Danijel Jusup and Luka Božić received the awards for the best coach and player of the Admiralbet ABA League before the first referee's failure in Krešimir Ćosić's home, but after that they had no chances against Budućnost Voli even five times in the season.
The Montenegrin champion opened the playoffs of the regional competition with two victories and advanced to the semi-finals - the basketball players of Budućnosti were once again better than Zadar (80:73) and now they are waiting for a rival against whom they will fight for the grand final.
It will be Partizan or Igokea - the champion of the ABA league is currently leading 1:0 in the series.
Although the host started with 11:5, Buducnost quickly put things in their place, so in the middle of the second quarter, after McKinley Wright's three-pointer, they had the maximum plus eight (28:20).
They controlled the "blue" in that part of the events on the field, and went to rest with 39:33. It was expected that they would continue in a similar rhythm, but after the break, the only crisis in the game of Andrej Žakelj's team followed.
During the first five minutes of the third period, Budućnost "braked" in attack, and Zadar took a 9:2 lead with a 42:41 series. In those moments, there was a slightly longer break due to a problem with the scoreboard, and everything seemed to be ideal for the Montenegrin team...
After an unplanned rest, Yogi Ferrell scored a three-pointer, and Marvin Jones, Joan Makunda and Fletcher Magee also scored, so the "blues" quickly returned the largest plus eight (50:42).
Everything was easier after that, Žakel's boys had 14 more points (63:49) and controlled the events in Dalmatia until the end...
A great match was played by Makunda, who scored 19 points (three triples), followed by Kenan Kamenjaš with a double-double performance (12 points and 10 rebounds), as well as Ferrell with 13 and Maggie with 11 points.
On the other side, Arijan Lakić scored 17 points, and Božić scored 15...
Buducnost thus reached the semi-finals of the ABA League for the ninth time in a row and in a way fulfilled the goal in the regional competition this season, and in the semi-finals (probably against Partizan) they will try to exceed expectations.
Zadar - Budućnost Voli 73:80 (15:16, 18:23, 14:13, 26:28)
ZADAR - Hall "Krešimir Ćosić". Spectators: 5.000. Judges: Nikolić, Juras (Serbia), Porobić (BiH).
Zadar: Dejvis 3 (2-0), Klarica, Vujacic, ŽGANEC 9 (6-5), Mazalin 10 (3-2), LAKIĆ 17 (2-1), Mekić 2, Jambrović, DREŽNJAK 3 (2-1) , Grbić, BOŽIĆ 15 (3-3), RAMLJAK 14 (6-4).
Budućnost Voli: Ilić, Megi 11, Freemen 5, SLAVKOVIĆ 5 (1-1), Makundu 19 (4-2), FEREL 13 ()1-1, JONES 2, Jagodić-Kuriža, TANASKOVIĆ 4 (3-2), Wright 6 (2-1), POPOVIĆ 3, Kamenjaš 12 (3-2).
Bonus video:
