 points and Casey Jacobsen had 10.
Andrea De Nicolao with a rocket from long distance gave a 6-0 opening margin
to Benetton. Neal fueled his side from long distance to make it 11-5, but then Anton Gavel answered with 5 consecutive points and Pleiss with a power move in the paint gave the first advantage to the visitors, 11-12. Donatas Motijunas tied the game 14-14 and Nicevic assisted by Rivers made it 18-15. Roberts from beyond the arc tied things at 20-20 as the first quarter finished. Nicevic posted 6 points early in the second, pushing Benetton ahead 30-24. Worthington hit a three and Daniel Hackett completed a three-point-play to get to 33-27. Jasmin Hukic with a layup made it 35-27, but Pleiss used again his size underneath before a three from Kus gave a 38-29 cushion to the hosts. Pleiss brought Bamberg within 39-35, but Hacket scored in the open court. Worthington, still on fire, scored 4 in a row, but Rivers with a deep three fixed the score at 44-40 for Benetton at halftime.
Pleiss opened the third quarter with a jam, but Neal nailed a three pointer, which was copied by Rivers. The hosts remained on fire completing a 17-0 run, highlighted by 6 points from Kus. Pleiss stopped a six-minute drought for Brose Baskets, but Kus and Motjeunas did not miss from the foul line improving the difference to 65-44. Worthington tried to react by scoring 7 points, but only got his team to 67-51 after 30 minutes. Nicevic extended the margin to 73-51 at the beginning of the last quarter. Pleiss showed again his skills and Roberts hit a three, but Nicevic scored again to get to 81-61 and then the teams exchanged basket till the final buzzer, with Benetton conquering the win in style for its cheering fans.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Eurocupbasketball.com
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