SC Derby basketball players end the first part of the AdmiralBet ABA League competition with another defeat, after losing to FMP 73:72 tonight at the "Mtel Morača Hall", in the 18th round of the regional competition.
This is the 13th defeat for Petar Mijović's team, which has three wins, so they will start the play-offs from last place. Split and Vienna have one more victory each, Ilirija, Krka and Zadar have five victories each, while Borac, FMP and Mega have six, and Spartak have eight victories. SC Derbi will host Spartak from Subotica in the first round of the play-offs, on Friday (18.30), and will fight for survival in the regional competition until the end of the season.
An uncertain game was played tonight in Podgorica, and neither team had more than a six-point lead. Those six magic points were at the beginning of the game, when Zoran Vučeljić scored to give the "students" a 15:9 lead.
Previously, Emir Hadžibegović opened the match in the right way, scoring seven of SC Derby's first 11 points.
Hadžibegović was joined by Vučeljić, and after his points and an additional free throw, SC Derbi took a 22:18 lead at the beginning of the second quarter. FMP turned it around with a three-pointer by Kristion Eugene to 23:22, so the score was a seesaw until the end of the first half, and after 20 minutes the "students" had a point advantage (35:34), after Hadžibegović hit a three-pointer in the final stretch.
At the beginning of the third quarter, Mijović's team had a five-point lead (39:34), and then FMP made a 10:0 run and took a 44:39 lead and consistently led throughout the third period, until SC Derbi made a 7:0 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter, turned it around and took a 60:59 lead.
The guests responded with five consecutive points (64:60) and led until the last minute when Nikola Pavlićević and Mateo Drežnjak each hit a three-pointer, giving SC Derbi a 70:68 lead.
On the other side, Filip Barna hit three free throws after a foul by Hadžibegović (71:70), and Pavlićević returned the lead to SC Derby from the penalty spot - 72:71.
With 24,5 seconds left, FMP went on the attack, and after a free throw and an assist from Barna, Nikola Gašić scored the winning goal for the guests - 73:72. SC Derbi had about eight seconds left, Matic Rebec got tangled, and Drežnjak didn't have time to make a shot.
The most efficient player for SC Derby was Vučeljić with 20 points. Hadžibegović had 14 points, and Aleksa Ilić had 12, along with 11 rebounds.
At FMP, Barna finished the match with 30 points.
Bonus video:
