Can Vytautas Magnus University win another gold?
In the first semi-final match of the basketball tournament at the European Universities Games Zagreb-Rijeka, the Lithuanian Vytautas Magnus University played against the Turkish Fatih. Lithuanians mantained their good reputation and went to the locker room with the score of 112-83. At the start of the game, it was pretty obvious that the enthusiastic Turks would have a hard time in the match.
While both teams were considered the favorites at the tournament, the game of the Lithuanian basketball players was on a completely different level. This is the team that had won every student championship had participated in, and the Turks, even with some professional players among their ranks, could do nothing against such a well-coordinated mechanism. The Lithuanians really are a coordinated mechanism and they have provided this tournament with the most beautiful play and certainly deserve to be in the finals. Precise in their shots and passing, they demonstrated a fast and solid game. They looked like they didn’t break a sweat, like the game had just begun.
Vytautas Magnus University have come here to win and they proved it. They did not stop even when they led by 30 points. At one point, the Turkish misery was difficult to watch. It remains to be seen how the team from the University of Zagreb will deal with the Lithuanians tomorrow, and whether they would be the ones who would finally stop the Lithuanians.
The University of Zagreb reach the final after winning over VERN’
In the second semi-final match at Dražen Petrović Basketball Hall, the teams of VERN’ and the University of Zagreb fought for the final. The victory finally went to the University of Zagreb who won 88-63.
The boys from VERN’ have opened the game well and kept the lead for the entire first quarter and most of the second. However, they couldn’t keep up with that pace, and were tagging behind 8 points at half time. Rejuvenated by the break, Zagreb notched up a gear in the third quarter: VERN’ had some bad luck, several misunderstandings on the pitch, and Zagreb broke away, playing even faster and increasing their shot percentage. VERN boys played aggressively, but they were no longer able to overtake their opponents and eventually lost the match. For them, however, it‘s not over yet because they’ll play against the Turks for the third place tomorrow.
The final between the Lithuanians and the Zagreb team at Dražen Petrović Baketball Hall is scheduled for tomorrow. The match starts at 20.00 hours.
