Nes Ziona downed Szolnoki Olajbanyasz 90-73 to win their 2nd game in a row in FIBA Europe Cup action as they advanced to the Round of 16 of the competition. The Hungarian squad jumped out to a 10-point lead after ten minutes of action but Brad Greenberg’s team came roaring back to tie the game up at halftime and then dominate the second half to notch the victory. Nes Ziona moves on to the next stage as Arged BMSLAM Stal defeated Sporting setting up a battle for first place with the Polish squad on Friday at 16:00 Israel time.

Once again Patrick Miller was the star of the show with an impressive 15 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, Jerome Meyinsse added 17 points and 9 rebounds, Wayne Selden put in 17 points while Tal Dunne checked in with 15 points and 6 assists and Lior Carreira scored 13 points to help the Israeli squad to the win. Marijan Cakarun led Szolnoki with 23 points and Angelo Warner chipped in with 21 points in the loss.

Szolnoki Olajbanyasz ran wild in the first quarter as Angelo Warner scored 13 points and Marijan Cakarun added 6 points as the Hungarian squad took advantage of Nes Ziona’s soft defense and give Gasper Potocnik 27-17 lead after ten minutes.

Lior Carreira drilled home a pair of triples to get the second quarter underway as he scored a dozen points to get Brad Greenberg’s team right back into the game along with strong play by Patrick Miller, Jerome Meyinsse and Tal Dunne as the squads went into halftime all knotted up at 41-41.

Dunne and Miller each knocked down 3-pointers to start the third quarter but Warner and Roko Badzim got hot for Szolnoki Olajbanyasz but Wayne Selden began to find the bottom of the basket to help Nes Ziona go ahead 69-59 aft thirty minutes of action.

Dunne hit his free throws, Selden and Meyinsse added points and Raviv Limonad scored his first points of the game to get the fourth quarter in gear. Limonad added a jumper and Amit Ebo came in to polish off the win with a triple as Nes Ziona defeated Szolnoki Olajbanyasz 90-73.

3-Pointers
Picking It Up

Nes Ziona came out flat, flat as a pancake as Olaj hit almost every single shot they take in the first quarter to jump out to a ten point lead. But slowly but surely, Brad Greenberg’s team worked hard and they started chipping away at the Hungarian lead as they even went ahead themselves before a last second 3-pointer and free throw just at the stroke of halftime. However, that set them up for a nice second half that saw them outscore Olaj 49-32 over the final twenty minutes to take the win and qualify for the Round of 16. “We had trouble stopping Olaj, they made buckets for about 7-8 possessions early in the game and we couldn’t slow them down at all,” said Greenberg. “We picked ourselves up slowly, and things really turned around when we started to play some zone defense – which we did for the last two and a half quarters. That was the difference from a defensive standpoint, and it allowed us to run fastbreaks easier off of their misses and score in transition.”

Renaissance Man

Jerome Meyinsse has been a star since signing with Nes Ziona as the big man not only brings the goods on the floor, he brings them off of it as well. Greenberg called him a “Renaissance Man” a couple of weeks ago after a Nes Ziona win over Hapoel Jerusalem due to his drive to learn new things each and every day. Meyinsse may have gotten into foul trouble and eventually fouled out, but he was the glue that kept Nes Ziona together on both ends of the floor. “We started out slow,” began Meyinsse. “Olaj came out with more energy and intensity than we did – but luckily we had some great contributions from the bench that helped us change the energy of the game. We fought, picked it up defensively – and were able to come out with the victory.”

Little Engine That Could

What else can we say about Patrick Miller? His will and desire is just so contagious. The guard is playing fabulous basketball, his best of the season but that’s also because he has the right players around him now as well. Wayne Selden is an NBA pro who can score and do so many things on the court, Miller’s got intelligent big men in Meynisse and Dunne, plus Lior Carreira has been the ultimate X-Factor in both wins. Had it not been for Carreira’s hot had at the start of the second quarter, who knows what would have been?!?! But truly, Miller is the little engine that could. He bangs away, drives with no fear and plays some terrific ball.