BC “Prometey” – BC “London Lions” (Great Britain) – 87:99 (30:19, 15:29, 22:17, 24:19). October 18. BKT EuroCup. 3 round. Riga (Latvia). Arena Riga.
BC “Prometey”: Agada*(16), Kelly*(6), Tkachenko*(4), Keene*(18 + 5 assists), Odiase*(13), Sydorov, captain (3), March (12), Bobrov (2), Balvin (10 + 11 rebounds), Lypovyy (3), Petrov (0).
BC “London Lions”: Olaseni*(10), Philip*(8 + 8 assists), Matt Morgan*(21), Dekker*(17), Grantham*(17 + 11 rebounds), Soluade (0), Taylor (2), Conor Morgan (15), Nelson (7), Sharma (2).
In the programme of the BKT EuroCup third week in Group A, the confrontation “Prometey” – “London Lions” looked one of the most competitive. Ukrainian club, probably, should have been considered the favourite in this battle the more that it was the hosting team. However, the absence of Prometey’s key players Davon Reed and Issuf Sanon balanced the chances of the teams.
“Prometey” started quite mighty – 9:2 within the first two minutes. Herewith, “titans” hit from the perimeter, in fast offence and after successful rebounds on the opponent’s glass. During the entire starting quarter, many game components worked for the hosts of the court, first of all, attacks from the perimeter were excellent. Within the first ten-minute segment, 5 players at once buried long-range shots with great team percentage of shooting conversion – 62.5. The duo Sydorov-Bobrov capped the quarter in a spectacular way – 30:19 in favour of “Prometey”.
The second quarter demonstrated the British club is not going to give up. In the middle of the quarter, their lag was just 2 points (37:39). Four minutes after Matt Morgan aced two foul shots his team took the lead (44:43). Our team’s players started failing in field shots. In one of attacks, they failed to hit the rival’s rim 5 times. “London Lions” absolutely deserved to go to the long break as the leader – 48:45 in their favour.
Nothing changed in the game after the long break. The game went as guests dictated and, in the 28th minute, the handicap of “London Lions” reached 14 points – 71:57. However, “Prometey” had more than enough time for comeback. The “titans” started catching up with the opponent back in the third quarter: before the last break, their lag reduced to 8 points.
In the final ten-minute segment, after Marcus Keene struck twice from behind the arc, deficit of “red-and-white” reduced – 72:76. In the 34th minute Keene missed the three-pointer, however Ronald March supported him with the rebound. His “2+1” led to just slight leadership of “London Lions” (78:77).
Unfortunately, “titans” did not manage to make a decisive effort although, even in the last minute, the result of the match was a big question. “Prometey” lost with a score of 87:99 – the first home defeat of the “titans” this season.
