Inter Bratislava – BK ARMEX Děčín 88:81 (21:12, 18:21, 24:26, 25:22)
Referees: Radonjic, Lucaciu, Stojic (all Austria)
Attendance: 100
Venue: ŠH SOŠ (Pezinok)
Scorers – Inter: Slavinskas 20, Gandia-Rosa 19, Zubac 17, Blondin 12, T. Malovec 11, M. Malovec 9, Boros, Koller, Minarovjech, Orihel and Randuška 0)
Scorers – Děčín: Nichols and Šiška each 16, Kroutil 15, Mach 10, Prahl 9, Žikla 6, Sertič 4, Bobek 3, Svoboda 2, Rozsypal and Vlasák 0
Děčín scored the first four points, but then Inter took over the command. Yellow and black were more aggressive and played high-tempo offense. The home team was +9 three times during the first quarter and +10 twice during the second period. But shortly before half-time Děčín scored seven in a row, so it came really close, 36:33, but Gandia-Rosa made a three-pointer in the final seconds, and Inter won the first half 39:33.
Děčín made some mistakes in defending Zubac and Slavinskas and Inter punished the Czechs repeatedly. The margin was +15 in the 25th minute and again in the 26th minute. Czech team made some stops, utilized it´s centimeters and kilos on low-post, scored some threes and came closer. The score was 63:59 after three quarters. In the last period Děčín fought hard, came even closer – 69:68 and 70:68. But then lost concentration for a while, Inter scored nine in a row, was 79:70 and headed for a win.
Post-game quotes:
Edgars Jaunzems, assistant coach of Inter: “Great win at home, first of all. I mean, we should have won by a little bit more than by seven points. But okay, we did a good job at offense, we scored a lot. But again, our defense is still not where we want it to be.“
Matúš Malovec, player of Inter: “It´s an international competition with its prestige. We went into the game with the outright goal of winning the game. It was also the Slovak-Czech derby, so I’m satisfied with the fact we won the first game.“
Tomáš Grepl, coach of Děčín: “We started floppy, it seemed as if we weren’t prepared for the game. Maybe long journey played the role, but it´s not the excuse. Since the second quarter we’ve improved our game, played slightly better and hoped that the second half will be played at a different tempo. But Inter played at a high tempo during the entire game and it was crucial.“
Martin Mach, player of Děčín: “We lost the game in the first half. We were sleepy. It´s not the way we could enter the game. We fought hard since the third period, came closer, but then we hadn´t luck at all while the opponent had, and scored. We weren’t able to come closer again.“
Photo: Vladimír Dorňák
