Cibona survive a thriller in Split for a sixth straight league win

Cibona beat Split 93-81 after overtime on Saturday, 31 October, at the Gripe Small Hall in front of around 1,000 spectators, in Round 6 of the SuperSport Premier League, extending their league record to six wins from six games. It is new head coach Ivan Tomas's first win on the Cibona bench, and the Wolves earned it a day after their ABA League game against Igokea.

The first quarter was evenly matched, with a slim edge for Cibona, who took it 20-19. The second period ended 19-19, so the teams went to the long break with Cibona ahead 39-38. By then Bajo had stood out with 12 points for Split, with Sikirić (eight) and Mitchell (seven) leading Cibona.

In the third quarter Cibona opened up an 11-point lead (60-49) and went into the final ten minutes ahead 61-55.

The last period brought real drama. Cibona held the lead, but Split fought back into the game. With 12 seconds left, Badžim sank two free throws to make it 75-72, but just two seconds later McLaughlin hit a three to tie it at 75-75 and send the game to overtime.

In the extra five minutes Cibona were the better side, and at 83-79, thanks to Hepa, McGill and Badžim, they settled the outcome. The Wolves won the period 18-6. Kučić was Split's best with 19 points, while Badžim (20) and Sikirić (18) stood out for Cibona.

Cibona guard Antonio Sikirić said after the game:

"Congratulations to Split on a good game, and to my teammates and the coach on an important win. It wasn't easy to play because this was the second day in a row, given that we played Igokea yesterday. Today we showed character."

Cibona head coach Ivan Tomas added:

"I'd like to congratulate my guys and my assistant coaches, who help me a lot in these difficult times. Every credit to the players, because yesterday's game was really tough for us. The players gave everything they had, and I think we played good defense. As for offense, it was very slow and I'd like us to speed up over time, because we can't play offense on muscle."

Split head coach Damir Rančić said:

"The opponent had 21 more rebounds than us and 17 offensive rebounds. I think that was the key, and we didn't manage to control it. If we had, we might even have been ten points up at halftime. Every miss of theirs ended up as a rebound, and they got ten easy points. I'm sorry we didn't manage to impose our fast pace, even though we tried to run behind them and take advantage of the fact that they'd played yesterday."

Split player Vito Kučić added:

"I don't have much to say. Cibona beat us on the boards, and we didn't find a way to close out and respond physically. In the end, their win was deserved."

The Wolves are back in action on Tuesday, 3 November, away to Strasbourg in Round 3 of Group B of the Champions League.