Nutrisport Ilirija – GKK Šibenka 67:85 (21:20, 13:30, 19:12, 15:23)
Referees: Milad Kadkhodae, Cristoph Hiermann, Filip Ivanković
Attendance: 150
Venue: Hala Tivoli, Ljubljana
Scorers – Ilirija: Kmetić 16, Klobučar 15, Vončina 10, Heine 9, Orel 8, Shashkov 5, Daneu 4
Scorers – Šibenka: Jambrović 28, Bročić 13, Pleadin 10, Gulin 9, Howard 8, Klerin 7, Paić 6, Rebić 4
Both teams started the game well. With 3 successful shots from behind the 3-point line, Ilirija took the lead 12 – 6 after 4 minutes of play. With 2 minutes left Šibenka tied the game at 16, and after 2 monster jams on both sides, the score was tied again at 18. With another 3, Ilirija took the lead at 21:18. With the 2-pointer at the buzzer, the 1st quarter ended at 21:20. 2 minutes into the second quarter, Šibenka took the lead at 22:24 and coach Modrić took his first time out. After the time-out Šibenka continued with the offensive attack at 25:32 and with 4:33 left in the 2nd quarter, coach Modrić took his second time-out. Šibenka continued with an offensive attack, but Ilirija just could not find the scoring power from 1st quarter. The teams went into the halftime break with a score of 34:50.
Ilirija opened the quarter with a 3. With another 3, Ilirija trailed by 12 points. Ilirija found the offensive rhythm again at 51:58 with 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. With the quick counter-attack from Ilirija, the Šibenka lead was only 3 – 55:58, 3 minutes til the end of the quarter. 55:62. With 60:64 and 3 minutes into the last quarter, the teams announced a tight and interesting ending to the game. With a steal and an easy basket from Šibenka (60:67) Modrić took a time-out. Šibenka took control of the game and with 2:40 left in the game and the score at 65:76 Modrić took another time-out. Šibenka did not back down and with 1:08 left in the game and the score at 67:82 Modrić took his last time-out to try to turn things around.
Post-game quotes:
Stipe Mdorić, head coach of Ilirija: “I want to congratulate Šibenka on a deserved win. In the first half, we allowed too many points, 50 points is just too much. In the 3rd quarter, we played a bit better, but in the end, we lost some breath, and did not have the strength for a turnaround. All in all, we are on a good track.”
Primož Kmetič, player of Ilirija: “I want to congratulate the guys on the fight, our game and focus fell down at the end of the second quarter. In the second half, we climbed back into the game with good defense, a couple of made shots, and the energy was good, but in the end, we came short on a bit of luck for the turnaround to be successful.”
Damir Milačić, head coach of Šibenka: “I respect Slovenian basketball a lot and I know that this young team can play. They showed this in the first and the third quarter. They came into the game strong and it was very tough. But I knew after a couple of defenses and changes, where we had the advantage and we made them problems with fast breaks and defense, and with those easy points, we made a difference. I am very happy because every international victory is very important for Croatian basketball and for my team.”
Patrik Jambrović, player of Šibenka: “First of all, congratulations to Ilirija on great competition today. It was a tough game and we prepared a lot for it, we watched some film of them, we knew they play aggressive defense and are attacking everybody on offense, they did not care. We had a good lead in the first half, then we listen up a bit in the beginning of the second, we let them back into the game, but in the end, we played hard and we got the win.”
