Stelmet sweeps Tauron Basket Liga finals

Stelmet Zielona Góra coach Mihailo Uvalin is tossed by his players after they successfully swept the Tauron Basket Liga finals against PGE Turów Zgorzelec.

Stelmet Zielona Góra completed a 4-0 sweep of the Polish Tauron Basket Liga finals on Sunday with an 87:78 win over PGE Turów Zgorzelec in Zielona Góra. Stelmet took the first two games on Turów’s turf, 65:69 and 65:79, then Game 3 at home 82:78.

On Sunday, Quinton Hosley was game-high with 22 points and 8 rebounds, leading the hosts to the title. Hosley was also named the MVP of the Finals on 65 points (16.25ppg), 29 rebounds (7.25rpg), 11 assists (2.75apg), 14 of 29 (48.3%) from inside the arc, 9 of 18 (50.0%) beyond the arc, 23 of 47 (48.9%) overall from the floor, and 10 of 13 (76.9%) from the stripe.

PGE got the early advantage, getting out 4:13 four minutes into the contest with the help of two triples by Russell Robinson. Lukasz Koszarek and Hosley hit three-balls for Stelmet to close the gap to 10:15. Koszarek hit a pair of singles and then another long-ball, to pull the hosts to within a point, 15:16 with four minutes on the first quarter clock. Walter Hodge went to the line for a pair of free throws and first tied the score at 16, than put Stelmet up 17:16 for their first lead of the game. Djordje Mićić dropped in a lay-up to return the advantage to the guests. Hosley got a pull-up jumper from behind the arc to put the lead back in the hands of Stelmet with two and a half minutes to play, a lead the home club wouldn’t give up for the rest of the contest. Hodge split a pair of freebies to give Stelmet their last point of the quarter, but with just 15 seconds left Michal Chylinski knocked down a jumper from deep to cut the lead to 28:24 at the end of the first. Hosley tallied 11 in Q1.

Stelmet scored the first six points of the second quarter to extend their lead to 10, 34:24. Over the next four minutes Turów went on a 6:13 run to pull to within three, 40:37, at the mid-way point of the frame. The hosts countered with eight unanswered to push the margin back to 11, 48:37, which is where the lead would be at the end of the half, 55:44.

Stelmet Zielona Góra’s Quinton Hosley sets to release a jumper over PGE Turów Zgorzelec’s David Jackson in Game 4.

Dejan Borovnjak opened scoring in the second half with a lay-up. The next minute and a half was a flurry of scoring by PGE as Stelmet came out of the break not protecting the ball very well. David Jackson opened the run with a triple, then Robinson picked off a bad pass from Hodge and got it ahead to Ivan Zigeranovic for a jumper that went wide. Robinson had hustled down the court as a trailer, got the rebound and was fouled by Hosley, then connected on the singles. Koszarek turned the ball over to Jackson on another bad pass, which resulted in a Chylinski three-ball off an assist by Jackson. Hosley missed a jumper, which was rebounded by Chylinski, who took it coast-to-coast for a lay-up, capping a 0:10 run that brought PGE back to within three, 57:54. Unfortunately for the guests, they wouldn’t tally another point for the next four minutes, while Stelmet dropped in seven to get their double-digit margin back, 64:54. The lead was extended to 14, 72:58, but Aaron Cel knocked down a pair of jumpers to close out the third with the hosts up 72:62.

In the final frame Stelmet would build a 16-point lead mid-way through, and were basically shut down for the rest of the quarter, but the best PGE could do was chip away to get as close as nine with a minute to play and then not be able to score again, handing Stelmet the League finals trophy in four straight games.

Hosley was game-high with 22 points and 8 rebounds for Stelmet. Hodge added 16, Oliver Steviç contributed a 14P/11R double/double, and Borovnjak and Koszarek (8 rebounds) dropped in 13 each.

For PGE Russell Robinson shared game-high honors with Hosley with 22 points, Chylinski added 16, and Cel scored 13.