Olimpija grab a significant win in Novo mesto
Union Olimpija have come away with an extremely important victory in the great local derby on the road in Novo mesto, which has also ended their negative streak.
Union Olimpija have come away with an extremely important victory in the great local derby on the road in Novo mesto, which has also ended their negative streak.
ABA League 18th round, Saturday, 2.1.2016:
Krka - UNION OLIMPIJA 55:59 (16:6, 15:20, 15:21, 9:12)
Game recap: Union Olimpija cannot imagine a sweeter win than the one achieved in 18th round. Why? They have not only beaten their arch rivals Krka away from home, where they have had extremely poor tradition over the past few seasons, but have also ended their negative streak of two games, and started the 2016 year victoriously. On the other side, this is the second consecutive defeat for Krka, that lost on the road against Cedevita last round.
Key moments: The game was exciting all until the final minute and it could truly go either way, just like we are used to at big derbies. In the 36th minute Krka were in front for the last time during this game as they led 52:51 and that was when a 6:0 run by the guests followed over the following 3 minutes, which eventually, as it turned out later, decided the final outcome. Krka have never managed to return in front until the end.However, they had an opportunity, since they entered last minute with a deficit of only 2 points (57:55). But they missed all 4 field goal shot attempts in the final 60 seconds which buried them in the end.
Man of the match: Sava Lešić was the key player for the victory of the Ljubljana side this time, as he led the team in scoring with 15 points, while adding 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block, which was enough for valuation of 20 and the man of the match award.
Can"t trick the stats: Krka were better than Union Olimpija on the glass, but they did not value the ball possession enough. Their 17 turnovers were probably the decisive fact that led to their defeat this time around.
