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Cibona Stage Late Comeback Against FMP for Second Straight ABA League Win
After trailing by 14 (49:63), the Wolves won the final quarter 31:14 and took the game 80:77; McGill scored 22 points, and Badžim hit the decisive three with 46 seconds left
Cibona beat FMP 80:77 in front of around 600 fans at Dražen’s Home on Friday in Round 8 of Group A of the AdmiralBet ABA League, picking up their second straight win in the competition. It is also head coach Ivan Tomas’s second consecutive ABA League win on the Cibona bench.
The Wolves started the game strongly, going up 7:0 and 10:1, but FMP steadied itself at 13:8 and took the first quarter 21:17.
In the second period, the visitors built a lead of ten points or more and won the quarter 25:16, so the teams went into the break at 33:46. By then, Mazalin and Mitchell, with eight points each, had stood out for Cibona, and Kovačević, with 12, and Gašić, with 10, for FMP.
In the third quarter, the visitors kept their double-digit lead, winning it 17:16 and entering the final ten minutes up 63:49. Cibona then showed real character down the stretch. The Wolves took the last quarter 31:14, and with two and a half minutes left McGill put them in front for the first time, 75:74. The decisive moment came with 46 seconds to play, when Badžim hit a three to make it 80:77, which was the final score.
McGill, with 22 points for Cibona, and Rush, with 23 for FMP, were the top scorers of the game. The Wolves thus recorded their third win in the ABA League and their second in a row.
Cibona head coach Ivan Tomas said after the game:
“I’d like to congratulate my guys on a big win. We came out perfectly in the first five minutes, but we didn’t get much on the scoreboard out of it. Then Gašić came into the game, and his defense disrupted our offense. He pushed us far away from the basket, and our defense started to break down. In the second half we couldn’t find our rhythm on offense, even though our defensive energy picked up and we played better there. You could feel the players’ confidence growing on defense, and we started to squeeze harder and harder. In the last seven minutes the defense was perfect, and the players showed their character. I’d like us to look as solid going forward as we did in the final quarter.”
FMP head coach Saša Nikitović said:
“Congratulations to Cibona on the win. They were better in the last quarter, although I think we absolutely controlled the game. It was 30 minutes, and the game is 40. One by one, our players were fouling out with five fouls, and Rebrača had to leave because of an injury. We were a bit short in our big-man rotation, and at 77:77 Cibona got two offensive rebounds that resulted in a three. I can’t blame my players for not grabbing those two balls, but Cibona’s players were sharper. We lost a 15-point lead because of fewer fouls and easy baskets from Cibona. We piled up fouls and our energy drained, so Cibona was better.”
The Wolves are back in action on Saturday, 14 November, with a road game in Dubrovnik in Round 8 of the SuperSport Premijer League, and on Wednesday, 18 November, at 8:00 PM they host SIG Strasbourg at Dražen’s Home in the Champions League.
