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Cibona lose to Igokea at the Dražen Dome
Igokea decided the game with an 11-0 run in the second quarter and won 89-69; Ivan Tomas coached Cibona from the bench for the first time, with McGill scoring 12 points
On Friday, 30 October, Cibona lost 69-89 to Igokea m:tel at the Dražen Petrović Basketball Centre, in Round 6 of Group A of the AdmiralBet ABA League. It was the first game on the Cibona bench for new head coach Ivan Tomas.
Cibona started with McGill, Sikirić, Mazalin, Badžim and Hepa, while Igokea opened with Stefanović, Armotrading, Lazić, Delalić and Penn.
The visitors held the lead for most of the first quarter, which ended 19-22. Badžim was the best for Cibona with eight points, and Kovačević had nine for Igokea.
In the second quarter, Igokea went on an 11-0 run to build a 14-point lead (19-33). Serdarušić ended the run with the hosts’ first basket in almost six minutes (21-33), and after a Topolović basket the Wolves, through Mazalin, Hepa and Sikirić, cut the deficit to under ten points (27-35). The half ended with spectacular threes from Stefanović and Sikirić, and the visitors led 33-41. By then Mazalin had 10 points and Kovačević nine.
In the third quarter Igokea stretched the lead to 20 points (37-57) and went into the final ten minutes ahead 51-67. Badžim had 11 and Mazalin 10 for Cibona, while Stefanović had 13, Delalić 12 and Kovačević 11 for Igokea.
The visitors played the final quarter calmly, and the game ended 69-89. McGill led Cibona with 12 points and Badžim added 11, while Stefanović scored 16 and Kovačević 15 for Igokea.
Cibona head coach Ivan Tomas said after the game:
“I’d like to congratulate Igokea on a deserved win. It was a pretty tough debut for me, and I don’t think we were close. Igokea outplayed us and we couldn’t match them at all. There’s definitely a lot of work waiting for me.”
Igokea head coach Nenad Stefanović added:
“Congratulations to my players on a deserved win. I think for a few minutes in the second quarter we dropped out of the game plan and everything we’d been doing in the first 15 minutes. I’m saying this at the end, once we’d relaxed with the big lead, but everything else went by under complete control. I think Cibona have a very good roster, and there are some players we’ve followed for a long time and know have great quality. With just one training session we prepared as seriously as possible, even though we slipped in the second quarter. Congratulations to my guys on an incredible effort, and I wish Cibona all the best and success in reaching their goals this season.”
The Wolves are back in action tomorrow, Saturday, 31 October, at 19:00, away to Split in Round 6 of the SuperSport Premier League, with a chance for a sixth straight league win.
