Nutrisport Ilirija – BK Pardubice 86:65 (20:13, 30:27, 13:10, 23:15)
Referees: Perlić, Tomić, Juraga (all Croatia)
Attendance: 20
Venue: Hala Tivoli (Ljubljana, SLO)
Scorers – Ilirija: Jurković 23, Ciani 15, Cerkvenik 13, Pajić 10, Bacvić and Milašinović each 7, Pelko 5, Kraljević 4, Kruzynski 2, Kures a Mikus 0
Scorers – Pardubice: Švrdlík 16, Vranković 14, Potoček and Svoboda each 11, Henry 8, Šafarčík 5, Burda and Pekárek 0
Second quarterfinal game, between Nutrispoint Ilirija and BK Pardubice was opened better by home team with three shots for three points by Miha Cerkvenik (9:0). After time out of head coach from Czech team, their team came closer less than four minutes till the end of first part. The difference was only two points (10:12). Till the end of the quarter, Ilirija didn’t allow the guest team to come to the lead and the quarter finished with 20:13. Nutrispoint Ilirija knew they needed to win by 30 points, so they played agresive on defense and effectively on offense. After 13 minutes and after Jure Pelko’s free throw, they led by 12 (30:18). The home team stepped up the pace and four minutes before halftime took the lead by 16 (38:22). But Pardubice rallied and after a successful throw for three points by Josef Potoček, came to a score of 40:30. The second quarter finished with a score of 50:40.
The guest team started the second part of the game with 4:0 (50:44). Slovenian team with points from Marko Pajić came to their first points in the fourth minute of this part of the game. The home team then kept the guests at a distance of ten points. The third quarter finished with a result of 63:50 for Nutrispoint Ilirija. In the fourth quarter, the home team set pace for a high victory, maybe even a victory, that would allow them to qualify for the final four. Seven minutes till the end of the game they lead by 21 (71:50). Pardubice started plaing a little better and cut the advantage of the home team (71:56). Ilirija tried to get closer to the difference of 30 points by the end of the match, but in the end they ran out of time and Pardubice team qualified for the final four. The final result of the game was 86:65.
Post-game quotes:
Stipe Modrić, coach of Ilirija: “Congratulations to my team, they played a very good game. At the end we didn’t believe that we could win by 30 points, but as the game was approaching to the end we started to believe, but unfortunately, we ran out of time.”
Marko Pajić, player of Ilirija: “We played a good game. This was our second game in two days. Unfortunately, the loss in Pardubice was decisive.”
Dino Repeša, coach of Pardubice: “Congrats to my players for the Final Four, but we didn’t play well. This was our third game in five days and we played without our two best players.”
Matej Burda, player of Pardubice: “Wasn’t a good game for us. We played without two key players. We had problems on defense and out FT percentage was not good. Now we have to prepare for Final Four.”
