Gescrap BB strike late to carve out a 97-75 win over SLUC Nancy - Euroleague Recap
After losing to Olympiacos last week, Gescrap BB made a strong statement on Wednesday night and emphatically raced away down the stretch to thump SLUC Nancy 97-75. With the win, Gescrap have improved their record to 3-4 in the
Turkish Airlines Euroleague 2011 and are still in with a chance to qualify for the next round.
The game hung in balance until the 33rd minute, with Nancy only behind by 4 points at 72-68.
All the French needed at that point was to score few quick points.
However, it was not to be.
Instead it was Gescrap, who reeled off a 19-3 spurt to seal the game.
Nancy coach, Jean-Luc Monschau, was however still satisfied with his team, which was playing without Nicolas Batum, who has headed back to NBA.
“We had to play without Batum and we don’t have many players in the outside positions. We committed many fouls, which complicates our game. Our first half was excellent. The game was difficult, but we think we played well. We were
still playing for the win five minutes before the end. The fight completely changed the game, but even with this we had chances to win."
His counterpart, BB’s coach was thrilled with the win and showered praise on all his players for putting up an outstanding show.
"A big win for us, we needed a good result because of the basket average. We knew our group chances and options to qualify for the Top 16. We played a good first half; we read well their weak defense points.”
Six players from Gescrap managed to end with scores in double figures. Alex Mumbru scored 15 while Marko Banic and Janis Blums both accumulated 12 each. Raul Lopez and Aaron Jackson both finished with 11 each whereas Kostas Vasiliadis
pounded 10.
For Nancy, Jamal Shuler scored a game high 19 points but was only assisted by Adrien Moerman, who ended with 16 points including 4 for 8 from the three-point range.
Gescrap started confidently with a 12-5 run, led by Mumbru, who constituted 9 points in the spurt. However, it was immediately countered by an 11-5 burst, capped by Jamal’s three to make it 17-16 with two minutes remaining in the
frame.
In the next few minutes, back to back treys by Moerman and Kenneth Grant elevated Nancy to 22-19, but Roger Grimau drilled one from beyond the arc in the dying seconds to make it 22 all.
The trend continued in the second quarter, however, Gescrap managed to stay slightly ahead throughout. They were leading by 40-35 with less than a minute remaining in the first half, but two strikes by Akin Akingbala and Pape Phillipe
Amagou closed it out at 40-39.
A Moerman three early in the third tied it all at 46, but Gescrap started to pull away after that. They initiated a 13-6 run and entered the fourth quarter with a 69-62 lead, which increased to 72-62 after Kostas drilled a three.
In the following passage, Nancy closed in with a 6-0 run, however after that, it was all Gescrap yet again.
They held opponents to just three points until the end and piled up 19 to complete a convincing victory in the end.
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