Zielona Gora beat Avtodor at home – 98:91 (28:22, 21:28, 29:18, 20:23)
Top scorers
Zielona Gora: Joe Thomasson (19) ,George King (18), Ludvig Hakanson (16+6 assists), Ivica Radic (15+13 rebounds), Tony Meier (12+7 rebounds)
Avtodor: Mouhammadou Jaiteh (18+9 rebounds), Ryan Boatright (16+6 assists), Orlando Johnson (16), Isaiah Hicks (11+8 rebounds), Alexey Babushkin (10), Nikita Mikhailovskii (10)
Story
With six defeats in a row, Avtodor spent the first game under the leadership of Donaldas Kairys. Zielena Gora also sought to return to the play-off zone. The guests began actively, but after a run of 9:0, Zan Tabak’s team pulled ahead. Avtodor came back with two accurate threes in a row, but Zielona Gora already felt confident in their abilities, and after the buzzer of George King they finished the first quarter with a score of 28:22 in their favor. In the second quarter, the hosts continued to stay ahead, despite the power plays from Ryan Boatright and Alexey Babushkin. But Avtodor nevertheless left as the lead for a long break – shortly before the whistle, Markel Starks made the guests ahead. 50:49.
Третья четверть саратовцам явно не удалась. 13 очков за 10 минут в исполнении Джорджа Кинга позволили «Зелене Гуре» переломить ситуацию и организовать перед заключительным игровым отрезком двузначный перевес – 78:68.The third quarter was clearly failed by Avtodor. 13 points in 10 minutes scored by George King let Zielona Gora turn the tables and organize a double-digit advantage before the final quarter – 78:68.
Key moment
But it was too early to celebrate the victory. The successful actions of the bench led to the fact that Avtodor began to slowly but surely catch up with the Zielona Gora . Orlando Johnson’s drives and activity under the hoop by Mouhammadou Jaiteh – and the hosts’ advantage has quietly melted away (85:83), and their leader in this game, George King, was fouled out. However, in the deck of Zan Tabak there were jokers for the ending – Jaroslaw Zyskovski was especially scoring and made 5 points two minutes before the final buzzer. That in fact became crucial – Avtodor no longer had time to come back. Zielona Gora is returning to the top eight, while the Saratov have 7 defeats in a row.
Hero
Ivica Radic. The Croatian showed his strength to terrifying duo Isaiah Hicks and Mouhammadou Jaiteh, collecting 13 rebounds including 6 offensive. Adding 15 points Radic made his second double-double this season.
Stat
56% and 13 for 23 attempts – extraordinary accuracy of Polish players from down town. It’s interesting that Avtodor was good too – 50% (11 for 22).
Comments
Zielona Gora head coach Zan Tabak:
– We were motivated and ready, now I am very proud that we were able to win. At the same time, in half of the situations on the court, decisions that were made I did not understand. With an advantage of 10 points, we must increase it to 15, 20. Actually, we do not.
Avtodor head coach Donaldas Kairys:
– Congratulations to Zielona Gora, they are a well-organized team that can play in defense. We are learning a lot now. I try to find out more about the team, the team try to get to know me. I like how my players act individually, but we should not lose the rebound with such athletic bigs.
Next
Zielona Gora: March 1 vs PARMA
Avtodor: February 29 at Tsmoki-Minsk
