Twists and turns in the final. Legia was already leading by 17 points. A tense ending
The hosts started the match full of energy and after easily won points they were leading 7:3, 9:5, and 13:8 in the middle of the first quarter. Adrenaline led the Lublin team not only to scoring points, but also to easy losses. After their series and two three-point throws by Legia reserve Keifer Sykes, the players of Estonian coach Heiko Rannuli quickly made up for the losses and 120 seconds before the end of the period they were leading 20:18.
PGE Start coach Wojciech Kamiński had no choice but to call a timeout. His expressive reprimand had a refreshing and motivating effect on the Lublin team. They organized their attack and returned to the lead. After 10 minutes they were winning 24:20.
The Legia leader, Kameron McGusty, who was doubled in defense and the best player of the regular season, had problems scoring points and was better at sharing the ball with his teammates. He had only three shots by half-time (he hit two) and scored his first points only in the 14th minute, but that did not stop the Warsaw team from playing more smoothly. Mainly because they improved their defense. On the other hand, PGE's defense was causing less and less harm to the freely constructing attacks of the Legia players. In the middle of this part, the Warsaw team was leading 36:28.
Three-point throws by the legionnaires: Latvian Ojars Silins, Andrzej Pluta, McGusty, and even the rather random center EJ Onu gave them a big advantage. By halftime, the visitors were leading 54:39, scoring 34 points in 10 minutes. In 20 minutes, they hit 8 of 14 attempts from behind the 6.75 m line (including 5 of 7 in the second quarter).
The advantage gained in the second quarter was the key to Legia's victoryAfter the break, the Lublin players came out onto the pitch with a new dose of adrenaline, but it was the legionnaires who called the shots. They even had a 17-point lead (56:39), but the hosts, playing with more consistency, managed to minimize the losses to five points. After the actions of the Belgian playmaker Emmanuel Lecomt, Start was losing 62:67 a dozen or so seconds before the end of the third quarter.
And in the last 10 minutes he reduced the deficit even more – after Courtney Ramey's throw, Lublin had only four points less in the 33rd minute (67:71). However, the end belonged to coach Rannuli's team. Warsaw calmly implemented tactical assumptions and controlled the situation, leading after Pluta's throw from behind the 6.75 m line 80:71 three and a half minutes before the final siren.
Five legionnaires scored more than 10 points, with the best being the Serb Aleksa Radanov, who had a double-double – 15 points and 10 rebounds. Among the hosts, center Ousmane Drame had a double-double – 14 points and 13 rebounds.
The Legionnaires played more physically than in the first meeting. The hosts were physically tired after a series of 10 games played in the play-offs. The Warsaw team was more focused and more involved in defense, they also hit 10 three-pointers, while the Lublin team only hit five. The next two finals will be held in the capital - on Saturday and Monday.
Second final match: PGE Start Lublin — Legia Warsaw 78:84 (24:20, 15:34, 23:15, 16:15)
The play-off series (to four wins) is 1-1. The third match will be played on Saturday in Warsaw.
Points:
PGE Start Lublin: Emmanuel Lecomte 18, Courtney Ramey 18, Ousmane Drame 14, Tyran De Lattibeaudiere 14, Michał Krasuski 6, Tevin Brown 6, Filip Put 2, Cj Williams 0, Bartłomiej Pelczar 0, Roman Szymański 0.
Legia Warsaw: Andrzej Pluta 16, Mate Vucic 15, Aleksa Radanov 15, Kameron McGusty 12, Ojars Silins 10, Keifer Sykes 8, EJ Onu 5, Michał Kolenda 3.
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