Last round will be decisive

The basketball players of Cedevita Olimpija lost to Cibona (83:93) in the 23rd round of the ABA League in Zagreb, thus slightly complicating their way to the finals of the regional competition.

The fatigue and strenuous rhythm of the matches took their toll on Tuesday in Zagreb. The Cedevita Olimpija team lost to Zagreb’s Cibona (83:93) in the postponed match of the 23rd round of the ABA League. For the people of Ljubljana, this was the fifth regional duel in 12 days, but it is also necessary to take into account the fact that they had spent almost the entire week on the road in Montenegro and Serbia.

The Dragons will be chasing a place in the playoffs in the last round of the regular part of the competition, but unfortunately they will not depend only on their game and the result of the showdown of the 26th round with Mego Soccerbet. For a breakthrough among the best four teams in the region, the players of Ljubljana need a victory against the talented Belgrade team, and at the same time Igokea in Laktaši must be defeated by Mornar from Bar. Only in this way, in the Arena Stožice, for the first time since the 2010/11 season, we could follow the match between two of the best four teams in the 2020/21 season.

On Tuesday, Cibona strongly opposed Cedevita Olimpija on the home floor and dominated practically the entire match on the floor of the Dražen Petrović Basketball Center. The teams entered the last quarter tied at 60:60, but in the end the Zagreb team took advantage of the fatigue and consequent lack of concentration of the Dragons, and in the end they were looking forward to a reliable victory with 93:83.

The top scorer of the Ljubljana team was again Kendrick Perry, who this time stopped at 23 points, to which he added six assists. They were followed by Mikael Hopkins and Rion Brown, who scored 15 points each, and Jarrod Jones, who scored 11 points.

The Ljubljana team will now focus its strength and energy on the Nova KBM League for the champion, where two matches await it between Thursday and Saturday. On Thursday, the Dragons will play at Terme Olimie Podčetrtek, and on Saturday they will play a home game against Krka from Novo mesto.

STATEMENTS AFTER THE GAME:

Jurica Golemac, head coach of Cedevita Olimpija:
“Congratulations to Cibona for the victory. Unfortunately, we were not right, we did not play with the necessary energy, especially in defense. The focus wasn’t the right one either. We had a hard journey behind us, from which we returned a few days ago, and at the same time we played a difficult match with Zvezda two days ago. I don’t blame the boys for anything, because they wanted to win, but we didn’t succeed in this match. That’s the way it is in sports. Heads up and we move on.”

Mikael Hopkins, player of Cedevita Olimpija:
“Another challenging match in the ABA League is behind us. The regular part of the season is coming to an end, so this defeat hurts, but we need to finish the season strong, and we’ll see what that brings us.”

ABA LEAGUE, ROUND 23

Basketball Center Dražen Petrović (Zagreb, Hrvaška), Tuesday, April 20, at 20.30:
CIBONA – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA 93:83 (24:19, 17:24, 19:17, 33:23)
Cedevita Olimpija: Radović, Perry 23 (6 assists), Hopkins 15, Duščak, Murić 5, Blažič 6 (6 assists), Brown 15, Hodžić 3, Jones 11 (5 rebounds), Dimec 5 (4 rebounds), Marinković, Rupnik.

STATISTICS
PHOTO GALLERY

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