FIBA Basketball

Not in my house: Balkan deny Ironi Ness Ziona early qualification

BOTEVGRAD (Bulgaria) - The contest for Play-Offs spots in Group J is set to go all the way down to the wire after Balkan Botevgrad inscribed a 102-90 victory against Ironi Ness Ziona on Tuesday evening.

The energized Botevgrad club ran the visitors ragged to draw level with them in the standings at 3-2, with LaMarcus Reed and Brandon Brown doing the most damage with 18 and 17 points, respectively, in the high-scoring game.

Turning Point: Fighting to stay alive, Balkan showed they had no intentions of picking up their second consecutive defeat by coming out of the gates strong. A 6-2 start quickly turned into a 17-8 lead for the home side, which later grew to a 15-point advantage at the end of the opening frame.

Game Hero: Having gone 5-of-13 from the field, Mikael Hopkins had one his lowest scoring games in the FIBA Europe Cup this season but made his impact felt in other ways with across the board contributions of 11 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals.

Stats Don't Lie: The well-known notion that team basketball is winning basketball was once again demonstrated by Balkan, who dished out 24 assists en route to a vital win. In comparison, their opponents had only 9 assists.

Bottom Line: Ironi Ness Ziona came into the game knowing that a victory would put them through to the Round of 16, but Balkan put a wrench in their plans. However, having won the first game in Israel by 27 points, Nadav Zilberstein's men did retain the head-to-head tie-breaker.

They Said: "I think we played a bad game. We didn't show up defensively, started from the first minute. We got 31 points in the first quarter. We cannot allow to happen, but it happened to us. We finished the game with 9 assists over 18 turnovers which is something that cannot happen. It means that we are not smart in offensively. We just didn't show up. No excuses. We need to think good the way we need to change the things." – Ironi Ness Ziona head coach Nadav Zilberstein

"You cannot be anything but proud when your team scored 102 points. We were focused tonight. We stepped up with a real grind to win the game. I could say that we controlled a game except maybe in the fourth quarter. We tried to reach that difference we lost in Israel and it would have been better to just let them play. This game is important, but unfortunately we depend on other teams and hopefully our sports friend from Sofia will win one game in FIBA Europe Cup, because this team is too good and expensive to not show some character and pride to win at least one game. I hope this win isn't going to be against us." – Balkan BC head coach Nebojsa Vidic

"I think that the coaches made a good job tactically and after that, we did it well too. The big guys played great on pick and roll in defense. We were good with the rebounds, moved the ball well and had more assists than them. I feel great in the team and happy that the coach gave me a chance. I was sure that this time will come. I was ready and I think that I gave everything." – Balkan BC player Pavlin Ivanov

FIBA