Sigal Prishtina captain Dardan Berisha scored five three pointers in the second half to post an unexpected 89-75 road win against Zastal Zielona Gora on Tuesday, December 20, at the Centrum Rekreacyjno sportowe in Zielona Gora, Poland.
Players of the game
Dardan Berisha has a special relationship with the land of the White Eagle.
A shooting guard played at Polonia Warszawa (2008-2010), Anwil Wloclawek (2010-2012) and Kutno (2016-2017).
He was naturalized and represented the Polish national team (2010-2015) until Kosovo received recognition from FIBA.
Berisha returned to Poland to post the first ever ENBL win for Sigal Prishtina.
Captain scored a game high 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, including a 6-of-10 from the three point line.
Berisha added five rebounds, eight assists and two steals.
His numbers in the second half were especially impressive – 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field.
Berisha made all five three pointers after the break!
Derrick Wilson joined the party with 15 points – 10 of those were posted in the second half.
Marquette standout matched Berisha with eight assists and he registered a team high three steals as well.
Dustin Thomas posted 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field.
A former Arkansas big man grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
Brooks Debisschop was solid under the baskets too.
A former Northern Arizona forward contributed with six points, a game high 13 rebounds and two blocks.
Bryce Alford led Zastal Zielona Gora with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field.
A former UCLA standout (2013-2017) shared the ball and dished out four assists.
Jan Wojcik provided a spark from the bench.
Power forward had 16 points on 7-of-9 effort from the field.
Wojcik filled the stat sheet with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, one block and not a single turnover.
Dušan Kutlešič finished in double figures – Serbian guard/forward scored 10 points.
Key stats
Both teams struggled from the three point line in the first half.
Sigal Prishtina made 3-of-12 attempts compared to 1-of-9 for Zastal.
Dardan Berisha changed the trend and connected all five attempts in the second half.
His teammates joined the shooting party and made 11-of-16 attempts after the break.
Prishtina starters outscored Zielona Gora 75-52.
Game notes
Murat Bilge led Sigal Prishtina to the maiden win in the ENBL as the Kosovar team improved to 1-2.
Sigal Prishtina has a 9-3 record in the Kosovo League, trailing to Berisha`s native Peja (11-1).
Zastal posted seven wins and six losses in the PLK.
Oliver Vidin`s team dropped to 1-2 in the ENBL.
Sigal Prishtina scored 50 points in a loss against Kalev/Cramo and posted 89 points in the next game.
STANDINGS, as of December 20, 2022
Group A
Budivelnyk Kyiv 2-0 (+34)
KB Sigal Prishtina 1-2 (-20)
Zastal Zielona Gora 1-2 (-20)
Kalev/Cramo 1-1 (+6)
Polski Cukier Start Lublin 1-0 (+15)
TalTech Optibet 0-1 (-15)
Šiauliai 0-0
Tie-breaker: Kalev/Cramo 1-1, +6; Sigal Prishtina 1-1, +3; Zastal Zielona Gora 1-1, -9.
SCHEDULE (local time in Poland, GMT+2h)
Tuesday, December 20
Zastal Zielona Gora 75–89 KB Sigal Prishtina
Wednesday, December 21
18:30 KB Sigal Prishtina – Polski Cukier Start Lublin
Thursday, December 22
18:30 Polski Cukier Start Lublin – Zastal Zielona Gora