Luck turns its back on Cibona Zagreb in Croatian title-decider
ZAGREB (Croatian A-1 League) - The historic Cibona Zagreb side could not end Cedevita’s recent dominance on the domestic front in Croatia, falling short against their same-city rivals in the race for the A-1 League championship title.
In a best-of-five series that went the full distance, Damir Mulaomerovic’s side could not come up to scratch in the decisive Game 5 bout, losing the title-decider 78-75 at the packed Drazen Petrovic Basketball Hall on Thursday evening.
“We came back and showed character and, for that, I want to take my hat off to the players and the fans."Damir Mulaomerovic
After falling behind in the third quarter, the Luka Zoric-led Cibona came close to erasing a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter, but simply ran out of stream down the final stretch.
The 32-year-old veteran Zoric led the team with 17 points and 6 rebounds, his big man pairing Zeljko Sakic and playmaker Scottie Reynolds chipped in with 13 points apiece, while Petar Maric put 12 points on the board.
End of game @kk_cibona vs @KKCedevita 75:78 @CbfHks #prvaci #champions pic.twitter.com/Zsku9BMwGn
— KK Cedevita (@KKCedevita) June 1, 2017
For Cedevita, who turned the series around after trailing 2-1 after three games, Ryan Boatright had an MVP-worthy performance of 22 points and 5 steals, leading his team’s third-quarter charge with three big three-pointers.
"Tonight's game was decided by individual quality, first and foremost of Ryan Boatright, who picked us apart one on one despite our best efforts,” said Cibona coach Mulaomerovic after the game. “We came back and showed character and, for that, I want to take my hat off to the players and the fans. The supporters were with us throughout the season and I’m sorry we didn’t win the trophy in the end, but that’s basketball.”
End of the game. #KKCibona vs @KKCedevita 75:78.#HejaHejaCibosi #KKCibona #A1league pic.twitter.com/39cA09r5Kc
— KK Cibona (@kk_cibona) June 1, 2017
It was the fourth consecutive national title for the Veljko Mrsic-coached Cedevita, who completed the double this season having also won the domestic cup earlier in the season. However, in spite of last lifting the championship trophy back in 2013, Cibona remains the most celebrated team in the top flight with 18 championships to their name.
The historic Croatian club took took part in the inaugural season of the Basketball Champions League, finishing the Regular Season with a 5-9 record in Group D, before transferring to the FIBA Europe Cup for the Play-Offs, where they reached the Quarter-Finals.
FIBA
