BC Parma-Parimatch (Russia) - BC Prometey - 65:67 (13:20, 15:21, 24:8, 13:18). September 18. Sofia (Bulgaria). "Arena Armiets Sofia". Champions League qualification. Final. Without spectators.
Senior Judge: Boris Krejich (Slovenia); Judges: Wojciech Lichka (Poland), Zdenko Tomasovic (Serbia).
BC Parma-Parimatch: Jushkavichius * (10 + 6 assists), Mejeris * (8), Zhukauskas * (3 + 6 rebounds), Zhmako * (8 + 3 steals), Ponitka * (2), Hill (10) , Parakhovsky (4 + 6 rebounds), Voronov (15 + 6 rebounds), Bulanov, captain (0), Platunov (5).
BC "Prometey": Sydorov * (3), Evans * (6), Dowe * (4 + 4 assists + 3 steals), Harrison * (20 + 6 rebounds), Stephens * (20 + 3 interceptions), Lukashov, captain (3), Campbell (2 + 6 rebounds), Petrov (6 + 7 rebounds + 3 steals), Lypovyy (3 + 3 steals), Belikov (0).
Tonight our "Prometey" and the Russian "Parma-Parimatch" raffled off the last ticket to the group stage of the Champions League. On the eve Romanian "Cluj", Italian "Treviso" and Estonian "Kalev" became three out of four qualifiers of the tournament. Most predictions about the winner of Group "D" of the previous round came down to the fact that one of two roughly equal in class teams will be the 32nd participant in the Champions League.
The reality fully confirmed these predictions, but the match consisted of two completely different halves. The first twenty minutes were marked by the complete dominance of Ronen Ginzburg's team. The opponent took the lead only in the debut of the meeting due to two hits from the perimeter (Adas Juskiewicz and Mykola Zhmako), and then the leadership was seized by the "red and whites" for a long time. For the second game in a row, D'Angelo Harrison was just on fire. His 12 points in the first quarter largely determined the confident victory of Prometey.
In the middle of the second ten minutes after a long throw by DJ Stephens, the handicap of our team in general reached a dozen points - 33:15, but shortly before the big break, "Parma" managed to get a little closer to our team due to a mini-jerk 5:0. Illia Sydorov put a full stop to the quarter with an accurate throw from behind the arc - and it was quite comfortable "+13" for "Prometheus".
After a long break, almost everything changed dramatically. From the 21st to the 23rd minute, the Russian club managed to do an impressive 10:0 jerk, and shortly before the end of the quarter, Alexander Platunov returned the lead to his team in more than 20 minutes (50:49).
It became clear that the result of not only this match, but also of the situation who will get the dream ticket to the main grid of the Champions League, will be defined in a clutch. Teams got into it with a score of 57:54 in favor of "Parma". And just at the most necessary moment, D'Angelo Harrison (5 points) said his weighty word again, which was supported by his interception and subsequent slam dunk by Vyacheslav Petrov and two long-range hits by DJ Stephens.
It was a turning point in the match, which determined that it is exactly our "Prometey" will continue its way in the Champions League! The team made a wonderful gift to all its fans, to itself and to coach Neno, who will celebrate his birthday tomorrow!
