Qualifying Round, Game 1 report: BC Donetsk 71-63 Bizkaia Bilbao Basket
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 BC Donetsk took a major step forwards towards reaching the 2009-10 Eurocup regular season by downing Bizkaia Bilbao Basket 71-63 at home in Game 1 of the two-way qualifying round on Tuesday. As such, Donetsk got an eight-point lead in the series that travel now to Bilbao, Spain for Game 2 next Tuesday. Marque Perry paced the winners with 18 points. Chris Owens added 17 while PJ Tucker and Artur Drozdov each had 10 for Donetsk. Janis Blums led Bilbao with 12 points. Ronnie Seibutis added 11 while Marko Banic had 10 for Bilbao, that made it to the Eurocup semifinals last season. Donetsk sank 11-of-23 three-pointers tonight. A jumper by Seibutis allowed Bilbao to tie it at 18-18 after 10 minutes. Perry and Bruno Sundov stepped up midway through the second quarter while a big triple by Andrius Mazutis gave Donetsk a 35-24 margin at halftime. A three-pointer by Tucker gave the hosts their biggest lead, 63-44 but Salva Guardia, Banic and Javi Salgado allowed Bilbao to rally in the final minutes and keep all options opened to reach the Eurocup next season.
Blums and Damir Markota got Bilbao going with back-to-back three-pointers but Perry answered from downtown for a 3-6 Donetsk deficit. Blums kept pacing Bilbao with a fallaway jumper but Owens had 4 points in a 6-0 run that Aleksic capped with a layup to gve the hosts their first lead, 9-8. Owens kept pacing Donetsk but Banic scored twice in the paint for a 14-14 tie. Perry and Tucker hit free throws but Seibutis answered twice to tie the game, 18-18, after 10 minutes. Owens downed his second triple and added an off-balance jumper, making Bilbao switch to a 2-3 zone defense. Alex Mumbru and Sundov traded baskets but the guests lacked ball circulation now. Meanwhile, Sundov struck from downtown to make it an eight-point game, 28-20. Bilbao called a much-needed timeout and Guardia tried to change things with a put-back layup. Perry scored in penetration while a dunk by Tucker gave Donetsk a 32-22 margin. Mumbru scored in the low post but Mazutis bettered that with a triple to fix the halftime score at 35-24.
Owens and Seibutis traded corner three-pointers immediately after the break but Tucker joined the shootout for a 41-27 Donetsk margin. Seibutis scored in penetration and Blums followed a layup off a steal with a seven-meter bomb to give Bilbao some hope, 43-34. Drozdov shined with a put-back layup and a triple in a 12-0 run in which Perry had 5 points, including free throws for a 55-34 Donetsk margin. Guardia nailed a baseline jumper while Markota dunked it to make Donetsk call timeout at 55-39. Guardia scored again but Drozdov kept Donetsk way ahead, 57-41, after 30 minutes. Mumbru tried to ignite the guests' comeback but he didn't find much help around. Three-pointers by Drozdov and Tucker gave Donetsk a 63-44 margin. A big triple by Javi Salgado ignited a 0-6 run that Banic capped with a free throw for a 63-50 Bilbao deficit. Banic and Salgado stepped up to bring Bilbao even closer, 69-61, with a minute to go. Perry scored off a midcourt steal but foul shots by Guardia allowed Bilbao to stay alive in the series.
Bizkaia Bilbao Basket Marco Banic:
"Congratulations to Donetsk. They had a very good game today. From the first minutes, it was very difficult to play against them. We did not have a good game in defense. We were trying to come back all the time and I think we did a good job today. I think we need to play better at our home game"
Bizkaia Bilbao Basket head coach Txus Vidorreta:
"Congratulations to Donetsk. They were better then us today and they won the game. They played differrent then we expected. We didn't play well. They were moved the ball really well and like a team. We didn't expect Donetsk to hit that many three-pointers. Finally, we returned to the game in the final minutes to be alive in the series"
BC Donetsk head coach Ramunas Butautas:
"First of all, I have to conrgatulate our fans. It is really difficult to beat a Spanish team. I cannot say that I am fully satisfied with my team. Our team played really well during 3 quarters but it looked like we were just waiting for the end of the game in the fourth quarter."
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Eurocupbasketball.com
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