Cedevita Olimpija defeated the Euroleague with the match of the season as if in a trance

ABA League, 8th round

Monday, November 20:

Sportsman

Italian in the dock: Do you want to point the finger at me?

Jaka Blažič scored 29 points.
Photo: www.alesfevzer.com

After an injury and missing a few matches, he returned to the Cedevita Olimpija squad Justin Cobbs and started in the top five. Together with Klemno Prepelič they will now be able to play off their teammates even better. The people of Ljubljana were without their first center Karl Marković, who recovered from a back injury during the seventh defeat in the EuroCup. Both teams opened the match in a very attacking mood. After five minutes it was 17:17 on the scoreboard. At the end of the opening quarter, the guests gained the first advantage, 27:22. Frank Kaminsky already had nine points, they also stood out Jaka Blažič and Shawn Jones with eight.

Justin Cobbs is back.
Photo: www.alesfevzer.com

With more than 60% two-point shooting and 50% three-point shooting (5/10), Partizan’s advantage grew to nine points (28:37) in the middle of the second quarter. Then, after two excellent passes by Prepelič, Blažič scored two triples in a row (34:37). Klemen already had five assists, Jaka 14 points. He gave additional energy in defense by entering the game Luka Ščuka, who first hit a three-pointer, then gave a block. After a stolen ball by another Cedevita Olimpija youngster Gregor Glas scored in the 16th minute of the match in Blažič for a 41:39 lead. The first half did not disappoint several thousand fans, and the result was also completely open – the lead of the home basketball players with 51:50. The result of the quarter is 29:23. Blažič scored in double figures with 16 points and Prepelič scored 13, while Partizan scored none. The people of Ljubljana excelled at shooting from behind the line, hitting eight three-pointers out of 14 attempts (57 percent).

Luka Ščuka
Photo: www.alesfevzer.com

In the third quarter, there were slightly fewer points (22:21), but the match was no less interesting. Prepelič hit a fourth 3-pointer, and Cobbs was fouled on a three-pointer a few seconds before the end of the quarter. And he hit all three free throws. After 30 minutes, the home team continued to lead, 73:71.

DJ Stewart opened the decisive quarter with a three-pointer, with Olimpija’s 11th three-pointer giving them a 76:71 lead. The Partizan basketball players played more and more offensively in defense, but this only fueled Blažič and his teammates even more. Zach LeDay five minutes to the end, the captain of Cedevita Olimpija, who was already at 23 points, stopped him with an unsportsmanlike personal foul when he penetrated under the basket. Because Prepelič defended his teammate hot-bloodedly, he received a technical foul and the guests a free throw to tie the game at 85:85. Then Blažič hit both free throws (87:85) and Olimpija got the ball, but wasted the attack for a higher lead. However, Blažič, who played the game of the season, was unmissable from the free throw line. When he scored the eighth, they took a 91-87 lead with two and a half minutes to go. When, 45 seconds before the final siren, Stewart successfully finished the game after an independent action with his back to the hoop, the tense audience in the cone stands only calmed down (95:91). Cedevita Olimpija’s sixth victory in eight matches of the ABA League was burned.

Blažič: We really needed that

The last minutes in Stožice were very dramatic. This is how Prepelič went crazy when Zach Leday made a sharp personal foul on Blažič.
Photo: www.alesfevzer.com

Cedevita Olimpija finished the game with 11 three-pointers (52% shooting from behind the line), Blažič scored 29 points, Prepelič 18 (11 assists), Jones 17 (9 rebounds), Stewart 12, Cobbs 9. For Partizan, Kaminsky scored 20 points , and LeDay 17. “We finally showed what we do in training. The energy was at the right level, the sacrifice, we all gave our part. Jaka led us like a true captain, all credit to him for that,” said Prepelič in his first statement . Blažič confirmed that this was indeed Olimpija’s best match this season: “A match in which we proved to ourselves that we can play against the best teams. We really needed that.”

They really needed this win.
Photo: www.alesfevzer.com

Stergar, Špan and Macura pulled Krka out of the hole

Leon Stergar scored his ABA league record 25 points.
Photo: Mega MIS/Ivica Veselinov

Before the match with Krka, Mega had four wins and three losses, among other things, they beat Partizan in their own hall. The Krka team had only one win and six losses. “Mega is a young and high-quality team. They play with a lot of energy. They have a lot of selected talents. It is worth highlighting Topić, one of the most prominent players in the league, around whom most of the game revolves. Otherwise, we have to deal with ourselves above all. I hope that the time will come, when we can get out of the black hole,” said the Krka coach before the meeting Gasper Okorn.

But the start was not the best, as they lost the first quarter with 13:21 and went to the main break with ten points behind (42:32 for Mega). Only 19 years old Nikola Topic he was already experienced at eight points Nikola Janković, who also played for Olimpija years ago, at the age of nine. Krkin was the most effective basketball player in the first half Yuri Macura, who scored ten points while shooting 100% and had seven rebounds. In the first half, the guests made only 18 percent (2/10) three-pointers.

Yuri Macura
Photo: Mega MIS/Ivica Veselinov

After three Leon Stergar (14 points), Krka leveled the score at 46:46 in the fifth minute of the match. The second half therefore started with a partial score of 14:4. The continuation was very even, the two teams took turns in the lead. Before the last quarter, Mega led with 61:59. If there were a lot of baskets in the third quarter (19:27), the fight for the ball in the last quarter was so fierce that there were fewer points, free throws followed, even turnovers. There were too many of these at Krka (16).

Two consecutive triples followed Jan Špana and Macure’s basket in between, so that Novi Meščani took the lead with 71:67 ​​three minutes before the end. They no longer squandered the advantages. Stergar (25 points), Špan (16 points, 9 assists) and Macura (14 points, 8 rebounds) contributed the most to the 77:72 victory. At Mega, he was the best scorer with 16 points Uroš PlavšićTopić gave 12 of them.

ABA League, 8th round

Friday, November 17:

Saturday, November 18:

Sunday, November 19:

Monday, November 20:

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Sportsman

Slovenian coach one step higher