After 315 days, "Morača" fell - Buducnost Volija basketball players lost in the 7th round of Group A of the Eurocup against Gran Canaria (83:76), which was their first defeat at home since February 3 and the match with Virtus, i.e. 22-game winning streak.
Participant of the ACB League dominated from the start, used all the mistakes of the home team in defense and several times reached 19 points.
Aleksandar Džikić's team was bad and predictable in attack, fatigue was also evident among some players, but at least they showed character when everything seemed lost.
At 75:58 for the guests, with seven and a half minutes to go, Edin Atić missed all three shots, but after an offensive jump, Denis Jerome Silija hit a three-pointer and "ignited" the spark.
Podgorica got closer to 67:75, the atmosphere in the hall "boiled", but Kalifa Diop put an end to the match with a layup and a dunk.
Buducnost got to 75:81 with a minute and a half left, then after a wasted attack by the guests, Justin Cobbs made a throw, and AJ Slaughter eliminated all dilemmas with a basket for 83:76 with 41,2 seconds left.
ENNIS PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT
Former Red Star and Mega guard Dylan Ennis picked up where he left off four days earlier against Manresa, scoring 18 points in the final quarter.
In Morača, he made three three-pointers in less than three minutes and was the most responsible for Porfiri Fisak's team constantly leading. Granka reached a double-digit advantage (8:0) with an 8:24 series in the 13th minute, and Budućnost with nine tied baskets already at the start of the 2nd quarter came to a minus 22:24.
But suddenly it stopped both in attack and defense, where a draft was blowing in all directions, so Nikolas Brusino closed the series with a long double and a triple, 12:0 for a huge 14 points (36:22).
The troubles were not over there either, because John Shurna, a wing center with an atypical shot, made a record 6,75 difference (15:44) with a shot from behind the 29 line three and a half minutes before the big break.
MINUS EIGHT IN POINTS, 10 IN REBOUNDS
It was 41:49 at halftime, after Cobbs hit a layup at the sound of the siren, and the numbers best told what the problem was - Gran Canaria had even 10 more rebounds (23 in total, nine of which were offensive), while threes shot a great 16-9, against 9-2 "blue".
The difference would have been even greater if the Podgorica team had not taken and hit all 15 shots, and the guests had only scored 2-2.
Those minus eight hinted that Aleksandar Džikić's team could catch up and overtake the team from the Canary Islands, record their 23rd consecutive victory in "Morača", but they didn't even come close to that. Already after three minutes there was a 17 difference (59:42), so it was clear that a turnaround was impossible...
With this victory, Gran Canaria reached Buducnost at the top of the table with a score of 5:2 and preserved a perfect performance on away games, as this was their fourth triumph on the side.
Virtus, whose match with Promiteas in Bologna is in progress, could join them tonight.
Valencia also has 4:2, but the match of the 7th round with Bursa in "Fonteta" will not be played until January 6.
Bonus video:
