BC "Prometey" - BC "Lietkabelis Panevezys" (Lithuania) - 82:71 (22:17, 21:14, 16:22, 23:18). October 12. 7DAYS EuroCup group tournament. Group A. 1st round. Riga (Latvia). "Arena Riga".
BC "Prometey": Kennedy* (8), Stephens* (15 + 9 rebounds), Balvin* (0), Sydorov* (5), Clavell* (20), Agada (16 + 7 assists + 4 steals), Lypovyy (7), Lukashov, captain (0), Tkachenko (0), Hogue (6 + 8 rebounds), Sanon (5).
BC "Lietkabelis Panevezys": Morris* (8), Peno* (8 + 4 assists), Sakic* (14), Maldunas* (12 + 7 rebounds), Murauskas* (2), Rubstavicius (2), Lipkevicius (5 ), Holoman (5), Kullamae (13), Grichyunas (2).
Another tournament 7DAYS EuroCup started on October 11 with four matches. Today, our “Prometey” started playing in this prestigious continental club competition with a match against Lithuanian club “Lietkabelis Panevezys”. Yet before the start of the EuroCup, Ronen Ginzburg’s team was recognised as one of the favourites of the tournament, irrespective of the status of debutante. For instance, the authoritative portal Eurohoops ranked the Ukrainian club in sixth place in its pre-season Power Rankings, explaining this choice with the words that “Prometey” has absolutely everything to win the competition.
Our rival Lithuanian “Lietkabelis Panevezys” was not assessed so high. However, the head coach of “Prometey” Ronen Ginzburg underlined that this club holds high positions in their homeland and Lithuania has the reputation of a basketball country for many decades. Right from the start of the match, it became clear, that confrontation with this opponent wouldn’t be easy for our team. Quite a successful start of “Prometey” (4:0) did not upset Lithuanians. First five minutes were for them (11:6), and they were mostly in lead for the next several minutes. Our team unsuccessfully attacked from the perimeter, however compensated for it with tough defense and rapid offense. These components allowed them to eliminate the gap and get ahead in the last minute of the quarter. Accurate three-pointer by Oleksandr Lypovyy established the advantage of our team at “+5” (22:17) a few seconds before the first break.
In the second ten-minute period, the course of the confrontation did not change. The teams demonstrated viscous, nervous and low-scoring basketball with considerable number of mistakes. In first four minutes of the quarter, both teams together were able to score only 9 points (4 – by “Prometey”). However, in the second half of the quarter, there was complete domination of the “red and white”. Caleb Agada stood out with his play in this segment. He not only scored but also successfully assisted his partners, first of all DJ Stephens. It was DJ who, for the first time in this match, in a rapid dash set up a 10-point advantage for “Prometey”, so that the teams went for a long break with “+12” for the representative of Ukraine.
This handicap almost fully melted away in the starting six minutes of the third quarter. The team of the Serbian coach Nenad Canak started to effectively attack from the perimeter and the gap became minimal (49:50) after another accurate shot by Romanian big man Goloman. At this moment, Ronen Ginzburg took a time-out, which appeared to be useful for our team. A spurt 7:0 allowed our guys to move a little ahead, and before the last quarter, “Prometey” led by 6 points.
At the beginning of the last quarter, Illia Sydorov shone with 5 points in a row, and then in 33rd minute Gian Clavell successfully realised 3 free throws and restore the gap of “+12”. Our team continued keeping the Lithuanian opponent at a distance and, as a result, obtained, probably, not such a bright but, a definitely needed and historic victory – 82:71!
Already next Saturday, on October 15, “Prometey” switches to the Latvian-Estonian league again. On the court of the Olimpic Centre Rimi they will host BC “VEF Riga”.
Natural mineral water “Vitautas” is the official hydration partner of BC “Prometey”!
