MKS Dabrowa Górnicza – BK IMMOunited Dukes 99:63 (24:14, 21:25, 24:15, 30:9)
Referees: Lukas Kapana, Tomas Linhart, Lukas Hartig (all Czech republic)
Attendance: 250
Venue: HWS „Centrum” (Dąbrowa Górnicza, POL)
Scorers – Dabrowa Górnicza: Lewis II 17, Nowakowski 16, Haney and Malgorzaciak each 14, Sobin 11, Czujkowski 8, Motylewski 7, Brenk 6, Piechowicz 5, Rajewicz 1
Scorers – Klosterneuburg: Moschik 15, Murray-Boyles 13, Blazevic 9, Alper 8, Jakubowski and Miletic each 6, Ndukwe 3, Oguamalam 1, Bauer, Burgemeister and Leydolf 0
The guests started the match better. James Murray-Boyles scored 4 points, but MKS quickly caught his rhythm and reached the double-digit lead after 6 minutes. Benjamin Blazevic interrupted the 5-minute series without points for BK IMMOunited Dukes, but the hosts maintained a high advantage. The result of the quarter was set by Alan Czujkowski with 3-point shot. The lead began to reduce in the second quarter, which the Austrian team started on the 8-2 run. In response, Josip Sobin and Filip Malgorzaciak scored 7 points in a row and MKS returned to the high lead again. The guests, however, weren’t going to give up and were systematically reducing the loss. After two free throws, which were converted into points by James Murray-Boyles, players from Dąbrowa Górnicza were leading only 42:39, but just like in the first quarter, the last word belonged to MKS, and points were scored by Michal Nowakowski.
The second half started with a fight point by point. Nevertheless, MKS was slowly building up an ever greater advantage again. After 5 minutes, the hosts were in the double-digit lead again. At the end of the quarter, Mike Lewis had a good entry onto the floor with a steal and 4 points, thanks to which MKS was leading 69:54. The last 10 minutes of the game were very good for MKS. Aggressive defense allowed to stop the guests on 9 points, and quick play in attack allowed to fight many fouls, which translated into a point from the free-throw line. Filip Malgorzaciak recorded a very good quarter with 8 points, and Wiktor Rajewicz set the result of the match with a free throw.
Post-game quotes:
Jacek Winnicki, coach of Dabrowa Górnicza: “In our difficult situation, each victory is very important, I am very happy that the players were motivated, they really wanted to win this game. We played aggressively, with a lot of energy from the very beginning. We built a huge advantage in the second half and I’m very happy about this victory.”
Alan Czujkowski, player of Dabrowa Górnicza: “We started our poor game with the away game in Austria. We played a very weak one there, which started a series of weak performances. I hope that today’s rematch with the team from Austria will end the series. We played a good game. We missed such a won match. I think we’ll play better after this match because a lot was going on in our heads.”
Christopher O’Shea, coach of Klosterneuburg: “MKS had a very good game. They played physically and aggressive. For us the game was very important to spread the play time for all players, especially for younger guys. At the end of the day, with 25 turnovers, it’s hard to play. For us is very important learning experience and how to develop as a team.”
