Great defense delivers yet another win

Sopron Basket - Atomerőmű-KSC Szekszárd 75-51 (20-12, 22-9, 19-20, 14-10)
Sopron, 1300 néző

Sopron Basket: January 6, Fegyverneky 8, Czukor 2, Jovanovic 8, Brooks 11 Sub.: Crvendakic 12/3, Határ 12, Dubei 9/3, Varga A. 6, Weninger 1

Atomerőmű-KSC Szekszárd: Dojkic 17/6, Studer Á. -, Vincze -, McCall 4, Kiss - Sub.: Ruzickova 14, Daniel 10/6, Bálint R. 3/3, Theodoreán 3/3, Miklós -, Horváth D. -, Studer Zs. -

Stats

FGS: 22/52 42% ill. 20/68 29%

3-PTS: 2/9 25% ill. 6/26 23%

FTS: 29/30 97% ill. 5/9 56%

Rebounds: 45 (Brooks, Jovanovic 8-8) ill. 35 (Ruzickova 8)

Assists: 18 (Cvendakic , January, Brooks 4-4) ill. 9 (Dojkic, Studer Á. 3-3)

Steals: 5 ill. 5

Turnovers: 12 ill. 12

Faults: 18 ill. 26

IBM: 108 (Határ 18) ill. 36 (Dojkic 16)
Dojkic opened the scoring for Szekszárd with a double, while Tina made two free throws to get us going as well (2nd minute 2-2). A bit later she also added a lay-up giving us the lead for the first time in the game, and when we put four more points on the board unanswered, Zeljko Djokic decided that he needed to talk things over with his team and called a time-out (4th minute 8-2). The guests collected their five team fouls very quickly, which led to us having many attempts at the foul line, and we were unable to miss from there. McCall and Ruzickova scored for two, cutting into Szekszárd's deficit, and when Ruzickova made a double off a spin move from the foul line the difference came back down to two points (7th minute 10-8). That's when Debi came up with a nice lay-up from under the rim off the assist by Aleks, to which Daniel answered back likewise. The first period ended with us being in an eight-point advantage (10th minute 20-12).


Dojkic drained a shot from downtown to beat the buzzer at the beginning of the second quarter, and then Betti made two foul shots. After that Aleks came up with a three-point play, which increased our lead into the double-digit region for the first time in the game (14th minute 25-15). Then Dojkic and Aleks exchanged buckets, followed by a double from McCall, and when Dojkic hit another one for two points Dávid Gáspár called a time-out (27-21). Zsófi converted two attempts from the foul line into points after the short pause, and then Briann handed out an assist to Dalma. In the second part of the quarter we managed to pull even further away from the guests, and with the final basket of the half we grew our lead over twenty points (20th minute 42-21).


Theodoreán opened the second half with a triple, to which Dojkic added a lay-up, before Aleks hit one from behind the arc (45-26). Szekszárd kept scoring and they also kicked it up a notch on defense, but a little ways down the road Zsófi was able to go in for a lay-up to get us back on track (25th minute 47-30). Szekszárd came as close to us as 14 points, but then we bounced back and forced Zeljko Djokic's next time-out by going twenty points ahead again (28th minute 55-35). The difference remained the same in the final interval of the period (30th minute 61-41).


Neither side was able to gain control of the game in the final stage of the match-up for the first couple of minutes, but then we managed to make a step forward and pulled even further away from Szekszárd (36th minute 71-46). In the remainder we managed to hold on to our lead and won the game confidently (40th minute 75-51).

Gáspár Dávid: We have a very important game behind us, in which we have played with laser focus and great energy all the way through despite the fact that we have had some demanding games and weeks recently. Hats off to my players! I would like to thank the fans for the fantastic atmosphere, I think two of Hungary's top teams played tonight in great atmosphere. We must look forward, the next game in Girona is coming up, where we would like to extend our winning streak, but we can only make that happen with a performance that we delivered recently. Congratulations to Szekszárd, I wish them all the best for the future!

Aleksandra Crvendakic: It's not easy to always stay 100% focused, we have had some mistakes, but in this stage of the season that is normal. I am glad that we took this game seriously and I am sure that with all the work we put in, we will keep improving day by day.

Zeljko Djokic: Congratulations to Sopron for the win! It was a tough game! I don't know why, maybe because of fatigue, we weren't focused enough in the first half. In the second quarter I lost a time-out with the video assistance, after which there came a period that decided the outcome of the game. That is something I have to pay attention to in the future. We played well in the third quarter. Sopron is usually the best in the third quarter, but this time we won it. That time we showed what way we are looking to go! I have to also mention that when I enter the hall in Sopron a feeling takes over that I have to say congratulations to Zoli Török for the castle he built up here. What is going on here is great, congratulations for that! We have to get over this quickly, since the next game in EuroCup is coming up, we'll keep going forward in a Wednesday-Saturday rhythm next week. It is important for us to be able to regenerate as well as possible for the upcoming games!

Melinda Miklós: The game didn't go as we had planned. We fought as hard as we could in this game with great atmosphere. There is a path we want to go down on, we still have mistakes, but it will get better!