Spartak Office Shoes hang on for the tight win against Cibona

AdmiralBet ABA League Round 15, Sunday, 5 January 2025:

SPARTAK OFFICE SHOES - Cibona 88:84 (22:31, 22:16, 19:15, 25:22)

PHOTO GALLERY
POST-GAME COMMENTS

Game recap: In round 15 of the AdmiralBet ABA League, Spartak Office Shoes defeated Cibona with a close score of 88:84. This was Cibona's first game under new head coach Josip Sesar, and they started strong, leading by 13 points at one point in the first quarter, closing the period with a 22:31 advantage. However, Spartak Office Shoes made a comeback in the second quarter, launching an 11-2 run to narrow the gap to just 2 points by halftime, where Cibona led 44:47. In the second half, Spartak Office Shoes took control of the game, gradually establishing a lead despite Cibona's efforts. With support from their home crowd, Spartak Office Shoes secured the victory, concluding the first half of the season with a 9-6 record, while Cibona finished at 2-13.

Key moments: Cibona threatened the Spartak Office Shoes lead late in the final quarter, and they cut the lead to 84:82 with 25 seconds remaining. Cibona played a full-court press but Spartak Office Shoes found a way out of the pressure as Rasir Bolton pulled out a pass to Stefan Momirov who found an open Dalibor Ilić who dunked it down to seal the win and bring Spartak Office Shoes' lead to 4 with 13 seconds remaining. 

Man of the Match: Dalibor Ilić had a stellar night for Spartak Office Shoes tonight, he finished the game with a double-double scoring 14 points on 4/5 shooting while pulling down 10 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists in the win. 

Can't trick the stats: Coach Sesar said in the post-game press conference that the biggest problem for his team was the offensive rebounds. Spartak Office Shoes dominated the offensive glass tonight, they outrebounded Cibona 13:4 on the offensive end, resulting in Spartak Office Shoes outscoring Cibona 18:9 in second-chance points.