Justin Cobbs takes Cedevita Olimpija to the win over Mega MIS in a thriller in Stožice

2023/24 AdmiralBet ABA League Round 1, Saturday, 30 September 2023:

CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA – Mega MIS 89:87 (31:21, 31:21, 20:25, 7:20)

PHOTO GALLERY

POST-GAME COMMENTS

Game recap: Cedevita Olimpija have victoriously opened their AdmiralBet ABA League season, as they have prevailed over Mega MIS at home in Stožice Arena in Ljubljana. This way, the Ljubljana side have got their revenge over the Belgrade rivals for their ABA Super Cup defeat before the season opening and handed over a present to their fans at home court just at the start of the AdmiralBet ABA League campaign. And they did it with style, with a late-in-the-game clutch bucket by Justin Cobbs.

Key moments: The Dragons have been breathing fire ever since the beginning of the game, as they have had the second-best halftime scoring efficiency in the club history, when playing in the regional competition, as they scored no less than 62 points in the opening 20 minutes. Only once, against Široki on 13 November 2010, they scored more in a single half – 67 points. As they have managed to limit the opponents to only 42 points scored in the opening two quarters, they have earned themselves a 20-point advantage by the big break. It seemed like the battle for the first pair of points for this season has been over, but Mega MIS managed to limit Cedevita Olimpija to only 7 points in the final quarter and even managed to tie the game at 87:87 with half a minute on the game clock. 

However, that’s when Justin Cobbs took the matters into his own hands and scored a game-winning 2-pointer for Cedevita Olimpija with 17 second left. Mega MIS squad failed to hit the triple on the other end, which has been attempted by Andrija Jelavić, and Stožice Arena celebrated.

Man of the match: Justin Cobbs might not have the highest valuation of his squad tonight, but he deserved his title of the man of the match in every possible way. He has led the team in scoring with 19 points on his record, while adding 4 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal to his stats, but the most important contribution has of course been the key shot for the win of his team.

Can’t trick the stats: Cedevita Olimpija were shooting 37.5% (6/16) from beyond the arc, and Mega MIS 28%. That’s what gamve them the win this time, even though they did not shine in some other statistical categories.