Olimpi lost with Cactus after 6 victories in a row

The successful 6-match series of basketball club Olimpi is over. The winning chain of the team coached by Davit Rogava was broken by Cactus of Archil Zhghenti. Thanks to a cohesive, well-played and sorted game, Cactus managed to defeat a successful opponent and improved a tournament situation so much that they are no longer in danger of relegation from the Super League.

Olimpi had a solid loss. Kakha Jintcharadze, the top-scorer and leader of the team, a member of the national team, could not play due to injury. The absence of 1 player should not have been a tragedy for a team winning 6 games in a row, and Olimpi did their best to continue the successful series, but their fight wasn’t justified. However, Rogava’s team turned an almost hopeless match and if they were a little lucky, they would win for the seventh time in a row.

For the merit of Cactus, it should be said that they didn’t get afraid of a daring opponent and maintained the advantage they gained as a result of a huge effort during the game. After winning the third period 26:17, Cactus gained a 13-point lead. The last quarter also started with a beneficial scenario for Zhghenti team and continued like this until there were 3 minutes left before the end of the match. It was at this time that Olimpi seemed to have a second breathe and tried to fight for the victory while being 12 points behind (77:89). The effectiveness of Devante Foster and Otar Pkhakadze, backed by the strong defense of the Olmpi, resulted in the fact that 30 seconds before the end, the leadership of the cactus was reduced to a minimum – 91:90.

The leader of Cactus Samajae Hynes-Jones scored 2 free throws, advanced his teammates 93:90 (statistics) and Olimpi had 15 seconds left to save the game, i.e. to score a three-pointer. Kendrick Thompson shot a three-pointer which was intended to equalize the score, but it didn’t get into the basket. Levan Maskhulia led the winners with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Samaje Hynes-Jones scored 21 points. Sandro Sanadze collected 17 points. Thompson was the most effective in Olimpi. Devante Foster scored 24 points and 11 rebounds. Otar Pkhakadze collected 9 points and the distinctive 14 assists. 

The next round matches of the Super League will be held on March 24 in Tbilisi and on March 25 in Batumi.