KK Zabok – Spišskí Rytieri 80:88 (33:21, 23:25, 13:20, 11:22)
Attendance: 100
Venue: Gradska sportska dvorana Zabok
Scorers – Zabok: Prskalo 18, Perović 15, Garrett 14, Stipaničev and Tomas each 7, Stipaničev 6, Martinko and Kučan each 5, Lukačić 3, Črnjević 0
Scorers – Spisski Rytieri: Juríček 26, Fusek 13, McGlynn 11, Granić 9, Washington and Hlivák each 8, Mrviš 7, Antoni 6, Sokolovskyi 0
The final result was 80:88, although Zabok had a fourteen-point lead in the first quarter (20:6), after only four minutes where Marko Prskalo scored 16 points (4/4 from from 3 pt range). The guests had a wake-up call then and Juríček started making some good points, but Zabok took a ten-point halftime lead (56:46).
In the third quarter, Washington scored 8 points in a row for Spišskí Rytieri, and before the start of the last quarter, guests were just three points short (69:66). Hlivak made a three-pointer to equal the game at 34th minute (72:72), and then Spišskí Rytieri took their first lead after Granić made a three pointer (74:75). Zabok was not looking good on the offense, and on the other side of the court McGlynn made some crucial points for the guests, who took a deserving eight-point win (80:88).
Post-game quotes:
Jurica Smiljanić, head coach of Zabok: “Congratulations to Spišskí Rytieri, it’s a very good team, most of the game they’ve played on the same level. At the end of the third quarter we were not looking good, so they scored some easy points and that was a game changer. I must congratulate my team, the first half was good, but we have to work more.”
Marko Prskalo, player of Zabok: “I must congratulate Spišskí Rytieri they deserved to win this game. We made our scoring a little better, but that was not enough to win this game. We have to look forward to the games that are ahead of us.”
Teo Hojč, head coach of Spišskí Rytieri: “I was very unsatisfied with our defense in the first half, we gave Zabok everything and they took it. In the second half we received only 24 points, and that is the only way we can win. With a better defense, we had better ball handling and that led us to a deserving win. I must congratulate Zabok on great hospitality, and wish them good luck for the rest of the season.”
Viktor Juríček, player of Spišskí Rytieri: “We are happy with the win, but the way we approached it at the start of the game is not the way we want to look. We can’t be happy with the game we played, but we won the game, and that is important. We have an important game in two days so we have to reset and do our best to win it.”
