#ABAFutureStars: David Mirković records index rating 42 to put his mark on Round 1
U19 Mega MIS, U19 SC Derby, U19 Crvena zvezda, U19 Krka, U19 Vojvodina mts and U19 Cibona scored wins in Round 1 of the 2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship regular season.
(Photo: ABA League j.t.d./Dragana Stjepanovic)
2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship, Regular Season, Round 1, Tuesday, November 21, 2023:
Group A:
U19 MEGA MIS - U19 Cedevita Junior 103:67 (26:10, 22:24, 25:16, 30:17)
U19 Mega MIS have started the new U19 ABA League championship campaign in a pretty powerful manner as they defeated U19 Cedevita Junior by 103:67.
The Pink troops, who have won the last three U19 ABA League championships, gained a double-digit lead already in the opening quarter – 26:10. U19 Cedevita Junior have managed to reduce that gap a bit until the halftime – 48:34, however then U19 Mega MIS once again increased the pace in the 2nd half to eventually grab quite a convincing win – 103:67.
U19 Mega MIS had 5 players to reach double digits in scoring today, while their top scorer was Filip Jović with 19 points.
On the other side, Marko Ljubičić topped the scoring list of U19 Cedevita Junior with 15 points.
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Group B:
U19 SC DERBY - U19 Borac Mozzart 79:73 (18:11, 16:21,20:26, 25:15)
U19 SC Derby opened the U19 ABA League Championship with a win against U19 Borac Mozzart.
It was an interesting game throughout all 40 minutes, a back-and-forth affair. U19 SC Derby managed to take over the game in the final quarter, outscoring U19 Borac Mozzart 79:73. David Mirković led U19 SC Derby to the win with a monster performance on the opening day, he finished the night with 33 points on 10/19 shooting, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks for a valuation of 42. Pavle Nikolić was the top scorer for U19 Borac Mozzart, he scored 19 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Tomorrow, U19 SC Derby takes on U19 Crvena zvezda while U19 Borac Mozzart will battle it out against U19 Falcons Academy Dubai.
Group B:
U19 CRVENA ZVEZDA - U19 Falcons Academy Dubai 78:67 (17:25, 25:12, 23:13, 13:17)
U19 Crvena zvezda have successfully completed their first test at the 2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship as they defeated league newcomers U19 Falcons Academy Dubai in the opening round.
Yet, despite a double-digit win at the end, we have to say that the last year’s finalists had to put their maximum effort into this match in order to break the tough Falcons. Zvezda were down by 8 after the first quarter – 17:25, but then the red-and-whites managed to take over things in their advantage in the 2nd quarter and to go the halftime break with a 5-point lead – 42:37.
As the 3rd quarter began, the Belgrade side picked where they left off in the 2nd quarter and they increased their lead to 15 points ahead of the final quarter – 65:50. At that moment it was clear that U19 Crvena zvezda would take an important win at the start of the group stage.
Andrej Kostić was the top scorer in the winning team with 21 points, while on the other side Marko Tofoski put up a double-double performance for U19 Falcons Academy Dubai as he finished the match with 24 points, 10 rebounds and with the overall index rating of 40.
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Group C:
U19 Zadar - U19 KRKA 75:82 (18:18, 17:9, 19:21, 11:17, 10:17)
U19 Krka scored a big win at the start of the 2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship as they defeated U19 Zadar in overtime!
The absolute hero of the game was Žan Smrekar who scored 11 out of Krka's 17 points in overtime to lead his team toward the win. Smrekar finished the match with 26 points and 8 rebounds.
While U19 Krka were a far better team in overtime in which they left no chance to their opponents, we should mention that both sides were close to grab the win in the final moments of the 4th quarter. At the score of 65:64 for U19 Krka and with just 16 seconds remaining on the game clock, U19 Zadar player Vice Grbić had two free throws and a chance to put his team in front.
However, Grbić made just one out of two free throws, which was enough only to tie the score – 65:65.
In the remaining time, U19 Krka had a chance to finish this game before overtime, however Lovro Fila missed a 3-pointer and the game went into additional 5 minutes in which the Novo mesto troops still managed to seize the win.
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Group D:
U19 VOJVODINA MTS - U19 Split 74:72 (14:16, 21:12, 10:33, 29:11)
U19 Vojvodina mts have started their U19 ABA League championship journey with a tight win against U19 Split.
U19 Vojvodina mts was the better team in the first half, they held an 11-point advantage late in the second half. Following the halftime break, Split came out with a great third-quarter performance, they outscored U19 Vojvodina mts 30:11 in the quarter and built a 16-point advantage heading into the final 10 minutes. U19 Vojvodina mounted a great comeback in the final quarter, taking the lead late in the game and holding on to secure the win.
Marko Vučković was the top man for U19 Vojvodina, he finished the night with 21 points and 7 rebounds. David Pavin put on a phenomenal performance for U19 Split, he scored a game-high 30 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Group D:
U19 Cedevita Olimpija - U19 CIBONA 73:85 (27:9, 22:19, 13:23, 11:34)
U19 Cibona pulled off a sensational 2nd half comeback to score a precious win against U19 Cedevita Olimpija at the start of the new U19 ABA League Championship.
U19 Cibona were down by 21 points at the halftime (28:49) and at that moment it looked like the rest of the match would be a walk in the park for the U19 Cedevita Olimpija squad. However, that is not what the young Zagreb side had in mind.
The Wolves have reduced their deficit to 11 points until the final 10 minutes – 51:62, while then the Zagreb team opened the 4th quarter with a 19:1 run! U19 Cibona went on to win the 4th quarter by 34:11 and to therefore win the game by 85:73!
If you take a look at the stats, you will see that this was a true team win for U19 Cibona as six of their players reached double digits in scoring. Borna Katanović was their top scorer at the end of the match with 16 points.
In U19 Cedevita Olimpija team, Mark Mahmutović Morano scored 21 points.
