Split grab second road win in a row, as they prevail over Igokea m:tel in overtime

AdmiralBet ABA League Round 15, Thursday, 4 January 2024:

Igokea m:tel – SPLIT 77:80 (15:18, 18:17, 15:19, 22:16, 7:10)

PHOTO GALLERY
POST-GAME COMMENTS

Game recap: In the opening game of the AdmiralBet ABA League Round 15, Split have prevailed over Igokea m:tel in Laktaši. This is the second road win in row for Split and their sixth win of the season, which puts them just below the edge of the Playoffs Zone, with a 6:9 record after 15 Rounds. On the other side, Igokea m:tel keep sliding down the standings, as they are now on a 9:6 record, and they are slowly losing track with the Top 4 teams in the standings, following their excellent performances in the first half of the season.

Key moments: Split have been extremely close to winning the game in regular part of the playing time and they were ahead by 6 points with a bit more than half a minute to go. Edin Atić then first scored a three-pointer to cut the gap to 3 points with 34 seconds to go and after Tonko Vuko missed on the other end, Atić has again stepped up to force overtime with 3 free throws after drawing a foul while shooting from 3-point range. The score after 40 minutes was 70:70.

However, it have been the Split squad again, that got ahead quickly when the overtime arrived. The teams were tied at 72:72 midway through the extra period, but then Shannon Shorter and Derek Funderburk combined 5 points to take their team up by 5 points (72:77), and there was less than 2 minutes to go. As it turned out, these were the key moments of the game, as Igokea m:tel did not manage to fight back and make it an even game again until the end.

Man of the match: Shannon Shorter has been the driving force behind the success of his Split this time, with game-high 21 points (including 3/4 from beyond the arc), while adding 11 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, and a valuation of 31. He is our man of the match!

Can’t trick the stats: Split have been shooting from the field with a 43.1% accuracy and Igokea m:tel with a 33.8% accuracy. That’s what turned the flow of the game in Laktaši the Dalmatian squad’s way.