Atomic overtime for the win against Igokea

After the away game on the Canary Islands at Herbalife Gran Canaria, the Cedevita Olimpija returned to the right track with a win on the home court of Arena Stožice. In round eight of the ABA League Dragons bested Igokea 103:92.

Dragons hosted Igokea in Arena Stožice and won 103:92. Another win on the home court puts the Ljubljana team in fourth place in the ABA League standings. The team from Stožice also played a game less than teams in front and behind it in standings. After five wins and one loss, Cedevita Olimpija has the second-best point difference in the league (84).

Dragons opened the game with an aggressive half-court pressing which caused the visitors from Laktaši quite a few problems. In the first half of the first quarter, Dragons allowed their opponents to score only six points. On the other end of the floor, Cedevita Olimpija displayed an inspired offensive performance which Igokea was able to slow down only after Jurica Golemac subbed in the second unit. In the second quarter, Igokea managed to come close and was trailing only by two points before the team in green and orange defended their lead with a series of successful three-point shots. At the end of the first half, the away time stepped up their game again and Dragons finished the half with only a two-point lead.

The half-time talk did well for Jurica Golemac’s squad which opened the second half with a 10:2 run. The home team won the third quarter 20:18 and was leading by eight in with eight minutes to go. However, after Igokea tied the game at 87:97 with less than four seconds till the end of the regulation, Jaka Blažič missed the potential game-winner.

In the five minutes of overtime, Cedevita Olimpija outplayed their opponents. Captian of the team from Stožice Blažič added six points to his tally and Edo Murić scored eight – half of his game total.

The highest scorer in the green and orange jersey was Kendrick Perry who recorded 27 points, nine assists, and five rebounds. Jaka Blažič scored 22 points with six rebounds, Edo Murić had 16, Alen Hodžić 11, and Mikael Hopkins finished the game with nine points. Jarrod Jones had seven points.

Dragons will play their next game on December 5, since the international break will take place in the next few days due to the qualifications tournaments for EuroBasket 2022. Cedevita Olimpija will play their next game in Krešimir Ćosić Hall where they will face Zadar.

STATEMENTS AFTER THE GAME

Jurica Golemac, Head Coach of Cedevita Olimpija: 
“Congratulations to the players. In the last 15 days, we only practiced twice and we struggled with injuries so that is why I was afraid of this game. When we managed to get in the lead the opponents fought back, there were a lot of ups and downs in our game. The energy was not right and we had troubles with rebounding. But in the end, kudos to the boys. To get back after conceding a three in the final seconds shows that this time has the right character. Igokea already beat Partizan NIS and Türk Telekom this season which shows how good this time is. For us it was important to win in this game. Now we have time to rest and we move forward.”

Jaka Blažič, Player of Cedevite Olimpija: 
“We wanted the win and we achieved it. Igokea is a great team that is playing well this season but we deserved to win. We are moving one, some of us will head to the national team, others to the practice.”

ABA LEAGUE, ROUND 8

Arena Stožice (Ljubljana), Sunday, November 22:
CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA – IGOKEA 103:92 (23:18, 24:27, 20:18, 20:24, 16:5)
Cedevita Olimpija: Radović, Perry 27 (9 assists, 5 rebounds), Hopkins 9, Duščak, Murić 16, Blažič 22 (6 rebounds), Brown 6 (6 rebounds), Hodžić 11, Jones 7, Dimec, Marinković 5.

STATS
GALLERY

LESTVICA