Day 4: Action resumes in Poreč’16

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After a day off, teams resumed action in Poreč on Thursday. The first finalists of Poreč’16 became clear after semifinals in some categories already took place.

M40

The final of the M40 category is now set, as the undefeated Small Planet from Lithuania and UD from Ukraine advanced past the semifinal stage to book a date in the final on Friday. Meanwhile, Istra Porec and Legion will battle it out for bronze.

Small Planet dominated for three quarters against Istra Porec in the first semifinal before claiming a 78-64 victory. The game got out of hand rather quickly and only a solid final period by the Croatian side prevented the game from finishing as a blowout.

Rolandas Matulis led the winners with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while Rolandas Skaisgirys chipped in with 17 points, five rebounds and seven assists.

In the other semifinal, UD took care of Russian side Legion from Moscow. Although the first quarter was close, the Ukrainians ran away with the game to claim a 94-75 win.

Oleksii Poltoratskyi scored a game-high 22 points and five rebounds, while Leonid Iailo had a great all-around performance of 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

In the first game for the 5-7th places, Olimpas defeated Impeka 77-68.

M45

The four teams of the M45 age category finished the first play on Thursday, as Patvanka and Project 44 finished in the top two spots that guarantee a place in the final.  Meanwhile, Basketclub and Carpathian Bears will have another go at each other in the third place game.

The only undefeated team in the age group, Patvanka, finished the first stage on a good note, defeating Basketclub from Russia 65-40. Arvydas Venclovas was the top scorer of the game with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Mindaugas Lukosius added 13.

Project 44 also didn’t have to sweat much on the road to the victory, demolishing Carpathian Bears 96-50 in a lopsided match. Sergey Ivanov made 6-of-8 from downtown for a total of 28 points, while Alexander Kuznetsov chipped in with 25.

Both the final and the third-place game will take place on Friday.

M50

Round robin play continued in the M50 age category, as Bitsa Team and Dinamo registered victories on Thursday evening.

In the first game of the day, Bitsa Team edged Parnu 73-36 in a one-sided game behind 21 points of Andrei Turshkin. The player also added eight rebounds, while Sergii Demurin chipped in with 17 points and six rebounds. No players scored in double figures for Parnu.

Two previously winless teams also met on Thursday, with Dinamo overcoming KTU Omega 71-56 for their first win of the tournament. Aleksei Ugriumov scored 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out seven dimes.

Meanwhile, Saulius Kriksciunas collected 24 points and 15 rebounds for KTU Omega.

The finalists of the age category will become clear after Friday’s action, which will consist of two games – the undefeated Bitsa Team taking on Dinamo and Veteran Basket Ukraine playing against Parnu.

M55

Drama was spilling over in the M55 age category, as Salilita and Garkalne won their respective semifinals by a single point to get to the final of the competition to be played on Saturday. Both of these teams met in Group A during the first round.

Salilita edged KFU Gorod Kazan 62-61 behind 14 points apiece by the quartet of Arunas Sarka, Steponas Jokubauskas, Vladas Luksa and Rolandas Penikas. Georgi Korolev was the leading scorer for Kazan with 19 points.

In the other semifinal, Garkalne nipped TOP Trust 54-53 after Ziedonis Jansons made a game-winning three-point basket with less than ten seconds remaining. Jansons collected 25 points and accounted for nearly half of the Latvian side’s points.

Perlas and AIKEA Portoroz will play for 5th place on Friday, with both sides celebrating wins in the consolation bracket. Perlas beat Jasne Hlavy 64-44, while AIKEA Portoroz defeated Atksalunas 64-41.

Elsewhere, Basket Prague Selection celebrated a 56-28 victory against Team Hamburg in the battle for the lower positions for the first win of the tournament.

M60

Mercury and Lietuva remained in a deadlock for first place in the M60 age category after both sides improved to a 3-0 record on Thursday.

Mercury celebrated a 66-53 victory against Ranga, as Andrei Snytsin dropped 16 points, Grigorii Avdeev collected 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Timur Yunusov finished with 13.

Meanwhile, Lietuva strolled past the challenge of Basket Prague Selection, winning the game 66-37 to also stay undefeated. Vitoldas Masalskis scored 18 points for the winners, while Rasid Abeljanov added 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The two teams will play the last game of the regular round on Friday, but this game will not mean much as both teams have already booked tickets to the final, which will be played on Saturday.

M65

CSKA Veterans inched closer to the M65 crown at the ESBA Championship after improving to a 3-0 record with a 46-21 victory against Lions of Galichina. Victor Petrakov led the winners with an amazing double-double of 10 points and 21 rebounds, as 11 of the 12 players who appeared on the court for the Russian side opened their scoring tally.

However, in order to guarantee themselves gold, CSKA Veterans will still need to defeat Big Game from Ukraine in the final game of the championship. Big Game have a 2-1 mark in the standings after defeating Nestor Team Group 43-30 on Thursday.

Oleksii Viedienieiev was the top scorer for the Ukrainian side with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Marek Adamski added 13 points and nine boards for Nestor Team Group.

M70/75

In the only game of the M70/75 category on Thursday, Vilniaus Statybos Senjorai had a walk in the park against Kazan players. The Lithuanian team claimed a 37-20 victory after running away with the lead in the second quarter.

Vytautas Majauskas was the top scorer of the game for Statyba, almost equaling the opponents total of 20 with 18 points in his own account. For Kazan, Rinard Urazmanov was the leading scorer with 8 points.

W40/45

Best of Havirov finished the group stage of the W40/45 age category with a clean 3-0 record after defeating Radviliskis in the last game of the first round. The Czech side had no trouble and registered an easy 57-19 win behind 16 points of Sona Simkova and 13 points of Bohumila Kubickova.

The Czech team qualified to the final of this age category, which will also feature Ukrainian outfit Carpathian Bears, who claimed an 81-40 victory against Augma. Tetiana Kurillo was simply unstoppable, finishing the game with 27 points, while Lilya Yatskovska nailed five three-pointers for a total of 17 points.

W50/55

Maximum International and Ladies Germany celebrated wins in the W50/55 age group after action resumed in Poreč after a one-day break. Maximum International won the battle of two previously undefeated teams, getting the better of Kamane LT – Augma and winning 37-32 after a close game.

Tatjana Susnica Relic led the winners with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Marina Sauliene and Ina Revinskiene scored 10 points apiece for the losing side.

Elsewhere, Ladies Germany got their first win of the championship after outclassing Amber Latvia 40-27 on Thursday. Heike Schonau was the player who stood out most with 16 points and six boards for the German team.