He Joventut Badalona beat Cedevita Olimpia in Ljubljana 87-88 after a basket over Andrés Feliz’s horn in extra time to certify the first European victory of the season for the Catalans before visiting Unicaja this Saturday. The best players of the game were, on the local side, Justin Cobbs, with 28 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists; while on the visiting side the best was Deshaun Thomas with 23 points scored.
Joventut Badalona started the game very well in attack, with a partial 0-7 start in two minutes of play that made Simone Pianigiani call the first timeout. After the anger of the Italian coach, Olimpia Ljubljana improved in defense and that also transferred to the attack, with good plays by Jaka Blazic in penetration (6-7, min. 3).
With the entry of Chinanu Onuaku on the Penya court improved significantly in the inside gameand with six practically consecutive points from the Nigerian, the green and black put a small gap on the scoreboard (15-20, min. 8). The tables turned automatically from the next play, with a partial that completely blurred Carles Duran’s men, who were ineffective in defense and failing simple situations in attack (27-22, min. 14).
The Slovenians continued with their particular partial with the help of Justin Cobbs to put the maximum on the scoreboard (34-23, min. 17). In the last minutes of the first half, the good work of Vladimir Brodziansky in painting reduced the disadvantagebut a basket at the horn by Shawn Jones left his team 11 points ahead at halftime (43-32, min. 20).
At the restart, Joventut Badalona came out like a shot thanks to the Deshaun Thomas physique, who put the team behind him with plays of great merit in the low post (51-48, min. 25). The American forward continued with his particular festival and in the blink of an eye Penya tied the contest again (53-53, min. 30).
The Catalans continued well on both sides of the court, with an inspired Andrés Feliz from long distance (55-59, min. 33). However, center Karlo Matkovic appeared for the locals to spice up the match and everything was even in the final minutes thanks to his surprising wrist shot from the three-point line (69-70, min. 39). In the last minute, up to four free throws missed by Joventut They gave wings to an Olimpia Ljubljana that forced extra time after a good action by Jaka Blazic (76-76, min. 40).
Extension
Extra time started with a good Joventut in attack, especially Ante Tomic doing damage from the free throw line (79-82, min. 43). The Slovenians managed to tie in the next play and the last minute became a high-tension clash. With less than 15 seconds left, Justin Cobbs scored a driving layup which put their team ahead (87-86, min. 45), so the green and black would have the last play to win the game.
In said play, the ball went into the hands of the Dominican point guard Happy Andrewwhich in a play similar to Cobbs’s earlier, scored at the game horn to give victory to Joventut Badalona in Ljubljana (87-88) in a clash that lasted about two and a half hours.
Data sheet
87. Cedevita Olimpia Ljubljana (18+25+10+23): Cobbs (28), Stewart (4), Blazic (24), Sow (10), Matkovic (11) -starting five-; Armand (-), Radicevic (1), Glas (-), Jones (6) and Scuka (3).
88. Joventut Badalona (20+12+19+25): Feliz (12), Ribas (7), Thomas (23), Allen (2), Tomic (12) -starting five-; Kraag (-), Busquets (2), Brodziansky (19), Rodríguez (-), Vives (3) and Onuaku (8).
Referees: Carmelo Paternico, Luka Kardum and Huseyik Celin.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the second day of the European Basketball Championship played at the Stozice Arena.