Women’s basketball: All semi-finalists known
Women basketball players from the University of Zagreb have won against the University of Goettingen 80:44 (27:13, 17:10, 20:12, 16:9) without major problems. It was clear it would be a one-sided match as Zagreb established dominance from the very beginning. The team from the Croatian capital played without the injured Iva Todorić, their best playmaker. After the game, visibly satisfied, she said:
“The girls played as we had agreed upon in the locker room. The most important thing was that they maintained an aggressive defense throughout the entire game.” When asked who they would like to avoid in the semi-finals, Todorić said: “We are not thinking about that, we need to defeat everyone to win the tournament.”
The fact that five Zagreb players had a two-digit performance shows how well-coordinated the team was. Džankić and Majstorović scored 14 points each, Škara scored 13, captain Plavljanin added her 12 points, and the most efficient was Mamić, scoring 16 points. On the other side, it was Lucken who stood out the most in the University of Goettingen team, scoring 13 points, and the top rebounder of the team, Koning, who scored 8 points. She made a short comment:
“We were defeated by their aggressive defense and a very good three-point shot. Although we are starting to feel fatigue, we gave our best at this game.”
The Germans spoke of their opponents with words of praise:
“They are an excellent team with a few really good players. We will carry on with our work so, who knows, maybe it will be us who will win the next match,” concluded Koning.
The game between the University of Ljubljana and the University of Alba Iulia from Romania was tense from start to finish. Points rained on both sides, reaching the final score 66:75 (16:16, 16:14, 20:22, 14:21) in favor of the Romanians. It seemed it would be a game where the winner would be decided during extra time, but the Romanians punished the girls from Ljubljana for their mistakes and ensured a ticket to the semi-finals.
“This was a pretty tough game from the very beginning, and we had some real chances only at the very end. My girls had more courage to experiment in the defense a little bit at the end, and that decided the outcome,” commented Grigore, the University of Alba Iulia coach.
The most prominent player from the University of Ljubljana was Tina Jakovina, with 23 points and 9 rebounds. She said:
“We made some mistakes at the beginning, which stimulated the Romanians, and that decided the winner. I think we played well at this tournament and we will certainly continue doing so’
Apart from Tina, Alina Gjerkes added her 18 points to the University of Ljubljana tally, and the number-two scorer from the University of Alba Iulia is Sonia Ursu with 19 points (9 rebounds and 5 assistances).
With 21 points and 16 rebounds, Elizabeth Pavel was the MPV of the game.
The third quarterfinals’ game at Trešnjevka Hall has also brought a lot of excitement and turnovers. It was only in the last two minutes of the final quarter that the University of Bologna managed to detach and deservedly win against the University of Warsaw 63:52 (16:14, 11:15, 19:15, 17:8).
The girls from Poland had ten rebounds more than their opponents, but it was the many balls they lost and a pitiful three-points shot (1/11) that was deciding for them. It is important to say that all the girls from both teams had their roles and managed to enlist as scorers. However, the most efficient among the Poles were Anna Pawlowska with 14 points and 7 rebounds, and Magdalena Kruszynska with a double performance, scoring 10 points and gaining 10 rebounds. Three players led Bologna: Alessandra Tava with 18 points (7 rebounds), Veronica Perini, who scored 17 points (8 rebounds), and Camilla Coraducci with her 15 points and 4 rebounds.
The last place in the semi-finals went to the University of Belgrade, the winner of the quarterfinals’ match against Ais-Marseille University with 61:41 (18:11, 13:17, 15:9, 15:4). Scoring 16 points and gaining 8 rebounds, Nikolina Milić was the best player from the University of Belgrade, and the most efficient players from Aix-Marseille University were Soumeya Regani and Viviane Adjutor, scoring 8 points each.
Without a single defeat at the tournament, the University of Belgrade are the nominal favorite against the French, who reached this stage of competition with two wins and one defeat (against the University of Warsaw). However, the French gave a hard time to the Belgrade team throughout the entire game. The Serbians managed to reach a magical 10-point lead with Inđić’s shot at the end of the second minute of the final quarter, widening the gap for the rest of the game. The Belgrade captain Jovana Vukoje reached a similar conclusion:
“Judging from the final score only, it might seem like it was a routine game, but it was not that easy. The French play a strong, firm defense, as well as offense, and it was hard to adapt at the beginning, especially after a two-day break.”
The University of Belgrade meets Alba Iulia University in the semi-finals:
“We know what to expect from the Romanians tomorrow, a well-coordinated team who have played together for a long time. We will enter the game firmly and seriously, as we do in every game and I hope to see you at the finals,” added Vukoje.
