Igokea secured their first win of the new ABA League season by defeating Split on the road by 95-90.
Igokea had a strong start to the game, taking an 11-3 lead early on, thanks in large part to the play of Nikola Tanaskovic. Split tried to catch up, but the visitors maintained their lead. Capitalizing on the opponent’s mistakes, the home team went on a 6-0 run to narrow the deficit to three points. After ten minutes of play, Igokea was leading 21-18.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the teams traded leads. In the middle of the second period, Split strung together several good plays, taking a 35-30 lead. With three-point shooting, the home team built an eight-point advantage. The visitors tried to close the gap late in the first half, but they went into halftime trailing 49-41 after a three-pointer from Toni Perkovic.
The start of the second half saw a fast-paced game from both sides. Stefan Moody got into his groove, but the home team responded well and maintained their lead. Towards the end of the third quarter, Igokea showed much better energy. The visitors had their chances to complete the comeback, but Split held a two-point lead after 30 minutes of basketball.
At the start of the final quarter, Boris Tisma maintained his team’s lead with three-pointers. Moody and Marko Jeremic’s three-pointers helped the visitors make a comeback and take an 83-78 lead. Split tried everything to come back, but Igokea controlled the score until the end of the game, securing the victory.
Moody led Igokea to victory with 17 points, while Shamiel Stevenson led the home team with 19 points.
In the next round, Split will face Cedevita Olimpija, while Igokea’s opponent will be Studentski centar.
SPLIT – IGOKEA 90:95 (18:20, 31:21, 19:25, 22:29)
Arena: Gripe, Split
Referees: Petek, Porobic, Paic
Split: Funderburk 12, Perkovic 5, Stevenson 19, Kalajdzic 12, Tisma 10, Runjic 6, Vuko 7, Perkusic 0, Shelton 13, Dubravcic 0, Pavin 0, Ljubicic 6
Igokea: Atic 14, Delalic 0, Tanaskovic 11, Stankovic 0, Josilo 7, Nakic 9, Nikolic 9, Gordic 2, Milosavljevic 6, Carmichael 6, Jeremic 12, Moody 19