Buducnost's debacle in "Morača": Turk Telekom outplayed the "blues"

Buducnost Voli basketball players were in a series of three triumphs in all competitions, last week they finally celebrated away from home in the Eurocup, so it seemed that they were slowly getting into a winning rhythm and that tonight's game with Turk Telekom could serve as a continuation of the good streak.

But the Montenegrin champion canceled a break from Lithuania tonight and experienced a debacle in "Morača" - Buducnost lost convincingly against Turk Telekom (11:96) in the 73th round of the Eurocup, and again the game was decided by a bad second half, especially the third quarter.

The future made a lot of mistakes, and the rival was much better in the jump. The "Blues" were indecisive in attack, especially in the second half, and on the other side, they allowed many easy points to Turk Telekom, especially after the offensive jump.

Andrej Žakelj's team missed the opportunity to stay as long as possible in the race for placement in the upper part of the table. After tonight's game, Bubućnost is 4-7 and has four wins less than Ulm and Cluj, and five more than Burg, which is in the second position leading directly to the quarterfinals.

Aris, Litkabelis and Trento have the same score as Budućnost, while Turk Telekom has fewer victories.

Buducnost had big problems with the jump of the opponent, and in the third quarter they struggled in the attack. Turk Telekom opened the second half with six tied points and led 45:37, and after Palmer's three-pointer, the team from Ankara gained a double-digit advantage for the first time - 57:47.

With an aggressive defense on the ball, Turk Telekom players stopped Budućnost, which had no solution in the offensive. In those moments, Ulubaj played, so after the 12:0 series, the Turkish team had a 19-point advantage - 66:47.

At the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarter, thanks to Petar Popović, who scored seven points in a row, Budućnost got to 66:54, and then the guests, after another offensive jump, were accurate by three points (Ulusoj scored at 69:54). Then it was clear that everything was over.

Buducnost could not come back, Turk Telekom had a 25-point lead (96:71) and inflicted one of the heaviest defeats on the Montenegrin champion in the Eurocup in Morača.

Buducnost experienced the worst defeat in "Morača" in the Eurocup last season against Gran Canaria when it was 94:69.

Even tonight, there could have been a 25 difference for Turk Telekom, but Popović was accurate in the last attack.

McKinley Wright was the most effective for Buducnosti with 23 points. Popović scored 15 points and Vladimir Mihailović 11 points. Yogi Ferrell and Brandon Paul completely failed - Ferrell finished the game without points, while Paul hit one three-pointer.

At Turk Telekom, Valas was the best with 22 points. Palmer scored 17, and Ulubaj and Inok each had 15. Inok had 10 rebounds.

THE FUTURE LOVES - TURK TELEKOM 73:96 (21:22, 16:17, 15:27, 21:30)

Podgorica - SC "Morača". Spectators: 2. 260. Judges: Arturas Sukis (Lithuania), Leandro Lescano (Argentina) and Sebastian Clivaz (France).

Buducnost Voli: MIHAILOVIĆ 11 (1-1), Ross, SLAVKOVIĆ 6, MAKUNDU 7 (2-1), Ferrell, Grbović 4 (4-4), Jones 2, Jagodić-Kuriža, WILLIAMS 2, WRIGHT 23 (5-4 ), Popović 15, Pol 3.

Turk Telekom: Guler, SAJBIR 10 (2-2), Jagmur 2, PALMER 17 (6-4), VALAS 22 (5-4), Akjel 4, Ulubaj 15 (2-2), Sav, INOK 15 (6- 5), ULUSOJ 8 (2-2), Lif 3.