Adriatic League, Game 11: November 25-26, 2006 The 11th round of the Adriatic League didn't offer many surprises, but there is one big upset when on Saturday, ninth placed Helios Domzale defeated Crvena Zvezda at home by 93-92 after overtime despite the 36 points by Milan Gurovic, the second game in a row in which he scores as many points. The hottest duel of the week was to be found between the two top-placed teams in the league, as Cibona hosted FMP, and the team from Zagreb took a 10-point win by 82-72 thanks to 18 points by Levour Warren, to become sole leader of the standings with a 9-2 record. Partizan and Hemofarm follow Cibona with repective 8-3 records after the former defeated Bosna ASA at home by 90-85 and the latter survived Zagreb at home by 80-77. Finally, Union Olimpija got rid of Split CO also at home by 85-71 to stand eighth with a 5-6 register. The duel between two tied teams at the top of the standings would decide the new leader of the competition as Cibona hosted BC FMP on Sunday. When the dust settled after 40 minutes, Cibona emerged victorious with a 82-72 win behind 18 points by Levour Warren. Luksa Andric added 14 points for Cibona and Goran Vrbanc had 13. For the visitors, Bojan Krstovic led the way with 12 points, Aleksandar Rasic and Zoran Erceg posted 11 apiece and Branko Cvetkovic had 10 for FMP. The game was balanced during the first 10 minutes as the score was 20-20 at the end of the first quarter. Things didn't change much in the second, but it was after resumption that Cibona, thanks to a 21-14 partial in the third period, managed to forge a lead that would put the hosts ahead for good. FMP dominated in assists, steals and turnovers but the 7 of 16 from the arc by Cibona, were no match for FMP's 5 of 26, and the hosts became the provisional leaders of the league. On Saturday, a big upset took place when Helios Domzale (ninth, 5-6) needed an overtime to defeat Crvena Zvezda at home by 93-92. Zvezda also dropped to 5-6 after the loss. Milan Gurovic was huge again with his 36 points for an index rating of 40, but it was not enough as Billy Thomas added 18 points for the guests and Antonio Burks, 16. For the winners, Robert Troha had 28 points. As the teams in the standings, the game was pretty close throughout the first 40 minutes, at the end of which the score was 81-81 after Burks scored only one of two free throws in the final play, wasting a chance for Zvezda to take the road win. In the extra session, Sasa Doncic scored four straight points for Helios, but in the final plays the score was 91-90 after Troha's three. One free throw each by Aljaz Janza and Miha Zalokar allowed the hosts to forge a 93-90 gap with seconds to go, and the last two free throws by Thomas could only pull Zvezda within one point when the final buzzer sounded. Partizan didn't have an easy time either at home as it outlasted Bosna ASA by 90-85. Kosta Perovic led the winners with 16 points, Nikola Pekovic added 15, Luka Bogdanovic 13, Predrag Drobnjak 12 and Dusan Kecman 10. In the first quarter, Partizan managed to take a 26-20 lead after 10 minutes, but after that, Bosna was always there biting. At the break, the hosts dominated by 51-43 but the third quarter presented a 23-23 partial score that would set the stage for a difficult last period. The hosts dominated the rebounding battle by 33-21 and that saved them as in the last quarter, Partizan didn't saw the win in its hands until Drobnjak posted two free throws for 87-78. After that, Bosna took a 3-7 run, but it was not enough. Something similar happened to Hemofarm, who outlasted visiting Zagreb by 80-77. Nebojsa Joksimovic led the winners with 24 points, Milenko Topic added 19 and Vlada Vukosavljevic had 18. Hemofarm seemed to have things under control when the scoreboard showed a 69-51 for the hosts at the end of the third quarter. However, Zagreb shut Hemofarm's offense down and went for an 11-26 partial in the last period thanks to 4 triples in the first four minutes, 73-67. After that, Hemofarm regrouped and a three-point play by Topic put a 80-71 entering the last two minutes of the game, in which Hemofarm would not score anymore. A last 0-6 run by Zagreb was not enough however to defeat the hosts. Union Olimpija had a much easier time at home on Saturday, thanks to an 85-71 win over Split CO. Domen Lorbek led the winners with his 17 points, Marko Milic added 14, Ender Arslan had 13 and Manuchar Markoishvili had 11 for the winners. After two quarters, things looked very easy for Olimpija as thehosts were already leading by a clear 49-25. Things stayed close in the third period and it was only in the last quarter when Union Olimpija relaxed and Split CO reacted taking the partial by 15-25. In the games that completed the 11th round of the Adriatic League, Buducnost thrashed Siroki Prima on the road by an overwhelming 58-85 as Vladimir Micov led with 19 points, and Zadar got rid of Geoplin Slovan at home by 87-74, behind 28 points by Carl English. LAST GAME GAME 11 - November 25-26, 2006 Day Match Result Nov. 25 Partizan vs. Bosna ASA BHT 90-85 Nov. 25 Siroki Prima pivo vs. Buducnost 58-85 Nov. 25 Zadar vs. Geoplin Slovan 87-74 Nov. 25 Hemofarm vs. Zagreb 80-77 Nov. 26 Cibona vs. FMP 82-72 Nov. 25 Union Olimpija vs. Split CO 85-71 Nov. 25 Helios Domzale vs. Crvena zvezda 93-92 OT NEXT GAME GAME 12 - December 2-3, 2006 Day Match Dec. 2 Bosna ASA BHT vs. Crvena zvezda Dec. 2 Split CO vs. Helios Domzale Dec. 3 FMP vs. Union Olimpija Dec. 3 Zagreb vs. Cibona Dec. 2 Geoplin Slovan vs. Hemofarm Dec. 2 Buducnost vs. Zadar Dec. 2 Partizan vs. Siroki Prima pivo STANDINGS TG W L P+ P- 1 KK Cibona 11 9 2 897 819 2 KK Partizan 11 8 3 856 775 3 KK Hemofarm 11 8 3 850 807 4 KK FMP 11 8 3 884 842 5 KK Buducnost 11 7 4 866 817 6 KK Zadar 11 7 4 913 868 7 KK Crvena zvezda 11 5 6 963 915 8 KK Union Olimpija 11 5 6 860 871 9 KK Helios Domzale 11 5 6 834 861 10 KK Zagreb 11 4 7 806 826 11 HKK Siroki Prima pivo 11 4 7 836 889 12 KK Bosna ASA BH TELECOM 11 4 7 878 940 13 KK Split CO 11 2 9 842 943 14 KK Geoplin Slovan 11 1 10 759 871 Sunday, November 26, 2006 Euroleague.net