Korisliiga Round 5 (Second Stage): Honka defeat Karhubasket in the game between Top 4 teams

Korisliiga is at the halfway of the Second Stage and there are still another 5 rounds left. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

An interesting game for Honka (17-10) which hosted in Espoo second-ranked Karhubasket (19-8). Third ranked Honka managed to get a 8-point victory 93-85. Honka dominated down low during the game scoring 52 of its points in the paint compared to Karhubasket's 24. American guard Taye Donald (188-2002, college: Seward County) orchestrated the victory by scoring 23 points and 5 rebounds. His fellow American import forward Isaiah Kelly (201-2000, college: Yale, agency: Diamond Sports) contributed with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists for the winners. Honka's coach Aapo Heinonen used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American-Nigerian power forward Ike Nweke (201-2000, college: Quinnipiac) answered with a double-double by scoring 21 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists for Karhubasket. Honka maintains third place with 17-10 record having just three points less than leader Kataja. Karhubasket at the other side keeps the second position with eight games lost. Honka are looking forward to face Seagulls (#6) in Helsinki in the next round. Karhubasket will play at home against KTP-Basket (#5) and is hoping to win this game.
Bottom-ranked Kobrat managed to get a fourth victory, breaking the series of four consecutive losses. This time they edged eleventh-ranked Kouvot in Lapua 86-83. American-Cameroonian forward Tamenang Choh (196-1998, college: Brown, agency: Helping Ballers) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 28 points and 13 rebounds for the winners and Bobby Planutis chipped in 14 points. American guard Wesley Cardet Jr (198, college: Providence) responded with a double-double by scoring 27 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Kobrat maintains twelfth place with 4-22 record. Kouvot at the other side keeps the eleventh position with 18 games lost. Kobrat will play against higher ranked Kataja (#7) in Joensuu in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Kouvot will play on the road against Lahti (#8) and hopes to get back on the winning track.
Korisliiga top team - Vilpas (20-7) managed to deliver another win on Tuesday. This time they beat sixth ranked Seagulls (13-14) in Helsinki 97-86. Jack Forrest nailed 26 points and 7 rebounds (on 11-of-14 shooting from the field) for the winning side. Vilpas' coach Jussi Savolainen allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. Jalen Henry came up with 27 points and 9 rebounds for Seagulls in the defeat. Vilpas have an impressive series of six victories in a row. They maintain first place with 20-7 record. Seagulls lost fourth consecutive game. Defending champion keeps the sixth position with 14 games lost. They share it with Kataja. Vilpas will meet at home Korihait (#4) in the next round. Seagulls will play against Honka in Espoo and hope to secure a win.

In the last two games of round 5 Korihait was beaten by KTP-Basket on the road 95-86. Bisons lost to Lahti on its own court 93-94.



Seagulls - Vilpas 86-97

Korisliiga top team - Vilpas (20-7) managed to deliver another win on Tuesday. This time they beat sixth ranked Seagulls (13-14) in Helsinki 97-86. Vilpas made 19-of-25 free shots (76.0 percent) during the game. American guard Jack Forrest (196-2000, college: Bucknell) nailed 26 points and 7 rebounds (on 11-of-14 shooting from the field) for the winning side and international guard Samu Adler (198-2007) accounted for 17 points and 6 assists. Vilpas' coach Jussi Savolainen allowed to play the deep bench players saving starting five for next games. American power forward Jalen Henry (203-1996, college: SIUE) came up with 27 points and 9 rebounds and the other American import center Rene Rougeau (198-1986, college: UNLV, agency: Blacktop Management) added 10 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists respectively for Seagulls in the defeat. Both teams had five players each who scored in double figures. Vilpas have an impressive series of six victories in a row. They maintain first place with 20-7 record. Seagulls lost fourth consecutive game. Defending champion keeps the sixth position with 14 games lost. They share it with Kataja. Vilpas will meet at home Korihait (#4) in the next round. Seagulls will play against Honka in Espoo and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Seagulls: J.Henry 27+9reb+1ast, T.Niemi 18+1reb+4ast, O.Heinonen 15+1ast, C.Chukwuma 14+1reb+1ast, R.Rougeau 10+14reb+5ast, H.Lenni 2+4ast
Vilpas: F.Jack 26+7reb+2ast, B.Jalen 17+3reb, A.Samu 17+1reb+6ast, O.Ze'Rik 16+7reb+1ast, A.Ansley 10+6reb+2ast, E.Innamaa 7+5reb+1ast

Honka - Karhubasket 93-85

An interesting game for Honka (17-10) which hosted in Espoo second-ranked Karhubasket (19-8). Third ranked Honka managed to get a 8-point victory 93-85. Honka dominated down low during the game scoring 52 of its points in the paint compared to Karhubasket's 24. American guard Taye Donald (188-2002, college: Seward County) orchestrated the victory by scoring 23 points and 5 rebounds. His fellow American import forward Isaiah Kelly (201-2000, college: Yale, agency: Diamond Sports) contributed with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists for the winners. Honka's coach Aapo Heinonen used a ten-player rotation which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. American-Nigerian power forward Ike Nweke (201-2000, college: Quinnipiac) answered with a double-double by scoring 21 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists and American guard Ty Berry (190-2001, college: Northwestern) added 20 points in the effort for Karhubasket. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Honka maintains third place with 17-10 record having just three points less than leader Kataja. Karhubasket at the other side keeps the second position with eight games lost. Honka are looking forward to face Seagulls (#6) in Helsinki in the next round. Karhubasket will play at home against KTP-Basket (#5) and is hoping to win this game.
Top scorers:
Karhubasket: I.Nweke 21+11reb+6ast, T.Berry 20+4reb+3ast, K.Kalle 11+4reb+2ast, A.Ahonen 10+7reb+1ast, K.Oliver 9+5reb+2ast, S.Flatten 8+4reb+5ast
Honka: D.Taye 23+5reb+2ast, K.Isaiah 17+8reb+4ast, A.Peltoniemi 16+6reb+1ast, F.AJ 15+12reb+1ast, R.Korhonen 8+2reb+3ast, A.Laavainen 4+2reb

