Cibona wins 2019 Croatian League Championship

KK Cibona Zagreb edged out rivals Cedevita 98-100 in Game 4 of the finals to bag the 2019 Croatian League (Premijer Liga) championship. They came through with a convincing clean sweep of the series and secure their 19th title. That said, it’s been a while since Cibona found their way to the top of the podium was in 2013. Since then Cedevita has been dominating the league with five straight championships to their name.

In 2018-19 however, the gap between these two clubs has been far less pronounced. If anything, things have been looking in favor of Cibona this season. They finished second in the Croatian League standings with a 17-5 record. Cedevita was fourth with a 13-9 slate. The icing on the cake of course, would be the sweep in the finals. Few things are more satisfying than dominating your city rivals in a series for all the marbles, right?

This Game 4 came down to execution. Both teams were focused on making sure their game plan was a success. One rare item of note in this game was that neither team committed any turnovers. Cibona would find their way to victory on the shoulders of their 3-point shooting. They knocked down 14 3-pointers compared to just nine by Cedevita. Their top scorer for the evening, Fran Pilepic accounted for four of those treys en route to his game-high 22 points. Damir Markota and Ivan Novacic chipped in with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

This win just adds some interesting fuel to this intriguing domestic league rivalry. Will Cedevita redeem themselves next season or will Cibona find their way back and re-start their own dynasty?