Schortsanitis, who missed Greece’s campaign in last year’s EuroBasket Men in Lithuania, said that he’s healthy and will be available if the team needs him in their upcoming campaign in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in which three Olympic slots are at stake.

The 26-year-old center was a key factor in Greece’s rise to prominence in world basketball for he was a part of the team that scored the unforgettable upset over USA in the 2006 World Basketball Championship.

“Big Sofo”, as he is fondly known in the world-basketball scene, was also a key factor when Greece won the bronze medal in the 2009 EuroBasket Men, but he was forced to miss last European Championship after her wife suffered complications with her pregnancy.

“For a couple days, it was really tough for me to decide what to do, but I finally decided to step away from the national team,” Schortsanitis said. “The coaches and the people in charge there all helped me. So if they want me, I’ll be there, God willing.”

Greece was drawn in Group A of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, together with Jordan and Puerto Rico, which will kick off on July 2 in Caracas, Venezuela.

This weekend, Philippine Basketball All-Time greats will be united once again to display their stuffs in London and Liverpool in a pair of exhibition matches for the Filipino community and interested British spectators as well.

Filipinos in England, do you want to relieve the vaunted rivalry between former Purefoods’ Alvin Patrimonio-Jerry Codinera duo against San Miguel’s Allan Caidic-Samboy Lim one-two combo?

If you are, then you should not miss this event sponsored by Lebara in cooperation Genesis Basketball UK, which promotes Philippine Basketball in different parts of the world.

Aside from Patrimonio, Codinera, Caidic, and Lim, the event will also feature former crowd darlings Vince “The Prince” Hizon, Noli “The Tank” Locsin, and Bal “The Flash” David, who all played for Philippine Basketball Association club Ginebra, who is the undisputed crowd-favorite in the Philippines.

Vergel “The Aerial Voyager” Meneses and Nelson “The Bull” Asaytono will also proved that they can still perform their feared gravity-defying moves inside the hardcourt along with other former PBA superstars like Olsen Racela, Bong Ravena, Mike Mustre, and Jun Carmona.

Based on how this tour turned out so well in USA, Canada, Australia, and UAE, this upcoming event is expected to provide topnotch basketball action and entertainment as well so come and be part of Philippine Basketball History unfolding in London and Liverpool this weekend.

Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.

The league-leading Flyers lost their grip on the top spot after absorbing a heart-breaking 73-72 defeat against the Worthing Thunder on Saturday night.

Worthing took control of the game right from the opening period to have a precarious 48-43 lead heading into the final period, where they also started strong to increase the lead to nine points.

The Thunder led as much by 11 points after unleashing a 9-0 attack, but the Flyers responded with a late-game rally, although it was not enough as Worthing held on to the thrilling one-point win.

Marcus Tullis and Hank Rivers led the Thunder with 20 points each, with the former grabbing 12 rebounds, while Davis Browne had 21 points for the Flyers, who dropped to 10-3 this season.

Meanwhile, with the Flyers’ defeat, the Trailblazers did not waste the chance of grabbing the spot as they hammered out a dominating 91-68 win over the Paws London Capitals.

The Capitals looked poise to give their opponent a tough night after racing to an early lead, but the Trailblazers quickly responded with their own attack to take a 23-15 lead at the end of the opening period. Derby took control from then on and never looked back to improve their record to 11 wins and three defeats.

Complete EBL Division One Men Results (February 4-5, 2012)

• Bradford Dragons 66 – 75 Leeds Carnegie
• Medway Park Crusaders 72 – 84 Reading Rockets
• Derby Trailblazers 91 – 68 PAWS London Capitals
• Bristol Academy Flyers 72 – 73 Worthing Thunder
• Westminster Warriors 72 – 74 Tees Valley Mohawks
• BA London Leopards 78 – 66 Brixton Topcats
• Reading Rockets 83 – 80 Tees Valley Mohawks

The Raiders, who blew a chance to earn a title this season after getting defeated by the Newcastle Eagles in the BBL Cup Final, bounced back from a first-leg semis defeat to reach their second consecutive BBL Finals.

After absorbing an 87-81 defeat in the first leg of the semis, the Raiders played with their backs on the wall and were actually in the verge of losing, but they forced a tie on the aggregate score after ending the second leg with a 95-89 lead.

In the overtime, the Raiders stepped up on the defensive end of the floor to shut down the Lions en route to a 107-99 win to clinch the finals seat with a 188-186 win on aggregate.

