Basketball club Titebi is the owner of Georgian Cup. Debutant team of the Superleague, who also participated in Cup competition for the first time, won an important title. Lasha Gamkrelidze’s team defeated everyone in this tournament, where all the Superleague and A league teams were taking part.
Titebi defeated bronze medal owners of the previous season – Mgzavrebi in the final match. Buba Berishvili’s team lacked Jacob Armstrong, however Titebi wasn’t with an optimal roster either. A main centre – Giorgi Sharabidze finished this season early due to injury. But Guja Birkaia was doing his best during his absence. He provided an important help to Ilia Londaridze and the team in general.
Eventually, Londaridze became the MVP of the final match and the whole competition. He played perfectly, but Titebi’s victory depended on the team game. First and foremost, Titebi’s players played very well, due to which they managed to stop one of the fast and accurate teams of the Superleague. after an equal first half, Gamkrelidze’s team gained a solid advantage. Adrian Bowie, Rezo Chachanidze and other were limited due to Titebi’s good defensive tachtic. As for attacks, they were also very effective in it. Luke moyer and Teimuraz Babunashvili with long range shoots and Ilia Londaridze and Kaheem Ransom with fast breaks managed to increase the difference to 20 points at some point.
The third period went on with Titebi’s dominance. Gamkrelidze’s team won this quarter 29:15 and advanced by 19 points before the final period. Mgzavrebi should have reduced the difference if they wanted to retain any chances, but they were too late. More precisely, Titebi’s effectiveness didn’t let them do it. Accordingly, the difference was still 20 points 5 minutes before the end, so the fate of the match was already decided. It was relive for Titebi’s players and Mgzavrebi used it, but they only managed to reduce the difference to 11 points – 96:85 and Titebi became the owner of Georgian Cup.
Ilia Londaridze led the winners with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Kaheem Ransom scored 25 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assist. Luke Moyer had 19 points. Besik Lezhava and Joel Almeida collected 8-8 points each. Kakha Jintcharadze was the most effective with 33 points and 10 rebounds in Mgzavrebi. Adrian Bowie scored 26 points and 8 assists.
The awarding ceremony was held after the match. The president of Georgian Basketball Federation – Paata Guraspauli and Secretary General – Giorgi Qartvelishvili awarded winners with medals. Ilia Londaridze got a prize for MVP. He also got Georgian Cup from Paata Guraspauli. After which they celebrated their first title in the history of existence.
