Adriatic League Round 7 Recap
Round 7 of the 2015-16 regular season of the Adriatic League is in the books and the highly competitive regional league was not in short supply of basketball action for its fans. Montenegrin powerhouse Buducnost Voli Podgorica remains atop of the league standings with their impressive 6-1 start to the season. They downed hosts Union Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia, 63-67, in what proved to be an exciting game. The visitors made the most of their trips to the free-throw line and were able to convert 22-of-27 shots from the charity stripe.
After stumbling earlier in the season, defending champions Crvena Zvezda Telekom Beograd continued their return to form and came away with a 62-68 win on the road against fellow Serbian team Metalac Farmakom Valjevo. Former NBA point guard Gal Mekel took care of business for Red Star on the offensive end and was able to finish the contest with 15 points. Metalac got a huge game from Djordje Majstorovic who poured in 28 points, but he was the only whit shirt to score in double figures and his individual effort was not enough to carry his team to victory. Red Star is now 5-2 and is in second place.
BC Mega Leks stayed consistent and climbed to third place in the standings (5-2) after a solid 60-64 victory over Slovenian club KK Tajfun Sentjur. Nikola Jankovic dropped a double-double performance to kick off the first game of the round with 23 points and 10 rebounds. He was a dominant force in the paint, making 10-of-17 shots from two-point range. He led three other teammates in scoring in double figures. Tajfun’s best performer was Sandi Cebular who scored 20 points.
KK Zadar came up with the 81-88 upset over Cedevita Zagreb. It was initially a close game, but Zadar slowly pulled away in the second and third frames. Glenn Cosey was virtually unstoppable for Zadar as he finished with a game-high 25 points. Overall, Zadar played sharper basketball and distributed the ball well. Cedevita falls to fourth place in the league with their 4-3 record, while Zadar remains in 10th position with their 3-4 slate.
Bosnian club Igokea Aleksandrovac cruised to an easy win over Montenegro’s KK Sutjeska Niksic, 75-58. While the game was a stalemate at 17-17 to end the first quarter, Igokea turned on the heat in the second period and surged to an 11-point advantage at halftime. It was smooth sailing from there for the hosts. Nikola Pesakovic got hot for Igokea and he nailed 4-of-6 shots from downtown en route to his game-high 18 points.
Krka Novo Mesto edged out their hosts BC Partizan in Belgrade 69-70, in what was the closest game of the round. The popular Serbian club is now 2-5 and is among the bottom dwellers of the league standings for now. It was a back-and-forth contest, but Krka managed to hold on to their lead in the fourth quarter on some solid defense to come out victorious in the end. Jure Lalic and Mirko Mulalic combined for 40 of the teams total points and were devastating with their inside-outside combo.