Tartu University won the first match of the best-of-five series away, 86:80, but lost at home 92:90 to tie the series. BC Kalev/Cramo's win on Tuesday means they are 2:1 up in games, and if they win the next encounter away on Thursday, there will be no need for a fifth game.

After Tuesday's match, Kalev/Cramo shooting guard Leemet Böckler reflected on the defensive improvement, saying: "The previous games weren't lacking in offense either. It's more about defense. That we can take out their leaders and force them to play more on our terms."

Böckler also addressed the absence of injured teammate Stefan Vaaks, a key player. "We knew that losing Vaaks would be a big setback for us—in scoring, playmaking, all of it. We all felt some responsibility to step up and give more of ourselves."

"You never know how this kind of thing will affect things. The main message was that we support Vaaks and we're sad for him, but we're not letting our heads drop. We want to win the Estonian championship for him too," Böckler went on.

From the Tartu, shooting guard Martin Paasoja noted the game started in unusual form. "It was delayed at the start, as everyone knows," he said. "But I think we handled it well. Cramo got some things working really well, and we were chasing the whole game." He added: "Today they found a good rhythm. I can't say exactly how they got it, but they had good momentum. We had to take constant risks to close the gap. It didn't work out today."

That unusual turn happened early on when the backboard shattered after less than two minutes of play. Replacing it delayed the match by over an hour.

Once play resumed, Tartu took the early lead, but Kalev/Cramo turned it around by halftime, leading 46:40.

Though the visitors briefly led in the third quarter, Kalev/Cramo pulled ahead again in the fourth and closed it out from 77:74.

Böckler scored 19 points, Hugo Toom added 15, and Severi Kaukiainen posted 14 points and 11 assists, also for the winners. Jalen Henry and Karl-Johan Lips each had 16 for Tartu; Irish guard Sean Flood added 15.

Game four is this Thursday in Tartu.

Rapla Utilitas won the third place medal over TalTech on Sunday.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!