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Towers achieve Czech-mate             London Towers climbed up to sixth spot in the NEBL with a hard fought 75-77 success over USK Erpet of Czech Republic on Monday afternoon. The guests seemed a better team in the first 5 minutes, but after that USK Erpet took control of the game. Martin Janda tied the score 18:18 in the 8th minute of the match. The first quarter ended with the hosts being more initiative and winning the period 25:20. In the 2nd quarter the USK lead was demolished by the English team and the fired–up guests started leading 34:35. Luckily the home side was very successful in 3–point shooting. With an 8-point streak USK Erpet turned the score over 42:35, and went to the locker rooms with a 9-point lead 50-41 at the halftime. Things started changing in the third period of the game. The British side cut down the USK lead by scoring 9 points in the first minutes of the quarter, whereas the home side picked up miserable 2 points and lost their halftime lead. Yet the Czech players didn’t step back. With a successful 3–pointer hit by Daniel Cyrulik, USK started gradually building their new lead. Thanks to the improved shooting and a much more aggressive play, they finished the 3rd quarter with a 5 point lead 62-57. The final quarter began in a very similar way like the previous one. After 5 minutes the guests were leading by 4 points 66:70, and their aggressive 2-on-1 defense posed a big problem to the home team. But after the timeout of USK Coach Milan Sedivy, the team regained their strength and went into the lead 72-70 with 2 minutes remaining. However a late three pointer from Steve Bucknall re-asserted Towers lead and they hung on to claim victory. Bucknall led his side with 22 points, while Zlatko Bacurin had a game high 23 for the Czechs. Sedivy remarked@ "I believe this has been our 5th loss in the final seconds. The opponent improved its defense in the second half and my players had great difficulties in getting into the offensive zone and creating good shooting positions. We lacked some luck in the final seconds of the game. It is a great pity because we really needed to win today in order to strengthen our chances for participating in the play–offs."

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