Estonia overcomes Israel in pre-season basketball friendly
The Estonian men's national basketball team beat Israel 93:81 in a friendly on Tuesday.
The match was the second of a series of summer friendlies which started this month with a loss away to Lithuania, 89:68.
Assistant coach Brett Nõmm said ahead of Tuesday's match that "Israel is a team which plays fast basketball and is dangerous on fast breaks. Our goal is to force them into five-on-five half-court offense. Defensively, they use many different formations, so we need to be ready to react quickly and solve their risky defense collectively."
Estonia fielded star players such as Bilbao's guard Kristian Kullamäe, La Laguna Tenerife forward Henri Drell, formerly of NBA G-League team Rip City Remix, Saski Baskonia forward Sander Raieste, and small forward Janari Jõesaar, though were without several key players, including Siim-Markus Post (TalTech), who is recovering from a knee injury.
The match was played in Riga, behind closed doors.
Israel held Estonia scoreless for the first two and a half minutes and scored six points themselves, but the Estonians responded with an 11:1 run, taking a 21:16 lead at the end of the quarter thanks to a drive by Drell.
Israel scored the final four points of the first period, taking a 41:36 lead three minutes before halftime. Kullamäe and Matthias Tass quickly tied the game, but Israel led 46:45 at the break.
Estonia came out strong in the second half, quickly moving ahead by seven points. A timely three-pointer and a steal followed by a fast break stretched their lead to double digits. As the third quarter wound down, another key three-pointer pushed Estonia's advantage to 14, capping off a dominant 27-15 quarter.
With three minutes left, Israel's deficit was trimmed to 77:83, but NBA star Deni Avdija missed two free throws, allowing Estonia's Henri Drell to hit a clutch three-pointer, and a bizarre long-range shot by Kaspar Treier after a steal sealed a 93:81 win.
Estonia's top scorers were Artur Konontšuk and Kaspar Treier with 16 points each, while Kullamäe added 14 points and eight assists.
The team is next in action on Thursday against Georgia, similarly to be played in Riga and without a crowd.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm
