The regular season in the Players Development League is over. The names of the teams entering the playoffs were revealed at the last moment. The first place owner in group “A” was revealed the day before. It was Tskhum-Apkhazeti. Vera, Kutaisi and Titebi fought for the second position. In the last round, Vera lost to Tskhum-Apkhazeti, Kutaisi defeated its direct rival, Titebi and will face Dinamo in the semifinal.
Three teams (Dinamo, Mgzavrebi, Olimpi) had a chance to take the first place in Group “B”, while Rustavi also had a chance to play for the second place and playoffs.However, in the last round, they lost to Olimpi, Dinamo lost to Mgzavrebi and Rustavi lost the chance to advance to the next stage. The best two teams among Dinamo, Mgzavrebi and Olimpi were found out with the points received-scored in the mutual meetings. Dinamo had a better ratio, and the second was Olimpi. Quite a fighter Mgzavrebi of Giorgi Tsintsadze, veteran of the Georgian national team, were out of the playoffs due to the negative ratio of balls.
Kutaisi-Titebi 85:67
Kutaisi and Titebi were fighting for the second ticket to the playoffs. The fate of the match was decided in the second period, which the Imereti club won 23:11, and despite a great effort in the remaining time, Titebi could not turn the game around.
Kutaisian Nikoloz Soselia became a top scorer of the match scoring 21 points and 9 rebounds. His teammate Vladimer Alavidze also collected 9 rebounds adding 16 points. Luka Maziashvili finished the match with 15 points.
Sandro Jorbenadze was the one and only player in Titebi, who scored more than 10 points, he had 21 points.
Tskhum-Apkhazeti – Vera 75:65
The second period turned out to be decisive in this match. Tskhum-Apkhazeti held it with high result – they won 30:16. It’s true that Vera made a huge effort in the fourth round, but Apkhazeti still remains the only undefeated team.
Experienced players Levan Gogaladze and Zurab Machaladze helped the team win. The former made 17 points, 4 assists and 8 rebounds, the latter had 16 points and 8 rebounds.
The best player in Vera was Sandro Zandukeli, who scored 4 out of 6 three-pointers and finished the match with 16 points.
Batumi – TSU 83:87
Batumians and students knew in advance that they could not reach the playoffs. However, the Development League is a tournament where any game is valuable to any young basketball player. The outsiders fought and eventually TSU won.
Luka Giorgadze from Batumi did a lot of work, gained 18 points and 17 rebounds, but his good performance was not enough for winning.
Archil Puluzashvili led TSU with 29 points and 10 rebounds.
Mgzavrebi – Dinamo 92:89
We made sure once again that the participation of Giorgi Tsintsadze, an experienced player of the Georgian national team, in the Development League, was very useful for him, as well as for his rivals and to create a general picture…
After a five-month gap, Giorgi needed to get in the playing conditions, and competing with him was a big challenge for any opponent.
In the fight with the direct rival Dinamo Tsintsadze gained 32 points, 8 assists and helped Mgzavrebi win – 92:89. Nika Darbaidze gained the most, 24 points from Dinamo.
Olimpi – Rustavi 79:71
Mgzavrebi, who defeated Dinamo before, supported Rustavi in the next match. If Qvemo Qartli won against Olimpi, Mgzavrebi would have gone in the next stage, however, Olimpi held this match convincingly, defeated Rustavi 79:71 and did not give up the ticket to the playoffs.
Luka Kalatozishvili was unstoppable in Olimpi – 22 points, 16 rebounds. Anzor Nadiradze from Rustavi made another double double – 14 points, 10 rebounds. Temur Murjikneli collected 19 points and Irakli Sulkhanishvili had 17 points.
Thus, the semi-final pairs, which will play on August 25 at the Tbilisi Olympic Palace, were revealed. The final meeting will be held on August 26, at 19:00.
August 25, Olympic Palace, semifinals
Tskhum-Apkhazeti – Olimpi 17:00
Dinamo – Kutaisi 19:00
