Estonia's basketball teams go down at home in FIBA Eurobasket games
BC Kalev/Cramo suffered a heavy 101:71 loss to Azerbaijan's Absheron Lions in their FIBA Europe Cup clash on Wednesday, while Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits also fell to defeat in the same series.
The game for Kalev/Cramo started catastrophically as the Azerbaijani club opened with an 8:0 run and were leading 19:4 just four and a half minutes after tip-off. The first quarter thus belonged to the visiting team 33:15, with Kalev/Cramo shooting 27 percent compared to their foot-perfect opponents, who hit 72 percent.
At the start of the second half, Kalev/Cramo closed the gap to within 11 points, and it started to seem as if the visitors might start to tire. But that didn't materialize: After a three-pointer by Arinze Chidomi, the lead was back to 20 points with three minutes to go in the third period. Lithuanian player Gediminas Orelik then exploded, extending the Lions' lead to 25 points in the final quarter. From that point, the gap kept widening until the end, eventually stretching to 30 points.
For Kalev/Cramo, Anrijs Miška scored 14 points and Kregor Hermet 13.
Meanwhile, Tartu hosted the Rostock Seawolves (Germany) at home, but had to accept a 94:77 defeat. The German club won the first half by nine points, despite hitting only six of 17 free throws in the first 20 minutes. Rostock won the third quarter by 12 points, which effectively sealed the game.
Tartu's most effective player was Karl Johan Lips with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists, hitting 17 of 18 free throws. Martin Paasoja contributed 17 points and eight assists, and Robert Valge added 14 points.
In conclusion, both Tartu and Kalev/Cramo now have one win and three losses in their groups.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm
