SuperSport Premier League: Cibona turns the game around in the final minutes and defeats Dinamo

Both teams were searching for a victory that would provide redemption after home defeats last weekend against Kvarner and Samobor, respectively. A win would move Cibona closer to third place, while Dinamo was hoping to end a streak of two consecutive losses. It is also worth mentioning that new Cibona player Jan Palokaj was ineligible to play, and that this was Cibona’s final home game at Dražen’s hall this year.

The first quarter was more or less evenly contested, with both teams trading the lead. With the score at 12–13, the home side, through captain Krešimir Radovčić, Justin Roberson, and Markus Lončar, produced a 6–0 run to go up by five (18–13). The opening ten minutes ended 20–17 in favor of Cibona.

The second quarter opened with points from Lončar, but Dinamo responded with an 8–0 run for 22–25. The game then entered another basket-for-basket stretch that lasted until 28–31. Four minutes before halftime, the visitors, thanks to Lukas Avdalović, extended their lead to seven points (33–40). Avdalović then made free throws to increase the advantage to +9 (33–42), before hitting a three-pointer to make it +12 (35–47). The first half ended with Dinamo leading 54–39. The top scorers after 20 minutes were Radovčić and Lončar with nine points each for Cibona, while Avdalović exploded for 24 points for Dinamo.

In the third quarter, Mateo Vidović kept Dinamo in double-digit control, but Radovčić, Roberson, Matej Rudan, and Kamaka Hepa managed to bring Cibona within single digits. Captain Hrvoje Garafolić and Emil Savić restored Dinamo’s nine-point lead (58–67), but Renato Serdarušić hit a three-pointer with three seconds remaining to keep Cibona alive (61–67).

The final ten minutes were tense, exciting, and highly entertaining. In the end, with the score at 73–79, Cibona went on a decisive 13–0 run, redeeming itself for the loss to Kvarner and bidding a dignified farewell to its home arena for 2025. On the other side, Dinamo’s struggles continued with a third straight defeat. Radovčić with 23 points and Avdalović with 24 were the game’s leading scorers.

“This is a bit of a relief for us because we came into the game after a defeat. You could feel the pressure and expectation at the start of the game. Dinamo played fantastically — congratulations to coach Mulaomerović and the players for what they did to us in the first half. We focused on stopping Hunt’s drives, but we failed to stop his assists to Avdalović, who displayed elite shooting range. In the end, some players stepped up as leaders, like Serdarušić, and during the final eight minutes we played at the level I want us to play at”, concluded Cibona head coach Ivan Rudež.

Statistics can be found at THIS LINK.