SLUNETA Ústí nad Labem – Nutrisport Ilirija 59:71 (8:18, 18:8, 22:21, 11:24)
Referees: Mordal, Podkoniska, Kuzina (all Poland)
Attendance: 295
Venue: Sportcentrum, Ústí nad Labem
Scorers – Ústí nad Labem: Alston 19, Fait 14, Pecka 7, Karlovský 6, Haiblík and Zajíc each 4, Bohuslav 3, Wiesner 2
Scorers – Ilirija: Cerkvenik 20, Ciani 14, Pajić 12, Kures 7, Bačvić and Duščak both 5, Pavliha 4, Jurković and Kruzynski both 2
Ilirija started pretty well, with big pressure on the ball and a quick lead 0:10. The home players had a hard time scoring, so the first quarter ended 8:18. In the second quarter both teams had a bad percentage of shooting, but in the end of it Sluneta came back to the game, mainly thanks to the points of Brandon Alston (12 points in the first half). Teams went to the lockers with the halftime score 26:26.
The third quarter brought pretty much the same basketball as it was before the halftime pause. At the end of this quarter, the guests got some steals, and gained the lead 42:45, but Sluneta answered with two 3-pointers to 48:45. Before the end of this quarter, the guests were able to score one more basket and so the score ended 48:47. Both teams already advanced to the play-offs already before the game, so the home coach Šotnar could give some minutes to the young guys and in the end Ilirija showed more experience, when they went ahead 54:65 mainly because of offensive rebounds and points from second chances. Ljubljana has beaten Sluneta also in the second game with the score 59:71 and will advance to the play-offs from the first spot of group D.
Post-game quotes:
Jan Šotnar, coach of Ústí nad Labem: “Thanks to some small injuries we had a smaller roster, but I think the bench players showed up and used the chance and we were able to play with Ljubljana a good game. At the and we ran out of power and the opponent used it, but still, we can be satisfied with our performance and we are looking forward to the next round.”
Tomáš Bohuslav, player of Ústí nad Labem: “Our start wasn´t the best, but thanks to a good second quarter we came back a were able to play an equal game, in the last quarter, we made some turnovers, which decided the game.”
Saša Dončić, coach of Ilirija: “To be honest it was not a nice game, we were tired after long travel, home team was tired because they had a game yesterday, but I am happy we were able to win this game and qualify to next round, congrats to Ústí for also qualifying for the next round.”
Dan Duščak, player of Ilirija: “We had a good start, then Ústí came back, but in the end it was our press, what broke them and made some turnovers, what decided the game.”
