The second semi-finalist of the Super League is already known. Mgzavrebi, which took the 7th place in the regular championship, defeated Cactus twice, which means, Cactus finished the season. Mgzavrebi is the first team, which won the quarter-final series without a court advantage.
Mgzavrebi won the first match of the series – 85:69. Cactus had an ambition to equalize the score in the second match, but they couldn’t make it. Mgzavrebi’s head coach – Buba Berishvili said that they knew, they would meet Cactus in Playoffs 3 rounds before the end of the regular championship, so they had been preparing for this match. As it turned out, Mgzavrebi was really well prepared, as they didn’t leave a chance to their opponents.
Mgzavrebi was leading, they were winning 6 points, before the decisive period, which didn’t mean a lot and Cactus still had a chance, but everything was decided 2 minutes before the end of the game. When the audience was waiting for the most intense fight, Mgzavrebi gained a 10-points lead. It was unrealistic for Cactus to reduce this difference.
Finally, Mgzavrebi won with 12-points – 87:75. The score became 2:0 in the series, so they will play in semi-finals. Taylor Stafford led the winners with 20 points. Kakha Jintcharadze scored 15 points. Adrian Bowie had 14 points and 13 assists. Anatoli Boisa was the most effective with 15 points in Cactus. Davit Lomidze scored 14 points.
The season has finished for Cactus. As for Mgzavrebi, they will play against Dinamo in semi-finals. Best of three will win.
Buba Berishvili – Mgzavrebi head coach:
“We were preparing for the last 3 rounds of the regular championship and this preparation showed a result. I’m grateful to my boys. I was waiting for a tense game today and I can not say that we have won easily. The final score increased at the last 2 minutes. It’s my first time as a head coach in the Super League semi-finals, which is a great stimulation for me. The maximum of the program, which meant going into the top four, is achieved. There is a semi-final ahead and we have nothing to worry about. We will try to go into the finals.”
Taylor Stafford – Mgzavrebi player (guard):
“It was very competitive game with a very strong opponent. We were waiting for a tense battle after winning the first match and it came out to be tense, but fortunately, in our favor. We have won and will play in semi-final, but we aren’t going to stop. Our goal is to fight for finals.”
