 It was a close game in the Eurocup opening night in Turow, Poland. But when the dust settled, SLUC Nancy emerged as winner of the first battle by defeating PGE Turow on the road by 72-75. The game was close throughout the 40 minutes, with constant lead change, but a last three by Jeff Greer allowed the guests to escape with the win in Group G. Kaniel Dickens led the winners with 18 points, Steed Tchicamboud added 15 and Greer ended with 13. For Turow, Michael Wright and Wllie Deane were immense with 26 and 22 points respectively, and Robert Witka added 11.
Five points by Willie Deane lifted PGE Turow to an early 8-3 lead. Kaniel Dickens replied for Nancy, but Robert Witka cut any attempt at recovery from the
arc and added a basket to that in the following play. Ricardo Greer charged back for Nancy but Witka elevated the margin to 10 points with a 17-7 in just
four minutes. The 10-point margin stayed on the scoreboard until Steed Tchicamboud scored for 22-15 to put an end to the first period. The second quarter
started with a 0-7 burst for Nancy capped by Stephen Brun's three to tie the game, 22-22. The party went on for the guests as Lesly Bengaber's free throws
went in. Deane finally broke the spell for the hosts tying again, but defenses took over, and from this point the scoring came in scarce. The stats were
balanced in every aspect of the game except for a 9-6 in turnovers, that was enough for Nancy to hold a slim edge, 30-35 after Tchicamboud's basket plus
foul. In the final steps of the first half however, Michal Chilinsky scored two free throws to put an end to the first part with a 32-35.
 The scoring pace went up again with the start of the second half as after three minutes of play, Brun hit a new three to make it 40-44. Deane and Michael
Wright hit it up for a 4-0 that finally tied the game again at 44-44. Wright kept scoring for Turow to maintain now a slim margin for the hosts and to become
his team's best scorer at that point, but Marcus Slaughter replied for Nancy with a three-point play that put the guests in the driver's seat again. The
guests managed to build a 6-point lead but Deane buried a three to close the third quarter with a tight 53-56. Jeff Greer and Dickens teamed up for a 0-5 run
that sent Nancy up again, 53-61. Wright reached his 20th point to reply and get Turow going in the last quarter, to open a 8-2 run that made it tight again,
61-63 in minute 35. Nancy was having four more assists than the hosts at this point and it was proving crucial to keep them ahead, 63-67 with a Slaughter
free throw. Dickens scored again with a three-point play as the game entered its crucial moments, 63-70. As it could be no other way, Wright and Deane teamed
up for Turow's last effort, pulling within 67-70, but Jeff Greer nailed a providential three to make it 67-73 entering the last two minutes of the game, which was enough for the guests to escape Poland with the first win of the season.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Eurocupbasketball.com
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