We are the champions!

KSC SZEKSZÁRD - SOPRON BASKET 66-69 (16-21, 12-14, 20-18, 18-16)
Szekszárd

KSC Szekszárd: Oblak 11/6, Theodoreán -, Gereben 10, Krnjic 25, McCall 6 Sub.: Studer Á. 8/3, Bálint 3/3, Costa 3, Mansare -,

Sopron Basket: Fegyverneky 5, Turner 18/9, Crvendakic 19/9, Milovanovic 13/3, Jovanovic 9 Sub.: Page 5, Dubei -

Stats

2-PTS: 21/36 58% ill. 16/29 55%

3-PTS: 3/13 23% ill. 7/18 39%

FTS: 15/19 79% ill. 16/22 16 73%

Rebounds: 34 (Krnjic, McCall 10-10) ill. 24 (Crvendakic 11)

Assists: 14 (Teja 5) ill. 15 (Milovanovic 5)

Steals: 4 ill. 4

Turnovers: 10 ill. 9

Blocks: 0 ill. 3

Faults: 23 ill. 19

VAL: 72 (Krnjic 36) ill. 80 (Crvendakic 31)

Tina got the ball at the tip-off, but Krnjic scored the first points from the paint for Szekszárd. Two minutes into the quarter Tina got us going, too, with a double (2nd minute 2-2). With baskets by Gereben and McCall Szekszárd took the early lead, but Yvonne came up with a three to stop their run. What's more, with the double by Tina we took the lead for the first time in the game, to which Aleks added two more. After yet another double by Tina the hosts had to call their first time-out in the game (6th minute 6-11). Krnjic came up with a mid-range double after the short pause, to which Aleks answered back with a triple. The two centers exchanged baskets, Krnjic for two, and Tina for three points with an and-one. Szekszárd's center started very well, she scored four more points, while at the other end Zsófi made a double. Costa made two of two from the line to reduce the gap to three points, but Yvonne had the last laugh in the period with a double (10th minute 16-21).


The second quarter began with a triple by McCall after two minutes of silence on both ends (13th minute 19-21). A few possessions later Danielle made a difficult basket, to which Zsófi added one more from the line. Aleks converted two free throws, while Krnjic missed one of two at the other end, and since neither team was able to score afterwards, Roberto Iniguez called a time-out to talk it over (16th minute 22-26). Danielle beat the buzzer for two after the break, and following some unsuccessful efforts on offense, Zeljko Djokic also called his team to the bench for a time-out (18th minute 22-28). Aleks hit one of two from the line after the pause, to which Krnjic answered back with a floater double. Yvonne made a three, and McCall responded to it with a lay-up. Aleks scored from downtown, and Studer hit one from mid-range. Yvonne had the opportunity to hit a buzzer-beater before half-time, but the ring spat it out, so we went for the half time break in possession of a seven-point advantage (20th minute 28-35).


McCall made a nice lay-up to get the second half going, and Gereben added another one to cut Szekszárd's deficit in half, and after Oblak's mid-range double and Krnjic's lay-up our lead vanished (23rd minute 36-35). Lucky for us Jeca was finally able to score, and after Gereben's double Aleks came up with a 4-point play to fire her team up. Yvonne ran through the court for a lay-up after her own steal, forcing Szekszárd's next time-out (26th minute 38-43). Danielle hit one of two from the line after Studer was only able to stop her at the cost of a foul. Then Oblak buried two of two at the other end, to which Bálint added a triple once again reducing the gap between the two teams to a single point. Zsófi made two from the line, while Krnjic hit another one from the paint (18th minute 45-46). Jeca scored five points in a row, to which Studer answered back with a spectacular triple from the corner. The quarter ended with Aleks backing down Gereben in the post and scoring a double (30th minute 48-53).


The final stage of the game began with Jeca making one of two from the line, to which Sara Krnjic answered back with two of the kind. Jeca was found in the corner and she hit one from behind the three-point line just at the right time (32nd minute 50-57). McCall scored once, while Yvonne did twice from the foul line, to which she added three more with a nice jumper, forcing Szekszárd's time-out (35th minute 51-62). Krnjic drew an unsportsmanlike foul on Jeca, and she converted both free throws awarded, and from the possession afterwards Oblak drew a shooting foul on Danielle. She converted both from the line, and then Roberto Iniguez called a time-out (36th minute 55-62). Gereben scored twice from the free throw line to reduce the gap to five, to which Aleks answered back with a double, and then Yvonne came up with another one. Krnjic hit one from mid-range forcing our next time-out (38th minute 59-66). Jeca made a lay-up after a nice spin move around Krnjic, to which Oblak responded with a double. Gereben added a lay-up to the hosts' total forcing our next time-out (39th minute 61-68). Gereben made a double after the break and Studer put one more point on the board from the line (64-68). Studer hit a double from the free throw line, and then committed a foul against Yvonne. Our point guard missed one of two, and Szekszárd grabbed the rebound, but Studer missed the triple to force overtime, which means that we won the game and the championship (40th minute 66-69)!

Roberto Iniguez: I am proud of my players, they are the team of my life! I don't mean the skill now, but the power of the community, the atmosphere, the unbelievable job they have done! We have played in the Euroleague final, and despite lots of difficulties we have got the championship title in three games! The team was fantastic! I told them to enjoy the success, they deserved it very much! I think even years from now people will talk about what they have accomplished this season! They have to keep working hard and if they do, lots of great success is still ahead of the team!

Danielle Page: It was a real team effort today, too! We have worked especially well on defense. We didn't have a ball we didn't fight for, we helped each other out. This is what led to the win!