At Folimance, USK, which started in the preliminary round as a sovereign of the weaker superstructure group A2, lost the first quarter by six points, but started to dominate from the second half. Led by David Böhm, who scored 23 points and 14 rebounds, the Praguers extended their current winning streak to 17 games.
“Seventeen wins is a reason to celebrate, as is reaching the quarter-finals. It’s a team achievement. We’ve earned the respect we’ve earned over the course of the season. I’ve been telling the players that if you’re not respected, run and earn it. That too the players did,” said Prague coach Francesco Tabellini.
In the long-term part of the competition, Kolín managed to defeat champion Nymburk three times, but did not win against Pražany even on the fourth attempt of the season. Just like in the first game of the preliminary round, he was missing his best scorer Rashard Odomes, captain and author of six triples Adam Číž led the visitors in terms of points with 26 points, Jakub Petráš added 10 points and 16 rebounds. However, the substitutes of Středočech contributed only two points against the home team’s 30, and the Cologne shooters also missed twelve free throws. “USK played in lauf, they took advantage of that series of wins, they play extremely confidently and they made us feel it. We are under some kind of blanket, unfortunately it did not lift,” stated Kolin coach Adam Konvalinka.
In Eden, no team built up a lead of more than seven points and the home team managed the end better. The guests took the lead 87:85 two minutes before the end, but then only the Slavists scored, who shot with a high success rate of 58 percent against Opava’s forty players. Former representative Pavel Pumprla scored five points in a row, for whom the victory means postponing the end of his career. With 15 points, the Prague captain was the team’s third best scorer after Adam Dworský (16) and Dantez Walton (19). Martin Gniadek was the leader of the Slezan team, who were not helped by thirteen three-pointers or eleven dropped sixes by the home team, with 16 points.
| Men’s Basketball League Playoff Preliminary Round – 2nd Matches: |
|---|
| USK Prague – Cologne 83:66 (18:24, 44:37, 67:51) |
| Most points: Böhm 23, Okauru 15, Vlk 12 – Číž 26, Šiška 11, Petráš and Slavinskas 10 each. Final score of the series: 2:0. |
| Slavia Prague – Opava 92:87 (21:16, 45:40, 69:71) |
| Most points: Walton 19, Dworsky 16, P. Pumprla 15 – Gniadek 16, Šiřina and Slavík each 14. Series status: 1:1. |
