BC Prievidza has officially returned to European basketball. A tremendous team performance from start to finish resulted in a convincing 102:85 (49:42) home win over heavily favored Alba Fehérvár. Head Coach Saša Jankovič’s troops are now headed to Hungary with a 17-point advantage in their backpacks. However, the job is not nearly finished yet as the guests showed their individual quality on many occasions.

The home team was “online” literally straight from tip-off when newest BC acquisition Denis Krestinin tipped the jump ball towards the opposing basket and Daishon Smith set the tone with the first of numerous Prievidza dunks. Smith and wing allrounder Keith Jordan remained aggressive and scored 15 of BC’s first 17 points. Thunderous throwdowns by Jordan on a putback and by Hunter Dean on an alley-oop perfectly orchestrated by point guard C.J. Jackson (one of his FIFTEEN assists) had the crowd on its feet and extended the lead to five points at the end of the first quarter (23-18, 10.).

A further six points by Dean, who suited up despite an injured ankle and limited practice participation, and a three by Jackson, who was nursing a foot ailment, gave the hosts their first double-digit advantage of the night. However, Fehérvár quickly responded with impressive individual quality. Point guard David Nichols and forwards Jeriah Horne and Marko Filipovity quickly cut the deficit to a mere point (42-41). A big three by Slovakian National Team guard Dalibor Hlívak and further buckets from Jordan and Smith sent the home team to the locker room with a 7-point cushion (49:42, 20.).

At the start of the third quarter, BC put together another mini-run fueled by threes from Smith and Tomas Mrvis plus a grab-and-go coast-to-coast layup by Lithuanian big man Denis Krestinin. But David Nichols (26 points total) remained unguardable and almost single-handedly kept the Hungarians in the contest. His floater tied the game at 63 apiece.

On this night, however, the home team was not to be denied and capitalized on their depth advantage. Timely long-range bombs from Lukas Bolek (2) and Krestinin put Prievidza back in the driver’s seat. More points from Keith Jordan, who finished with a game-high 27 and was an absolute terror on the boards with 14 rebounds, Mrvis and Hunter Dean, who contributed a double-double of 16 points and eleven boards, forced Alba HC Alejandro Zubillaga to use up all of his time-outs. Daishon Smith put the icing on the cake with a mid-range jumper as time expired (102:85, 40.), giving him the first and the final basket of the game.

"We played an excellent game,” BC Head Coach Jankovič said after the last buzzer. “Most importantly we played as a team. Every single player contributed something today and this is the result. Alba has a high-quality team and we know that nothing easy awaits us in Hungary, but our mindset will be to aim for the win there, as well, and to make it to the group stage.”

No matter what happens on Friday (tip-off at 18:00 CET, YouTube broadcast), there is plenty of reason to be proud of this performance. The game was a 40-minute advertisement for the sport of basketball, both in the arena and on national television. After seven long years, BC Prievidza returned to the European landscape with a bang.

BC Prievidza – Alba Fehérvár 102:85 (49:42)

Prievidza: Jordan 27, Smith 21, Dean 16, Krestinin 12, Jackson 10, Mrviš 7, Bolek 6, Hlivák 3, Jašš, Kincel, Raitanen.

Fehérvár: Nichols 26, Horne 15, Vojvoda 15, Filipovity 11, Thomas 9, Krivacevic 5, Smith 4, Kass.

Photo: Vladimír Králik