MEGA WAS NOT AGRESSIVE ENOUGH, ZVEZDA WITH THREES TO THE 1-0 LEAD

Mega without a solution for the three pointers of Zvezda!

Mega Mozzart lost against Crvena zvezda mts with 114:78 (33:15, 25:24, 31:17, 25:22) in the first game of the semifinals of the Super League playoffs. Coach Vladimir Jovanovic’s team managed to be in the game until the finish in the first half, but Zvezda resolved the game in the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall with a series of threes (22 in total) and came to a convincing victory.

The most efficient in the ranks of Mega were Samson Ruzhentsev with 16 points and Borisa Simanic with 15. In Crvena zvezda, Nikola Ivanovic stood out with 25 points and Ognjen Dobric with 16.

With this victory, Crvena zvezda took the lead with 1:0 in the semifinal series, which is played in the best of three. The second game on the program is already on Sunday, June 12, at 12 o’clock in the Mega Factory hall, and the eventual third game will be on Tuesday, June 14, in the Aleksandar Nikolic hall. Tickets for the match in the Mega Factory hall are no longer available, because due to the limited capacity of the hall, they are distributed to a limited number of friends and sponsors of the club, and entry into the hall without a ticket will not be possible.

Mega started the match with five Uskokovic, Ruzhentsev, Cerovina, Simanic, Musikic. Zvezda opens the game with two three-pointers with 8:2, but Mega answers with a run 8:0 for the first lead. It is played in series, Mega loses a few balls, which Zvezda punished with Ivanovic’s triples for 22:13. By the end of the quarter, Zvezda reached a difference of 18 points with new threes and from the free throw line, 33:15.

Great cooperation between Uskokovic and Rudan at the beginning of the second quarter and Mega approaches minus 10. On the other hand, Markovic hits a three-pointer and lay-up plus one, but Rudan, Ruzhentsev and Cerovina return Mega to minus 8. However, Ivanovic is unstoppable and with a total of 6 three-pointers in in the first half gives the home team a convincing advantage, 58:39 after 20 minutes of play.

Zvezda continued to score by three points in the third quarter as well, and in that period they definitely turned the game in their favor, so the result before the last quarter is 89:56. In the last quarter, the bench players on both sides got a chance and the final result was 114:78.

Crvena zvezda mts: Lazarevic 11, Davidovac 2, Mitrovic 3, Lazic 12, Dobric 16, Hollins 14, Simonovic 6, Ivanovic 25, Markovic 14 (11 assists), White 7, Kuzmic 2, Zirbes 2.

Mega Mozzart: Paunovic 2, Vujic, Ruzhentsev 16, Rudan 13, Uskokovic 5 (10 assists), Kocovic, Kovacevic 4, Cerovina 13, Grbovic 4, Simanic 15, Musikic 6, Bogavac.

Photo: Mega Mozzart/Ivica Veselinov