Second win of the Finals in Stožice, a chance to win the trophy in Novo mesto

Cedevita Olimpija senior squad has beaten Krka in the Game 2 of the domestic championship Finals with the final score of 77:70 and are now only a step away from winning the fifth domestic championship trophy.

Cedevita Olimpija senior team is now only a step away from winning the fifth consecutive domestic championship trophy and the 22nd in Slovenia. After a tight win on Tuesday in the Game 1 of the Final series in Novo mesto, the defending champions have celebrated a win with the final score of 77:70 in Game 2 in Stožice, took a 2:0 lead in the series and earned three “championship balls” in the trophy race.

The Ljubljana squad has again faced Krka without the head coach Zvezdan Mitrović, that is coming back to the bench of the Ljubljana side in Game 3, Devin Robinson, that has ended the season due to an injury and will travel to the USA after an agreement with the club’s management and coaching staff on Friday and Andrija Stipanović and DJ Stewart, which aren’t registered to play in the domestic championship.

The first chance to retain the trophy for the Dragons is coming up on Saturday, 18:00, when the Game 3 will take place in Leon Štukelj Sports Hall in Novo mesto. Possible Game 4 will take placeon Monday, 18:00 in Ljubljana and fifth the next Thursday, 18:00, again in Novo mesto.

The clash in Stožice was spiced up by the awarding ceremony for the 6.Zmaj MVP award for the 2024/25 season, that has been awarded to Devin Robinson by the Director of Cedevita Olimpija, Davor Užbinec. Devin has also been chosen into the second teams of both AdmiralBet ABA League and BKT EuroCup in the 2024/25 season.

GAME REPORT:

In the Stožice Arena, the game was fought in the rhythm of the home squad almost throughout the entire playing time. The Dragons made the 8:0 run between the 7th and 10th minutes of the game, when the Ljubljana side converted the 17:17 score into a 25:17 lead and afterwards, the visiting side just did not manage to get in front anymore until the second half. That did not last long, as the green and orange have made an 11:1 run, to turn their 5-point deficit into a 5-point lead (48:43), with 3 minutes to go in the third. The advantage of Dragons kept increasing and when there were only 7 minutes remaining in the game, their lead reached the double digits (63:53) and since then the win of the hosts did not become questionable anymore until the end.

For Cedevita Olimpija, Aleksej Nikolić led the way in scoring with 17 points on his record, while Jaka Blažič added 14 points.

OTP BANK LEAGUE, FINAL SERIES

GAME 2

Arena Stožice (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Thursday, June 5:
CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA – Krka 77:70 (25:17, 9:16, 25:20, 18:17) [2:0]*
Cedevita Olimpija: Jones 8 (5 rebounds), Glas 6, Lemar 9, Beringer 6 (7 rebounds), Tasić 9 (6 rebounds and 5 assists), Radović 5, Nikolić 17, Blažič 14 (5 rebounds), Morano Mahmutovič 2, Lazarevski, Prepelič 1, Daneu.

STATISTICS
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GAME 3

Leona Štuklja Sports Hall (Novo mesto, Slovenia), Saturday, June 7, at 6:00 PM:
KRKA – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA (TV broadcast on Šport TV)

GAME 4**

Arena Stožice (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Monday, June 9, at 6:00 PM:
CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA – KRKA (free entry)

GAME 5**

Leona Štuklja Sports Hall (Novo mesto, Slovenia), Thursday, June 12, at 6:00 PM:
KRKA – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA

*Score in wins. The series is played to three wins.
**Potential fourth and fifth games.

ALREADY PLAYED:

GAME 1

Leona Štuklja Sports Hall (Novo mesto, Slovenia), Tuesday, June 3:
KRKA – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA 73:75 (23:26, 15:19, 19:12, 16:18)
Cedevita Olimpija: Radović 7 (6 rebounds), Nikolić 13, Glas 13, Blažič 11 (5 rebounds), Beringer 10 (5 rebounds), Jones, Lemar 9, Morano Mahmutovič, Lazarevski, Tasić 8 (6 rebounds), Prepelič, Daneu 4.

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