Great team effort brings second win in Euroleague

VBW ARKA Gdynia - Sopron Basket 71-86 (19-20, 18-27, 19-23, 15-16)
Gdansk

VBW ARKA Gdynia: Kastanek 13/9, Lundquist 4, Kunek 23/9, Bertsch 17/3, Begic 8 Sub.: ernies 2, Borkowska 2, Podgorna 2

Sopron Basket: Fegyverneky 12, Jovanovic 18/9, Williams 8/3, Varga A. 15/9, Határ 18 Sub.: Gaye 12, Varga S. 3

Statistics

FGS: 27/57 47% ill. 36/62 58%

3-PTS: 7/18 39% ill. 7/18 39%

FTS: 10/11 91% ill. 7/9 78%

Rebounds: 23 (Lundquist 7) ill. 33 (Határ 11)

Assists: 21 (Kunek 11) ill. 20 (Fegyverneky 6)

Steals: 6 ill. 9

Turnovers: 13 ill. 11

Faults: 16 ill. 13

EFF: 78 (Kunek 30) ill. 112 (Határ 30)

Betti got the game going off an assist by Gabby, to which Begic answered back from inside the paint, and with two more successful possessions Gdynia took over the lead (2nd minute 7-2). After that Neca split a pair of shots at the foul line, while at the other end the home side were able to score again. Our Serbian guard also hit a triple, to which Zsófi added one of her signature mid-range doubles to cut our deficit down to a single point, but the Polish always remained one step ahead of us (6th minute 11-10). After that Aby got us into a leading position again, following which the sides were advancing neck and neck, and there were lead changes in practically every possession (17-14). However, we ended the first period with a 6-2 run which put us ahead for the time being (10th minute 19-20).


Neca opened the second quarter with a nice long double from the corner, to which Kastanek answered back with a two of her own. Then our guard managed to score again, to which Gabby added a triple, increasing our lead to six (12th minute 21-27). It was a real shoot-out at the beginning of the period, but we were able to hold on to our advantage. By the middle of the quarter we were still ahead, since we always had answers to whatever Gdynia tried (16th minute 30-37). The Polish were able to score a double after the short pause, to which Alíz answered back with a triple, and when she hit once again, Gdynia called a time-out (35-43). The first half ended with a double by Aby from close inside the paint which gave us a double-digit advantage (20th minute 37-47).


We started the second half with an 8-3 run forcing the Polish coaching staff to call their team to the bench to talk things over again (23rd minute 40-55). Gdynia scored two quick buckets after the short pause, to which Kunke added two free throws as well cutting their deficit down to single digits, and when they came back to being down by just seven, it was head coach Dávid Gáspár’s turn to talk to his team at the bench (48-55). Bertsch made two foul shots for Gdynia to get her team even closer to ours, before Zsófi managed to score from mid-range, and then Aby beat her defender for a lay-up. In the next few minutes we held on to a double-digit advantage ahead of the last period (30th minute 56-70).


Alíz got the final stage of the game going with a huge triple, to which Neca added a nice jumper from the foul line, before Kastanek drained a three for Gdynia (33rd minute 59-75). Kastanek hit another triple for the Polish after the break, to which Gabby answered back with a three-point play. With four minutes left on the clock we were chasing a twenty-point advantage, but Gdynia managed to hit another triple to stop our run and force our next time-out (37th minute 67-82). We were able to hold on until the end, securing our second win in a row in Euroleague (40th minute 71-86).

Dávid Gáspár: I am so proud of the team! We got another important win in Euroleague. We played on a high level tonight! Even though we were playing below our expectations on defense, we had some great moments on offense. Everyone came in well, and followed the game plan.

Nevena Jovanovic: I am proud of our performance tonight, we fought well from the first second until the last! It was our second game and our second win on the road. I am glad we showed that we can be strong in this group. Everyone was doing their job, we worked as a team, and that is what we will have to keep doing!