bwin Pigeon – Dijon 92-88: Too Hard to Die

Peristeri bwin stood its ground after its poor start, withstood the psychological pressure in overtime and finally clinched the victory over Dijon (92-88) at “Andreas Papandreou” to fight for qualification for the next stage of the Basketball Champions League on Am to stay alive.

With five players scoring in double figures and Sylvain Francisco taking the lead again, Vassilis Spanoulis’ side came back from -12 in the second period to celebrate their European continuation. At least another week. The third – and final – game of the play-in takes place on Wednesday 18th January at the Palais de Sport in Dijon.

The race

Dijon caught Peristeri…sleeping in the first half and hit big on the offensive rebound. From such situations, the French team managed to lead by +13 (12-25 at 13′), which irritated Vassilis Spanoulis. But as soon as Sylvain Francisco calmed down and made the right decisions, everything changed. The Short Watch (along with Marcus Denmon) took Peristeri bwin’s counterattack so far that the Blue-Yellows took the lead (32:31, 17th).

-3 (37-40) at half-time gave Dijon a small margin of victory but it was clear the bwin pigeon wasn’t going to go down without a fight – as long as he improved on outside shot after having a 4/13 three. Hints in the first half.

Vassilis Spanoulis’ players only got better looking over time. Marcus Denmon found a rhythm in his execution, the defense got better and better and the bwin Pigeon shaped the course of the game. The hosts took the lead halfway through the third period, never looked back and maintained the upper hand in the closing stages (78-76 at 38′).

In the last minute it was the shots that decided the game, Dijon missed a few (in the 50”) and had to catch up from there. Dimitris Moraitis missed a decisive shot for the final with 26.2”, shortly afterwards Gavin Weir (13.4”) scored and set up the equalizer that kept Dijon alive in the qualifying win.

A mistake by bwin Pigeon gave Dijon a chance to win in the breather, but Gregor Hrovat’s shot found the iron and sent the game into overtime.

There everything was judged from possession to possession. In the final hour, Miro Bilan and Marcus Denmon hit crucial shots to give the blue and yellow a big, big win.

THE REFEREES: Craig-Baldini-Calatrava.

THE DECADES: 12-20, 37-40, 64-59, 81-81ff., 92-88.

BWIN PIGEON (Spanoulis): Denmon 16 (2/7 threes, 7 assists), Francisco 19 (2/3 twos, 4/8 threes, 3/3 shots, 8 assists), Juston 2, Kaselakis 13 (3/7 threes, 7 rebounds), Radanov 5 (6 rebounds), Agravanis 16 (1/3 threes, 4 rebounds), Bilan 16 (5/10 twos, 6/9 shots, 8 rebounds) , Moraitis 5, Persidis.

DIZON (Markovich): Brebley 5 (2/8 shooting), Holston 8 (2/10 shooting, 2/2 shots, 10 assists), Hrovat 18 (4/8 3-points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals), McDuffie 20 (7/10 2-pointers, 0/4 3-pointers, 6/6 shots, 8 rebounds, 5 turnovers), Ware 12 (8 rebounds), Alinge 2, Ducote 21 (3/4 2-pointers, 5 /7 3-hand), Lum 2, Mobley.

Peristeri bwin team statistics: 18/37 2-pointers, 10/30 3-pointers, 26/32 shots, 39 rebounds (22 defense + 17 offense), 25 assists, 13 turnovers, 10 steals, 2 blocks.

Dijon team stats: 17/33 2-pointers, 12/32 3-pointers, 18/23 shots, 40 rebounds (25 defense + 15 offense), 26 assists, 16 turnovers, 4 steals, 3 blocks.