KK Dubrava – BK REDSTONE Olomoucko 88:91 (23:20, 27:21, 12:22, 26:28)

Scorers – Dubrava: Karahodžić 32, Vragović 16, Jurić, Kalajžić and Rajaofera each 8, Vidović 7, Matić 4, Kuzmanović 3, Kos 2, Rimac and Ročak 0

Scorers – Olomoucko: Bailey 8, Adamu and Shawer each 17, Hemphill 14, McBraver 13, Feštr 8, Žák 4, Grmolenský, Klepač, Obort and Škranc 0

In the 4th round of Group B of the Alpe Adria Cup, Dubrava suffered a home defeat against Redstone Olomouc, a team from the Czech Republic that took the points from Dubrava almost identically to Kolin three weeks ago. It was 91:88 in the game where Dubrava, on the wings of Kenan Karahodžić and Karl Vragović, won the first half 50:41, and led for the last time three minutes before the end when Vragović scored for 78:77. Three-pointers by Amin Adamu and Markus Shawer decided the game in the end. Shawer scored the last one for +4 (87:83), and hope was restored by the fantastic Karahodžić, who reduced the score to 87:86 with his sixth three-pointer. After Roger Hemphill’s shots were hit, Karahodžić tried to win overtime in a difficult situation.

Post-game quotes: 

Jeronimo Šarin, coach of Dubrava: “The only thing I am not satisfied with tonight is the result. In the end, the result did not reward us for fighting and playing, which was much better tonight. The ball went to us quickly, we got into good situations, and we finally had a good shooting night. In the end, their six foreigners hit hard shots, and they were rewarded. Why it didn’t reward us, most likely because we didn’t deserve it until now, but if we continue like this in this style and fight for every ball, then the victories will come. We missed Ročak a lot, especially in the jump. We had a bad third quarter again (22:12), which is probably a mental problem because we were very good again in the fourth quarter.”

Andrew Hipsher, coach of Olomoucko: “One very good game in which the strong hosts were good in the first half, and I have to praise my team, which was not easy to reach the advantage of Dubrava because we had to go possession by possession. In the end, we managed to stay focused and get an important victory.”

BC Vienna – SCM winsed.swiss Mozzart Bet Timisoara 87:92 (30:26, 15:21, 26:20, 16:25)

Referees: Pokorný, Melichárek, Dombrovský (all Czechia)

Attendance: 100

Scorers – Vienna: Vujošević 31, Stuckey 22, Bajo 14, Radoš 9, Sirišević 6, Konjević 5, Zadeh and Zdravkovic 0

Scorers – Timiosara: Mirković and Scott-Grayson each 18, Mitrović 16, Dimitrijević 12, Gayić and Kesar 11, Petrescu 4, Lazar 2, Nasturescu and Schipor 0

Vienna opened the game with a three-point shot from Stuckey Jr. after 1 and half minutes had already been played. Both teams showed a very aggressive defense under the basket, therefore, both had difficulty finishing under the basket and were forced to throw long-distance shots. The ball found its way into the basket again and again in a relatively balanced manner on both sides – the first 10 minutes ended with a narrow lead for the hosts, Vienna –  30:26. In the next period, both teams still tried to score points by going to the basket and drew numerous fouls early in the quarter. After 1 and half minutes, four fouls had already been whistled by the referees – the score didn’t change much, though. The guests from Romania recorded team fouls in the 4th minute of the game, which gave BC Vienna the opportunity for easy points from the free throw line. Unfortunately, they couldn’t convert the free throws as consistently as in the first quarter, so there was no chance of breaking away. The game picked up speed, and both coaches substituted their players regularly to keep the pace high. However, neither team was lucky enough to score constantly today, which is why the second 10 minutes ended with only 15:21 and a small lead for Timisoara – 45:47.

Back from the break, both teams showed more determination in finishing, which meant that long-distance throws found their way into the basket more often. However, the foul statistics did not change, and Vienna had to take big man “Joso Rados” out of the game early with four fouls. Important players on both sides have already been charged with three personal fouls. But this didn’t seem to change much in terms of intensity in defense. In the end, the hosts had better luck this time – Mitrovic missed the last shot of the quarter, and so Vienna took a 4-point lead into the last quarter of the game – 71:67. Timisoara started this section with a 6:0 run within 40 seconds and briefly regained the lead. Another three points from the guests forced Coach Radanovic to call a timeout for Vienna. In the subsequent attack, Vienna’s big man, “Joso Rados,” had to say goodbye to today’s game with five fouls. Timisoara now sensed his chance under the basket and made further points up to 76:83 with 4 minutes left on the game clock, Coach Radanovic called another time-out. The guests now seemed to finally be gaining momentum on the home straight, continuously moving towards the basket and thus causing Vienna’s second big man, “Bajo” to commit the 5th foul. Vienna tried to get closer again by pressing in the last 2 minutes – with 2 successful attacks, it was now 85:90 for Timisoara with 1 and half minutes to go. In the end, the guests held their nerve and won 87:92 against Vienna.

