The basketball players of Nymburk won the 2nd round of the Champions League on the PAOK Thessaloniki 84:83 field and after Wednesday’s loss also outside with Galatasaray Istanbul (85: 101) they achieved their first success in the group. He decided on it in the dramatic ending with a basket with a horn Jerrick Harding, who was the best scorer of the match with 22 points.
The home team, on the other hand, lost for the second time. In the next match, the 17-time-old Czech champion will welcome the Bosnian team Igokea Aleksandrovac in the Královka hall on Tuesday, October 26, in Prague.
“Not only the ending, but I spent the whole match in such waves, because I think we were a better team today and we had very good passages. We had a very good first fifteen minutes in the first and second half, but unfortunately our own mistakes, losses and with a bad execution in the attack, we lost a bit of a pillow in the score. We could have won the match in complete peace, but it went to the heart attack, “said the winger Lukáš Palyza.
“When it looked very bad after that basket with the foul, we pulled a miracle shot in the last seconds. Of course we are all happy, because the first victory in the Champions League will help us a lot in the next fights and I believe that the team will kick to other victories, “added Palyza.
Nymburk did not succeed in shooting in the very beginning and for the first time he hit after three minutes and 28 seconds at 0: 5. But Harding set off a nine-point line, in which he contributed four points and Captain Vojtěch Hruban five. Nymburk subsequently escaped to a lead of 18: 7 and at the beginning of the second quarter after František Váni’s three he even led by 14 points.
The home team reduced to 23:29, but Nymburk answered an eight-point line, which he completed with two Palyza triples. Then the opponent showed the same length of points in the end of the first half thanks to five points by Vlad Jankovič, but Nymburk secured the 40:35 lead to the locker room with two successful sixes Colbey Ross.
Thanks to an 11-point line between the 22nd and 26th minute, the home team took the lead for the first time since the start of the match (50:46). But the next passage of the third quarter belonged to Nymburk. The guests escaped to a 65:55 lead, but David DiLeo reduced the lead with a horn.
In the 43rd minute, DiLeo got another three with a difference of five points, but Nymburk increased it to 76:65 thanks to Hruban’s three with a foul and a successful six and Harding’s escape. With a difference of 11 points, the guests returned at 36:23, when Palyza hit the fifth three in the match from his fifth attempt. But the home team turned 83:82 six seconds before the end after the basket and Marvin Jones’ converted throw. However, Nymburk still managed to hit Harding just before the time expired, which the judges verified in the video.
“It’s a nice feeling to win at the last second. But with more time, we should realize that we shouldn’t have allowed it at all and we should have decided the match long before. There were a lot of mistakes. But in the end, the win is beautiful,” he said. Captain Nymburk Vojtěch Hruban, who took part in the winning event.
Champions League – Round 2:
Group E:
PAOK Thessaloniki – ERA Nymburk 83:84 (11:21, 25:40, 58:65)
Most points: Jones 17, DiLeo 16, Jankovič 14 – Harding 22, Palyza 18, Ross 15. Fouls: 17:23. Free throws: 23/16 – 12/9. Threesomes: 7:15. Rebounds: 42:36.
Table:
| 1. | Nymburk | 2 | 1 | 1 | 169:184 | 3 |
| 2. | Galatasaray | 1 | 1 | 0 | 101:85 | 2 |
| 3. | Igokea | 1 | 1 | 0 | 68:64 | 2 |
| 4. | PAOK Thessaloniki | 2 | 0 | 2 | 147:152 | 2 |
– .
