Qualifying Round A, first-leg report:: Siauliai 73-73 Galatasaray Cafe Crown
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 A wild game of scoring swings ended up where it started, all even, as host BC Siauliai and Galatasaray Cafe Crown fought to a 73-73 tie on Tuesday in the first of their two-leg elimination series in the Eurocup qualifying round. Siauliai led by as much as 17 points early in the second quarter before Galatasaray shut down the hosts with a 12-39 run over 15 minutes of the second half to lead 61-70 with 4 minutes left. Siauliai wasn't done, however, and closed witha 12-3 run to set up a winner-take-all showdown in Turkey next week. Gintautas Vileita sored 9 of those late points for Siauliai and finished with 23 for the winners. Gintaras Kadziulis followed with 19 points for Siauliai, while Virginijus Praskevicius pulled 10 rebounds. Antonio Graves sustained Galatasaray for a long time and finished with 25 points. Dejan Milojevic led Galatasaray's second-half run and posted a double-double of 20 points, 12 rebounds.
Slezas and Kadziulis scored twice each as Siauliai raced ahead 10-2. A triple by Slezas was worth the first double-digit lead, 16-6, but Graves got Galatasaray within 18-11. Slezas fired from downtown again, however, preserving Siauliai's lead at 23-13 after a quarter. More three-pointers, by Vileita and Praskevicius opened a 36-21 Siauliai lead midway through the second, and when Mindaugas Kuzminskas joined the scoring, the hosts glided easily to a 46-29 halftime lead. Galatasaray ignited its comeback right after halftime as Graves, Cuneyt Erden and Milan Gurovic exploded with a string of triples that took back the momentum. Erden was back soon with another downtown strike before Milojevic started scoring closer in. The Siauliai lead shrunk by minute until Graves cut the difference to a single basket, 54-52, at the end of three quarters. Andrija Zizic tied for Galatasaray on the next shot, and now the story was the visitors' defense, which had limited Siauliai to just 10 points over 12 minutes since halftime to lead 56-61 on a short jumper by Milojevic. Vileita stopped the bleading with a triple for the hosts, but Galatasaray kept soaring to a 61-70 lead. That's when the game changed for the second time, with Siauliai pulling out its big guns - Vileita, Slezas and Kadziulis - for a game closing 12-3 run. Vileita hit 1 of 2 free throws with 5 seconds left, sending both teams to Istanbul next week with a 73-73 tie to break.
Siauliai head coach Robertas Giedraitis:
"I am happy with my players because they fought until the end of the game," he said. "The free throw missed by Vileita at the end of the game would not change anything."
Siauliai guard Gintaras Kadzuilis:
"We lacked endurance. We felt so tired that we made a lot of mistakes. We will go to Turkey with only one goal - to win. We will not give up."
Galatasaray Cafe Crown head coach Murat Ozyer:
"Siauliai have some very experienced players. I remember Praskevicius when he last played for Ulker, and Kadziulis, (Andrius) Slezas and then Vileita were great. They played better during the first half of the game and our team was stronger during the second half, but at the end of the game we made unforgivable mistakes. The situation is really complicated now. It could be even more difficult for us."
Galatasaray Cafe Crown guard Antonio Graves:
"I think we have a better chance to win in Istanbul. At home we will play as well as we played during the second half of this game."
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Eurocupbasketball.com
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