MEGA LOST IN LAKTASI

Mega without a victory in Laktasi!

In the 8th round of the ABA League, Mega Mozzart lost on road to Igokea with 79:63 (18:15, 24:17, 16:16, 21:15). At the end of the first half, coach Vladimir Jovanović’s team allowed the home team to break away, and then chased the gap in the other 20 minutes, but they did not manage to jeopardize the home team’s victory.

The most efficient in the ranks of Mega were Nikola Djurisic with 14 points and Malcolm Cazalon with 13. Dalibor Ilic stood out in Igokea with 22 points and Stefan Đorđević with 12.

After eight rounds of regional competition, Mega Mozzart has a score of 3-5, while Igokea has four wins and four losses. Mega Mozzart will host Cedevita Olimpija in the next round on Sunday, November 21.

Vladimir Jovanovic started the match with the following five: Smith, Cazalon, Jovic, Rudan and Matkovic. After three minutes of the game, the result is 7:7, but Rudan is on the bench due to two personal fouls. Igokea used a few turnovers by Mega to take the lead with a plus six, 13:7. Excellent defense of Mega for the next few minutes, Cazalon scores two plus one after the steal, Jankovic hits from the paint and Ruzhentsev hit three pointes, so Mega leads 13:15. However, with Waller’s points and Talic’s triple in the last second, the home team leads 18:15 after 10 minutes of play.

Ruzhentsev opens the second quarter with a new triple and then Djurisic from the jump-shot gives the advantage to Mega, 18:20. The home team reaches plus five from second attacks and hit threes. Bad jumping and mistakes in Mega’s defense Igokea managed to punish and increase the advantage. That was followed by the lost balls, so with the points of Starks, Igokea managed to reach a double-digit advantage for the first time, 42:32 at halftime.

The problems in the attack continued at the beginning of the third quarter, when Igokea reached plus 14, and the run of the of the home team was interrupted with the dunk and points from the paint by Balcerowski. Mega played better in defense, but it was difficult to get to the basket, so that Igokea reached plus 15 in the end of the quarter through Ilic. lay-up of Smith and Djurisic’s triple, Mega reduces the gap to 10 points, but on the other side, Tanaskovic hits a triple. However, in the last seconds, Jovic hit a three-pointer for Mega’s hope and the result was 58:48 before the last 10 minutes of the game.

In the last quarter, Mega did not manage to jeopardize Igokea’s victory, as the difference did not fall below 10 points, and the final result was 79:63.

Igokea: Vulic, Starks 6, Robinson 4 (11 assists), Tanaskovic 5, Radanov 5, Josilo 4, Talic 5, Ilic 22 (8 rebounds), Stevens 6, Waller 8, Fundic 2, Djordjevic 12.

Mega Mozzart: Balcerowski 8 (7 rebounds), Vujic, Ruzhentsev 6, Jovic 6, Rudan 2, Kocovic, Smith 9, Jankovic 2, Cerovina, Matkovic 3, Cazalon 13, Djurisic 14.

Photo: Igokea/Nikola Vuruna