Zielona Gora beat PARMA at home – 106:88 (29:24, 24:23, 20:17, 33:24).
Top scorers
Zielona Gora: Joe Thomasson (21 + 7 assists), Drew Gordon (18 + 13 rebounds + 3 steals), Jaroslaw Zyskowski (15), Przemyslaw Zamojski (12), Tony Meier (12), Marcel Ponitka (11 + 3 steals), Ludvig Hakanson (11).
PARMA: Arnett Moultrie (17 + 8 rebounds), Eigirdas Zukauskas (17), Adas Juskevicius (11 + 8 assists), Maxim Grigoryev (10).
Story
From the very beginning both teams were showing spectacular offence. The crucial part for each team were three-pointers. Rivals hit 9 threes in the first quarter combined. The hosts were more successful in this aspect. They hit 5 of 7 from beyond the arc, which let Zielona Gora win the first quarter – 29:24.
In the second quarter the Polish started to use their big men in offence. Makes from the paint by Gordon, Meier and Radic let the hosts maintain high numbers. However, Perm with the biggest star on its roster Moultrie (12 and 4 rebounds) didn’t let them gain a big lead. Zielona Gora led in double digits in the middle of the second (45:34), but the Russians cut it twice to the halftime break – 47:53.
Third quarter started with hosts’ 8-0 run. Most time of the third the Polish were keeping a comfortable lead, but at some moment guests hit a few threes in a row. Long range shots by Zukauskas, Williams and Juskevicius let PARMA cut lead to just 4 before the final quarter – 69:73.
Key Moment
But Perm didn’t manage to cool the hosts down. Zielona Gora paced up and made another run in quick basketball. Zamojski and Thomasson arranged this pace up. They scored 14 points combined, and 2 and a half minutes away from buzzer Zielona Gora’s lead was significant – 96:82. PARMA stopped persisting and the hosts easily turned this game into W.
Hero
Joe Thomasson. The guard proved that he is the best scorer on the roster. He became the best scorer (21 points) and assist leader (7 assists) on his team’s roster. Furthermore, he was on of the creators of final winning run.
Stat
106 – Zielona Gora beat its scoring record this season. Before this game the Polish had never scored more than 89 points.
Comments
Zielona Gora’s head coach Zan Tabak:
– I’m really proud of my players. We hadn’t enough time to recover after National Championship game but we managed to play confidently and hard. At some point we face troubles with scoring, but our defence was good, and we didn’t let them cut the lead.
PARMA’s head coach Kazys Maksvytis:
– Congratulations to Zielona Gora. Our opponent was better tonight, had a better field goal percentage, had more opportunities on second-chance points after rebounds. I’m surprised that we scored 88 points and still lost. That says a lot about our defence.
Next
Zielona Gora: November 16, on the road against Nizhny Novgorod
PARMA: November 11, on the road against Nizhny Novgorod
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