Cibona Zagreb moved to 2-1, Cedevita stayed perfect, and Krka topped reigning ABA Liga champions Partizan in round three.
The biggest result of the weekend in the ABA was Krka’s 60-52 win over Partizan. The Slovenian outfit returned to the Adriatic league on the back of a four year dominant stretch in its domestic league and moved to 2-1 for the season by claiming a major scalp in round three. In a game where offence was, to put it kindly, below par it was Krka who delivered more consistently. Their 38.7 per cent shooting coupled with a 6-3 advantage from three point land was enough to overcome an awful 29.8 per cent night from the field for Partizan. Edo Muric had 17 points and 8 rebounds for Krka while Malcolm Ray Armstead contributed 13 points, 5 assists, and 5 boards. Joffrey Lauvergne had a double-double for Partizan, with 13 points and 12 rebounds, but the support and accuracy wasn’t around him to make it count.
That loss for Partizan means Cedevita is the lone unbeaten side in the ABA after just three rounds. Miro Bilan had 16 points and 5 rebounds, all on the offensive end, in a 77-63 win at Zadar. Jusif Nurkic chipped in 15 points and 4 boards while Nolan Smith had 16 points and four boards. Smith, the former Duke Blue Devil, is one of two players to reach the Final Four on Cedevita’s roster. Goran Suton, ex Michigan State, had a good night on the boards with 6 rebounds for the Zagreb club. Zadar leaned far too much on Ive Ivanov, who led the team in scoring (16), assists (4), and rebounds (4).
Krka’s win meant they continue to go in the opposite direction of Slovenia’s Euroleague club Union Olimpija. The Ljubljana outfit lost 60-58 at Siroki to drop to 0-3 and sit at the bottom of the ABA.
Dario Watch
It was a quiet enough outing for Dario Saric in round 3 but Cibona Zagreb still picked up the win with a convincing 87-63 victory over Szolnoki Olaj. Saric had 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists for Cibona in the win. Four players scored in double digits for the Zagreb team. Jerel Blassingame had 14 points and 9 dimes while Andrija Zizic had 15 points and 12 boards. Cibona got far more work done as a team on the offensive end with a 23-10 advantage overall in assists.
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