Euroleague 8th Finals 1/2009: Good Angels Kosice 70, Beretta 67

More than likely, no one expected the Good Angels Kosice to win game one on the road in Euroleague. The Slovaks were one of only two teams on the road to win the opening game of their respective best-of-three 8th Finals series as Raffaella Masciardi of Beretta missed a 3-pointer with nine seconds left in the game that could have tied it for Beretta, which lost 70-67 at home.

Everything that you'd want - a box score, a game report, a play-by-play report and a small gallery are right here. The Good Angels could advance to the quarter-finals with a home win on Friday against Beretta.

After a tied first quarter, the Good Angels shifted into gear, winning the second quarter 30-18 and taking a 48-36 lead into halftime. Beretta managed to hold the visitors to just eight third-quarter points and the Good Angels only led 56-51 at the end of thirty minutes.

In the fourth quarter, Beretta made its move. A lay-up by Elisabetta Moro with 5:26 to go brought Beretta within two points, 61-59 and the Italians were never much more than a couple of baskets away. With 15 seconds left, Raffaella Masciardi nailed a 3-pointer for Beretta to close the team to 69-67.

The Good Angels put the ball in the hands of Angel McCoughtry, who was fouled and missed her first free throw, but hit her second. Beretta got the ball back and Masciardi tried again, but no luck. The Good Angels would get the rebound and the upset win.

All and all, this was a very close game. Bernadette Ngoyisa had 13 points and 9 rebounds for Beretta. Laura Macchi led Beretta with 24 points.

Lucia Kupcikova led all players on the Good Angels in points and rebounds with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Angel McCoughtry didn't have a good shooting game, but had nothing to be ashamed of.

15 points
4-for-13 shooting
7 rebounds
3 steals
2 blocked shots
31 minutes played