Nike IJCT L'Hospitalet report: AXA FC Barcelona 93-68 Pau-Orthez
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AXA FC Barcelona won Group D and advanced to the Euroleague Basketball Nike International Junior Classification Tournament L’Hospitalet semifinals by thrashing Elan Bearnais Pau-Orthez 93-68 on Friday. Barcelona won its two games in Group D and will face Cibona in the semifinals at 12:00 CET tomorrow. Meanwhile, Pau-Orthez can only fight for the fifth place now. Nihad Djedovic paced the winners with 29 points on 5-for-8 three-pointers. Michel Diouff added 20 on 10-for-13 two-pointers, Daniel Perez had 14 while Papa Abdoulaye grabbed 10 rebounds for Barcelona. Romain Hillotte and Jonathan Leira each had 18 points for Pau while Pierre Bonnelalbay added 12. Pau-Orthez was focused in the early going, as a three-pointer by Hillotte gave his team a 4-6 edge. Djedovic and Perez stroke from downtown to get Barcelona going, while Konstantine Tamaradze followed a triple with a fast break layup to boost his team's lead to 23-14. A close basket by Miguel Buval brought Pau within 23-16 after 10 minutes. Djedovic had 9 unanswered points, including a fast break dunk and a triple, to break the game open at 32-16. Barcelona dominated inside with Abdoulaye and an inspired Diouff, while Alejandro Hernandez joined forced with Djedovic to make it a 25-point game, 57-32, at halftime. Pau-Orthez improved its offense after the game, but long-range shots by Diop and Bonnelalbay only got their team within 67-50. Djedovic - who else? - stepped up again for Barcelona to restore a 20-point lead, 74-54, after 30 minutes. A 2-8 run that Leira capped with a wild fast break dunk gave Pau some hope, 76-62, with less than 7 minutes to go. Diouff and Perez stepped up to seal the outcome long before the final buzzer.
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Javier Gancedo, L'Hospitalet
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