NO SURPRISE IN PODGORICA, MEGA FAILED TO ENDANGER VICTORY OF BUDUCNOST

Mega is leaving Podgorica with two defeats!

In the game of the 20th round of the ABA League, which was played in Podgorica, Mega Mozzart lost to Buducnost VOLI with 86:69 (27:16, 22:21, 23:13, 14:19). Coach Vladimir Jovanovic’s team was defeated by SC Derby on Thursday, in the new game in SC Moraca they did not manage to seriously threaten the victory of Buducnost, which resolved the match with a run in the third quarter when they separated to a certain advantage.

The most efficient in the ranks of Mega were Samson Ruzhentsev with 21 points and Karlo Matkovic with 17 with 11 rebounds. Petar Popovic and Marko Jagodic Kuridza stood out in Buducnost with 15 points each.

After 20 rounds of the ABA league, Mega Mozzart has a score of 8-11 with a game less, while Buducnost has 14 wins and 3 losses. There follows a break in the ABA league, and Mega is expecting a competition in the Radivoj Korac Cup in Nis, where they will play against Zlatibor in the quarterfinals on Thursday, February 17 at 9 pm.

Smith, Djurisic, Jovic, Rudan and Matkovic were in Mega’s starting lineup. Matković is twice precise under the basket and Rudan is accurate for three points, so the result is 7:7 after 3 and a half minutes of play. The home team manages to punish mistakes in Mega’s defense and with a run of 10:0 to reach a double-digit advantage. Unfortunately, the time-out did not bring a better game for Mega either, and with the continuation of a good game, Buducnost took the lead 23:9, after several offensive rebounds and points from the second attack. Uskokovic and Ruzhentsev manage to prevent further increase of minus, so the result after the first quarter is 27:16.

Mega entered the second quarter well, the difference was reduced to 6 points, but Jagodic Kuridza with two three-pointers denied Mega’s attack. Mega played better in defense with a great rebounding, so on several occasions reduced the difference to five points. However, Popovic, on the other hand, scored under a foul, and then found Reed for easy points for plus 10 in a little less than two minutes until the end of the half. The home team manages to punish Mega’s turnovers and misses, so the result at half time is 49:37.

The home team got better in the second half as well, where they tied three three-pointers with some more hit shots, so the advantage quickly increased to 22 points. Mega’s players are in a series of mistakes on both sides of the field with a few missed shots, the gap has thus been increased to 26 points, and the result before the last 10 minutes of the game is 72:50.

In the last quarter, Mega’s players played much more engaged in defense, they managed to reduce the difference, but not to jeopardize the victory of the home team, so the final result was 86:69.

Buducnost VOLI: Cobbs 11 (10 assists), Atic 1, Sehovic, Micov 7, Barović, Tarolis 12, Z. Nikolic 4, Jagodic Kuridza 15, Drobnjak, Popovic 15, Reed 13, Perry 5.

Mega Mozzart: Balcerowski 9, Vujic, Ruzhentsev 21, Jovic, Rudan 5, Uskokovic 5, Kocovic 2, Smith 3, Cerovina 2, Matkovic 17 (11 rebounds), Djurisic 5, Bogavac.

Photo: Budućnost VOLI