Double over Kursk completed

Dynamo Kursk - Sopron Basket 73-77 (19-15, 25-14, 12-27, 17-21)
Kursk

Dynamo Kursk: Baric 3/3, Ogunbowale 5/3, O. Frolkina 10, Shabanova -, Lisec 13/3 Sub.: Howard 26/12, E. Frolkina 9/9, Prince 4, Kozik 3/3

Sopron Basket: January 11/3, Fegyverneky 4, Williams 20/9, Brooks 17/9, Határ 14 Sub.: Varga A. 5, Gaye 4, Jovanovic 2, Czukor -

Statistics

FGS: 28/70 40% ill. 30/62 48%

3-PTS: 11/25 44% ill. 7/14 50%

FTS: 6/7 86% ill. 10/14 71%

Rebounds: 28 (Howard 12) ill. 32 (Brooks 8)

Assists: 25 (Kozik 6) ill. 21 (Fegyverneky, Williams 6-6)

Steals: 8 (Prince 3) ill. 4

Turnovers: 11 ill. 13

Faults: 19 ill. 16

EFF: 91 (Howard 37) ill. 96 (Határ 22)

We opened the game almost the same way we did in Sopron – with an early scoring run, which gave us the lead forcing Vasiliy Karasev to call his team to the bench for a time-out (4th minute 2-8). After that the home side answered back with a run of their own right away, reducing the gap between the teams to one, and then they even managed to take over the lead (9-8). Then cane an exchange of buckets between Jeca and Lisec, to which Pricen added a lay-up forcing head coach Dávid Gáspár to call his first time-out in the game (7th minute 14-11). In the last few minutes we managed to come back to a one-point differential, but then the Russians were able to pull further away again (10th minute 19-15).


Alíz got the second period going with a double, but at the other end Kursk came up with a hige scoring run as a response – in over four minutes they built up a double-digit advantage, which made Dávid Gáspár call his team to the bench to talk things over (15th minute 31-19). Unfortunately, our shots weren’t falling afterwards either, which resulted in a seventeen-point Kursk lead – the biggest difference in the game so far – but in the last seconds of the half we managed to cut into it with some nice offensive possessions (20th minute 44-29).


Betti began the third period with a double, to which she then added another one off an assist by Zsófi. After that Jeca stretched our scoring run even further reducing the gap to single digits again, and when Betti was able to score one more time, Vasiliy Karasev called a time-out (24th minute 44-37). We kept delivering on both ends of the court after the time-out – first, Gabby made a triple from the corner, and then she drew a foul under the rim, following which she made one of two from behind the free throw line (44-41). After that our French-American player was also able to hit the mark from outside tying the game up, and then she also handed out an assist to Jeca for the lead (25th minute 44-47)! Then over five minutes into the quarter Prince managed to score Kursk’s firt points since the half-time break, but at the other end Betti answered back with two successful free throws right away. A bit later Howard hit a triple to tie the game up again, and with a mid-range double she even gave the lead back to Kursk (28th minute 51-49). Even though the Russians did eveything to pull away from us again, we wouldn’t let that happen and went into the last short break with a tie-game (30th minute 56-56)!


Howard got the final stage of the game going with a double, to which Lisec added a lay-up. It was a real shoot-out at the beginning of the period, during which neither side was able to take control of the game (33rd minute 62-62). After that Aby fought hard for an offensive rebound, and then put it back for two, to which Bri added another double. Following that Olga Frolkina managed to score from mid-range, while at the other end Gabby made two out of three from the charity stripe. However, Olga Frolkina kept delivering on offense, and reduced the gap to two again, forcing Dávid Gáspár’s next time-out (37th minute 66-68). Olga Frolkina drew a foul on Betti coming back on the court for three free throws, of which she made two, while at the other end Betti made a lay-up. After that Zsófi made a double, to which Jeca added a huge demoralizing three, forcing Kursk to call a time-out (68-75). Howard made a triple from way downtown after the short pause, to which Prince added a lay-up, forcing our last time-out in the game with nine seconds on the game clock (73-75). Then Jeca made two free throws, setting the final score in the game (40th minute 73-77)!

Dávid Gáspár: I am very happy, because those who watched the game, saw two opposite halves! In the first half we were not competitve enough, we didn’t follow our strategy, and paid attention to other things than the game. In the second half the players proved it for themselves, how they have to play, how to follow the strategy, and how to play smart basketball. At the same time Kursk didn’t give up, and they are a really tough team, and playing them on their home court was a huge challenge, so we are really happy because we had plenty of problems in the previous weeks, but we managed to get back from them.

Jelena Brooks: "It is amazing that we won this game! We started off softly, but came out with a lot of energy in the second half, which led to this win."