Buducnost outplayed Igokea on their home court by 79:76 in the ABA League’s 21st round, securing their 16th win of the season.
In this game, head coach Vladimir Jovanovic couldn’t count on Marko Jeremic and Edin Atic.
Igokea made a splendid start to the game. Led by Marko Josilo and Dragan Milosavljevic, they even managed to establish a double-digit lead against the favored Podgorica team. With an 11:2 run towards the end of the first quarter and a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Kosta Kondic, the team from Laktasi secured a double-digit advantage and led 26:14.
However, Andrej Zakelj’s team opened the second quarter with an 11:0 run. Fletcher Magee and Petar Popovic nailed three-pointers to bring Buducnost back into the game. The Montenegrin team continued with excellent defense, and Yogi Ferrell joined in with 8 points, quickly turning the game around to take a 37:31 lead. Igokea struggled to find rhythm in their offense, and at halftime, the score was 39:35 in favor of the home team.
Once again, the visiting team had the upper hand in the third quarter. We witnessed a strong but inefficient quarter, which ended with Vladimir Jovanovic’s team winning 18:15. At one point, Igokea took the lead at 53:47, but Buducnost found an answer and closed the third quarter with a 7:0 run to maintain their lead.
Igokea started the final quarter with excellent shooting, with Josilo hitting two more three-pointers and Goran Filipovic joining in, allowing the visitors to regain the lead at 63-62. However, Ferrell was the only one in Andrej Zakelj’s team in good form, scoring 8 points and managing to reclaim the lead for Podgorica. After Popovic’s basket with a foul, the lead increased to 68-63. Buducnost managed to maintain this lead until the end of the game without much drama.
The top scorer for the winning team was Yogi Ferrell with 18 points, followed by Fletcher Magee with 13, while Kenan Kamenjas contributed 12 points. In the team from Laktasi, Dragan Milosavljević led with 21 points, while Marko Josilo scored 19.
Buducnost remains in second place after this win, now with a record of 16 wins and 5 losses. On the other hand, Igokea is in 7th place with 11 wins and 10 losses.
In the next round, the Montenegrin team will visit Cedevita Olimpija, while Igokea will travel to Zadar.