«Вита» Тбилиси, Грузия vs. «Красный Октябрь» Волгоград, Россия

Krasny Oktyabr defeated Vita in their season opener – 110:67. The home team didn’t win the game, but everyone was a winner that night as the big basketball has made its return to Georgia.

The Plot
Vita’s debut in the VTB United League was a long-awaited return of major basketball to Georgia. The team’s entrance was met with a loud roar from fans inside the Tbilisi Sports Palace. Krasny Oktyabr and their new head coach, however, were there prepared to spoil the party.

The visiting team started out hot from deep, hitting one three after another, and when they missed, Jajuan Johnson or one of his teammates were there to get an offensive rebound and converted some second chance points. Johnson easily outmaneuvered a 7’2” Konstantin Anikeenko in the paint, as if left him in the mud, and converted all of his FG attempts in the first period.

Vita managed to regroup and climbed back into the ballgame after they were able to speed the game up for a little while, but the turnovers and the lack of people getting back on defense ultimately killed their chances. The score at the half - 59:38.

In the second half players from the Russian team took it upon themselves to start a friendly in-game dunking contest/exhibition. Tony Mitchell caught the lob, Jajuan Johnson and Vyachelslav Zaitsev dunked over people, it was a blow-out win in the end. Team owner of Krasny Oktyabr Dmitry Gerasimenko scored a career high four points and added three rebounds as the Steelers won comfortably 110:67, and basketball under the bright lights made its way back to Georgia.

The Hero
Jajuan Johnson. Krasny Oktyabr's forward was relentless hitting for 25, making 11 of his 13 FG attempts, 1 of 2 from deep and 2/2 from the line.

The Number
57 – Number of team rebounds gathered in by Krasny Oktyabr is the second best team total ever!

Comments

Pavel Googe. Vita’s head coach
I congratulate everyone with the return of basketball to Georgia and our debut in the VTB United League. Right now we are trying to make up for lost time in the training process. Our team is better than what we’ve shown.
Kyrylo Bolshakov. Krasny Oktyabr’s head coach
1st game 1st win! That’s the way to start the season. We work a lot on our mistakes and try not to repeat them again. This was a team win all around. Why was I nervous when we had a large lead? That’s the game of basketball, you want to do your job in the best way possible every play. I wish Vita all of the best this year.