SLO - Helios take lead in final series

DOMZALE (UPC Telemach league) - Helios Domzale never trailed in the third match of the Slovenian play-off final series and pulled a 66-56 victory against reigning champions Union Olimpija Ljubljana.

Domzale's coach Memi Becirovic fielded Smiljan Pavic and Aleksej Laskevich as pivots in a double-post offense at the beginning of the match. They combined seven out of Domzale's nine points in the first three minutes. Across the court Ivica Jurkovic and Marko Rakocevic just could not score and Olimpija could count only on Miha Zupan.

Domzale's tall infantry then let go for the team's artillery, personified for the occasion by a surprising Sasa Doncic. The 201-cm tall swingman scored three shots from the distance in the first period and strongly contributed to his team's 22-15 lead at the end of the first period.

Aleksej Laskevich scored two shots from close range in the opening minutes of the second period to give Domzale a double-digit lead (26-15). Olimpija's Sandi Cebular, Miha Zupan and Domen Lorbek then scored one shot apiece to reduce the home team's lead to five (26-21).

Aljaz Janza answered to Olimpija's series with a triple. This was Domzale's fourth shot from long distance, while Olimpija shot only 1-10 for three points in the first half.

Olimpija had serious trouble with their centers. A bright exception was Miha Zupan, who recorded 12 points and 8 rebounds (four of them being offensive) by half-time. Despite his performance, Helios outrebounded Olimpija (21-14) in the first half. The home team was leading 37-25 at the time.

Turbulent performances by both teams continued in the opening minutes of the second half. Teams combined only one point in the opening two minutes and exhibited a bloopers' medley with several clumsy passes and naïve infractions.

The partial score after half of the third period was 0-6 for Olimpija, thus reducing the gap to six points (37-31).

Sasa Doncic then stepped up again; he scored Domzale's first points in this quarter by notching his fourth three-pointer of the match. Laskevich followed the hint moments later with a shot from below to reestablish an 11-point lead (42-31).

Players were most likely tired because of the intense schedule; they had met only 48 hours earlier for the second match of the series.

Olimpija's Ivica Jurkovic failed to score for 34 minutes after his 29-point performance in Game two. Jurkovic had 4 points at the end, not much, but still more than the Serbian Marko Rakocevic who left the points' column empty.

Domzale closed the third quarter 50-41 and managed to keep Olimpija far behind until four minutes to go in the final period (58-49). Guests then recorded a 7-1 run in the next three minutes to revive the match. Jurkovic then fouled Aljaz Janza with less than a minute to go on the clock, and Domzale's guard converted both shots from the charity stripe.

Olimpija's Slavko Duscak missed the shot that would have given Olimpija a slight hope, and Smiljan Pavic scored for the opponents.

Fans enjoyed a special treatment moments before the end of the match when Ziga Zagorc spooned a mid-court alley-oop to Smiljan Pavic for a slam dunk just before the final buzzer.

Smiljan Pavic led Domzale with 13 points and 11 rebouds. Sasa Doncic scored 14 points including three key shots from long range in the first period of the match.

Miha Zupan had 23 points and 12 rebounds for Olimpija. Domen Lorbek and Dwayne Lee had 10 apiece, but among them missed nine three-point shots.

Helios Domzale now lead the best-of-five series by 2-1. Their first opportunity to seal the deal is on Wednesday in Ljubljana's Tivoli hall. Should Olimpija win, teams will meet in Domzale again on Saturday.

Simon Licen
FIBA