GREAT STRUGGLE AND OVERTIME VICTORY OF MEGA AGAINST KRKA

Mega’s victory over Krka after a great struggle in the Hall of sports!

Mega Basket defeated Krka with 73:72 (27:20, 16:16, 18:16, 13:18, 6:5) in the 3rd round of the AdmiralBet ABA League after an extremely exciting game and overtime. Coach Vladimir Jovanovic’s team came to the victory in the Hall of sports Ranko Zeravica after they managed to make up for the minus of five points in the additional five minutes of the game and to defend the victory in the last attack of Krka.

The most efficient in the ranks of Mega were Dayshon Smith with 17 points and Borisa Simanic with 13. Rok Stipcevic stood out in the Krka with 25 points.

After three rounds of the AdmiralBet ABA league, Mega Basket has a score of 2-1, while Krka has one victory and two defeats. In the next round of the AdmiralBet ABA league, Mega will be a guest of the Borac in Cacak.

Vladimir Jovanovic started the match with the following five: Smith, Cazalon, Jovic, Simanic and Matkovic. A slightly better start for the visiting team, which leads 7:10 with two three-pointers after four minutes of play. Smith hits lay-up under the foul, and after a missed free throw and an offensive rebound, Simanic with a dunk returns Mega12:10 advantage. With a run 0:6, Krka took the lead with points after an offensive rebounds, but a great period of Mega followed, where with an excellent defense with a few steals, they reached easy points, for a lead of 20:17, which was the result after the first quarter.

Mega missed a few shots at the beginning of the second quarter which was stopped with Rudan’s three pointer. Balcerowski and Jovic scored for plus one  and the advantage of Mega 30:24 in the middle of the second quarter. Mega’s players kept the guests without points with an excellent defense for almost five minutes, but they did not manage to reach a double-digit advantage, as it amounted to eight points at the most. The guests from the second attacks managed to reduce Mega’s advantage, which is three points at halftime, 36:33.

Plenty of unused attacks on both sides at the beginning of the third quarter, so that the guests would gain minimal advantages in the middle of the section. Simanić lays on the second hoop, and then hits for three, so Mega leads 47:43. However, the guests responded with a run 0:6, so coach of Mega requested a time-out. An excellent response from the players of Mega followed, which closed the third quarter with a run 7:0 for a lead of 54:49 after 30 minutes of play.

Krka’s two triples at the beginning of the last section, while on the other side Matković dunks hard after Smith’s assist. Cazalon is accurate for three and then Borisa takes the ball off from Krka with a great block, so Mega reaches plus 6, 61:55. Krka reduced the difference to a point with Stipcevic’s triple, so with the result of 61:60, the last four minutes began. Rudan is half-precise from the free throw line, and after a miss on both sides, the same player hit from the paint for 64:60 in two minutes until the end. Krka equalizes in two attacks, Rudan brings Mega the advantage with a three from the corner, but Stipcevic hits on the other side from eight meters. Until the end, both teams did not score from their attacks, so the game went into overtime.

It seemed that Krka was closer to victory after five tied points by Stipcevic, but Smith took matters into his own hands, and with two drives, the second of which was under foul and from an extremely difficult position, he returned the equalizer, 72:72. Simanic hits one free throw, so the last two minutes of overtime started with 73:72. Both teams did not manage to socre, so that in the last attack of Krka, Mega played an excellent defense, and Stavrov was not precise for the guests, so the final result remained 73:72 for the great celebration of Mega’s players on the floor.

Mega Basket: Balcerowski 11, Vujic, Ruzentsev, Jovic 5, Rudan 9 (7 rebounds), Kocovic, Smith 17 (7 assists, 5 rebounds), Cerovina, Matkovic 10, Cazalon 8, Djurisic, Simanic 13 (7 rebounds).

Krka: French 6, Gibbs 6, Stergar 3, Stipcevic 25, Span 2, Stavrov 5, Kosi 6, Stipanicev 1, Skedelj, Lapornik 15, Macura 3, Klobucar.

Photo: Mega Basket/Ivica Veselinov