Big win against Lille brings us one step closer to the Euroleague Play-offs

SOPRON BASKET - ESBVA-LM 82-56 (19-14, 29-14, 14-9, 20-19)
Sopron, 1000 néző

Sopron Basket: Fegyverneky 4, Turner 21/9, Crvendakic 10/6, Milovanovic 8/6, Langhorne 11 Sub.: Salvadores 17/9, Jovanovic 7, Határ 4, Dubei , Weninger -, Czukor -

ESBVA-LM: Cousseins 2, Gomis 11/3, Jovanovic 6, Akonga 12/6, Sy-Diop 11/3 Sub.: Kamba 7, Jakovljevic 4, Amant 3

Stats

FGS: 31/58 53% ill. 22/59 37%

3-PTS: 10/18 56% ill. 4/22 18%

FTS: 10/10 100% ill. 8/11 73%

Rebounds: 36 (Crvendakic 6) ill. 27 (Sy-Diop, Akonga, Jovanovic 4-4)

Assists: 20 (Fegyverneky, Turner 5-5) ill. 15 (Gomis 5)

Steals: 9 (Turner 4) ill. 10 (Sy-Diop 3)

Turnovers: 17 ill. 16

Blocks: 0 ill. 3

Faults: 13 ill. 14

Photo: Tóth Zsombor

We won the right for the first possession in the game at the tip-off, but the French scored the go-ahead basket. However, they couldn't be happy for long, because Aleks, Yvonne, Jeca and Crystal led a 13-2 run afterwards giving us a confident lead early on (5th minute 13-4). Seven minute into the game we were still in a 9-point advantage, and that made the away team's head coach call their first time-out in the game (7th minute 17-8). The short break proved useful for the guests, they managed to cut their deficit in half by the end of the period (10th minute 19-14).

In the first five minutes of the second quarter both teams came up with a run, advancing head-to-head, and Lille decided to put an end to it, hence the next time-out (15th minute 30-25). Meanwhile there was a very unfortunate event: Jeca got injured under the rims while fighting for possession and she might be out for several weeks as a result. This time the break worked in our favor, we performed a 18-3 run in the remaining time of the quarter with a buzzer-beater triple by Yvonne at the end to put the cherry on top of our performance in the first half (20th minute 48-28).

In the second half we pushed even harder to get as far ahead as possible, and halfway through the third period the scoreboard showed a 25-point Sopron lead (24th minute 58-33). After that none of the teams could make a significant change in the difference, resulting in a confident home lead before the final ten minutes (30th minute 62-37).

After Aleks' triple three minutes into the last period we were flirting with a 30-point advantage, but we never reached it (33rd minute 68-40). Following that basket Lille scored twice in a row making coach Iniguez call a time-out (35th minute 68-44). We took over control of the game led by Yvonne, who scored twice from downtown increasing our lead back op to 28 again, forcing a time-out for the guests (36th minute 74-46). Lille came out fighting to reduce the gap and they partially succeeded, they performed an 8-0 run in the next two minutes coming back to being down by twenty (38th minute 74-54). However, we wouldn't let them come closer, and answered back to their run with our own, and after a final exchange of doubles we have reached the final result (40th minute 82-56).

Roberto Iniguez: The team executed our plans nicely. There were some minor mistakes, and we also had some errors in the second half, but considering the difference and the series of games we are in it is sometimes hard to be focused all game. In general I am very happy! Unfortunately we have lost an important player from the rotation for the next few games and we have to find a replacement for her. We have made it through from the group and we are also very close to clinching a play-off spot in Euroleague, but to reach that we have to do one more step. It will be hard without Jeca, but my players know their job, and they are working fantastically with great motivation. It would be a huge accomplishment to get into the final 8 of Euroleague! I would like to thank our fans for their support today, but I hope there will be even more of them coming to our games in the future. I would like to ask our regulars to bring a plus one along with them next time!

Frederic Dusart: We tried to do our best, but we aren't in a good shape after the holidays, and there are also some injuries that make our job more difficult. Sopron played better, especially considering shooting percentage. It is impossible to win against a team that shoots 54 percent from the field. There is nothing else to do, we have to stay strong as a team and keep working!

Yvonne Turner: We prepared very well for the game and Lille's physical style of play! We were afressive from the start and that had its result. Jeca's injury is a tough loss for us, but we are a good team and we can cope with her replacement together.

Laetitia Kamba: Our opponent shot the ball very well, while we didn't. We fought hard, but that's all we could get from this game today.

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