The first part of the AdmiralBet ABA League competition has ended, and SC Derby basketball players enter the second phase, the play-out, with a score of three wins and 13 losses. This season, the "Students" defeated Split (85:77) and Krka (85:75) at home, and were better than Igokea (94:66) away, while their last defeat was suffered last night in Podgorica by FMP (73:72).
The teams carry over points from the first part of the competition into the second phase, so Petar Mijović's team enters the play-offs with a score of three wins and 13 losses and is in last place in the standings. Vienna and Split have four triumphs each, Zadar, Ilirija and Krka five each, Mega, Borac Čačak and FMP six each, and Spartak eight. "Students" will play at home and away in the play-offs against teams from Group B - Spartak, Mega, Zadar, Ilirija and Vienna. The first match is on Friday (18.30) in Podgorica against the team from Subotica.
When it comes to last night's match against FMP, the "students" had a two-point lead 55 seconds before the end, after Nikola Pavlićević and Mateo Drežnjak each hit a three-pointer - 70:68. Then Filip Barna hit three free throws (71:70), Pavlićević on the other side was accurate twice from the penalty spot (72:71), and Nikola Gašić scored the winning basket for the team from Belgrade about eight seconds before the end (73:72). SC Derbi had an attack to win, but Matic Rebec got tangled, and Mateo Drežnjak did not have time to shoot.
"A tough defeat, and not the first this season. If we were to count defeats per ball this season, I believe we would be in the top 3, and we are last as it is. I think we have not yet overcome the psychological moment and that ballast, which is not easy at all. This was primarily seen in the way we lost the ball - unforced, we practically gave the ball into the opponent's hands," said SC Derbi coach Petar Mijović after the match.
SC Derby shot 59,1 percent from the penalty spot and 20,8 percent from three-point range, which Mijović highlighted at the post-match press conference.
"We also had a very poor free throw percentage, as well as an even worse three-point shooting. I think the commitment and will were on par. The game was low-scoring, with a lot of difficult shots that the opponent, thanks to individual quality, managed to hit."
The playoffs are coming up, and every game will be important in order to fight for survival.
"However, psychologically we were not up to the level of importance of the match and the situation we were in. All those one-goal defeats significantly burdened us and limited us from playing the way we train," concluded Mijović.
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