Hungarian powerhouse ZTE KK managed to celebrate their first international home game after 21 years. In front of 1100 Fans they won 88:70 against Egoe Basket Brno.
Zalakeramia ZTE KK vs. Egoe Basket Brno
88:70 (16:22, 18:9, 32:21)
Referees: Tibor Kulcsár, Róbert Esztergályos, Patrik Németh (all HUN).
Audience: 1100.
Venue: Zalakerámia Sport- és Rendezvénycsarnok, Zalaegerszeg.
Scorers Zalakeramia ZTE KK: Thompson 22, Ware 17, Szabó 16, Gliebov 8, Durázi 7, Papp 6, Agafonov 4, Gulyás 2, Doktor 2, Kis 2.
Scorers mmcite Brno: Keely 18, Nehyba 14, Roby 7, Kozina 6, Jokl 6, Farsky 6, Stegbauer 4, Hrabovsky 4, Kereselidze 3, Geiger 2.
Gallery & Statistics
ZTE had a 7-2 lead in the first few minutes, but Brno started scoring and they were 14-9 ahead. Zalaegerszeg got many personal fouls and the Czech team managed to get the advantage with free throws. After a fastbreak Keely had a dunk and Brno got a 6 point lead after the first quarter. ZTE made a lot of mistakes both defensively and offensively and their opponent played well.
The home team remained inaccurate also at the beginning of the second quarter. However, Bernard Thompson managed to get some defensive rebounds and after a fastbreak let ZTE reduce the gap. He had six in a row and that meant an equalizer for the home team. Durazi, one of the youngsters of ZTE, had a spectacular block, but at the end of first half Nebyha scored a three-point shot, so the guests were only 3 points down after 20 minutes.
ZTE started well after the break, they scored six points, but Keely got two swish shots from beyond the arc. The Ukrainian center, Agafonov got his 5th personal foul, but the Hungarian team still managed to make the difference bigger, because Thompson had a great night. Dustin Ware also added two three-pointers and ZTE finished with 32 points in just ten minutes, so they got a 14 point-lead.
Brno tried to overcome the disadvantage, but ZTE’s defense was really good throughout the whole game. After Papp’s 3-pointer their lead exceeded 20 points which made their fans going wild. After that the coach, Tamás Bencze could rest his American and Ukrainian players, together with the captain, Zsolt Szabó. Only Hungarian young players were on court in the last 5 minutes. Only one young player remained without points in ZTE. At the end of the game Brno got a bit closer, but ZTE had a solid lead of 18 points to get the well-deserved victory on their first international home game for more than two decades.
The man of the game was Bernard Thompson: the American guard finished with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, while Reginald Keely on the other side had 18 points, 5 fouls against and one block.
Tamás Bencze, head coach of ZTE KK: “We had two plans for tonight: to get the victory and to give our young players as much time on court as possible. They made a few mistakes, but this game was a good test for us before the game on Saturday against one of arch rivals, Falco. We did not play so good in the first half, but it was due to Brno: they fought really well. In the second half our defence got much better, so our offence became better, too. I am pleased that we won this game and wish Brno all the best in the Cup and also in their League.”
Krisztofer Durázi, player of ZTE KK: “After more than 20 years of the last international game of ZTE we definitely wanted to win this game. I am really proud that we had so many fans tonight and we could have our young players on court for about 15 minutes. This is a great feeling to have this victory before the rivalry game of Szombathely coming soon.”
Dejan Jakara, head coach of Brno: “Congratulations to ZTE for the victory. It was very tough to play this game because on Saturday we were beaten by a buzzer in our league. My players still had it in their heads. The first quarter was great for us and then ZTE came out to be more aggressive which meant big problems to us. ZTE can be really proud of this atmosphere, their fans were great tonight. I wish ZTE all the best in the future.”
Jan Kozina, player of Brno: “The Hungarian team was more aggressive, they fought better and wanted to win more than us.I would like to say thanks to their fans, because that was the greatest atmosphere in Alpe-Adria Cup we have seen so far.Congratulations to the team and coach of ZTE, we need to get back to the play we had at our first victory in this Cup.”