#ABAFutureStars: U19 Igokea m:tel and U19 Cibona take the last two F4 tickets
U19 Igokea m:tel and U19 Cibona joined U19 Mega MIS and U19 SC Derby at the 2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship Final Four.
(Photo: Igokea m:tel/Marija Vuruna)
U19 Igokea m:tel and U19 Cibona joined U19 Mega MIS and U19 SC Derby at the 2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship Final Four.
These four teams will continue their pursuit for the precious trophy, while their next stop on that journey will be semifinals. Check out the pairs of the semi-final stage at the 2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship Final Four.
(A1) U19 Mega MIS – (D1) U19 Cibona
(B1) U19 SC Derby – (C1) U19 Igokea m:tel
The winners of these two games will meet in the big final.
2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship, Regular Season, Round 3, Thursday, November 23, 2023:
Group A:
U19 Cedevita Junior - U19 PARTIZAN 67:76 (11:14, 16:21, 24:17, 16:24)
U19 Partizan have defeated U19 Cedevita Junior to seize the 2nd place in Group A.
The Belgrade side have finished the group stage with an overall score of 1-1, while the Zagreb team have ended their U19 ABA League Championship journey with an overall score of 0-2. Neither team have qualified for the Final Four.
The winner of this match was decided in the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter when U19 Partizan made the key 9:1 run to increase their lead from 65:64 to 74:65.
Aleksa Dimitrijević led the black-and-white troops toward the win with 9 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists.
On the other side, the two top scorers in the Cedevita Junior team today were Noa Škrobot and Jan Kroflin with 14 points.
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Group B:
U19 FALCONS ACADEMY DUBAI - U19 SC DERBY 77:67 (21:8, 14:20, 17:20, 25:21)
U19 Falcons Academy Dubai got their first win of the ABA Future Stars after they beat U19 SC Derby in Zlatibor.
Despite the loss U19 SC Derby still remains top of group B with a 2-1 record and has secured a spot in the final four, Falcons Academy Dubai finished the tournament with a 1-2 record.
U19 Falcons Academy Dubai had a great start to the game, their best of the tournament, they held a 16-point advantage in the second quarter. After the halftime break, U19 SC Derby started to cut into the deficit they had in the first half, they managed to get back into the game and make for a thrilling finish. Unfortunately for the squad from Podgorica, they were not able to overcome the deficit and Falcons Academy Dubai ended up with their first win.
Aleksa Vlajić had a monster game, he led U19 Falcons Academy Dubai with 29 points, grabbed a whopping 17 rebounds and a 40 valuation. Maruan Čičić had a big double-double for U19 SC Derby, he finished the night with 13 points and grabbed 14 rebounds (7 DREB, 7 OREB).
Group B:
U19 Crvena zvezda - U19 BORAC MOZZART 63:65 (9:18, 25:20, 10:14, 19:13)
U19 Borac Mozzart have defeated last-year’s finalists U19 Crvena zvezda in the last round of the group stage – 65:63.
The outcome of this game did not make any significant changes in Group B as U19 Borac Mozzart have only finished as the 2nd placed team in this group, while U19 Crvena zvezda ended up at the 3rd place. U19 SC Derby have already secured the top spot in Group B and a place at the Final Four.
U19 Borac Mozzart have had the lead during most of the game, while they eventually managed to stay in front of their rivals in another thrilling game-ending in the ongoing season.
Uroš Ivković was the one to finally seal the win for the Čačak troops as he scored two key free throws to put his team in front by 4 points - 65:61, just 6 seconds before the end of the game.
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Group C:
U19 Krka - U19 IGOKEA M:TEL 69:77 (16:21, 22:20, 13:19, 18:17)
U19 Igokea m:tel have become the 3rd team to qualify for the 2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship Final Four as they defeated U19 Krka in a direct battle for the 1st place in Group C.
After a big battle in the first half in which U19 Igokea m:tel gained a 3-point lead – 41:38, the boys from Laktaši played a very good 3rd quarter and they managed to increase the gap to 9 points ahead of the final 10 minutes – 61:50.
However, U19 Krka was not going to surrender that easily and the Novo mesto youngsters managed to reduce their deficit to 5 points (72:67), with less than a 2 minutes remaining on the game clock. U19 Krka even had a chance to melt the gap even more, but then they missed some big shots in the following plays and failed to complete a late comeback.
U19 Igokea have therefore joined U19 Mega MIS and U19 SC Derby at the 2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship Final Four.
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Group D:
U19 CEDEVITA OLIMPIJA - U19 Split 82:72 (24:20, 24:18, 19:18, 15:16)
U19 Cedevita Olimpija has ended their ABA Future Stars story with a win against U19 Split.
This was the first win of the tournament for the youngster from Ljubljana while the Dalmatian ended the U19 ABA League Championship winless after three games in group D.
U19 Cedevita Olimpija built their advantage throughout the first half which would give them control of the game in the second half. U19 Split did not let U19 Cedevita Olimpija run away with the game but were unable to complete a comeback.
Martin Tonejc finished the game with a double-double for U19 Cedevita Olimpija, he scored 11 points and grabbed 10 blocks. Mateo Tomšaević was the top scorer for U19 Split, he finished the game with 18 points to go along with 3 steals.
Group D:
U19 CIBONA - U19 Vojvodina mts 81:73 (20:14, 21:20, 10:15, 19:21, 11:3)
U19 Cibona are the last team to qualify for the 2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship Final Four as they defeated U19 Vojvodina mts in overtime in the last round of the group stage.
The Zagreb side pulled off a stunning comeback to get this precious win, as 10 seconds before the end of the 4th quarter it looked like that the young Wolves would end up as the losing side this evening.
U19 Vojvodina were up by 2 points – 69:67, while their player Nikola Ušljebrka had two free throws to seal the win for his team. However, Ušljebrka made just one out of two free throws for 70:67, while after that the same player made a foul on U19 Cibona's top scorer from tonight's game Borna Katanović while he was attempting a 3-point shot.
Katanović received 3 free throws and a chance to tie the score in the last moments of the 4th quarter... He made all of 3 free throws to keep his team alive and to force overtime – 70:70.
In the additional 5 minutes U19 Cibona were a much better team. The Zagreb side opened this period with a 9:1 run to escape on a safe distance and to pave the path toward this big win.
U19 Cibona have therefore joined U19 Mega MIS, U19 SC Derby and U19 Igokea m:tel at the 2023/24 U19 ABA League Championship Final Four.
