|28 January 2013|
BASKETBALL IN EUROPE
|Good for 19 points in Graveline's win: Dwight Buycks|
BCM Gravelines Dunkerque extended their winning streak in the French Pro A to four games over the weekend, with an 83-79 success away at Nancy.
The Gravelines club continue at the top of the French league table, tied now only with Strasbourg, who also won at the weekend, with a 12-5 record.
BCM established a firm grip on proceedings early in the game and had already built a comfortable nine-point lead at half-time.
Despite a late comeback by Nancy, the visitors held on to claim the valuable road victory behind solid performances by their starting five, who all scored in double digits.
Dwight Buycks shot 7-for-12 from the field and led all BCM scorers with 19 points, Juan Edwards chipped in with 14, while French center Ludovic Vaty added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Paris Levallois on the other hand, who just one week ago were level with BCM at the top, slumped to a second defeat in a row in the Pro A, and their third in the space of seven days, on Friday.
Just like in their midweek encounter with BCM, Paris had a catastrophic quarter, this time the opening one, at home to Roanne.
Their visitors took an early 27-15 lead and kept the Parisians at arm's length the rest of the way.
Antoine Diot had 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds in defeat but center Sean May, who leads the league in scoring, finished with 11 points, his lowest offensive contribution since the start of the season.
KARSIYAKA WIN ON THE ROAD
Pinar Karsiyaka also registered a fourth consecutive victory on the domestic front over the weekend, beating Mersin BŞB 84-78 on the road in the Turkish BEKO Ligi.
Unlike in recent games though, Karsiyaka had to work hard for the result, as they trailed by four points at the interval and only took the lead behind a big third quarter, in which they outscored their hosts 24-14.
Robert Dixon was immense on both ends of the floor for the winners, picking up a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.
William Thomas added 19 points and five boards, while Abdul Aminu had 14 and five.
While Karsiyaka improved to 13-3 in the standings and stay just one win off the pace of league leaders Banvit and Fenerbahçe Ülker, fellow EuroChallenge side Tofas SC Bursa suffered a painful defeat to a direct competitor for a play-off spot on Saturday.
Tofas fell 80-93 to TED Ankara Kolejliler at home, mainly because of a poor showing on the defensive end.
Veteran forward Inanç Koç finished with 15 points for Tofas in a losing effort.
DOLPHINS, SZOLNOKI FOLLOW PATTERN
|Double-double party for Pavel Ermolinskij as the Dolphins registered a narrow win|
Norrköping Dolphins had held on to edge out Tofas 84-82 in EuroChallenge Group K action last Tuesday and they won another encounter at home in similar fashion in the Swedish BasketLigan at the weekend.
The Dolphins entered the final frame tied with Boras Basket but scored 30 points in that period to out-gun their guests, 99-92.
In one of his best games this season, Ukrainian winger Pavel Ermolinskij led the way for the hosts with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Big man Joakim Kjellbom was not far behind and confirmed his good run of form by collecting his own double-double, with 16 points and 12 boards.
Szolnoki Olaj had stolen the show during EuroChallenge Last 16 Week 2 action with their 77-72 comeback win over Hapoel Holon in Israel.
They pulled off a similar feat in the Adriatic ABA league on Saturday, this time in Croatia.
The Hungarian side gave up only 22 points to their hosts KK Split in the second half and came from behind to prevail 70-62.
James Florence, who joined Szolnoki two weeks ago, led all scorers with 24 points and power forward Rashad Bell added 14 points and four rebounds.
REVERSAL OF FORTUNES FOR BONN, AALSTAR
Telekom Baskets Bonn were defeated 82-65 at home by fellow German side EWE Baskets Oldenburg in the EuroChallenge last week but bounced back in a convincing manner in the German BEKO Bundesliga on Sunday.
Boon travelled to Eisbären Bremerhaven, a direct competitor for a top-eight finish, and shut down their hosts in the fourth quarter to claim a 90-75 win.
Robert Vaden led all scorers with 18 points, Kyle Weems added 14 while Chris Ensminger had a near double-double of 10 points and nine rebounds.
Another EuroChallenge Group L side, Okapi Aalstar, had worked hard last week to interrupt a string of bad results with a 91-87 win in double overtime at Tsmoki Minsk, but failed to maintain the momentum upon their return on home soil.
They fell 73-63 at Belgian Ethias league leaders Telenet BC Oostende on Saturday and have now dropped to third place in the standings, with an 8-6 record.
Former Belgian international Thomas Dreesen had 19 points and seven rebounds for Aalstar in a losing effort.