The first games of ESBA Championship Poreč’16 were played on Sunday evening at the Žatika Sport Center and at the Veli Jože Sports Hall, with the first 32 teams stepping on the floor on the first day of the championship.
Biggest win: UD – 58 points (99-41 vs KSK Kaunas)
Top scorer: Vladas Luksa (Salilita) – 33
Most rebounds: Rolandas Matulis (Small Planet) – 21
Most assists: Sergey Ivanov (Bitsa Team) – 12
M40
Defending champions Small Planet, who won the M40 category last year in Turkey, started their campaign in Croatia with an 80-69 victory against Impeka in one of the first two games of the entire tournament.
The all-Lithuanian battle was close from the very start of the game, with Impeka taking an early advantage, but Small Planet, led by Rolandas Skaisgirys and Rolandas Matulis, closed the gap before the halftime break and used a 21-13 run in the third quarter to run away with the game.
Skaigirys and Matulis had 21 points apiece, with the latter also grabbing 21 rebounds. Erikas Kuciauskas added 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a winning effort for Small Planet.
Meanwhile, Erikas Uscinas was the top scorer for Impeka with 18 points.
In the second game of the M40 category, Ukrainian team UD made a big statement by recording a big 99-41 win against KSK Kaunas in the tournament-opener. The Ukrainians dominated from the beginning and left no doubts when it comes to determining the winner.
Volodymyr Gurtovyy finished the game with 25 points and 10 rebounds, Dmytro Briantsev scored 14 points, while Oleksii Poltoratskyi added 13. Ricardas Macelis scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds for KSK Kaunas.
Elsewhere, Istra Porec used the home court advantage by registering a 70-64 victory against Olimpas in the last game of the group on Sunday. Having taking the lead in the first quarter, the Croatian side managed to hold on to the slender lead until the final minutes.
Davor Bezmalinovic and Vladimir Korosec had 19 and 18 points respectively for Istra Porec, while Saulius Pukinskas double-doubled for Olimpas with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
M50
Veteran Basket Ukraine came out on top of Dinamo Kursk in the M50 age category to open the ESBA Championship with a victory. The Ukrainian side won the opener 52-49 to tip off the championship on an excellent note.
The game had many ups and downs and the Russian side was even ahead before heading into the final quarter, but a clutch performance by the Ukrainians allowed them to triumph.
Osvald Korner was the top scorer for the winning side with 19 points, Oleksandr Zakrevskyi collected 17, while Aleksei Ugriumov scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Dinamo.
In the other game of the age group, Bitsa-Team had a stroll in the park against KTU Omega, taking a big 91-51 victory. Andrei Trushkin was the key piece in the victory for the Russian team with 16 points in just 20 minutes. Sergei Dernurin and Sergey Shvydkyy added 11 points.
Alvydas Sidlauskas was the top scorer for KTU Omega, with Saulius Kriksciunas contributing with 13 points and eight boards.
M55
Lithuanian outfit Salilita stormed to an excellent start of the ESBA Championship after defeating their neighbours Girkalne 96-70 in the first game of the M55 age category.
Salilita stood out as the stronger side from the beginning of the game, managing to build a 50-36 lead by the halftime break. The gap grew even further in the second half.
Vladas Luksa had an impressive performance of 33 points and nine rebounds, Arunas Sarka scored 18 points and added 11 assists, while Rolandas Penikas dropped 17 points on the opponents.
Meanwhile, Ziedonis Jansons scored 29 points for Girkalne, with Andris Calitis chipping in with 21 points.
In the second game of the age category, Perlas came away with a 78-57 victory against KK Umag from Croatia to start the championship on a victorious note. The Lithuanian side had a solid opening quarter, but it was a strong second half that did the job.
Having entered the third quarter up 38-34, Perlas won the two remaining quarters by a combined 17 points.
Romualdas Brazauskas was the top scorer in the game with 27 points and six assists, Virginijus Jankauskas collected 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds. For KK Umag, Drasko Kunic scored a team-high 24 points.
