Leaving Čačak with a win

In the 20th round of the ABA League, the basketball players of Cedevita Olimpija recorded their 15th victory in the regional competition on the road in Čačak. The Dragons defeated Borac 95:82.

Cedevita Olimpija continues its series of successes in the ABA League. The Ljubljana team achieved its 15th victory of the season in Čačak, where the basketball players with a dragon logo on their chests dominantly outplayed the Borac team and celebrated the victory with a final score of 95:82.

After a few changes in the lead in the opening minutes of the match, the Ljubljana basketball players took control of the game in the second half of the first quarter. The escalation of the scoring form of the team from Stožice was reflected in the highest lead of the first half, which the protégés of Jurica Golemec achieved just before the end of the second quarter. After twenty minutes of play, the scoreboard in the Borac Hall displayed 56:42 in favor of the Ljubljana team, for which Kendrick Perry and Mikael Hopkins scored a total of 32 points.

With the easy-flowing gameplay from the end of the first part of the match, the Ljubljana team tortured the home team in the continuation of the game. The team performance on the floor rewarded the Dragons, who accumulated twice as many assists as their rivals, with a high lead, which already amounted to 24 points in the third quarter. The basketball players in green-orange jerseys concluded the match with a victory with a difference of 13 points, and in the final minutes of the match, young Rok Radović and Luka Ščuka also got the opportunity to prove themselves. Dan Duščak did not travel with the team to Serbia for the match due to illness.

The dragon team’s top scorer was Kendrick Perry, who added eight assists to his 21 points. Mikael Hopkins scored 14 points, Jaka Blažič scored 12, and also contributed five rebounds and seven assists. Rion Brown (7 rebounds) and Edo Murić (6 rebounds) scored 11 points each, and Jarrod Jones and Žiga Dimec scored six points each.

Before returning from a road game in central Serbia, the Dragons will stop in Podgorica, where they will face a decisive match on Tuesday to qualify among the top eight teams of the 7DAYS EuroCup. The match of the sixth round of the Top 16 stage of the EuroCup will start in the Montenegrin capital at 19:00, and it will be covered live on Šport TV 1.

STATEMENTS AFTER THE GAME

Jurica Golemac, Head Coach of KK Cedevita Olimpija:
“Congratulations to the guys for the focused performance. The mentality of the team was down after Tuesday’s loss against Virtus Segafredo Bologna, but the players showed great character again. We were looking to find players in the best positions on the court. We looked at Borac as a serious team and we did not underestimate them.”

Kendrick Perry, igralec KK Cedevita Olimpija:
“After Virtus Segafredo Bologna game it was emotionally frustrating for us but we knew there was still more basketball to be played. We did not want to let that affect how we move forward. This was a great bounce back and we just got to keep it going. We have a really important [game] coming up.”