Dynamo Moscow secured a place in the Top 16 from Group A by thrashing Prokom Trefl Sopot 95-74 at Krilatskoe Arena in the Russian capital on Thursday night. Dynamo, which improved to 7-4 and moved into third place in the Group A standings, needed to wait until Olympiacos defeated LeMans later in the evening to officially move into the Top 16. Prokom dropped to 4-7, but remains in the hunt for the Top 16 as it plays two of its three remaining games at home. Travis Hansen led the winners with 21 points on 6-of-7 two-point shootings and hitting 2-of-2 threes. Sergei Bykov, Antonis Fotsis and Bojan Popovic each added 14, Obinna Ekezie had 11 and Lazaros Papadopoulos 10 for Dynamo. Christian Dalmau had 13 points for Prokom, Huseyin Besok added 12 while Donatas Slanina and Jasmin Hukic each added 11. Dynamo broke the game with a 15-3 run after the break during which Fotsis and Ekezie combined for 9 points. Dynamo built a 78-53 lead after three quarters and never looked back.
Papadopoulos and Michael Andersen exchanged layups in the opening minute, but a three-pointer by Dimitri Domani gave Dynamo a 5-4 edge. Slanina stepped up with a mid-range jumper, as Dynamo finally adjusted its defense. Meanwhile, Papadopoulos scored inside and Hansen took over with back-toback three-pointers to put give Dynamo up 9 midway through the period. Prokom had already called timeout and improved its ball circulation. Andersen hit a short jumper, Dalmau copied him soon after that and by the time Slanina fired in another shot, the guests were within 17-10. A red-hot Hansen followed free throws with a five-meter jumper to make it 21-10. Dalmau scored inside and Tomas Masiulis added a put-back layup, but free throws by Popovic fixed the score at 24-14 after 10 minutes.
Besok drew Papadopoulos's second foul and hit free throws, but Bykov answered from downtown to keep Dynamo ahead, 27-16. Besok insisted with 2 more from the foul line that Bykov erased with a long jumper. Besok once again shined with a back-to-back jumpers, but Ekezie and a red-hot Bykov kept Dynamo fully in charge at 33-22. Prokom improved its offense, but only managed to exchange baskets now. Hukic hit free throws only to see Domani score again for Dynamo. Free throws by Adam Wojcik and Slanina and a mid-range shot by Rashid Atkins brought the guests within 36-29, as both teams had already entered the foul bonus. Dynamo called timeout to fix its offense, as Bykov, Hansen and Ekezie scored around the basket to give the hosts a 42-31 lead. Prokom found a go-to guy in Slanina, who hit free throws to get the guests within 42-34 at halftime.
 Hansen stayed hot after the break, as he opened the third quarter with a three-point play. Justin Hamilton stepped up with a layup, but Hansen fired in a mid-range jumper for a 47-36 Dynamo lead. Besok hit another shot, but this time Ekezie bettered him with a layup-plus-foul. Prokom kept trying as Slanina buried a baseline jumper, but Fotsis answered from downtown, igniting a 9-0 run that he capped with free throws to break the game open at 59-40. Hamilton hit one from downtown, however Hansen answered with a layup, Fotsis made free throws and Bykov added a fast break dunk to give Dynamo a 22-point margin. Hukic and Dalmau tried to rescue Prokom with consecutive jumpers, but Papadopoulos and Fotsis answered for a 69-47 Dynamo lead. Fotsis made more free throws before Dalmau and Popovic traded triples, and even when Filip Dylewicz scored off a Prokom steal, Popovic beat the buzzer with a jumper for a 78-53 Dynamo lead after 30 minute
The outcome was clear, but Dynamo kept rolling early in the final period, as Papadopoulos scored twice in the paint to boost the hosts' lead to 82-56. Points differential became the main issue in the final period, as Dynamo needed to make sure it bettered the 11-point win Prokom took when the teams met in Sopot. The guests needed a big comeback to get back to that number, and Dylewicz tried to ignit one with 4 points, including a big dunk, in a 0-6 run that Hamilton capped with a layup to get Prokom to 82-62. Dynamo called timeout and opted to slow down the tempo. Meanwhile, a big triple by Dalmau brought Prokom even closer. Popovic and Hukic exchanged baskets, while free throws by Andrei Ivanov and another basket by Popovic allowed all Dynamo fans to relaz long before the final buzzer, knowing their team will carry on fighting for Euroleague glory.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Euroleague.net
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