The Series Comes Back to Moscow

Ural Great vs CSKA: 85-78

Game 3 of the final series was a clear illustration of the old saying "He who laughs last, laughs best." Halftime literally changed the course of the game 180 degrees.

CSKA presented the Perm team with a task, taking a big lead over Sergei Belov’s team in the first quarter. The zone defense played by Holden, Chatzivrettas, Monya, Bashminov and Alexander shut down the home team’s offense completely. Only Anstey was able to score twice in the early minutes, taking Bashminov one-on-one. After Ural Great took an early 4-2 lead, the home team underestimated the importance of scoring for the next five minutes. Their attempts to break the zone from behind the 3-pint line proved futile as the sold out Molot arena saw the visitors grab rebound after rebound. At the same time, the Army team was busy scoring 16 points. With 14 seconds left in the quarter, Kubrakov finally knocked down a 3-pointer for Ural Great. And with the score at the end of the first quarter at 25-13, even that shot seemed like sheer coincidence.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Lavrinovic, Shannon and Muursepp began to hit from outside. But CSKA’s failing defense didn’t affect their offensive capabilities. Alexander hit a shot in his defender’s face, and the Perm team’s 3-pointers could only pull them within 10 points, 43-33.

What happened to CSKA in the third period is inexplicable. Attacking from the perimeter, the Moscow side’s defense allowed Ural Great’s big guys to get behind them. Having scored several easy baskets, the home team began to get the crowd behind them and thrive on the momentum. The Perm squad was hitting everything. Over the course of six minutes, Ural Great went on a 22-4 run (brining the score to 55-47). Only a timeout by Ivkovic and sending Papalukas and Zakhar Pashutin into the game allowed CSKA to get their heads back on straight. After the timeout, Papaloukas and Alexander were able to get going on offense, and a 3-pointer by Chatzivrettas in the final seconds of the quarter cut the home team’s lead to 61-60 going into the fourth quarter.

But CSKA wasn’t able to build on that. Ural Great already smelled victory, and, like a boxer, went for the knockout - a 7-0 run (68-60) in the first 1 1/2 minutes. CSKA wasn’t able to recover from that blow, and the Perm side began to increase its lead. Only in the final 46 seconds did Sergey Belov’s team lose a little focus while facing a full-court press by the Army team. At that moment CSKA was losing by 15 points (82-67), and they tried to get back in the game. But there wasn’t enough time left. There would be no sweep in this series. CSKA now leads the series 2-1.

Tomorrow the teams will meat again in the Molot Sports Arena, and on May 25, the series will come back to Moscow.