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Adriatic League, Game 15: December 23-24, 2006 |
Year 2006 came to an end in the Adriatic League with a big showdown, as Partizan topped archrivals Cibona 82-71 in Belgrade on Sunday afternoon. Partizan improved to 11-4 while Cibona stayed atop the standings at 10-3. Nikola Pekovic led the winners with 18 points on 7-of-9 two-pointers. Davor Kus had 32 points for Cibona, including a couple of four-point plays. Partizan keeps sharing the second place with FMP and Zadar. FMP downed downing Split Croatia Osiguranje 93-77 in Zeleznik on Thursday behind 21 points from Zoran Erceg. Meanwhile, Zadar topped Bosna Asa BHT 100-88 with 24 points and 11 rebounds from Todor Gecevski. Hemofarm stays fifth at 10-5 by downing Siroki Prima Pivo 69-83 on the road on Wednesday. Milenko Topic led the way for Hemofarm with 25 points and 8 rebounds, including 3 triples in a game-breaking 0-17 run. Crvena Zvezda thrashed Zagreb 81-97 in Croatia on Wednesday behind 23 points from Billy Thomas, while Union Olimpija dropped to 7-8 due to a 74-67 road loss against Buducnost. In other games, Helios Domzale beat Geoplin Slovan 69-82 on the road. The Adriatic League All-Star game takes place on December 27.
Partizan showed its power by beating archrivals Cibona 82-71 in Belgrade on Sunday afternoon. Partizan improved to 11-4 while Cibona stayed atop the standings at 10-3. Pekovic led the winners with 18 points on 7-of-9 two-pointers. Novica Velickovic added 15, Dusan Kecman had 12 and Predrag Drobnjak 11 for Partizan. Kus hit 5-of-6 three-pointers and 13-of-14 free throws and, incredibly enough, 2 four-point plays on his way to 32 points for Cibona. Partizan used a 17-2 opening run to keep a 20-11 lead after 10 minutes. Kus had 20 points in 8 minutes to bring Cibona back to life, while free throws by Luksa Andric tied it, 40-40, at halftime. Once again Kus gave Cibona its last lead, 48-50. Drobnjak and Milenko Tepic allowed Partizan to get a 61-56 edge after 30 minutes, while Velickovic and Pekovic extended the hosts' margin to 73-65 midway through the final period, enough to seal the win. FMP also improved to 11-4 by downing Split Croatia Osiguranje 93-77 in Zeleznik on Thursday. Erceg paced the winners with 21 points, Bojan Krstovic added 15, Milos Teodosic had 14 and Djordje Micic 10 for FMP, which trailed 22-34 midway through the second quarter. It didn't last long, however, as Erceg and Dragan Labovic fueled a 18-0 run which broke the game after the break and allowed FMP to get a 72-48 lead after three quarters, enough to seal the outcome.
Hemofarm stays fifth at 10-5 by downing Siroki Prima Pivo 69-83 on the road on Wednesday. Topic led the way for Hemofarm with 25 points and 8 rebounds, while Nebojsa Joksimovic added 15 points for the winners. Siroki stayed in the game for almost three quarters, but Topic fired in 3 triples in a 0-17 run which sealed the win, 55-75, long before the final buzzer. Crvena Zvezda also stays hot and improved to 8-7 by thrashing Zagreb 81-97 in Croatia on Wednesday. Thomas led the way with 23 points, Petar Popovic added 22, Antonio Burks had 19 and Nenad Misanovic 14 for Zvezda, who once again travelled to Croatia without star forward Milan Gurovic. Zvezda led 41-52 at halftime and did not find much trouble to add a big road win to finish 2006 in style. Union Olimpija dropped to 7-8 due to a 74-67 road loss against Buducnost in Podgorica on Wednesday. Teemu Rannikko had 14 points for Olimpija, Hasan Rizvic added 12 while Manu Markoishvili and Marko Milic each tallied 10 for the guests. Olimpija led 14-21 after 10 minutes and kept a slim 52-56 lead with 8 minutes to go. A 10-0 run gave Buducnost full control of the game, and even when Markoishvili tied it at 62-62, Goran Jeretin and Vladimir Micov shined in crunch time to make Buducnost get a difficult home win.
| LAST GAME GAME 15 - December 23-24, 2006 | | Day | Match | Result | | Dec. 23 | Zadar vs. Bosna ASA BHT | 100-88 | | Dec. 23 | Siroki Prima pivo vs. Hemofarm | 69-83 | | Dec. 24 | Partizan vs. Cibona | 82-71 | | Dec. 23 | Buducnost vs. Union Olimpija | 74-67 | | Dec. 23 | Geoplin Slovan vs. Helios Domzale | 69-82 | | Dec. 23 | Zagreb vs. Crvena zvezda | 81-97 | | Dec. 23 | FMP vs. Split CO | 93-77 |
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| NEXT GAME GAME 16 - January 6-7, 2007 | | Day | Match | | Jan. 5 | Bosna ASA BHT vs. FMP | | Jan. 6 | Split CO vs. Zagreb | | Jan. 6 | Crvena zvezda vs. Geoplin Slovan | | Jan. 6 | Helios Domzale vs. Buducnost | | Jan. 6 | Union Olimpija vs. Partizan | | Jan. 7 | Cibona vs. Siroki Prima pivo | | Jan. 6 | Hemofarm vs. Zadar |
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| STANDINGS | TG | W | L | P+ | P- | | 1 | KK Cibona | 15 | 12 | 3 | 1248 | 1153 | | 2 | KK Partizan | 15 | 11 | 4 | 1182 | 1081 | | 3 | KK Zadar | 15 | 11 | 4 | 1269 | 1200 | | 4 | KK FMP | 15 | 11 | 4 | 1275 | 1214 | | 5 | KK Hemofarm | 15 | 10 | 5 | 1155 | 1087 | | 6 | KK Buducnost | 15 | 9 | 6 | 1184 | 1127 | | 7 | KK Crvena zvezda | 15 | 8 | 7 | 1324 | 1259 | | 8 | KK Union Olimpija | 15 | 7 | 8 | 1213 | 1203 | | 9 | KK Helios Domzale | 15 | 7 | 8 | 1163 | 1184 | | 10 | KK Bosna ASA BH TELECOM | 15 | 6 | 9 | 1231 | 1275 | | 11 | KK Zagreb | 15 | 5 | 10 | 1133 | 1176 | | 12 | HKK Siroki Prima pivo | 15 | 5 | 10 | 1142 | 1224 | | 13 | KK Split CO | 15 | 2 | 13 | 1137 | 1288 | | 14 | KK Geoplin Slovan | 15 | 1 | 14 | 1042 | 1227 |
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Sunday, December 24, 2006
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Euroleague.net |
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