Adriatic League, Buducnost stuns Union Olimpija

Two of the better teams in the Adriatic League so far clashed on Saturday as Buducnost VOLI Podgorica played host to Union Olimpija Ljubljana and took a home win. There were four other games on the night as the competition enters the ninth week of frenetic action.

Buducnost Voli Podgorica vs. Union Olimpija Ljubljana, 76-61
Montenegrin giant Buducnost continued its blistering start to the season by gunning down the always dangerous Union Olimpija at home. The manner of the victory may surprise many as both teams have been in good form, but either way the Podgorica team now stays in second place in the Adriatic League with an 8-1 record while Union Olimpija stays in the chasing pack at 5-4. Even more intriguing is the fact that Buducnost managed to win this game fairly comfortably without registering a single three pointer in the game.

The hosts made home court advantage count through the first quarter as Buducnost poured in 26 points to open a healthy 26-19 lead through ten minutes. In the second quarter the visitors managed to restrict the Montenegrins to 17 points, but could only match that haul to tie the frame 17 apiece. Heading into the locker room at the long break the scoreboard read 43-36 in favour of the home team. In the third act Union Olimpija cut the deficit by a tiny amount with a narrow 13-14 run through the period, to make it 56-50 through three quarters. Buducnost still held the lead heading into the fourth stint and the hosts extended it with a 20-11 flurry that let them ease down the straight to a cruising victory.

Darko Planinic set the scoring pace for the winners with 14 points, while Suad Sehovic secured 13 points. Vladimir Dasic took home a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds for the victors.

Alen Omic collected a game high 17 points in the losing effort and also added 6 boards. Marko Marinovic managed to grab 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists.