Buducnost "slept" through halftime and defeated Ilirija

A very bad first half and a good enough second half - that brought the basketball players of Budućnost Voli another victory in the ABA League.

The "Blues" defeated Ilirija from Ljubljana and celebrated their fifth time in the regional competition - it was 84:78 at the "M:tel Morača Hall".

Andrej Žakelj's team didn't show much in the first half, lacking the much-needed energy on both ends of the floor, so the rival scored easily from counterattacks and took advantage of the fact that the home team had as many as eight turnovers in the first 11 minutes...

It was like that in the 2nd minute of the second quarter plus 10 (26:16) for Ilirija, but Buducnost's reaction was right - in four minutes they went on a 13:0 run to reach 29:26 before falling again and allowing the Slovenian team to have a two-point lead at halftime.

The break was clearly beneficial for the team from Podgorica - they opened the third period in the right way and took control of the match, and from the middle of that part of the game they started to make a big difference because, among other things, the three-point shot finally worked.

In the first half, Buducnost shot 5-0 from outside the 6,75 line, and in the following half, they were accurate five times, so Ilirija no longer posed a threat.

So with less than five minutes left, the score was a maximum of plus 15 (78:63), when it became clear that the Montenegrin champion had done the job.

Captain Nikola Tanaskovic was the most efficient with 20 points, Axel Butej scored 12, Oleksandr Kovliar 11, and Fletcher Magee, Skylar Mays and Juvan Morgan were close to double figures, finishing with nine.

Yogi Ferrell was also in the lineup, but he did not get minutes because he had not yet recovered from his injury.

Buducnost will be back on the court on Tuesday when German Ulm arrives at Morača in the 8th round of the Eurocup.

FUTURE - ILLIRIA 84:78 (16:18, 21:21, 31:20, 16:19)

Podgorica - "M:tel Hall Morača". Spectators: 740. Referees: Belošević, Jevtović, Hadžić (Serbia).

Buducnost Voli: Sulajmon 4, Maggi 9, Mace 9, Slavkovic 2, Tanaskovic 20, Ferrell, Jovanovic, Morgan 9, Butsijel 4, Nikolic 4, Kovliar 11, Butej 12.

Ilirija: Grin 7, Gabrijel, Škorjanc, Murić 7, Tomažič 14, Jaramaz 19, Šitu 12, Jurković 5, Vukotić, Prepelič 2, Kureš 12, Boisa.