Post-game quotes: 

Davor Konjević, player of Vienna: “We lacked a bit of effort in defense. They shot better in the second half, and we didn’t respond to that. Congratulations on their win.”

Demarkus Stuckey, player of Vienna: “They were a tough team. We lacked defense, and we weren’t as good as we should be on defensive rebounding. Hard that our big’s fouled out, but we gotta give a better effort on the defense.”

Dragan Petričević, coach of Timisoara: “Tough game. But we expected a tough game because Vienna is one of the great teams. Congratulations to both teams for the great game. I am happy because we reached our target, which was to try to win the game. But we couldn’t underestimate the value of Vienna’s team, so the game was very close, and I think we had more luck and built our offense at the end of the game very smartly.”

Laszlo Lazar, player of Timisoara: “We had a tough game, but we were expecting that. Vienna has a good team, very offensively oriented, but we are glad that we managed the win. For us, it was very important to come here and play for the victory.”

KK Ilirija – BC Geosan Kolín 91:97 (33:29, 26:25, 25:22, 7:21)

Referees: Stanković, Miletić, Matek (all Croatia)

Attendance: 50

Scorers – Ilirija: Orel 18, Ferme 14, Barišić 13, Mulalič 11, Macura 10, Klobučar and Kureš eac 7, Mikuš 6, Padjen

Scorers – Kolín: Goga 21, Smith 18, Redparth 13, Petráš 12, Štegbauer 9, Číz and Novotný each 8, Novák 5, Štěpán 3

Both teams opened the game well, but Ilirija took the lead 12:7 with 8 consecutive Mulalič points, just 3 minutes into the start of the game. With Macura monster jam, Ilirija put the score at 21:12 5 minutes into the game. The scoring show continued throughout the first quarter, finishing with 33:29 for the home team. In the second quarter, it kept raining three. 2 minutes into the second quarter, Ilirija was leading 43 to 32. Halfway through the 2nd quarter, Modić took the time out after Kolin 3 for 49:40. Neither team slowed down, but Kolin came closer to finishing the half with 59:54.

Teams came to the second half prepared on the defensive end. Kolin came to only a 3-point difference, but Ilirija, with Ferme’s 3-pointer, pulled to a 12-point lead for 2 minutes until the end of the 3rd. Kolin managed in the last seconds to bring the score to 84:76 to end the third. Kolin came ready for the last quarter, and three minutes into the fourth, he took the first lead of the game. With the 3-pointer from the guests and the score at 84:89, Modrić had to take the time out. With another three, Kolin escaped to an 8-point lead. Bad offensive performance continued for the home team, and guests took the 10-point lead with 4 minutes left. The game was up for grabs with Ferme 3 with 2:49 left in the game and a 5-point difference. But Ilirijas’ bad offense continued, and the guests took the win in Ljubljana, with a final score 91:97.

Post-game quotes: 

Stipe Modrić, coach of Ilirija: “First of all, I want to congratulate the guests for the win. “In the first three quarters we had the game under control, played by our principles, but unfortunately, in the last quarter, we had too many turnovers and too many defensive errors and deserved victory for the guests.”

Anej Orel, player of Ilirija: “We had a solid first half and were in a lead, but the second half, especially last quarter, we played very badly. If we get 100 points at home, we will not win any games like this.”

Predrag Benaček, coach of Kolín: “Very interesting game, which was tough all till the end. In the last quarter, we played a bit better defense than in the first half, where we got 60 points. In offense, we played with the same tempo, but in defense, we played one nuance better, and that has decided the winner. Even if Ilirija had won it, they would deserve it. I think our experience was decided at the end.”

Adam Goga, player of Kolín: “We made a great comeback; it was a tough game, we did not start well, we had a really bad defense, I think it was the worst in the season, they scored 60 points in the first half, but in the second half, we only let them score 30 points. And that led us to the win. We are glad for it after the long trip.”