Tab And The U Into Finals
Tagged in: Kiwis Abroad
Former Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin and his U Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca will contest the Romanian Basketball League finals after completing a 3-1 semifinal series victory over the weekend.
Cluj-Napoca, referred to as The U, upset second-seeded CSU Atlassib Sibiu in four games to advance to the title series, starting Saturday (NZ time), where they will meet regular season champs CSU Ploiesti.
American LeVar Seals scored 17 points in Sunday’s 87-74 win on the road, following on from a 68-61 win in game three.
Tall Black Craig Bradshaw also moved on to the next round with his Efes Pilsen Spor Kubulu team in the Turkish Basketball League playoffs, winning their quarterfinal series against Karsiyaka 3-1.
Bradshaw had five points but shot 2-of-12 from the field, had six rebounds, and three steals in 29 minutes as second-ranked Pilsen closed out the series on the road 85-77 against the seventh seeds.
The 24-year-old had 11 points (4/5 FG, 3/3 3pt), four rebounds, two blocks and a steal in eight and a half minutes in the 95-82 game three win, and two points (1/3 FG), two rebounds and a steal in eight minutes of the 78-56 game two victory that leveled the series.
Bradshaw and Pilsen now meet Fenerbahce in the best-of-five semifinals series, starting this weekend.
In Australia, Canterbury’s Shannon Proffit continued to post big numbers for the Maroochydore Clippers in the Queensland Australia Basketball League (QABL).
Proffit had 10 points (4/8 FG, 0/1 3pt, 2/4 FT), 19 rebounds, six assists and three steals in 38 minutes of the Lady Clippers 80-66 win over the Ipswich Force in round four, improving her side to fourth at 3-1.
No such result for Zeke Meehl for the men’s side, with five points (1/4 FG, 1/2 3pt, 2/2 FT), four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 16 minutes as Maroochydore fell to 0-4, Ipswich winning 115-74.
Tall Ferns point guard Angela Marino scored 27 points in her return to the Central ABL, leading her Sturt Sabres to a 71-51 win over the South Adelaide Panthers in round eight, moving them to second at 6-2.
In the South East Australia Basketball League (SEABL), Gemma Kerr posted 23 points (7/12 FG, 4/6 3pt, 5/7 FT), three rebounds, two steals and an assist in 22 minutes for the fourth-placed Kilsyth Lady Cobras, winning 101-77 over the Ballarat Lady Miners in round 11.
Former Tall Fern Julie Ofsoski was restricted to two points (1/3 FG), two rebounds and a block in 13 minutes as her Frankston Lady Blues picked up their third win of the season, 75-54 over the Albury Wodonga Lady Bandits, lifting them to ninth.
Another former Tall Fern, Jess Spinner, had 12 points in her Wanneroo Wolves 80-59 win over the Bunbury Tallwood Slammers in round seven of the Western Australia State Basketball League (SBL). The Wolves improved to 3-5 and on the brink of the top-eight with the win.
In New South Wales, Adrienne Gilbert had an off-day - with one points (0/3 FG, 0/1 3pt, 1/4 FT), two assists, a rebound and steal in 26 minutes – but her Bankstown Bruins remained unbeaten at 6-0 with a 67-61 win over the Hornsby Spiders in round nine of the Waratah League.
