GREAT MEGA FELL AFTER 2 OVERTIMES IN FANTASTIC MATCH IN LJUBLJANA

Mega Bemax lost to Cedevita Olimpija after two overtimes with 112:102 (21:15, 21:33, 23:23, 22:16, 10:10, 15:5) in a stunning 12th round match of the ABA League, which was played at the Tivoli Hall in Ljubljana. Coach Dejan Milojevic’s players had the advantage for the most of the match, witha last second tip with Simonovic at the end of the regular period, and thne plus 3 in the first overtime with three pointer of Atic 5 seconds to the end, but Blazic returned  three at the last second. In the second overtime, Cedevita Olimpija had split with a few threes and settled the match in their favor. Kendrick Perry made his debut for Mega, who was brilliant with 27 and 5 rebounds and 5 assists, while Nemanja Nenadic had 5 points.

In addition to the aforementioned Kendrick Perry with 27 points, Marko Simonovic stood out in the ranks or Mega wih18 points and 16 rebounds. In the ranks of Cedevita Olimpija, Jaka Blazic was unstoppable with 33 points and index of 48.

After 12 rounds of the ABA league, Mega Bemax has a score of 2-10 while Cedevita recorded 9th win. The next game of Mega Bemax will be played on Monday, December 30 from 9 pm when FMP will be welcomed in the Ranko Zeravica Sports Hall.

Dejan Milojevic started the match with Perry, Mesicek, Atic, Miskovic and Simonovic. Mega opened the match with 0:4, then the home team with a series of 11-0 with 3 threes took the lead. The series is interrupted by Perry with a three, but he also returns Simonovic for score 14:7. Mesicek, Simonovic and Perry didn’t allow the home team to peel off, Mega came clos with a 3 point difference, but Hopkins hits the 5th three for Cedevita Olimpija and the score is 21:15 after the first 10 minutes.

At plus 11 for the home team early in the second quarter, a fantastic 3-pointer by Mega followed, tying seven three-pointers in a matter of minutes, with Perry and Cerovina each scoring 3 each to take a 32:38 lead. Still, Cedevita Olimpija made 8:0 run and 40:38 lead for just over 2 minutes until halftime. Milojevic’s timeout was followed by a new Mega series, where first Mesicek hits a three-pointer and free throws, then Perry hits from a difficult position and finally spices everything with a three-pointer at the last second for his already 19th point and the lead of Mega 42:48 at halftime.

The start of the second half is marked by Mega, who after a three-pointer by Miskovic reaches a double-digit advantage, 45:55. The home team attacked, repeatedly reducing the difference to 5-6 points, but each time Mega repelled the attack. The same was true in the finish, when through Nenadic and Simonovic Mega defended the lead and the score was 65:71 before the last 10 minutes.

Mega in the middle of the last quarter plus 11, but the home team returned to the game little by little. At 2 and a half minutes with points of McIntyre and Blazic Cedevita Olimpija led 85:82 in the last minute. Perry hits layup and then Mesicek with one of two free throws set the score 85:85 with 9 seconds to go. Blazic hits the basket with 0.4 seconds left until the end, but after Milojevic’s time-out, Cerovina takes a great shot from the sidelines and finds Simonovic under the basket, who throws the ball into the basket for an extra time, 87:87.

A fantastic fight was seen in the first overtime, where teams changed in the lead, and it seemed that the end of Mega’s three-pointer Atic with the expiration of the attack and for 5 seconds until the end, 97:94, but from an extremely difficult position, Blazic hit three at the last second for a new overtima. In the extra 5 minutes, the home team settled the match with Muric’s triples.

Cedevita Olympia: Krushlin 3, Boutright 6, Hopkins 7, Vujacic, Muric 13, Mulalic 3, Miller-McIntyre 17, Blazic 33 (index 48), Stipanovic 5, Zagorac, Simonovic 19, Cirbes 6,

Mega Bemax: Miskovic 11, Perry 27 (5 rebounds, 5 assists, index 26), Atic 11, Marjanovic, Asceric, Simonovic 18 (16 rebounds, index 33), Nenadic 5, Cerovina 12, Macura 2, Tanaskovic 2, Stanic, Mesiček 14.

Photo: Cedevita Olimpija/Ales Fevzer