Crvena Zvezda narrowly escapes with 76-77 win
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Beograd looks like it is truly unstoppable in the Adriatic league. Even when things appeared bleak for the league leaders during their derby game against arguably their toughest competition, Montenegro’s KK Buducnost Voli Podgorica, Red Star still managed to find a way to come up with a win yet again. They needed a little bit of luck and lot of heroics to come away with their 76-77 victory in Podgorica. One point is enough and as they say “a win is a win,” and for now Crvena Zvezda’s impressive and history-writing wining streak in the regional Adriatic league remains intact at 19 wins. This just the fourth loss for Buducnost Voli and they still securely hold on that second-place spot with their 15-4 slate.
Uncharacteristically, Crvena Zvezda’s offense was not in it’s regular, polished form. The team also missed six of their 20 shot attempts from the free-throw line, a factor which is something that should not be taken lightly especially in a tight game such as this one. Buducnost established a seven-point lead at the end of the first half and even opened the second half 8-0 run. With the scoreboard reading 49-34 in favor of the hosts, Red Star’s winning streak looked like it was in dire straits. It took a 16-point outburst by Marcus Williams to spearhead a 28-5 run for the red shirts to finally grab hold of the lead. J.R. Reynolds led the home team’s charge in the last period and the game suddenly was headed down the wire. With just a little bit more than six seconds remaining in regulation Buducnost climbed back on top 76-75. Marcus Williams was at the charity stripe, but missed a free-throw shot that would have tied up the game. As the ball rattled out of the rim, Nikola Kalinic battled two white shirts to tip in the ball for two points. With five seconds left, J.R. Reynolds had just enough time to throw up an off-balanced “Hail Mary” three-pointer, but it missed its mark.
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Marcus Williams led all scorers with 19 points. He also added six assists. Maik Zirbes was a force in the paint for Red Star with his 18 points and seven rebounds. J.R. Reynolds was the top scorer for Buducnost with 18 points and eight assists.
Another week, another win. Red Star is already guaranteed a seat at the league Playoffs and are just going for history and legacy at this point in the competition.