By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Both sides were down 0-2 to start Group B of the Basketball Champions League Regular Season, but Arged BM Stal Ostrow Wielkopolski was determined to finally get off the mark and blew out Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, 76-65, over at Arena Ostrow Wednesday.
Kobi Simmons made the strongest impact with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double in the Round 3 contest. The former NBA player with 32 games at the Memphis Grizzlies and one more appearance attached to the Cleveland Cavaliers moved his talents overseas by joining the team based in Ostrow Wielkopolski in late September.
The team led by Igor Milicic coming back from an 11-point deficit in its Champions League home opener also received a boost from Micheal Young. The former Pittsburgh Panther finished with 14 points. Trey Drechsel and James Palmer Jr. had 11 points apiece, while James Florence went for nine points, five rebounds, and five assists. Towering center Jakub Wojciechowski remained sidelined.
On the losing end, Jalen Adams fired a team-high 19 points to no avail in Ostrow. Ex-NBA players Anthony Bennett and Thon Maker were limited to short appearances logging 5:32 and 12:49, respectively.
The Polish champions, currently at 6-2 in the new season of domestic PLK, went up to 1-2 in BCL Group B with their first-ever BCL win pushing the Round 3 rivals to 0-3. The team coach by Oren Amiel, 2-1 in Israel’s Winner League, will get a second chance in the reverse fixture between the two sides coming up on November 10.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League