 A 26-3 fourth-quarter run and big scoring night from its stars allowed Kraznye Krylia to beat Anwil Wloclawek 103-80 on Tuesday for its first victory ever in the Eurocup. Krylia raised it record to 1-2 in Group H, while Wloclawek fell to 0-3. The Red Wings capitalized on a 37-24 rebounding edge and 56% three-point shooting on a night in which Gerald Green finally broke through for 21 points, while big man Primoz Brezec added 20 and Qyntel Woods tallied 19. Point guard J.R. Bremer scored 15 and doubled up with 10 assists to help his teammates. Anwil had a chance to win it in the final quarter, down by only 3, but suffered a bad shooting night from beyond the arc and the foul line. Reserve Eric Hicks paced the visitors with 16 points, while Nikola Jovanovic had 14 and Andrzej Pluta added 13.
It was a high-scoring affair from the tipoff as both teams traded baskets in a first quarter with three lead changes. Woods was the one providing the spark off the bench for Kraznye, as the new signee entered the game at the five-minute mark and scored 7 quick points. Jovanovic paced the visitors with some dead-on shooting and parity prevailed, as the biggest lead was 23-17 for the hosts after a triple by Woods. With the towering Brezec imposing his will inside, Green also got into the mix, hitting the glass and finding the bottom of the net on close-range baskets. The one-two punch proved too much for Anwil's defense to handle. With the battle in the trenches tipping heavily towards Krylia, Anwil head coach coach Igor Griszczuk turned to reserve center Hicks, who went a perfect 5 for 5 from the field in the first half, although the hosts were clearly winning the rebounding battle and reached halftime with a 52-42 lead.
The start of the second half featured a backcourt battle between Pluta and Chris Tomas of Kraznye and playmaker Bremer, who was piling up assist after assist. But Brezec was just unstoppable down low, hitting all but one of his first 8 attempts while also going 6 of 7 at the free-throw line. Anwil needed a spark and it came from the forward spot, as Lukasz Majewski got into it and traded triples with Woods for the third quarter's final buckets to cut the difference to 73-63 score. Intent on making a run, the visitors punched first in the final quarter, as layups by Hicks and Darryl Thompson were punctuated by Dardan Berisha's triple to quickly narrow the margin to 73-70. In need of a counter, Krylia went to its money guys of the night, as two Brezec layups sandwiched a pair of triples by Green and Bremer. All of a sudden, the hosts were back in the driver’s seat at 83-74. They never looked back, even as Paul Davis made it as close as 87-77 with a layup, Krylia was able to close out the game with a spectacular 26-3 run in the last 4 minutes as stifling defense forced Anwil into 3 turnovers and 5 missed triples.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Eurocupbasketball.com
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