Slovenia played without four starters from the Eurobasket, including Luka Doncic and Goran Dragić, but had eight golden boys from Istanbul. Montenegro played with six players from Eurobasket and also without the biggest stars. Zvezdan Mitrović's team surprised the favorite, therefore they will not enter the second round of qualifications as a total outsider, fighting for one of the first three places that lead to the World Cup.
In the newly formed Group I, Montenegro will play against Turkey, Latvia, and Ukraine. Montenegro started brilliantly in Stožice, and after the first ten minutes, had a ten-point advantage of 24:14.
The European champion did not have a solution for Nemanja Đurišić and scored from all positions.
The Slovenians, however, reduced the score to a tolerable 46:39 until the second half with a series of 13:6.
It was clear that the host would continue to do everything to turn it around, and reduced the score to 1 point, but Mitrović's team held their own, while Djurisic was joined in the attack by Milko Bjelica and Nikola Ivanovic, who held the game from the position of the central player.
Still, with the three points by Čančar, and practically with the siren going off, Slovenia lost in the last quarter - 56:58.
And when it did not seem that they would endure, Montenegro showed extraordinary character, but also quality. With a series of 13:3, in which Derek Nidam played fair, Suad Šehovic and Nemanja Đurišić hit three points, while Aleksa Popovic scored four points. The game then came to 71:59 and Montenegro surprised in Ljubljana.
Djurisic was the most efficient with 23 points, Ivanovic had 19 points and six assists, Bjelica 17, and Popovic 13.
Slovenia - Montenegro 74:87
Ljubljana - Venue: ,,Stožice“. Audience: 4.000. Judges: Pursanidis, Suslov and Baldini.
Slovenija: Blažič 6 (6-3), Čančar 15 (4-3), Murić 4, Prepelič 15 (4-3), Rupnik 15 (4-3), Dimec 10 (2-2), Lapornik 3, Mahkovič, Mesiček, Nikolić, Rebec 1 (2-1), Zagorac 5.
Montenegro: Bjelica 17 (7-5), Đurišić 23 (3-1), Ivanović 19 (5-4), Popović 13 (3-3), Šehović 9, Barović 1 (2-1), Gajović, Nidam 2 (3-2), Pavlićević 3, Radović, Starovlah, Vujošević.
Text by Vijesti sport, on July 1st, 2018, read more at Vijesti
