25 March 2019 - The Orange team has reason to celebrate this Monday evening! Cedevita has defeated Budućnost VOLI in front of 4,500 fans in the Dražen Petrović Hall and took the lead in this semi-final series. The audience watched a big battle down on the court as each side really gave its best to win the match. Eventually, Cedevita’s deadly duo Cobbs-Pullen made a difference by scoring 43 points combined for the home team.
Game 2 in this series will be played in Podgorica on Sunday, March 31. If Cedevita wins that match, they will advance to the 2019 ABA League Finals. If Budućnost VOLI manages to tie the score in this series, then Game 3 will be played in Zagreb on April 7.
Cedevita was up by 76:73, with 4 minutes left on the game clock, while Budućnost VOLI had a fast-break to reduce the gap. However, Petar Popović missed an open-lay up, while then Goga Bitadze and Earl Clark also missed open shots after making offensive rebounds! The visiting team was punished for those three missed shots, as Cedevita made 4 points in a row and jumped to 80:73. For this kind of game, a 7-point lead was a huge advantage, and Cedevita remained in the lead until the very end.
Justin Cobbs was the player of the match as he was a true leader of the Orange troops. He was the top scorer of Cedevita with 23 points, while he also made five assists alongside his defense which was exceptional this evening. He also had one steal and performance index rating of 22.
Cedevita won the battle in the paint. The home team had seven rebounds more than Budućnost VOLI squad, while some of their offensive rebounds were very important in the key moments of this match.
Source: ABA League
