BARAĆ: “PLAYERS SHOWED GREAT CHARACTER AND PUT IN MAXIMUM EFFORT FOR THE VICTORY AGAINST A VERY GOOD TEAM, IN A VERY CHALLENGING PERIOD”

The Mega MIS basketball players have returned to the winning track, defeating Igokea in the 13th round of the ABA League at the Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall with a score of 92:76 (19:24, 22:13, 30:16, 21:23). Coach Marko Barać’s team excelled in the second and third quarters. With solid and committed defense, as well as outstanding play on the opponent’s half, they gradually took control during the second quarter. Then, in the third quarter, they increased the intensity even more and, at one point, gained a lead of 24 points. Although the guests managed to cut the deficit in the last 10 minutes, Mega played more focused in the final moments, thwarted the opponent’s surge, and ultimately secured a significant victory. After the first round of games in the league section of the regional competition, Mega has a record of 6-7, while the team from Laktaši, after a defeat in Belgrade, stands at 9-4.

Coach Marko Barać shared his impressions at the post-game press conference:

“A good game for us, in a specific and very challenging period. Congratulations to the players; they showed great character and put in maximum effort to make this look the way it did. A victory against a very good team that has an excellent record in the ABA League, which formed a strong team this summer and still maintains that strength. Just as it’s not a perfect moment for us in terms of some health situations, it’s not perfect for them with some of their problems. We managed to take advantage of that. I wouldn’t talk about this if the outcome weren’t like this, but we had significant health problems, and practically all players dropped out of training at one point. I congratulate my coaching staff, who found ways to be creative and accept these problems as challenges, as well as the club that showed it is a serious system. The medical team managed to get all of them ready to be real tonight. These guys have been training very well since July, and tonight they managed to draw on that amount of work. Now, I want us to get back into a serious training rhythm and build a foundation for future good results,” said Barać.

In the next round of the ABA League, Mega MIS will host Cedevita Olimpija at the Ranko Žeravica Sports Hall on Sunday, December 31, at noon.

Photo: Mega MIS/Ivica Veselinov