BC Cibona starts the domestic season with a win against Alkar in Sinj

Cibona kicked off the 2026/27 SuperSport Premijer Liga season with an 84-78 road win over Alkar in Sinj, played on Sunday at the Ivica Glavan-Iće Hall.

Alkar starters: Burden Jr., Šiško, Brzović, Granić, Jukić.

Cibona starters: McGill, Mazalin, Serdarušić, Hepa, Battle.

The Wolves came out of the gates sharper, closing the first quarter ahead 18-23. Alkar picked up the pace in the second, taking that period 25-23, but Cibona still led at the half, 43-46. The turning point came in the third quarter, where the Zagreb side were simply overwhelming, winning it 23-10 and building the game's biggest lead at 69-50. Alkar rallied hard over the final ten minutes, taking the fourth quarter 25-15, but the deficit proved too steep to overturn, and Cibona closed out round one with a final 84-78 win.

Cibona's bench proved decisive, outscoring Alkar's reserves 43-10. Roko Badžim led the "second unit" with 14 points, backed by efficient outings from Antonio Sikirić and Lovro Mazalin (11 points apiece), plus Rickey McGill (10 points, 7 assists) and Khalif Battle (10 points on a sparkling 6-of-6 from the free-throw line).

On the other side, Alkar stayed in the fight until the final minute, largely thanks to a standout showing from Terrell Andre Burden Jr., who top-scored with 26 points, drilling 6 threes along the way. He got good support from Ante Brzović (16 points) and Fabian Šiško (8 points, 5 assists).

Post-game reactions

"The start of a season is always tough. After missing our ABA League round, there was some nervous energy in the group over the last seven days — we were itching to finally get going. You could tell from our shot selection early on that this wasn't our sharpest shooting night, but we built a comfortable cushion in the third quarter. It's far from a top-level performance from us, but I think what matters is grabbing the win here in Sinj. Plenty of teams are going to struggle here — we struggled too. Credit to Sinj, credit to my players, and on we go." — Ivan Rudež, Cibona head coach

"First of all, congratulations to Cibona on a deserved win. Like you said, there's some regret over that third quarter, but I think we showed this Alkar side can compete with anyone. As we've said, we're taking it game by game — in Europe everyone will get a chance to play, everyone will get their minutes, and we'll use it to keep developing and building up our younger players. As for every other game, we'll prepare the way we always do, and I think we'll be ready no matter who's on the other side." — Roko Dominović, Alkar head coach

"Tough game — it's never easy playing in Sinj, they've historically had a strong home court. Round one, a good win, on we go. There were some mistakes, but it's early, the season has only just started. We'll keep working, that's really all there is to it. Onward." — Roko Badžim, Cibona