Leemet Böckler and Jalan McCloud combined for five three pointers in the fourth quarter but Tartu Ulikool Maks&Moorits was outrebounded in the last minute to fell at the hands of Trefl Sopot 72-76 on Tuesday, December 27, at the Tartu Ulikooli Spordihoone in Southern Estonia.
Players of the game
Coach Žan Tabak trusted Rolands Freimanis and a Latvian player delivered for the Trefl Sopot.
Power forward scored seven quick points early in the fourth quarter to regain a double digit lead for the Polish team 54-64.
Two defensive and one offensive rebounds in the last two minutes mattered even more as Sopot never lost control.
Freimanis finished the game with a double-double, collecting 13 points and 11 rebounds.
He was named Douglas Player of the game.
Garrett Nevels posted some eye-popping numbers as well.
A former Hawaii standout had nine points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
American guard stole the ball twice and registered a game high +/- ratio of 12.
Ivica Radič contributed with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Croatian center grabbed two offensive rebounds in the last minute earning 2x14 seconds to burn.
Jalan McCloud was amazing once again for Tartu Ulikool Maks&Moorits.
Texas Southern and East Tennessee State floor general rallied his teammates for a 14-5 run during the fourth quarter.
McCloud made two huge three pointers and dished out two assists in the final frame.
Point guard had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Leemet Böckler scored 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter.
Estonian guard made three three-pointers, including two back-to-back shots from the deep with less than three minutes left.
Böckler was co-named Douglas Player of the game.
Key stats
Leemet Böckler and Jalan McCloud made five three pointers in seven minutes to cut Trefl Sopot lead to a single point 68-69.
Böckler added two more points with 01:20 to go 70-73.
Brandon Johnson tried to tie game at 73.
He scored two points and drew a foul but missed the free throw 72-73.
Trefl Sopot missed in the following attack, however, Ivica Radič grabbed two offensive rebounds for the hosts.
Tartu reached the foul limit and Jean Salumu split the free throws 72-74.
The hosts wasted their next attack and Freimanis grabbed defensive rebound.
Nevels set the final score from the free throw line.
Trefl Sopot scored more points in fast breaks 4-14.
Polish reserves outscored Tartu bench 19-32.
Salumu added 13 points, while Andrzej Pluta and Jaroslaw Zyskowski posted eight points each.
Game notes
Trefl Sopot (1-2) flew from Gdansk to Rīga and then traveled 240 kilometers via the land route.
Their fans went all the way from northern Poland to southern Estonia to see the first win in person.
Tartu is shining in winter as the Estonia`s second biggest city will become the European Capital of Culture in 2024.
Nikolajs Mazurs team showed a great fighting spirit despite dropping to 1-1.
A new opportunity awaits on Thursday when Tartu will host Valmiera Glass VIA.
SCHEDULE (local time only)
Tuesday, December 27, Brno (GMT+2h)
Ironi Ness Ziona 94–80 Basket Brno h
19:30 BM Stal Ostrow – King Szczecin
Tuesday, December 27, Tartu (GMT+3h)
Tartu Ulikool Maks&Moorits 72–76 Trefl Sopot
Wednesday, December 28, Brno
15:30 King Szczecin – Ironi Ness Ziona
18:00 Basket Brno – BM Stal Ostrow
Wednesday, December 28, Valmiera (GMT+3h)
12:00 Valmiera Glass VIA – Trefl Sopot
Thursday, December 29, Tartu
18:00 Tartu Ülikool Maks&Moorits – Valmiera Glass ViA
STANDINGS, as of December 27, 2022
Group B
King Szczecin 3-0 (+29)
Ironi Ness Ziona 2-1 (+6)
Trefl Sopot 1-2 (-8)
Stal Ostrow 1-1 (+0)
Tartu University 1-1 (-2)
Basket Brno 0-3 (-25)
BC Wolves 0-0
Valmiera Glass VIA 0-0