Casper decides!

CSKA – Uralmash Yekaterinburg: 87-84 (+3)

CSKA: Trimble (18 + 3 rb + 6 as + 5 st), Ukhov (5 + 5 rb + 5 as), Antonov (2), Jean-Charles (15 + 7 rb + 2 as), Kurbanov (10 + 4 rb) – start; Cleveland (2), Ware (21 + 3 rb + 3 to), Ruzhentsev (5 + 5 rb), Astapkovich (3 + 3 as), Karpenko (DNP), Chadov (0), Mitrovic (6 + 4 rb + 2 as + 4 pf)

Uralmash: Nevels (14 + 4 rb + 2 as), Novikov (5 + 3 as), Belyankov (2 + 2 as), Dalton (22 + 5 rb + 3 as + 2 bs), Nelson (4 + 3 rb) – start; Ellis (10 + 5 rb), Pynko (DNP), Pisklov (3), Douglas (2 + 6 rb + 4 pf), Khaldeyev (DNP), Kardanakhishvili (4), Gerasimov (18 + 8 as + 3 st + 3 to)

Andreas Pistiolis, CSKA head coach:

First of all, I want to say how happy we are to be back at Megasport. Thank you to the fans who came out to support us. I've said several times throughout the season that we consider Uralmash one of the strongest teams in the League, and today, for the first time against us, they probably showed what they're truly capable of. In preparation, we talked about a series of rather difficult games ahead, and today was one of those against a very tough opponent. Our goals were to prepare for it while maintaining the mental readiness to continue our winning streak. In the final quarter, we completely failed to achieve this second goal, and when we reached the +18 mark, we completely shut down, as if the opponent had already been defeated. The fact that we finished the quarter with a score of 15-29 speaks volumes about our complete collapse, both offensively and defensively. We played softly and essentially expected our opponents to give up just because we were wearing the CSKA uniform. I hope we'll learn the lesson that when you stop trying and fighting for the full 40 minutes, anyone can beat you.