Zielona Gora beat Avtodor on the road – 89:86 (28:25, 20:23, 26:23, 15:15).
Top scorers
Avtodor: Markel Starks (18 + 7 assists), Orlando Johnson (18 + 6 rebounds), Elgin Cook (13 + 5 rebounds).
Zielona Gora: Marcel Ponitka (21), Tony Meier (15 + 5 assists), Joe Thomasson (14).
Story
Zielona Gora has already played two games of the season suffering losses from the Big-Five, meanwhile Avtodor has only made its debut. The game started with three-pointers shootout – 11:9 for Zielona Gora. It never seemed like a defensive game. Five players of visitors team made three-pointers winning the first quarter 28:25. Avtodor’s aggression and domination in the paint (23-14, 12:3 second chance points) were neutralized by Zielona Gora’s team play (12 assists), accuracy (7 of 14 2- and 3-pointers) and performance of Marcel Ponitka (16 points). The hosts were driven by Orlando Johnson (12) and Nikita Mikhailovskii (9) two three-pointers of whom even got the lead for Avtodor. However, the halftime score was 48:48.
The lead was changing after the break. The balance of the third quarter was destroyed by Ludvig Hakanson’s three-pointer – 74:71 before the final quarter.
Key moment
Avtodor caught Zielona Gora after Markel Starks’ mid-range shot. The decisive 5 minutes started with equal chances (81:81) which turned the safe mode on. Saratov finally took the lead with Isaiah Hicks and Mouhammadou Jaiteh’s free throws (86:85). However, Joe Thomasson decided it all responding with two shots – and one of them was on the edge of 24 seconds, 33 seconds before the buzzer (87:86). Avtodor nearly came from behind, but Starks’ shot touched the rim and bounced to the court. Rayvonte Rice tried to save the game from beyond the arc 7 seconds before the buzzer, right after free throws of Hakanson (86:89). His bailout attempt didn’t help, and Zielona Gora got the first win of the season.
Stat
2-1. Zielona Gora took the lead in standoff against Avtodor (1-1 in last season). There’s only one more standoff where the Polish team have the lead (2-0 against PARMA).
Hero
Joe Thomasson. The guard had 22 minutes to make 5 of 8 field goals and score 14 points. His two shots in the end were crucial to the result.
Comment
Avtodor head coach Evgeny Pashutin:
The first game is always tough. We prepared, but still couldn’t perform well, especially in the first half when we allowed 48 points. We knew the opponent, but were not focused enough to work everywhere on the court and allowed open shots. We were not mature enough to press the opponent when we got the lead. We have to work on defense, ball movement and team play.
Zielona Gora head coach Zan Tabak:
This win is very important to us. We got it thanks to our teamwork. We had 5 games in last 2 weeks, so it’s precious to end this tour with a road win over strong opponent like Avtodor. We risked in the end of the game, and it was worth it.
Photo
