BC GEOSAN Kolín – BK Redstone Olomoucko 66:83 (18:22, 17:17, 16:16, 15:28)
Referees: Scholze, Ulrych, Pazourek (all Czechia)
Attendance: 160
Scorers – Kolín: Bošković 14, Halada 13, Goga 12, Novotný 11, Veljković and Bistrović 6, Štegbauer and Merta each 2, Novák and Štěpán 0
Scorers – Olomoucko: Townsend 29, Feštr 17, Bailey and Vogt 13, McBrayer 10, Žák 1, Klepáč, Olbort and Grmolenský 0
Olomoucko played their quick transition basketball from the start of the game, which gave them a 7-point lead after the first 5 minutes. Kolín managed to close the score and even got a brief 2 point lead at the end of the first quarter. Nonetheless, Olomoucko continued with their game plan and had the upper hand in the following 2 quarters (35:39 in the half and 51:55 after the third). Despite this, Kolín revived their hopes of succeeding in this match and leveled the score with 8 minutes remaining. Unfortunately for Kolín, this was short-lived, because firstly Townsed scored twice in a row, and he was shortly followed mainly by Feštr, who sank two 3-pointers. It was only Halada for Kolín who scored 4 points during this sequence, as the scoreboard now showed 59:73, 4 minutes before the end. Even though Goga tried to reverse the fate of the game as he made two consecutive threes, the outcome of the game was sealed, and Olomoucko won 66:83. Even with one game remaining to be played for Olomoucko, they have booked their ticket to the Final 4 of the Alpe Adria Cup.
Post-game quotes:
Predrag Benáček, coach of Kolín: “We had problems both on offense and defense. We’ve been dealing with that for a long time, as well as a lack of players, but unfortunately, that’s our reality. We have to keep playing. Congratulations to Olomoucko for advancing, you were better than us today.”
Filip Halada, player of Kolín: “Unfortunately, we have not been doing well at all in recent months, and we have to break it somehow. Now we are training a lot during the break, and we took this game as training. We wanted to win for sure, and we are definitely disappointed that we lost, even though we couldn´t advance to the Final 4, but for sure every win counts. We wanted to kick on before the league started, and everyone has to start with themselves and work hard, and it will come.”
Andrew Jay Hipsher, coach of Olomoucko: “Well, I thought it was a hard-fought game. Well, actually, the score was an indication of how hard Kolín competed to their credit. We pulled away in the fourth quarter, and you know it’s a credit to our guys. We stuck to the script, we didn’t get tight, we didn’t get out of character. We just kept executing and controlling what we could, and that was enough to give us separation in the fourth quarter. We had multiple guys that contributed and impacted both ends of the floor, and that’s what it’s about competing on both ends of the floor. I’m extremely happy for those guys in the locker room. I’m extremely happy for our club, and I’m extremely happy for the city of Olomouc that we can go, you know, represent ourselves in the Final 4 Alpe Adria Cup.”
Lukáš Feštr, player of Olomoucko: “I’m so glad we got this win because, before the game, we knew we had two games to pull it out to advance. That’s why I’m glad we did it now in the first game in Kolín. We told ourselves that we wanted to go into it with a lot of energy, which we did, and then gradually in the game we even hit some harder shots, which helped us in the last minutes and brought us the victory. Therefore, I’m proud of this team, and I’m glad we have advanced to the Final 4.”
