BK IMMOunited Klosterneuburg – MKS Dabrowa Górnicza 56:52 (13:15, 12:15, 16:11, 15:11)
Referees: Ženiš, Margala, Lamoš (all Slovakia)
Attendance: 150
Venue: Dukes Castle
Scorers – Klosterneuburg: Murray-Boyles 14, Bauer 11, B. Blazevic 7, Bavcic 6, Miletic 6, Burgemeister 5, Moschik 3, Jakubowski 2, Leydolf 2
Scorers – Górnicza: Sobin 13, Nowakowski 12, Lewis 10, Moore 5, Piechowicz 4, Motylewski 3, Brenk 2, Mijovič 1, Haney 1, Rajewicz 1
The Dukes already committed more turnovers than Gornicza in the early stages, but kept themselves in the game mainly thanks to their own strength at the rebound. Both teams had problems finding their rhythm in the first quarter. Thus, after the first ten minutes, the low score was 13:15. In the second quarter, both teams were still lacking a bit of competitive practice and many routines were not yet automated. At least it remained an exciting game with the score at 21:21 after five minutes. By the break, the Poles had at least built up a small 5-point lead. After five minutes in the third period, Klosterneuburg took the lead for the first time and the game became more intense. With 41:41 it headed into the decisive last quarter. The Dukes started the final period with a quick 6:0 run, but then lost an important player in their rotation with Predrag Miletic after his fifth foul. In a hard-fought and partly emotional game, Klosterneuburg held their nerve and won their first game in this year’s Alpe Adria Cup.
Post-game quotes:
Chris O’Shea, coach of Klosterneuburg:“It was an offensively very ugly game, defensively, both teams were very aggressive and physical. I am very happy with the way we played at the end. Normally you don’t win with 26 turnovers, but we found a way. Our intent has to be defense first. I also want to apologize for my behavior, it was not acceptable at this time, it’s not how I want to represent myself or the club.”
James Murray-Boyles, player of Klosterneuburg: “I think it was a good game for us, we showed a lot of character with a pretty tough opponent and I´m just glad we came out with a win.”
Jacek Winnicki, coach of Górnicza: “Hard to say anything, congratulations to Klosterneuburg. We played terrible, it was the worst game we played this season and we didn’t deserve to win.”
Steven Haney, player of Górnicza: “It was a low-scoring game, we didn’t play great throughout. Defensively we played pretty well, we had a lot of open shots as a team, but we didn’t take advantage of them. We take it as a learning lesson and come back stronger in the next game.”