Adriatic League: Cedevita and Cibona pick up wins

The Adriatic League had two games on tap yesterday as Round 8 of the regular season began to wind down. Two Croatian clubs came away with key wins over their respective opponents. KK Cibona VIP Zagreb played host to BC Igokea Aleksandrovac and prevailed 86-72. KK Cedevita Zagreb grabbed a key win on the road against KK Tajfun Sentjur, 67-78. The last remaining game of the round is a big one. It’s to be held tomorrow and it will be a derby contest between Serbian rivals Crvena Zvezda Telekom Beograd and BC Partizan. Expect Belgrade arena to be extra loud on that night as fans troop to support their favorite clubs.

Cibona vs. Igokea, 86-72

The hosts led from start to finish and met their guests with some serious offensive firepower. It was all hands on deck for Cibona as six of their players got in on the action to finish with scores in double figures. James Florence led the assault from downtown as he finished with a team-high 20 points, knocking down 6-of-12 from beyond the three-point arc. The team as a whole was not shy with their three-point attempts and went 14-of-34 from long range. Igokea managed to make 6-of-27 shots from that distance.

Igokea got a good chunk of their points from the free-throw line as they pounded the ball in the paint. They were efficient with their charity shots, making 20-of-23 from the stripe. Igokea was led by Vuk Radivojevic and Ivan Radenovic who scored 21 and 18 points, respectively.

Cibona is now 3-5, while Igokea is at an even 4-4.

Tajfun vs. Cedevita, 67-78

Cedevita had to overcome a deficit in the first quarter to come away with the win. They surged in the second and third frames and seized control of the game by dictating the tempo. Nemanja Gordic and Miro Bilan led Cedevita with 16 points each. The guests crashed the glass hard and their 10-rebound advantage over their hosts played a role in the outcome of the game.

Tajfun cooled off after the halftime break and struggled to find their range. They tried to overcome Cedevita’s lead, but were stopped at every turn. Ceola Clark III finished with a game-high 19 points to lead Tajfun, but it was not enough to lift his team.

Cedevita is currently holding onto fourth place in the Adriatic League standings with their 5-3 slate, while Tajfun needs to get back to the drawing board to improve on their 2-6 record.