GREAT GAME OF MEGA, ZVEZDA WITH THREE POINTERS CELEBRATED IN THE DERBY OF THE ROUND

Great game of Mega Soccerbet, Zvezda on the wings of Lloyd celebrated in the end!

In the game of the 17th round of the ABA league in a very interesting match with a lot of nice plays, in the end they lost to Crvena zvezda mts with 92:85 (28:24, 21:22, 25:20, 18:19). In the match that was played in the Aleksandar Nikolic hall without the presence of spectators, Mega played most of the match tied with Zvezda, which managed to keep the advantage from the end of the third and the beginning of the last quarter and eventually came to victory.

Mega was extremely weakened in this match by the absence of the first coach of the team, Vladimir Jovanovic, as well as the first assistant coach, Vule Avdalovic, who were positive for the Covid-19 virus and are in isolation.

The best in the ranks of Mega were Filip Petrusev with 22 points and Marko Simonovic with 18 points and 10 rebounds, as well as Malcolm Cazalon with 15 points and Milenko Tepic with 12 points and 10 rebounds were also excellent. Jordan Lloyd was the best in Crvena zvezda with 29 points.

After 17 rounds of the ABA league, Mega Soccerbet has 11 wins and 6 losses, while Crvena zvezda mts has a score of 12-2 with three matches less. In the next round, Mega will host Mornar on Sunday, February 7, at 12 o’clock.

Vladimir Zlatanovic started the match with the following five: Smith, Tepic, Cazalon, Simonovic, Petrusev. At the beginning of the match, Mega with lay-ups and Zvezda with threes gets points, so the result after two minutes of the game is 6:6. The home team managed to use the weaker protection of Mega’s rebound and took the lead with a difference of six points, but Mega responded with a series of three triples for a lead of 15:18. Mega is playing great, Tepic’s new triple for the lead 21:23, but in the finish of the quarter there were several mistakes with one unsportsmanlike foul, so the result after the first quarter is 28:24 for Crvena zvezda.

Mega played good and varied game at the beginning of the second quarter, where was trailing a point, but missed the opportunity to regain the lead with turnovers in the attack. In the middle of the second quarter, with a new triple by Cazalon and a dunk by Cerovina, Mega returned the minimal advantage, but Zvezda reached plus 5, 46:41 with two triples. After Zlatanovic’s time-out, Tepic hits a three-pointer and Petrusev “Sky-hook”, so the result is a tied. Mega manages to defend another attack of Zvezda, but misses the opportunity to take the lead, so Lloyd set the score at halftime 49:46 with two plus one.

Better game of the home team at the beginning of the third quarter, which with shots from a long rande reaches plus 8, 61:53. However, after Mega’s time-out, a series of 0:7 followed, which brought Mega to a point behind, so Crvena zvezda called a time-out in the middle of the quarter with the result 61:60. Point for point was played, and with the result of 66:66, Zvezda closed the third quarter with two triples and a series of 8:0 for 74:66.

The last quarter starts with a new triple by Lloyd, but Simonovic responded back for three plus one. After several attacks from both sides without a points, Zvezda reaches the biggest plus 12, 82:70. Simonovic hits under a foul and then Momirov hit triple and Mega approaches six points in six minutes until the end. Teams exchanged, Mega missed some shots for three points, after which could get even closer to Zvezda, so in the end, with Tepic’s points from free throws the game was ended with the result 92:85.

Crvena zvezda mts: Hall 14, Lloyd 29, Uskokovic, Davidovac 9, Lazic 12, Reath 5, Radanov, Dobric 4, Jagodic-Kuridza, Kuzmic 4, Nnoko 8, Colom 4.

Mega Soccerbet: Miskovic, Smith 4, Petrusev 22, Tepic 12 (10 rebounds), Kljajevic, Momirov 10, Simonovic 18 (10 rebounds), Jovicic, Cerovina 2, Matkovic 2, Cazalon 15 (5 assists), Langovic.

Photo: Mega Soccerbet/Ivica Veselinov