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SG Antwain Barbour, Cibona (photo by ABA)

Both Croatian representatives lost their Eurocup games yesterday.

Cedevita managed to keep close until the closing minutes but eventually lost 68:73 to the competitive Spartak St.Petersburg squad which is coached by Slovenian basketball legend Jure Zdovc.

Center Miro Bilan paced the home team effort with 16 points and 8 boards in just 23 minutes of action. Croatian NT PG Dontaye Draper had another pale evening with only 6 points, 2 assists and 5 turnovers in 28 minutes of action. G/F Marino Bazdaric added 7 points, 6 boards and 4 assists.

Cibona was also able to hold on through out the first three quarters but at the end lost it’s away game vs Gravelines (France) by 81:77. Head coach Danijel Lutz  got another strong performance from his frontcourt anchors, Andrija Zizic (20 points, 8 boards) and Goran Suton (13 points).

Interestingly enough Cibona’s players received only 12 personal fouls and were thus rewarded just 4 free throws in the game (Zizic went 4-4 from the line).

Starting today at 20.45 CET, Croatian Champion Zagreb CO (2-6) will play it’s last Euroleague home game  vs Unicaja Malaga (3-5), Spanish powerhouse which features potential Croatian NT members F Hrvoje Peric and PF/C Luka Zoric.

Regular Season, Game 5, December 13

GROUP A [analysis] Results Hapoel Jerusalem vs. BC Donetsk 68-74 Gravelines vs. KK Cibona 81-77

GROUP B [analysis] Results BC Khimki vs. Cholet Basket 76-70 PAOK BC vs. VEF Riga 76-81

GROUP C [analysis] Results CEZ Nymburk vs. Aris BSA 78-72 Rudupis vs. GasTerra Flames 97-70

GROUP D [analysis] Results Lukoil Academic vs. Telenet Oos. 77-83 Valencia Basket vs. Asvel Basket 96-88

GROUP E [analysis] Results Lok. Kuban vs. G. Canaria 2014 73-51 Fraport Skyliners vs. Banvit BK 56-62

GROUP F Results Lietuvos Rytas vs. Krka N. Mesto 82-72 Le Mans vs. BC Azovmash 75-67

GROUP G Results Cedevita vs. Spartak SPB 68-73 Benetton Basket vs. Bayern Munich 92-66

GROUP H Results PGE Turow vs. Buducnost Voli 73-78 Alba Berlin vs. Dexia Mons 83-63

Both Croatian representatives in 2011-12 Eurocup lost their respective games yesterday. Cibona lost to BC Donetsk by 76:78 and Cedevita lost to Benetton Treviso by 68:82.

Cibona managed to stay close during the complete course of the game. With the score 76:78 in the closing seconds Antwain Barbour passed the ball to the cutting PG Hrvoje Kovacevic but his left-handed shot from the paint at the buzzer came up short.

Although Cibona was again paced by the frontocurt duet of PF Goran Suton (13 points, 6 boards) and Andrija Zizic (16 points, 12 boards) it was outrebounded by 36:31 and shot only 39% for two points.

After trailing as much as 26:7 after 1st quarter Cedevita was again beaten by Benetton Treviso, this time even more convincingly. SG Chris Warren paced Cedevita’s offense  with 14 points and 5 boards while receiving 7 personal fouls.

Cedevita’s PG Dontaye Draper had trouble dealing with future NBA-er E’Twaun Moore who had 17 points on 7-9 shooting from the floor. Draper also finished with 17 points but had only 2 assists and 4 turnovers for the visiting team.

Dontaye Draper, last season’s Eurocup MVP was just too much for Elan Chalon

After the tight battle throughout the first three quarters Cedevita Zagreb was able to reach double digit lead and win it’s Eurocup qualifications rematch vs Elan Chalon (France) by 84:69. Elan won the first game in Chalon by 78:73 so Cedevita had to win this game with no less than 6 points to advance through.

On it’s way to an very important victory coach Anzulovic’s squad demonstrated solid level of team defence, won the battle of the boards (41:26) and was able to break Chalon’s wholecourt press.

Croatian NT point guard Dontaye Draper paced Cedevita with 18 points and 10 assists to go along with 5 rebounds and 4 steals. G/F Mario Bazdaric added 12 points and 7 rebounds.

Cedevita's head coach Drazen Anzulovic (photo by kkcedevita.hr)

Thanks to the play of it’s newly acquired PF Chris Owens (17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) who scored 12 points in his team’s 19-4 rally late in the game, Cedevita lost the first game of it’s Eurocup qualifications vs Chalon (France) by 78:73 and has kept alive it’s hope for Eurocup berth.

Rematch will be played on October 4th in Zagreb.

After the heartbreak defeat in the Croatian Cup’s semifinal from BC Zadar coach Petrovic squad demonstrated unprecedented willingness and determination to bounce back. While proving they can still play the game at the high level they have achieved the club’s biggest European success ever by advancing into the Eurocup’s Final Eight teams.

Last week it was ACB powerhouse Gran Canaria. Today it was Serbian powerhouse Hemofarm Vrsac. In a tight game with many lead changes Cedevita managed to grab the lead midway through the third quarter and to control the result until the closing seconds, although the important victory almost slipped away due to numerous missed free-throws.

Although Cedevita’s leading scorer F Damjan Rudez only managed to tie his season average against Hemofarm at 7.0 points per game, F/C Corsley Edwards was up to the task with 17 huge points and 7 rebounds.  PG Dontaye Draper had relatively quiet night with 15 points and 7 assists, but again impressed with his cross-over dribble moves.

Cedevita won the rebounding battle by 43:39, had 8 assists more (18:10) and effectively shot down Hemofarm long distance options which shot only 7-24 for three.  Here is Cedevita’s head coach Aco Petrovic postgame statement:

“We could not win this game by playing like we played during this whole season, as was demonstrated during the first half, when we had big problems. Edwards turned the thumb of his right hand on the second offensive possession and he got two finger jams. We were too nervous during first half and wanted to solve everything on offense. I have to comment the night of Marino Bazdaric, who gave us a great contribution both on defense and rebounds(8).”

Cedevita Zagreb managed to achieve important road victory by defeating Gran Canaria, 86-89 on Tuesday night in a game that pulled the winners to second place in Group I with a 2-2 record.

Cedevita is now in position to qualify for the quarterfinals with a win over Hemofarm Stada next week, while Gran Canaria still has chances at 1-3.

Interestingly enough Cedevita’s win brought back memories of a recent  overtime thriller in which they also defeated Gran Canaria, when the two teams combined for a Eurocup record with 34 threes.

This time two teams combined for the 28 three pointers. Cedevita was paced by sharp shooting of SF Damjan Rudez (23 points, 5-of-7 threes) and SG Bracey Wright (23 points, 5-of-6 threes).