Prkacin carries Cibona to win over Unicaja

U18 Cibona Zagreb opened its Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Valencia campaign with a 77-84 victory over U18 Unicaja Malaga. Roko Prkacin was dominant with 31 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals for a PIR of 35 while Hrvoje Majcunic collected 17 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists and Zvonimir Ivisic and Luksa Buljevic both scored 13 points in the Group A encounter. Cibona connected on 12-of-28 three-pointers for 42.9 percent to make up for 26 turnovers while holding Unicaja to 4-of-24 or 16.7 percent from long range. Jeffrey Godspower scored 15 points with 12 rebounds for Unicaja, which cut a 20-point deficit down to 5 points but could not get the win. Pablo Tamba had 13 points and Yannick Nzosa and Pablo Sanchez both tallied 12 points in a losing effort.

In a battle of teams returning the competition after not playing a qualifier last season, Javier Rodriguez hit a three-pointer as Unicaja jumped ahead 9-4 and then Godspower’s two baskets were followed by a Adrian Ramirez three-ball and the Unicaja lead was 20-14. Cibona responded with treys from Zvonimir Ivisic and Majcunic to lead 20-22 after 10 minutes. The Zagreb side continued to be on target from the outside with Prkacin hitting two long balls and Buljevic connecting from the outside for a 26-37 advantage. Majcunic drained two more triples as Cibona used a 2-13 surge to pull ahead 30-50, and the score was 32-50 at the break. The lead was 32-52 before Godspower sparked a 9-0 run with 4 points in cutting the margin to 41-52. Godspower added a three-point play in a 6-0 spurt later in the quarter to trim the deficit to 54-60 before Cibona led 56-65 after 30 minutes. Majcunic, Zvonimir Ivisic and Buljevic all knocked down treys early in the fourth as Cibona’s lead grew to 60-74. Tamba stepped up for Unicaja with six points in a 13-4 run to make it 73-78, but Buljevic got a putback basket, Prkacin a driving layup and Tomislav Ivisic a layin in the final 90 seconds to fend off the comeback.