It was up for grabs until the final minutes

Sopron Basket – Dinamo Kurszk 61-74 (17-18, 20-14, 13-21, 11-21)
Sopron

Sopron Basket: January 12/3, Fegyverneky -, Crvendakic 13, Brooks 19/9, Határ 4 Sub.: Dupree 9, Jovanovic 4, Dubei -

Dinamo Kurszk: Prince 23/9, Kirillova 5, Bonner 20/6, Ndour 11/3, Vidmer - Sub.: McCoughtry 7, Breland 8, Baric -, Anoikina -

Stats

FGS: 25/59 42% ill. 27/55 49%

3-PTS: 4/13 31% ill. 6/19 32%

FTS: 7/10 70% ill. 14/18 78%

Rebounds: 27 (Crvendakic 7) ill. 33 (Ndour, Bonner 6-6)

Assists: 18 (Fegyverneky 8) ill. 10 (Baric 3)

Steals: 8 (Crvendakic 4) ill. 11 (Bonner 4)

Turnovers: 17 ill. 19

Faults: 18 ill. 16

EF: 63 (Crvendakic 16) ill. 78 (Bonner, Prince 20-20)

Betti got the game going with a lay-up off an assist by Briann, to which Prince answered back right away with a lay-up of her own. We kept attacking, and after a triple by Jeca our lead was at five points already. Four minutes into the game Kursk called their first time-out to try and stop us from scoring (4th minute 11-4). The guests came closer after the short break, but Jeca restoed the difference with a double, and Briann was able to even stretch it further. Bonner made a bucket to get Kursk closer to us, and with a triple by Ndour they were able to take the lead forcing Dávid Gáspár to call a time-out (15-16). After the brief pause both temas scored once again setting the score for the first period (10th minute 17-18).


Tina opened the second quarter with a double, to which McCoughtry answered back likewise. Aleks converted two free throws after drawing an unsportsmanlike foul on Kirillova, to which Jeca added two more. Then after a made lay-up by Betti it was the Russians’ turn to call time again (15th minute 28-23)! The guests came back down to a single point deficit after the break, forcing Dávid Gáspár to call his next time-out (28-27). Ndour beat the buzzer for a lay-up when coming back on court, to which Jeca answered back with a double of her own, and then gave an assist to Candice. After that she hit a demoralizing three. The first half ended with a five-point home lead (20th minute 37-32).


Breland made a jumper to start the second half, to which Briann answered back from mid-range. Kursk reduced the gap to two with a corner three by Bonner (23rd minute 39-37). A bit later Prince hit one from downtown to get back down to a single-point deficit. What’s more, Breland managed to make a lay-up after an offensive rebound to get Kursk ahead, and when Prince added another lay-up, Dávid Gáspár called his team to the bench for a time-out (26th minute 41-44). Ndour stretched Kursk’s lead even further with a double after the short pause, to which Prince added another one. With two minutes left in the period the difference has reached double digits for the first time in the game (41-51). That’s when Briann did magic and came up with a four-point play to cut into our deficit, while Bonner split a pair of free throws at the other end. We finished the third period with a 9-2 run keeping our hopes alive for the rest of the match (30th minute 50-53).


Breland got the final stage of the game going with a mid-range jumper, to which Briann answered back with a double of her own, and then Betti came up with a huge block on Bonner (52-55). Ndour hit twice from the foul line. Then Briann got the second unsportsmanlike foul called on her which meant the game ended for her. Candice and Aleks both managed to score after that, reduceing the gap to two with a bit more than six minutes left on the game clock, but then Bonner went in for a lay-up forcing our next time-out (34th minute 56-60). Jeca hit a huge three after the break to get back to a single-point deficit, but then Prince made a double to hold us off, and then Bonner hit one from just inside the three-point line, and then she converted an and-one. Then Prince went in for a lay-up and increased Kursk’s lead to the double-digits again (59-69). In the final minutes we tried to come closer but Kursk wouldn’t let the advantage slip for their fingers and won the game (40th minute 61-74).

Dávid Gáspár: Congratulations to our opponents. It was a tough game! The lost hurts a little now, we wanted to win. However, I am proud of my players, we played against one of the top teams in Euroleague. We were unable to score in key situations, and made many unforced errors. We couldn't take the chances we created. We came off the court with our head held high, and we will do everything for the win in Schio. But before that we have an important game in the league coming up at the weekend against PEAC. We'll keep working!

Jelena Brooks: Congratulations to Kursk! It was a physical battle right from the beginning. We couldn't keep up the level of play after the half-time break. Kursk punished all of our mistakes, and built up a double-digit lead very quickly, from which it was hard to come back. We'll see what happens, we will prepare for the final round the best way we can.

Momir Tasic: We finally won an away game. We tried to rotate 7-8 players in the first half, but it didn't work. We were ready to play with fewer players after the break. Not everyone was healthy, we were missing Zhedik. Sopron is a great team, they play one of the most interesting style of basketball in Euroleague. We tried to prepare for when they had four post players on court. What decided the game was that we managed to cut down on our turnovers after the break. Congratulations to both teams!

Epiphanny Prince: It was a physical game. Sopron is a great team, but we managed to turn the game our way with a better performance after the break.