BK Pardubice – Nutrispoint Ilirija 92:63 (22:17, 24:11, 21:21, 25:14)
Referees: Paul Trmal, Aleksandar Radonjič, Miloš Stokič
Audience: 485
Venue: Sportovní hala Dašická, Pardubice
Scorers – Pardubice: Potoček and Švrdlík each 14, Henry 13, Vyoral 12, Pekárek and Šafarčík each 11, Vrankovič 8, Walton 7, Svoboda 2
Scorers – Ilirija: Vončina 21, Ciani 12, Cerkvenik and Milašinovič each 10, Jurkovič 5, Kureš and Pajič each 2, Kraljevič 1
Ilirija was in the lead for only 2,5 minutes in the first quarter, for the rest of the game the home team was the leader. Pardubice made a head start in the second quarter, when they punished rival’s turnovers (guests lost 8 balls in the second quarter), and thanks to a few easy shots from fast breaks increased the difference in score to 18 points. In the second quarter home team showed their dominance and at the end of the third quarter they led 61:34. The drop in concentration and few 3-point shots from Ljubljana led to the correction of the ongoing score to 73:60 in the 34th minute. Pardubice then got the starting five back into the game and ended the game with a line of 19:3 points – thanks to successful 3-point shots and fast breaks. Pardubice won the game and they have a head start of 29 points to the next game in Slovenia.
Post-game quotes:
Dino Repeša, coach of Pardubice: “We were professional from the very first minute. Ilirija is a very good team in Slovenia’s league, we respect them and their coach Dončić, so we prepared for this game. I am satisfied, that this is yet another game we won in rebounds (+18 in the end), because Ilirija is a physical team under the basket. We had the same hunger for winning as we did in our last game in KNBL, as well as assistances. We played in a smaller rotation because our guard Burda is injured and I am glad, that we still had the same energy, especially in defense. Now we have to focus on the second game and come prepared.”
David Pekárek, player of Pardubice: “I think our entry to the game was good and we kept the rhythm for the whole 40 minutes. I was out for a month because of injury and I am still not at 100%, but I am getting there. I think we can’t underestimate their team in the second game, because they can be a whole different team at home. We have to play hard from the first minute and not think about the head start, that we created today. But I am glad for the win today, we deserved it.”
Saša Dončić, coach of Ilirija: “First of all, I would like to congratulate Pardubice’s team, they played very good basketball tonight. One of our excuses can be the fact, that we came straight from quarantine, a lot of our players had Covid, but that doesn’t really matter. We had a lot of problems, we played without energy and without that, you don’t really have a chance. We tried to come back to the game multiple times, but in the end Pardubice were the bigger team and they used every mistake of ours to win tonight’s game.”
Luka Kraljević, player of Ilirija: “I want to congratulate the home team, they played really well. They played hard basketball which got us out of our rhythm and we really struggled to score. We have a lot of work to do before the second game. We have to go home now and focus on ourselves more, our offence, and really can’t let them score that many points if we want to win the home game.”