Paul Williams had a superb all-around performance for the Raiders as he racked up 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Jeremy Bell exploded for 28 points, highlighted by 4-for-6 shooting from beyond-the-arc.

The Raiders will face the winner of the Sheffield Sharks – Newcastle Eagles semis match.

Although the Sharks and the Eagles have yet to play the second leg of their match, Raiders forward Lehmon Colbert is looking forward to have a rematch against BBL Cup finals tormentor Eagles, who scored a dominating 116-84 win in the first leg.

Complete BBL Results (February 3-5, 2012)

• MK Lions 87 – 81 Plymouth Raiders
• Sheffield Sharks 84 – 116 Newcastle Eagles
• Mersey Tigers 72 – 83 Cheshire Jets
• Leicester Riders 74 – 64 Sheffield Sharks
• Worcester Wolves 100 – 102 Newcastle Eagles
• Plymouth Raiders 107 – 99 MK Lions
• Glasgow Rocks 86 – 75 Guildford Heat

Greece, Jordan and Puerto Rico were drawn in Group A, while Lithuania, Nigeria, and Venezuela will play each other in Group B.

On the other hand, Group C will be composed of Dominican Republic, Korea, and Russia, while Angola, Macedonia, and New Zealand round up Group D.

The teams in each group will face each other once and the top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals in which the winner in each pairing will advance to the semifinals.

The teams that will advance to the finals automatically clinch two of the three slots at stake, while the remaining one will be disputed by the losing semifinalists.

The 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament will run from July 2 to 8 in Caracas, Venezuela.

FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Draw Results

• Group A – Greece, Jordan, Puerto Rico
• Group B – Lithuania, Nigeria, Venezuela
• Group C – Dominican Republic, Korea, Russia
• Group D – Angola, Macedonia, New Zealand

The OQT, which will run from July 2 to 8 in Venezuela, stakes three remaining Olympic slots that will be contested by 12 nations who fared well in their respective continental tournaments.

Macedonia, Greece, Lithuania, Russia, Korea, Jordan, Angola, Nigeria, New Zealand, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and host Venezuela will be divided in to four groups with three teams each – three teams that will play in a round-robin format.

The top two-teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals with winning teams advancing to the semifinals. The teams that will advance to the finals automatically clinch a spot in London, while the two losing semifinalist will slug it out for the remaining slot.

World Champions USA and host Great Britain have already clinched a seat in London along with continental champions Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, Spain, and Tunisia.

The newly-crowned BBL Cup champions had a strong start and never faltered to hammer out a dominating 94-77 win over the Mersey Tigers to build a four-game advantage in the race to the top of the BBL Championship standings.

Newcastle came out firing right from the opening tip and quickly raced to a 14-4 lead led by the 10-point early explosion from Paul Gause, leading to 25-7 domination in the opening period.

However, the Tigers unleashed a huge 22-run before the half to narrow the lead down to a point, 38-37 at the half. They managed to take the lead in the third period, but the Eagles had a quick answer to stop their run and eventually losing the game in a blowout.

Charles Smith had another impressive performance, scoring 22 points to go with 11 rebounds, while Joe Chapman added 20 points and seven boards.

Andrew Thomson also had a share of the spotlight as he finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, Paul Gause added 16 points, while Darius Defoe racked up 12 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles, who improved to 14-1 this season.

David Aliu, on the other hand, led the Tigers with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Myles Hesson added 20 points and seven boards.

Meanwhile, the Wolves absorbed a costly defeat on Friday night, bowing down to the Sharks Sheffield, 74-73 – a defeat that hurt their top-spot chase. The Raiders, on the other hand, kept themselves in the race after escaping with an 85-78 win over the Glasgow Rocks for their ninth win in 11 games this season.

Complete BBL Results (January 27 – 29)

• Newcastle Eagles 94 – 77 Mersey Tigers
• MK Lions 82 – 73 Durham Wildcats
• Sheffield Sharks 74 – 73 Worcester Wolves
• Leicester Riders 82 – 87 Glasgow Rocks
• Durham Wildcats 90 – 86 Cheshire Jets
• Guildford Heat 83 – 66 MK Lions
• Cheshire Jets 73 – 80 Leicester Riders
• Plymouth Raiders 85 – 78 Glasgow Rocks

Down 50-38 after three quarters and with their championship hopes fading away, the Leopards played with their hearts’ out to battle and slowly chipped in to the lead.

