Nutrisport Ilirija – KK Adria Oil Škrljevo 87:77 (21:21, 27:20, 24:17, 15:19)
Referees: M. Kadkhodae, P. Trmal, R. Nizamic (all Austria)
Attendance: 50
Venue: Hala Tivoli (Ljubljana, SLO)
Scorers – Ilirija: Habot 17, Duščak14, Vončina 13, Ciani, Cerkvenik and Bačvić each 10, Jurković 9, Kures 4
Scorers – Škrljevo: Jelenković and Hortman each 16, Rajčić 11, Adway and Vrgoć each 10, Barnjak 9, Sajin 3, Stojanović 2, Čosić and Vučić 0
Nutrispoint Ilirija, who were very self-confident after winning their first game against Skrljevo, started their third Alpe Adria Cup game well, and put the score to 4:1 after the first minute. But the guest team, tied the game (4:4) with three points scored by Ivan Vrgoc, and later came to lead 8:5. In the continuation of the game, Ilirija became more aggressive, played a high-tempo offense, and scored eight points in a row, score was 13:8. After a timeout taken by head coach of BC Adria Oil Skrljevo in the ninth minute, they tied at (15:15). The result in the first quarter was set by Toni Jelenkovic with a three-point shot (21:21). In the second part of the game teams were equalized. The highest lead of Skrljevo was four points in third (31:26) and sixth minute (38:34), but every time Ilirija came back and tied. 31 seconds before half time, Dan Duscak scored two free throws and then Niko Bacvic stole two balls and scored two times for two points for Ilirija’s lead to seven (48:41).
After a great finish of first half of Nutrispoint Ilirija they contended with a great game on defense and effectively game on offense. In the first four minutes of the third quarter, they allowed Croatian team just two points against their 10 (58:43). One minute till the end of the quarter, Adria Oil Skrljevo, after Christopher Hortman’s three-point shot, came to nine points behind (67:58), but the home team extended their lead by the end of the quarter (73:58). In the last period, guests tried to come closer, but the home players didn’t allow them. The lowest difference in this quarter was eight (79:71 and 85:77). In the end, Slovenian team won 87:77 and came to their third win in their third game in this competition.
Post-game quotes:
Sasa Dončić, coach of Ilirija: “Congratulations to my team, I think we deserved to win the game. No matter that my players are young, they showed their character, desire and I’m really happy to work with them.”
Blaž Habot, player of Ilirija: “At the beginning the game was a tie, but in the second half we took the initiative and started playing as we agreed. We started playing better in defense and we controlled rebounds, which was the key to today’s win.”
Damir Rajković, coach of Škrljevo: “I’d like to congratulate Ilirija and wish them luck in the continuation of the competition. Better team won today. They outplayed us, but we have to move on and become better.”
Josip Barnjak, player of Škrljevo: “Congratulations to the players of Ilirija, they played a good game. We didn’t play at the proper level, we had no continuity in offence, we don’t have defense and rebounds. Now we have time to fix this, we have games in the national championship where we need to win.”
