SC Derbij basketball players defeated Split (24:102) last night in Podgorica, in the 89th round of the AdmiralBet ABA League, and achieved their ninth triumph in the regional competition.
The game was marked by the excellent three-point shooting percentage of the "students" (66,7 percent), who hit 20 three-pointers out of 30 attempts.
"I think we played a good game, the shot was the result of good ball flow. We had 25 assists, which hasn't happened to us this season, we controlled the match from start to finish. Everything was expected, especially knowing how Split has been playing since coach Mrsic arrived. Significantly faster and on an open field, so it was a high-scoring game as expected. I also hope that the small crowd in the hall, and those who were watching on the small screens, were able to see a good game. This game gives us optimism that we have our ambitions in the remaining six rounds," said SC Derbija coach Petar Mijović after the game.
One of the players who stood out for the "students" was Igor Drobnjak, who scored five three-pointers. The Montenegrin national team player was out of action for a while due to injury. Bogavac and Nil scored four three-pointers each, Mirković, Grbović and Vučeljić scored two each, and Hadžibegović scored one.
"Drobnjak was out after the Cup where he got injured. A great match for him at an important moment, he got us going with three-point shots. I hope this will help us with our confidence. You can see that we are more relaxed than when we secured survival. We look significantly better than in the first half of the season, we play more relaxed. In the first half, we played harder, we needed a win that we haven't been able to find in a series of one-goal games. Igor and the rest of the team train well and that comes to the fore, so that someone new always stands out," explained Mijović.
SC Derbi welcomes Igokea in the next round, on Sunday (17).
"This is one of the most experienced teams in the league. A real competitive team, who know how to play to win, they are very tough, physically demanding to prepare, always tactically well prepared. There will be a lot of things, individually and as a team, that we will have to be ready for in order to beat a team that is, objectively, the favorite in that match. We will first try to rest and refresh, to make a few good training sessions out of it, and to enter that match with ambition and play as well as possible. We also played a match in Laktaši with a lot of oscillations, in the finish it turned into a one or two-ball game. It will certainly not be easy for us to oppose Igokea, but if we are at the level we can be at, I think it will not be easy for them to beat us either," said Mijović.
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