Elsewhere, Atskalunas notched up a tournament-opening victory against Basket Prague Selection, coming out on top 37-23 in a low-scoring game at Veli Jože. The Lithuanian side built the decisive lead during the third quarter, which they won 16-4.
Virginijus Mazonas led the winners in scoring, having collected 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Rimas Dzindzilieta added nine points. Meanwhile, Jiri Babica was the top scorer for the Czech side with eight points.
In their opening game, KFU Gorod Kazan claimed a 69-54 victory against AIKEA Portorož from Slovenia. In an up-and-down game, the Russian side had allowed the opponents to take an early nine-point lead, but stormed back to take a rather convincing victory after a 28-11 final quarter.
Iurii Golubov scored 18 points, Georgi Korolev added 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Vadim Shestov finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. For AIKEA Portorož, Marijan Fiser was the best player with 21 points.
The last game of the day in the M55 age category was between Jasne Hlavy and Team Hamburg, with the Czech side coming out on top 50-26 in a game that was among the lowest scoring in the first day of the tournament.
Jasne Hlavy won each of the four quarters, which accumulated to a sizeable lead at the final whistle of the game. Much of it had to do with great team play, as all 10 players who stepped on the court managed to score at least once.
Dusan Grec was the only player in double figures with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
M60
There was little intrigue in the first game of the M60 age category, where Mercury from Russia swept past Basket Prague Selection, completing their first game of the championship with an 88-49 victory.
The Russian outfit ran away to a double-digit lead already after the opening quarter and kept increasing the gap every other period along the way.
The duet of Timur Yunusov and Grigorii Avdeev scored 26 points apiece for the winners, while Kamil Brabanec dropped 17 points for the Czech team.
In the other game of the category, a joint Lietuva team registered an 86-72 victory against Babailar from Russia. The game got out of hand in the second half, when the Lithuanian side ran away to a game-high 27-point lead. Although the Babailar won the fourth quarter, it was a case of too little, too late.
Rasid Abeljanov was the leading scorer with 24 points and 12 rebounds to his name, Edmundas Narmontas collected 22 points, while Vitoldas Masalskis added 14.
Aleksandr Trubach was unstoppable for the other team with a double-double of 29 points and 10 boards, but it wasn’t enough.
M65
Big Game from Dnepropetrovsk enjoyed an excellent start to their ESBA Championship by taking a big 68-21 victory against Galichina in an all-Ukrainian clash at the start of the M65 competition.
The game was somewhat close in the first minutes, but Big Game already boasted a 23-11 lead after the first quarter and didn’t allow their opponents to score more than six points in any of the three remaining quarters.
Volodymyr Martynov was the top scorer of the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Volodymyr Datsyuk added 12 points. Meanwhile, Jonas Laugalys had 12 points for Galichina.
M70/75
In the eldest category, the action started with two Russian teams squaring off and the slightly younger Russia side triumphing 44-39 over Kazan, who are the only team in the M75 category.
Neither side managed to assert their presence in the first half, with the lead changing hands a couple of times. However, the younger Russia team managed to pull away in the third quarter and came out victorious.
Sergey Naidenov scored 14 points for the winners, while Victor Komarov and Viacheslav Tozik added 11 points each. Rinard Urazmanov collected a game-high 17 points, while Vladimir Zagliadimov chipped in with 16 points and seven boards.
W50/55
It was an excellent start of the championship for Maximum International, who defeated Ladies Legion 47-41 in the first day of the championship. The international squad of Maximum started the game better and was in front for the entire game, although their Ukrainian counterparts were close by and were breathing down their necks.
Ekaterina Loginova had a team-high 17 points, while Tatjana Susnica Relic added a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds. Irina Terenina added 9 points and recorded six steals.
Meanwhile, Olga Macovchina filled up the stats sheet with 19 points, 12 rebounds and five steals for Ladies Legion.
In the second game of the W50/55 category, Kamane LT-Augma didn’t have any problems with Amber from Latvia, defeating their northern neighbors 56-33 to also start the championship with a win.
Ina Revinskiene led all scorers with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, as Marina Sauliene chipped in with 15 points.
Meanwhile, Tatjana Kirilova was the best player on the losing side with a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds.
