BC “Prometey” – BC “Siauliai” – 87:74 (30:11, 16:23, 25:23, 16:17)
September 6. Control match. Riga. Olympic centre “Rimi”.
BC “Prometey”: Reed, Keene, Sanon, Odiase, Kulboka – starting five; Sydorov, Balvin, Lypovyy (captain), Bobrov, Voinalovych, Belikov.
The series of “Prometey”control matches started with a match against Latvian “Siauliai” before the 2023/2024 season. Our team opposed a mid-level team fron a quite reputable league in Europe. Already next week, “Siauliai” will play their debut match in the Lithuanian championship; therefore, the team should have the needed level of readiness. This fact was confirmed by the victory of today’s “Prometey” rival over the best Latvian club “VEF Riga” in its last sparring. By the way, its first official match of the season, “Siauliai” will play against the EuroCup opponent of Ukrainian club “Wolves Vilnius”.
As for our team, they played today's match with a limited roster, which included Viacheslav Bobrov. Viacheslav is currently searching for a new team, and our newcomers Reed, Keene, Odiase and Kulboka appeared on the court in the starting five. All of them, not long ago, started mastering the game principles of "red-and-white", and today they could continue this process of adjustment to the team right in a full-fledged match.
“Prometey” started with a mighty jerk 10:0 made within the first two minutes. Herewith, Issuf Sanon stood out with two successful three-pointers. Our team’s defence was perfect in the debut part of the match. Within 5 minutes, they missed only 2 points, and within the starting quarter – 11. At the same time, “titans” successfully used the “zone”. +19 according to the results of the first 10-minute segment spoke about the total dominance of Ronen Ginzburg’s team.
In the second quarter, “Siauliai” a little bit adjusted to “Prometey” style of play. However, not that much to change the flow of the game. Tai Odiase successfully acted in the opponent’s “paint”. Overall, our team was very successful in the fight under the opponent’s backboard. Numerous rebounds led to second-chance points; however, before the siren for the long break, Lithuanians still managed to significantly reduce their deficit.
“Siauliai” has proven itself to be a worthy opponent in the second half of the game as well. An equal fight was on the floor during the entire third quarter. “Titans” won it with a difference just by one possession – 25:23. In the debut of the final quarter, the players of “red-and-white” had several turnovers in a row. In the 33rd minute, after the accurate three-pointer by Romanchenko, “Siauliai” reduced the gap to 5 points. However, due to its higher class, "Prometey" did not lose control over the game and drove it to the winning end - 87:74.
Ronen Ginzburg’s team will play their next game already on September 9, also on Riga, against Lithuanian “Juventus”.
