MEGA TAKE 1-0 LEAD IN PLAYOFF SERIES AGAINST BORAC

Great start of the final series against Borac!

Mega Mozzart defeated Borac from Cacak in the first match of the finals of the playoffs of the Serbian Super League with 85:71 (32:20, 20:17, 13:22, 20:10). The players of coach Vladimir Jovanovic are separated from the placement in the semifinals of the playoffs and the duel with Crvena zvezda by only one more triumph, which they will have the opportunity to achieve on Tuesday at 6 pm in Cacak. A possible third match would be played on Thursday, May 26, in the Mega Factory hall.

The most efficient in the ranks of Mega were Borisa Simanic with 17 points and Samson Ruzhentsev with 14. In the team of Borac, Marko Pecarski and Ivan Marinkovic scored 11 points each.

Before the start of the match, the audience in the hall had the opportunity to greet the juniors of KK Mega Mozzart, who achieved historic success on Saturday by winning the junior Euroleague.

Borac tried to surprise Mega with a zone defense at the beginning of the match, but the home team had a ready answer. Cerovina, Ruzhentsev and Simanic adjusted their aiming devices and hit shots in three percentages for three points. On the other hand, Marko Pecarski caused the most problems for the team’s defense, but when the home team played more engaged in defense, the advantage of the team of coach Vladimir Jovanović began to grow.

Although he played the game with a broken nose, Aleksa Uskokovic brought much-needed aggression to Mega’s defense, and he scored a few easy points from the counter after the steals. The first quarter was extremely efficient, and the home team took the double-digit lead for the first time after the Ruzhentsev triple (30:18). Significant support from the bench was given by 19-year-old Andrija Grbovic, who scored eight points in the interval of seven minutes. Mega also had a 20-point advantage in the second section (50:30), but until they went on a big vacation, team from Cacak managed to catch the connection with a run of 9:1.

Borac had a furious start to the second half. With three quick threes, the guests from Cacak came to only four points minus and that determined the further course of the match. After the dominance of Mega, the balance of power on the field was fairly even, and Borac threatened on several occasions, but failed to get to less than four points behind. Young Grbovic had quality minutes again, and the key to Mega’s triumph was the 8-0 run initiated by Cerovina, Rudan and Simanic, so Mega gained a 13-point advantage and thus ensured that the match routinely ended.

Mega Mozzart: Paunovic, Vujic, Ruzhentsev 14 (7 rebounds), Rudan 10 (7 rebounds), Uskokovic 11 (8 assists), Kocovic, Kovacevic 4 (6 rebounds), Cerovina 12, Grbovic 12, Simanic17 (7 rebounds), Musikic 2 (6 rebounds), Bogavac 3.

Fighter: I. Djokovic 2, Dj.V. Curcic 10, R. Djokovic 7, Lopez 5, Dj.M. Curcic 9, Pecarski 11, Marinkovic 11, Novakovic 8, Todorovic 1, Andric 1, Carapic 6.

Photo: Mega Mozzart/Ivica Veselinov