NLB MATCH OF THE ROUND: Cibona grab a sweet road win in Gripe

AdmiralBet ABA League Round 24, Friday, 22 March 2024:

Split – CIBONA 76:83 (24:17, 17:26, 21:18, 14:22)

PHOTO GALLERY
POST-GAME COMMENTS

Game recap: Cibona have prevailed over Split on the road in Gripe and grabbed a sweet win over the old rivals. It has been a game, that could have gone either way all until the end, but Cibona squad appeared to be a bit more focused when it mattered the most and they grabbed their second win against Split this season. This win puts Cibona on a 9:15 record, and they keep their mathematical chances of reaching the Playoffs open for the moment. On the other side, Split remain in front of their rivals of the day, but now only by 2 wins, with the record of 11:13 and this defeat might have come in the most unpleasant possible moment, as they are trying to secure their Top 8 ticket at the end of the Regular Season. 

Key moments: Split have been up by a point as the third quarter came to an end, bit it has been the Cibona squad, that has dominated the final quarter, with the score of 14:22. The key moments came 3 minutes before the end, when the margin was only 2 points (72:74) in favour of Cibona. First Jakov Mustapić made a lay-up to take his team up by 4 points, which has been followed by a block by Matej Bošnjak on the other end, and afterwards Jakov Mustapić added another 3 points from the free throw line, to take his team up by 7 points (72:79) with 1:26 seconds to go in the game. Split again managed to cut the gap to 3 points (76:79) with 40 seconds left, but Jakov Mustapić again sealed their fate, with a lay-up 20 seconds before the end (76:81).

Man of the match: Jakov Mustapić did not only had 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 1 block and a valuation of 23 on his record, but he also scored 7 out of 9 Cibona’s points in the final 3 minutes of the game, when it mattered the most! He is our man of the match.

Can’t trick the stats: It has been assists/steals/turnovers ratio, that turned the game Cibona’s was this time. While Split had 25 assists, 5 steals and 12 turnovers, CIbona had 26 assists, 9 steals and 11 turnovers this time.