Olimpi, Dinamo and TSU won today's Cup matches

The next eight-final matches of the Georgian Cup were held in Tbilisi and Batumi today. The first matches of the two-match eight-final series were held by Vera and Olimpi. The match was going on with Olimpi’s advantage and they eventually won it  – 81:74 (Statistics).

This means that the Olympians coached by Davit Rogava gained a 7-point lead before the second match of the series and if they maintain that advantage in the next meeting, they will go to the quarterfinals. Olimpi left a better impression, winning by 10-15 points throughout the game. Vera was in the role of a follower the whole time and should be satisfied that they managed to reduce the difference towards the end of the game. With this, the team trained by Levan Patsatsia kept the chance to reach the quarterfinals.

Otar Pkhakadze became a top scorer with 18 points. He scored 4/4 three-pointers. Devante Foster and Kakha Jintcharadze collected 17-17 points each. Kendrick Thompson had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Josh Hawley was the most effective in Vera, scoring 22 points and 13 rebounds. Aaron Parks scored 18 points.

In the second match held in Tbilisi, the team of Tbilisi State University defeated Zestaponi  99:91 (Statistics). The representative of the A League looked quite solid, but did not have the strength to achieve the final success. University team trained by Lekso Lapanashvili gained an advantage after more or less equal first half, in the last minutes, they also let the youngsters play and finally won with 8 points.

Brandon Sly led the winners with a triple-double – 23 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds. Quentine Dove collected 27 points, Bryce Smith scored 13 points. James Fleming was the most effective in Zestaponi with 33 points. Levan Gogaladze scored 19 points. Donnell Cegers collected 15 points and 14 rebounds.

The most tense match was held in Batumi, where Dinamo Tbilisi arrived and won the tense battle – 80:78 (Statistics). Dinamo was losing 7 points before the last period, but at the expense of discipline they managed to gain a victory, more precisely, a 2-point handicap. The return match will be held in Tbilisi and Batumi needs a 3-point victory to reach the quarterfinals.

Luka Bulashvili led the winners with 26 points. Alonzo Walker collected 11 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Tyler Williams had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. American legionnaires had a good debut in Batumi: Antwain Johnson scored 15 and Thomas Wilder scored 14 points.