KTP-Basket - Korihait 95-86

We could consider it a predictable result in the game between close teams when fifth ranked KTP-Basket (15-12) beat 4th placed Korihait (15-12) in Kotka 95-86 on Tuesday. KTP-Basket made 23-of-30 free shots (76.7 percent) during the game. KTP-Basket had a 26-12 advantage in offensive rebounds. The former international forward Remu Raitanen (206-1997, college: USF, agency: Blacktop Management) nailed 22 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists for the winning side and the former international center Hannes Polla (211-1998, college: UT Martin) accounted for 17 points and 11 rebounds. Five KTP-Basket players scored in double figures. American forward Frank Champion (201-2002, college: Chattanooga) came up with 32 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists and Bosnian point guard Bojan Sarcevic (190-1988) added 8 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists respectively for Korihait in the defeat. KTP-Basket moved-up to fourth place, which they share with defeated Korihait. KTP-Basket will meet league's second-placed Karhubasket in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Korihait will play against the league's leader Vilpas in Salo and hope to secure a win.
Top scorers:
Korihait: F.Champion 32+8reb+4ast, M.Aalto 12+2reb, V.Tahvanainen 12+1reb, B.Sarcevic 8+5reb+4ast, J.Jackson 8+4reb+4ast, B.Goracke 6+6reb+2ast
KTP-Basket: R.Remu 22+9reb+4ast, S.Koen 19+1reb+6ast, T.Jayden 17+4reb+5ast, P.Hannes 17+11reb+1ast, G.Jesper 11+4reb+2ast, H.Stepanoff 9+4reb+2ast

Bisons - Lahti 93-94

We cannot really consider it an upset in the game between close teams when 9th ranked Bisons (12-15) was edged by tenth ranked Lahti (13-15) in Loimaa 94-93 on Wednesday. Strangely Bisons outrebounded Lahti 45-33 including 18 on the offensive glass. American players dominated the game. Guard Lue Williams (196-2001, college: Tarleton St.) nailed 28 points for the winning side and guard Sebastian Thomas (185, college: URI) accounted for 18 points and 5 rebounds. Center Dean Keeler (211-2001, college: UC Irvine, agency: One Motive Sports) came up with a double-double by scoring 18 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists and point guard Jalin Anderson (190-2002, college: UIW, agency: MSG) added 23 points and 4 assists respectively for Bisons in the defeat. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. The victory was the third consecutive win for Lahti. They moved-up to eighth place. Loser Bisons dropped to the tenth position with 15 games lost. Lahti will meet at home Kouvot (#11) in the next round. Bisons will play against Pyrinto in Tampere and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Bisons: J.Anderson 23+4reb+4ast, T.Kokko 20+5reb+5ast, D.Keeler 18+15reb+4ast, T.Pihlajamaki 11+1reb, R.Hall III 10+5reb+2ast, V.Heinonen 5+8reb+3ast
Lahti: W.Lue 28+2reb+1ast, T.Sebastian 18+5reb+3ast, J.Jehloni 12+4reb+2ast, N.Vili 11+10reb+1ast, B.Max 8+3reb+2ast, K.Peltonen 6+1reb+2ast

Kobrat - Kouvot 86-83

Bottom-ranked Kobrat managed to get a fourth victory, breaking the series of four consecutive losses. This time they edged eleventh-ranked Kouvot in Lapua 86-83. Kobrat made 25-of-32 charity shots (78.1 percent) during the game. Kouvot was plagued by 24 personal fouls down the stretch. American-Cameroonian forward Tamenang Choh (196-1998, college: Brown, agency: Helping Ballers) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 28 points and 13 rebounds for the winners and American forward Bobby Planutis (203-1997, college: PFW, agency: One Motive Sports) chipped in 14 points. American guard Wesley Cardet Jr (198, college: Providence) responded with a double-double by scoring 27 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists and swingman Timi Puittinen (194-1994) scored 15 points and 6 rebounds. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Kobrat maintains twelfth place with 4-22 record. Kouvot at the other side keeps the eleventh position with 18 games lost. Kobrat will play against higher ranked Kataja (#7) in Joensuu in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Kouvot will play on the road against Lahti (#8) and hopes to get back on the winning track.
Top scorers:
Kouvot: W.Cardet Jr. 27+11reb+4ast, P.Timi 15+6reb+2ast, H.Joona 13+2reb+1ast, D.Blanton 10+9reb+2ast, A.Korkiatupa 6+6reb+3ast, H.Tuukka 6+5reb+1ast
Kobrat: C.Tamenang 28+13reb+2ast, P.Bobby 14+3reb+3ast, S.Stefanovic 11+1reb+7ast, N.Antto 10+3reb+3ast, M.Marttinen 7+5reb, J.Lehtoranta 6+2reb