Dinamo Tbilisi is the champion of Georgia. The team trained by Irakli Khoshtaria, Mamuka Turashvili and Marco Minic, won the 5th and decisive match of the final series today, at Kutaisi Sports Palace and retained the championship.
Dinamo won the match in a tense battle, under the big pressure of local fans. The Sports Palace was full. At the same time, the first match was shown live and it was the first basketball report in history, which was transferred from the Kutaisi Sports Palace.
The match was as tense as it should have been in the superfinal. The battle was going on from the first to the last minute. Kutaisians were mainly winning in the first period – 23:21. The game continued equally. None of the teams were able to gain a huge leadership.Dinamo played a little bit better in the second quarter and went to the big break with 2-points advantage. The situation has changed from the third period. With a good defensive tactics, Dinamo managed to stop their opponent’s attacks. Finally, 6 minutes before the end of the period, they advanced 52:44.
After that, it was Kutaisi’s turn. With the productivity of Jonathan Lee, Dejuan Wright and Giorgi Barbaqadze, the hosts were able to win the episode 10:0 and advance 54:52. But Dinamo managed to maintain the balance and gained a little advantage before the final period – 55:54.
Things got more interesting in the decisive period. Dinamo players stayed without the head coach, when Irakli Khoshtaria received a second technical foul for protesting the decision of the referee and had to leave the hall. It happened 6 minutes before the end of the meeting, when Kutaisi was leading.
The hosts could not take the last step, Tbilisians, left without the head coach, united and showed the example of fight. Mikheil Berishvili added three-pointer to the points of Kiel Turpin and Lavell Boyd and three minutes before the end of the match”Dinamo reached 10 points lead. The fate of the match was already decided. Dinamo players came to the 5th championship in the history of existence.
Kiel Turpin led the winners with 27 points and 11 rebounds. Lavell Boyd scored 17 points, Ilia Londaridze had 13 points. Mikheil Berishvili accumulated 11 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Dejuan Wright was the most effective with 20 points in Kutaisi. Giorgi Barbaqadze scored 12 points.
The awarding ceremony was held after the match. Veteran basketball players – Anzor Sakandelidze and Givi Bichiashvili awarded Kutaisi with silver medals. World Champion – Nikoloz Derugin has awarded champions with gold medals. The president of the Basketball Federation – Paata Guraspauli awarded the captain of Dinamo – Ilia Londaridze with a Champions Cup.
