Enisey beat Kalev at home – 86:73 (22:26, 18:11, 30:18, 16:18).
Top scorers:
Enisey: Garlon Green (17 + 6 rebounds), Nikola Rebic (15), Tomislav Zubcic (13), Artem Komissarov (11), Aleksandr Gudumak (10+ 6 rebounds)
Kalev: Aigars Skele (14 + 6 rebounds + 5 assists), Michael Finke (13), Stan Sokk (12), Kristjan Kitsing (10), Kyle Vinales (10), Janari Joesaar (6 + 11 rebounds)
Story
The teams started this game on different poles of the table. However, there actually was only one victory between Kalev ranked fifth (7-8) and Enisey ranked 11th (6-9) which spiced the intrigue of the game,
The first quarter could not define a leader. With Berry and Lewis missing the game the hosts used the big guys and scored from the paint (14 points). Meanwhile, the Estonians chose long-range offense which brought more points. Sokk who came from the bench sank three three-pointers to build Kalev’s lead 26:22
Enisey turned things around in the second quarter. The guests were not as lucky with the shots which made Kalev’s offense less efficient. At the same time, with the intensity of the game, Enisey as well were not that hot in the offense. The defense was what mattered. Teams jointly scored only 29 points in the second period. Enisey won the first half 40:37.
Mitusov started the second half with a steal and a fast break. Garlon Green joined the movement. The forward made rebounds, scored and assisted (8 pts and 2 assists). Komissarov was another joker of the Siberians. He contributed to Enisey’s lead 70:55 before the final quarter.
Key moment
The fourth period had a lot of struggle, movement and desire, but lacked points. The guests dominated the major part of the quarter, but didn’t manage do make a real comeback. The decisive episode was when Green, Rebic and Zubcic made a 6:0 run to restore double-digit lead 90 seconds to the buzzer (84:71). It was done.
Hero
Garlon Green. Top scorer (17 points), most efficient (23 points). His performance was the basis of Enisey’s decisive run in the third.
Comment
Enisey head coach Drazen Anzulovic:
“Crucial win for us. Tonight we were a team. It was a big challenge though, after all the problems we faced. We respected the opponent, because we knew we’d meet a very strong team that recently won in St. Petersburg.”
Kalev head coach Robert Stelmahers:
“Congrats to Enisey. The deserved that victory beacause they fought. I can’t say we didn’t, but we lacked something, we couldn’t make our shots. We have to maintain high level to beat VTB League teams. I guess it’s not that day.”
Stat
5. Enisey stopped two 5-games losing streaks: VTB League games and games against Kalev. The last time they beat Kalev was February 19, 2017.
Next
Enisey: March 1 vs Astana
Kalev: February 13 at CSKA
Photo
