
Hemofarm Stada advanced to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague second Qualifying Round despite a 77-86 home loss against Hapoel Gilboa/Galil in Game 2 of the two-way series in Vrsac, Serbia on Friday. Hemofarm had a 13-point lead from Game 1, so it managed to reach the second Qualifying Round on points differential. Galil missed the chance to reach the Euroleague but will play the 2010-11 Eurocup. Milan Macvan paced the winners with 21 points on 9-of-10 free throws. Milivoje Bozovic added 12 points, Marko Sutalo had 11 while Milos Borisov grabbed 15 rebounds for Hemofarm. Jack McClinton led Galil with 21 points on 5-of-8 three-pointers and 5 assists. Gel Mekel added 16 points and 9 assists, Rodney Green had 15 points, Dagan Yizvori got 12 while Tyler Wilkerson contributed 10 for the guests. Galil battled hard during the game and managed to get a two-point lead in the series, 67-82, with 3 minutes left. Macvan and Bozovic fueled a 6-0 run that put Hemofarm ahead for good. Free throws by Miljan Pavkovic and Macvan in the final 20 seconds allowed Hemofarm to stay out of trouble and stay in the fight to reach the 2010-11 Euroleague regular season.
Essentialy starting the game behind by 13 points, Galil came out firing as McClinton downed a pair of three-point shots and Leo Lyons added a layup-plus-foul that helped the visitors take a 9-13 lead. Mekel struck from deep and Warren Carter added consecutive jumpers that forced the hosts to take a timeout down 13-20, as all Hemofarm had started to wonder already. Hemofarm scored next on a put-back layup by Bozovic but Galil stayed on fire with consecutive baskts by McClinton before Yivzori joined in with a triple to lift Galil in front 19-29 after 10 minutes. Hemofarm got the message, as three-pointers by Borisov and Sutalo got their team going early in the second quarter. A layup by Bozovic soon brought the hosts within 27-32. Yivzori and McClinton, however, were still pumping from long distance for Galil, and although Hemofarm would cut the difference to 31-35 on free throws by Ivan Maras, the visitors never stopped scoring. Wilkerson followed a put-back dunk with a jumper and McClinton's next 2 triples gave him 19 points already, allowing Galil to close the half ahead 39-51, just one point behind in the series with 20 minutes to play.
Sutalo shined with a layup right after the break and Macvan soon added free throws for a 43-51 score. Wilkerson rescued Galil with a layup and even when Bozovic scored down low, Yavzuri bettered that with a three-pointer for a 45-56 lead. Mekel split free throws and fed Yavzuri for another bomb from downtown that gave Galil the lead in the series for the first time, 45-60. Savovic made free throws and Abdul-Hamid added an acrobatic driving layup to get the crowd involved at 49-60. Bojan Krstovic capped a 7-0 run with a bomb from downtown but free throws by Mekel and Avishai Gordon allowed Galil to keep a 54-64 lead after 30 minutes. Jordan dunked it and split free throws early in the fourth quarter, but Green followed a corner triple with a wild layup-plus-foul to put Galil back ahead in the series, 57-71, with 7 minutes left. Borisov sank a baseline jumper and Macvan added a power basket but Mekel and Green restored a 61-77 Galil margin. Macvan sank free throws and fed Bozovic for a huge dunk in a 6-0 run that got Hemofarm within 67-77. Green scored in transition and a driving layup by McClinton gave Galil a 67-82 lead with under 3 minutes left. Macvan hit a turnaround jumper and found Bozovic for a layup, as Galil struggled to score right when it mattered. Pavkovic and Mekel traded free throws for a 73-84 score with 46 seconds to go. Sutalo missed from downtown but Borisov grabbed a key offensive board that allowed Pavkovic to hit critical foul shots. A tactical foul on Mekel and more free throws by Macvan allowed Hemofarm to make it to the next round.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Euroleague.net