Men’s basketball: Group stage finished
Zagreb ended the competition in Group A with great a performance, scoring 100 points. They had booked their tickets for the semifinals before this round, but they nonetheless took their match against Wurzburg seriously. Zagreb produced a 100: 57 win and thus scheduled a meeting with their colleagues from VERN’ for tomorrow. Zagreb players scored evenly: seven players had over 10 points, but the best was Matija Maljić who scored 14 points and ended the game with 21 jumps. The best player of the defeated team was Mayika-Lungongo with 18 points.
The game between Pitesti and Ljubljana determined who would be third in Group B. Interestingly, the team from Romania managed to win with a score of 81-78, even though they rotated only six players. At the same time the Ljubljana coach used a completely different tactic, rotating his players intensely. Alexandru Negut and George-Lucian Chirof were an unsolvable enigma under the basket for Ljubljana. Alexander had 21 points and 10 jumps, while his colleague had one point and one jump fewer. Nejc Butala from Ljubljana scored 20 points, but he couldn’t win the match by himself.
In the match for the first place in Group B, held at Drazen Petrović Sports Hall, teams from VERN’ and the University of Niš played against each other. Even though the Serbian team had been considered the front-runners of the tournament the team from VERN’, the most pleasant surprise of the tournament, let them behind in the dust with 74:64. The Serbian team went on the half time break with a minimal lead, but even that didn’t wake them up. The second half was even as well, showing just how good the both teams were. Halfway through the last quarter VERN’ had a 69:61 lead, but stayed focused until the end. Niš tried to turn the game around, but the VERN’ fantastic players, with help from the audience, secured the 74:64 win.
‘This was certainly one of the most difficult matches we played so far. They are last year’s vice champions of Europe, they are an excellent team. We didn’t expect this, but we had hoped,’ said Bruno Levanić, who is regularly among the best players of the match.
In the third match in Group A, held at Drazen Petrovic Sports Hall, the team from Tilburg University played against the University of Bologna. This time the match ended in favor of the Italians, who sunk the Dutch 73:52. The match started very slowly and continued in the same tone until the very end. In the first half the ball found is way to the basket very rarely and the tally of both teams was still low during the second quarter. It seemed that in the second half only the Italians had woken up and that the Dutch couldn’t match their tempo. Even the always excellent De Vries wasn’t very helpful this time, scoring only two points. This certainly wasn’t the most attractive match at the Games, but that doesn’t even matter. Only the win counts, and this time it went to our neighbors the Italians.
The fourth round of the men’s basketball tournament in groups C and D was held at Trnsko Sports Hall. The first match was played by the teams from Group C, between the University of Split and the St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design. They played hard and aggressively because the winner of the match determined who would finish second in the group. Basketball players from Split played a strong defense which caused problems for the Russians, but in the offense the players from Split weren’t as focused and failed to gain a considerable lead. Still, they managed to produce a five point lead at half time, 38:33. The match was equal until the last two minutes when the Russians managed to unreachable + 5. At the end, the guests won 65:68. The best player of the match was Artem Pisarchuk who scored 19 points and had 6 jumps, but he also lost 6 balls. The Russian Coach Igor Telezhkin said that this was a difficult match, but that his team had been ready for it. He said that his players were trying to achieve the best result in the history of their University. At the end he added:
‘The opposing team was dangerous and they played a strong defense, like all Croatian teams do’.
In the second match, the leading team of the group, Vytautas Magnus University from Lithuania, won the game against the University of Primorska 68:87. The most precise player from Lithuania was Marius Uzupis who scored 19 points, had 16 jumps and 2 blocks. The best in the defeated team was David Vac with 12 points and 2 steals.
In Group D, the fourth round was opened with a duel between the University of Rouen and the Technical University of Munich. The team from Normandy notched a convincing 78:50 win. Ugo Teurcq scored 18 points, scoring four three-point shots. Janosch Kogler was the best in the defeated team with 16 points and 4 jumps. The University of Rijeka and Fatih University from Istanbul played the last match of the day. The home team focused on three-point shots – delivering 38, to be exact – but only 14 were successful. The coach from Rijeka said that this was necessary because they didn’t have players who were tall enough to compete with the Turkish center Sertac Sanliu. At one point, the team from Rijeka had a 14-point lead, but the Turks soon consolidated and drew closer as Rijeka’s three-point shots were unprecise. The game abounded not only in three-point shots but also in dribbling mistakes and turnovers as well; the Turks suffered 22 and the Croats 13 turnovers. In the end, the team from Rijeka won 76:69. The coach from Rijeka, Teddy Delač, was very pleased after the game:
“We played as we had agreed; we were strong in defense and quick in attack. We practiced the three-point shots, even though it may seem we relied on three-pointers too much, I am satisfied with this segment of our game. ‘
Results
