DKV Joventut confirmed its status as the team to beat in Group A by thrashing the Guildford Heat 61-95 on the road on
Tuesday. Joventut improved to 2-0 to lead the Group A standings while the Heat dropped to 0-2. Jan-Hendrick Jagla paced the
winners with 20 points on 8-of-9 two-pointers. Rudy Fernandez added 14 in as many minutes, Petar Popovic had 11 while Pau
Ribas and Lubos Barton each got 10 for Joventut. Tony Dorsey had 16 points for the Heat, whose star guard Brian Dux was
severely injured in a car accident this weekend. Mike Martin added 10 for the hosts. Joventut opened the game with a 6-25 run
and never looked back as it got a 13-27 margin after 10 minutes. Joventut boosted its margin to 32-48 at halftime and then
again to 48-78 after 30 minutes to seal the outcome long before the final buzzer.
Dorsey tried to get the Heat going with an early basket, but Joventut did not spend much time to break the game open. A big
basket by teen sensation Ricky Rubio ignited a game-breaking, mammoth 2-18 run that Fernandez capped with a three-pointer,
good for a 4-21 Joventut margin. Dan Gilbert scored for the Heat, but Fernandez answered while Ribas fed Barton for an easy
basket to make it a 19-point game, 6-25. John Nottley and a final three-pointer by Dan Wardrope got the Heat within 13-27
after 10 minutes. Gilbert got the Heat as close as 19-31, but Joventut did not panic and kept dominating the game with
intense, physical defense. Jagla and Barton soon boosted the guests' margin to 19-38 midway through the second quarter. The
Heat never managed to get within single digits, as a final basket by Jagla gave Joventut a 32-48 halftime margin. The Heat
did not recovered after the break, as Jagla scored from downtown to make it a 22-point game, 34-56. Dorsey kept trying to get
the Heat back in the game, but Barton, Fernandez and Demond Mallet scored from downtown in a 0-13 run that made it a 30-point
game, 42-72, late in the third quarter. Everything was said and done, as Joventut returned to Spain knowing that the
elimination rounds are one step closer. Meanwhile, the Heat will have to get a first victory soon if they want to get back in the thick of the group race.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
ULEBCup.com
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