Super Cup: Tbilisi State University retain trophy with 98-79 rout of Batumi

Tbilisi State University began its season as it finished the last one, with silverware, and this time without the double-overtime anxiety of twelve months ago. In Rustavi, the holders beat league champions Batumi 98-79 to win the Otar Korkia Super Cup for a second year running. Andrew O'Brien (201-G/F-2001, college: Southwestern, KS) led the way with 23 points and was named most valuable player of the game.
Batumi arrived as the favourites. They had already played competitive games, beating the Swiss champions in FIBA Champions League qualifying before losing to the Romanian champions and dropping into the FIBA Europe Cup. TSU, by contrast, had rebuilt almost their entire roster over the summer, and this was the first real test of those changes. It went well: the imports looked comfortable at this level, and the Georgian additions slotted in without fuss.
The first five minutes were level. Then TSU broke into open court and found their range from distance, with O'Brien and Dallas Howell (201-F-2002, college: N.Alabama, agency: Helping Ballers) both shooting well from beyond the arc. The lead reached 17 points in the second quarter. Batumi cut the deficit to five after the interval, but the coach, Lekso Lapanashvili, saw his side tighten up defensively and run the break, and the margin never again looked precarious.
Behind O'Brien's 23 points, Dallas Howell scored 18, Rezo Tavartkiladze 12 and captain Nika Chechelashvili (197-F/G-1999) 11. For Batumi, Larry Howell (198-G, college: Fayetteville St.) had 27 points and 10 rebounds and Giorgi Ochkhikidze (190-PG-2004) scored 19, while Carson Basham and Valerian Tsuleiskiri (202-C-1999) each added 10.
Koba Kobiashvili, head of the national federation's competitions department, presented the MVP award to O'Brien. Federation vice-president Nikoloz Tskitishvili gave the trophy to Chechelashvili. It is TSU's first title of a season only just begun.