Troy Barnies tied an ENBL record in the three pointers made but it wasn`t enough for Polski Cukier Start Lublin as they lost the overtime battle against Zastal Zielona Gora 88-94 (83-83) on Thursday, December 22, at the Centrum Rekreacyjno Sportowe in Zielona Gora, Poland.
Players of the game
Dušan Kutlešič scored 9 of his 20 points in the overtime.
Zastal Zielona Gora forward stole the ball and forced an unsportsmanlike foul by Cleveland Melvin with 100 seconds to go.
Kutlešič made both free throws for a 88-89 lead and posted five more points the rest of the way.
Serbian player outscored Lublin 5-9 during the overtime.
His compatriot Aleksandar Zečevič led Zastal with 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field.
Big man blocked five shots to tie an ENBL record.
Zečevič grabbed five rebounds and earned Douglas award for the best player.
Alen Hadžibegovič proved his efficiency once again.
Montenegro big man had 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Hadžibegovič stole the ball five times to tie an ENBL record.
Bryce Alford (UCLA) had 13 points.
Troy Barnies led all scorers with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field.
Polski Cukier Start Lublin newcomer made 7-of-8 three pointers in the regulation.
Barnies tied an ENBL record set by Valmiera Glass VIA sharpshooter Jānis Kaufmanis.
A former Maine star added two points in overtime but missed both shots from the deep.
Barnies also contributed with five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Mateusz Dziemba was deadly from the range too.
Lublin captain made 4-of-5 shots from the three point line enroute to 17 points.
His last three pointer and two points from Barnies gave Start a five point lead in overtime 88-83.
Dayshon Hassan "Scoochie" Smith (Dayton) had a double-double – 11 points and 10 assists.
Klāvs Čavars filled the stat sheet too.
Latvian international posted 12 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Key stats
Polski Cukier Start Lublin led by as much as 10 points in regulation and five points in overtime.
The team from the European Youth Capital 2023 connected 13-of-29 three pointers in the regulation.
Lublin was ruined by a poor decision making at the end of game.
Zastal Zielona Gora finished the game with a 0-11 run.
Hadžibegovič, Kutlešič and Zečevič combined for 11 steals and six blocked shots.
Zielona Gora outscored Lublin in the paint 22-50.
Game notes
Every team in Zielona Gora tournament finished with a 1-1 record.
Polski Cukier Start Lublin had the best point differential (+14), followed by Sigal Prishtina (-6) and Zielona Gora (-8).
Oliver Vidin`s team topped the Group A anyway as Zastal Zielona Gora improved to 2-2.
The hosts delivered a first loss for Lublin.
Three point shots
Jānis Kaufmanis 7/13 February 2, 2022, Valmiera 85-92 Šiauliai
Troy Barnies 7/10 December 22, 2022, Lublin 88-94 Zielona Gora
D.J. Cooper 6/10 December 1, 2022, Sopot 92-100 Ness Ziona
Dardan Berisha 6/10 December 20, 2022, Zielona Gora 75-89 Prishtina
Henri Wade-Chatman 6/9 December 22, 2022, Kalev/Cramo 105-69 TalTech Optibet
Blocks
Dean Mickelson 5 December 28, 2021, Šiauliai vs Brno
Aleksandar Zečevič 5 December 22, 2022, Lublin 88-94 Zielona Gora
Williams Kavell Bigby 4 October 20, 2021, Tartu 63-81 Anwil
Steals
Jonah Mathews 5 October 19, 2021, Anwil 85-69 Valmiera
Dean Mickelson 5 January 12, 2022, Anwil 86-82 Brno
Jonah Mathews 5 February 9, 2022, Anwil 116-55 Liepāja
Alen Hadžibegovič 5 December 22, 2022, Lublin 88-94 Zielona Gora
STANDINGS, as of December 22, 2022
Group A
Zastal Zielona Gora 2-2 (-14)
Kalev/Cramo 2-1 (+42)
Polski Cukier Start Lublin 2-1 (+29)
Budivelnyk Kyiv 2-0 (+34)
KB Sigal Prishtina 1-3 (-40)
TalTech Optibet 0-2 (-51)
Šiauliai 0-0
SCHEDULE (local time in Poland, GMT+2h)
Tuesday, December 20
Zastal Zielona Gora 75–89 KB Sigal Prishtina
Wednesday, December 21
KB Sigal Prishtina 69–89 Polski Cukier Start Lublin
Thursday, December 22
Polski Cukier Start Lublin 88–94 Zastal Zielona Gora