Egis Körmend vs. BK ARMEX Decin
103:78 (35:20, 58:44, 90:55)
Referees: Tamás Boros, Zoltán Benedek, Péter Lovas (all HUN).
Audience: 1038.
Venue: Körmend Sports Hall (HUN).
Scorers Egis Körmend: Bradford 16, Hammonds 16, Delas 14, Ferencz 14, Németh 12, McNeail 10, Takács , Lajsz 6, Price 4, Oroszi 3, Balogh.
Scorers BK ARMEX Decin: Jezek 18, Pomokalek 12, Festr 11, Landa 10, Autrey 9, Carlson 6, Kroutil 5, Grunt 5, Zikla 2.
Gallery & Statistics
When Egis Körmend and BK ARMEX Decin first played against each other in the Czech Republic, it was Decin who finished the game with a victory and have an advantage of 17 points. Although Decin have played 5 games while Körmend played only 4, both teams are very strong and have won all but one of their games in group A. Tonight, when the return leg takes place, it will turn out whether the hosts will be able to win against the visitors on their home court with more than 17 points and have the possibility to qualify for the next round.
Recently some changes have occurred at Egis Körmend. A player left and Csorvási cannot play because of his injury but most importantly, the head coach has been replaced. This will be the first time the new coach, Matthias Zollner, has put his team out on court.
Decin got the jump ball and they managed to score the first basket with Pomikalek’s lay-up. Körmend did not wait long, they tied with McNeail’s lay-up. After some free throws and Hamonds’ 2 point jump shot the hosts led by 6 points in the first two minutes of the game. Although the visitors’s managed to chip away at the lead, thanks to the home team’s more accurate shooting and good defence they had their 10 point lead just three minutes before the end of this period with Ferencz’s shot from behind the arc.
The second quarter started with the basket of a young player, Balogh. Körmend continued their aggressive play and took an advantage of 17 points, but after Decin requested for a timeout the opponent team were able to decrease the difference, however it was not enough to tie the game. There were some peaks and downs on both sides, later the hosts managed to came back into game, controlling the rest of the period and going into halftime carrying a 14 point lead.
At the beginning of the second half Körmend carried on their energetic play while Decin seemed to lose their rhythm and control of the game. By the third minute the home team had a 20 point advantage, which after a 10-2 run increased 28 points. Decin could not catch up with the hosts, who were unstoppable and outscored the visitors 32-11 in this period.
The fourth quarter was opened with a more concentrated play of Decin who had a 7 point run before Németh from the hosts scored a 2-point jump shot and Körmend carried on dominating the game throughout the entire period. In the last minute with Takács’ free throw they reached 100 points. Zollner gave an opportunity to the young players to perform on court tonight. All in all, the whole game was controlled by the hosts expanding their lead from period to period. Finally, the return leg ended with the victory of Egis Körmend.
From Egis Körmend Bradford helped his team to win the game recording 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists.
Jezek was the leading scorer of the visitors with his 18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Matthias Zollner, head coach of Körmend: “I think for me this was the first game in this AAC. Some new experience. I think we saw a very physical game a very-very intensive game. As a coach I am not satisfied with everything. I think we made too many turnovers. We lost the battle on rebounds. If you watch this stats you can see that Decin did not shot well from 3 point shots. They made only 25% from it while we made 50 % from 3 points. This will not be like this in every game so we need to make sure that we work better on rebounds and control more the defensive board especially and to have more control also with turnovers.”
Desonta Bradford, player of Körmend: “Like the other player said it was a great athmosphere. We tried to play more agressively and we tried to control the game and make them react what we are doing instead of reacting what they are doing. It was a great game and thats all about it.”
Pavel Budinsky, head coach of Decin: “Congratulation to Körmend for the win.”
Simon Jezek, player of Decin: “It was a great athmosphere. I appreciate to be here. I think the opponent was a little bit more aggressive than we were. To summarize it this is all I can say.”