They Leopards eventually built 62-59 lead after David Buchberger drained a three-pointer with less than a minute left in the game followed by clutch free-throws to seal the deal and grab their second National Cup title.

“It couldn’t be better,” said Leopards coach Dejan Mihevc. “I am very happy for the fans that really support us all the way, for our program and all the people that are working hard around it. I’m especially happy for our players who are working hard for each other every day.”

Vernon Teel had a spectacular all-around performance, tallying 23 points to go with 13 rebounds and six assists, Ousman Krubally added 15 points and 15 rebounds, while Buchberger chipped in 11 markers for the Leopards, who managed to play like veterans despite being the youngest team in the league.

“To win a competition like [the National] Cup is always something special, because you are not allowed to lose and the champion is the team that is perfect in the whole tournament,” Mihevc said. “And to do it with basically the youngest team in the league was even a bigger challenge and a great experience for all the players and everybody around them.”

Doug McLaughlin-Williams led the Flyers with 21 points and nine rebounds, but it was not enough to compensate for their late-game collapse that caused them the title.

Credits to FIBA.com

FIBA, the world-governing body for basketball, has officially launched the 2014 edition of the world basketball championship in Spain on Thursday, which will now be officially called as the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

The event was held in the Spanish capital, Madrid, where the official log was also unveiled along with presentation from the Spanish Basketball Federation that introduced the six host cities – Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville, Granada, and Las Palmas.

In the special event, FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann discussed the concept of changing the name of their flagship tournament from FIBA World Basketball Championship to FIBA World Cup, saying that the new term is more common for it is used in several huge sporting events.

“The new name is short and catchy. The term ‘World Cup’ is known by people all over the globe and resonates in different languages: Copa Del Mundo, Coppa Del Mondo, Coupe du Monde,” Baumann said.

“This new name reflects the prestige that our tournament has as a premier international competition and allows for it to be recognized as what it truly is: one of the biggest global sporting events, along with the FIFA World Cup, the Rugby World Cup and the Cricket World Cup,” he added.

Spanish Basketball Federation President Jose Luis Saez, on the other hand, said that they will be preparing very hard and will be committed to having one of the greatest basketball events in history.

“Our commitment and desire is to organize the FIBA Basketball World Cup for everyone,” Saez said. “The best way to do that is by giving it a global dimension which will become a true legacy for the whole society.”

The FIBA Basketball World Cup for Men will be held on September 2014.

On Friday night, the newly-crowned BBL Cup champions had a slow start but quickly got into their deadly form to score an 86-67 win over the One Health Sharks Sheffield at the Sports Central.

The Sharks looked sharp early in the game as they quickly built a 9-0 lead, but the Eagles responded immediately and took control of the match, taking a 27-15 lead at the end of the opening period.

Their impressive run in the opening period dictated the tempo for the entire game and the Eagles never let the Sharks recover en route to an impressive road victory.

Meanwhile, on Sunday night, the Eagles did not have a walk-in-the-park win like what they had on Friday but they still managed to heat up in time to escape with a hard-earned 101-94 win over Durham Wildcats.

The Wildcats looked poise in pulling off one of the biggest upsets this season after taking a five-point lead heading into the final period.

However, Joe Chapman and Charles Smith came into the rescue as the Eagles turned the tables around in the final period, making huge plays on both ends of the floor to lead their team to their 13th win 14 games this season.

“Durham jumped on us early and played excellent basketball throughout,” said Eagles coach Fab Flournoy. “We really struggled to stop them for most of the game but were just able to string together enough stops in the fourth quarter when it mattered.”

Chapman and Smith racked up 26 points apiece, Andrew Thomson added 17 points and five rebounds, while Paul Gause added 12 points for the Eagles.

Complete BBL Results (January 20-22, 2012)

• Newcastle Eagles 86 – 67 Sheffield Sharks
• Mersey Tigers 66 – 85 Leicester Riders
• Plymouth Raiders 98 – 68 Guildford Hear
• Leicester Riders 75 – 77 MK Lions
• Durham Wildcats 94 – 101 Newcastle Eagles
• Worcester Wolves 97 – 87 Cheshire Jets
• Plymouth Raiders 81 – 75 Cheshire Jets
• Glasgow Rocks 75 – 89 Mersey Tigers