Dragons in the semifinals of the Nova KBM League

Cedevita Olimpija also defeated Hopsi Polzela in the second match of the quarterfinal set of the Nova KBM League and advanced to the semifinals of the national championship. At Polzela, after 40 minutes of play, the scoreboard showed in favor of the protégés of head coach Jurica Golemac.

After 2019, the basketball players of Cedevita Olimpija are again in the semifinals of the national championship. Joke aside, in the 2019/20 season, the season in the Nova KBM League did not end due to the coronavirus pandemic, and in the 2018/19 season, the Dragons made it to the finals of the national championship. The Ljubljana team won the quarter-final set with Hopsi Polzela after two matches played, on Thursday the Ljubljana team celebrated the victory with 87:70 in the Polzela Sports Hall. Let us remind you that in the first match on Tuesday in Stožice it was 97:48 for the squad of head coach Jurica Golemac.

For Cedevita Olimpija, Jaka Blažič shined as he scored 22 points, while Ivan Marinković followed him with 12 points and Edo Murić with 11. Jarrod Jones crowned his good performance with 9 points and just as many rebounds.

STATEMENTS AFTER THE GAME

Jurica Golemac, trener Cedevite Olimpije:

»Congratulations to my players fort he win. The win is the only thing that counts in the end. We haven’t entered the game with the proper energy and physical presence. The hosts wished to prove themselves and I can only congratulate Polzela for a good performance. For us, this game has brought the valuable lesson, as we can now see that everyone plays good basketball nowadays and that we need to be fully focused ahead of each game, to be able to get away with the win.«

Luka Rupnik, igralec Cedevite Olimpije:

»As we have expected, the game has been tougher than the one in Stožice. They have plenty of young players, that have been hoping to prove themselves against Cedevita Olimpija. We have answered in the proper way and controlled the flow of the game. Now there is a couple of days left for us to rest and then we start working again in order to reach the Finals.«

NOVA KBM LEAGUE, QUARTERFINALS

GAME 2

Sports Hall Polzela (Polzela, Slovenia), Thursday, May 6:
HOPSI POLZELA – CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA 70:87 (24:15, 13:26, 22:17, 11:29) [0:2]*
Cedevita Olimpija: Perry 5, Murić 11, Blažič 22 (7 skokov), Ščuka 2, Dimec 4, Radović 1, Duščak 6, Hodžić 8, Jones 9 (9 skokov), Marinković 12, Rupnik 7 (7 podaj).

STATISTICS
PHOTO GALLERY

*The team that first reaches two wins, will advance to the semi-finals. 

GAME 1

Arena Stožice (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Tuesday, May 4:
CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA – HOPSI POLZELA 97:48 (34:16, 16:5, 23:12, 24:15)
Cedevita Olimpija: Perry 6, Murić 9, Blažič 13, Ščuka 18 (5 rebounds), Dimec 10 (7 rebounds), Radović 7 (5 rebounds), Duščak 6 (7 assists), Hodžić 12, Jones 5 (9 rebounds), Marinković 6, Rupnik 5.

STATISTICS
GALLERY