For the second time this week against Zvezda

The basketball players of Cedevita Olimpija are facing another clash with Belgrade’s Crvena zvezda mts this week. Ljubljana will face Belgrade in Arena Stožice on Sunday at 17.00 in the remaining match of the 24th round of the ABA League, and a live television broadcast of the match will be available on Arena Sport 1.

For the second time this week, Cedevita Olimpija and Crvena zvezda mts will compete in the ABA League. The people of Belgrade will play in Ljubljana on Sunday at 5 pm, and in addition to the fact that the match will take place behind closed doors, the basketball fans will watch the derby of the 24th round of the ABA League live on Arena Sport 1.

On Wednesday, sports fans were able to watch the fantastic performance of both teams in Belgrade’s ‘Pionir’, and the postponed match of the 11th round was decided only in the last seconds of the match. With the score tied at 81:81, Kendrick Perry penetrated under the basket, next to him was Corey Walden, who sharply covered the organizer of the Cedevita Olimpija game, there was contact, while the referee’s whistles remained silent.

After Perry missed the ball, it ended up in the hands of Marko Simonović, and the American took contact with Walden into Simonović’s body, and the judges awarded Perry a foul. Simonović then hit one of the two free throws, the other was deliberately missed by Jake Blažič’s throw, but at the sound of the siren he could not find his way through the ring. The 82:81 victory thus remained in Belgrade.

The controversial end of the match will certainly further inflame the Dragons before the start of Sunday’s match. While Zvezda, together with Budućnost VOLI, already has a place in the playoffs, Cedevita Olimpija is still trying to secure it, and winning Sunday’s derby of the 24th round would be an additional decisive step towards breaking into the top four teams of the regular season.

STATEMENTS AHEAD OF THE GAME:

Jurica Golemac, head coach of Cedevita Olimpija:
“Ahead of us is a new challenging match. The Red Star will be stronger on Sunday than they were on Wednesday as Landry Nnoko returns to the team. We have to use the match in Belgrade to correct mistakes. We need to reduce the number of balls lost, but at the same time we need to be better at the game in the jump, play more physically and run as much as possible. If you want to beat Zvezda, you have to play at the highest possible level and be focused all 40 minutes of the match. We have enough time to rest and prepare for Sunday’s match. We will do our best to record a new victory in Stožice.”

Rion Brown, player of Cedevita Olimpiija:
“Obviously, it’s going to be another tough game, a dog fight. We are aware of the fact, that games like this wait for us in the playoffs, so we as may get ready now. It’s going to be a tough game, but we’re going to come out with a lot of energy, and hopefully, we can pull it out.”

ABA LEAGUE, ROUND 24

Stožice Arena (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Sunday, April 18, at 17.00:
CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA – CRVENA ZVEZDA MTS

STANDINGS: