Podgorica is celebrating its son, hero Nikola Ivanović! The playmaker who was only a pupil when Budućnost basketball players previously won grand titles has brought the club from his hometown the biggest trophy in its history, the ABA League champion title!
When it was toughest, when everyone’s hands were shaking, the 24-year-old Nikola stole the ball and turn the game around 69 seconds before the end, and then 40 seconds later from a tough position raised the score to 74:70 and brought on an indescribable celebration. The biggest Morača arena has seen in this millennium!
Budućnost began the game better, just like the night before, and constantly increased its advantage until the 7th minute, when five connected points by Suad Šehović and two free throws by Danilo Nikolić brought the score to 18:9. The home team also had two plays for a double digit advantage, but they did not make use of them. In return Taylor Rochestie and Stefan Janković scored three pointers. At the first break, Budućnost was up by seven points after Nemanja Gordić and Kyle Landry, but the Bosnia-Herzegovina player missed two free throws for an even bigger lead.
After 13 minutes the advantage was again seven points, again after Landry scored a three-pointer for 28:21, but Zvezda answered again – Rochestie scored after a foul and Alen Omić scored four points for the first equalizer after 2:2. Soon Dylan Ennis scored a three-pointer for the first lead of Crvena Zvezda, after which the Belgrade team held the advantage mainly due to offensive rebounds.
At halftime the score was 36:38, but Zvezda made a better start to the third quarter and forced Džikić to call a timeout at 41:49 in the 25th minute. His players were out of ideas, boiling down to incursions by Gordić, but no shots. The opponents punished this with three-pointers and shots within the key. Kyle Gibson was selfish again, going ‘wild’ and missing, but Gordić made up for it – his ninth point in the 3rd quarter brought the score to 45:51, assisting then Petar Popović for a three-pointer, with Filip Barović completing two free throws for 50:51.
The Montenegro representative then denied a shot for Matija Lesor, and then made another two free throws for 52:51. James Feldine shortly regained the lead with a three-pointer, but Barović rounded off his phenomenal sequence with a 2+1 for 55:54, after which he was benched with ovations, as his injury and long pause mean he is not in full shape.
In the first four minutes of the last quarter, Budućnost scored four, Zvezda only two points, so the score stayed at 64:59 for a while. Both teams missed shots and free throws, with the guests reching 68:67 two and a half minutes before the end after a slam dunk by Omić, and 52 seconds later they turned the score around with a three-pointer by Dobrić. Luckily, Ivanović became the hero of the finish.
Translated from Vijesti Online, click here for the original.
