2017-18Regular SeasonRound 3
October 25, 2017 CET: 18:45
Local time: 18:45 MORACA

Danilo, Zoran Nikolic lead Buducnost to third win

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica confirmed its great moment and stayed undefeated in Group B by downing Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul 87-78 in the Montenegrin capital on Wednesday. Buducnost improved to 3-0 while Galatasaray dropped to 0-3. Danilo Nikolic led the winners with 15 points. Nikola Ivanovic, Zoran Nikolic and Kyle Gibson each added 14 while Nemanja Gordic had 13 for Buducnost. Alex Renfroe, Scotty Hopson and DaJuan Summers led Galatasaray with 14 points apiece. Richard Hendrix added 10 for the guests. Danilo Nikolic struck three times from downtown in an early 19-2 run which allowed Buducnost to keep a 25-14 margin after 10 minutes. The hosts found new go-to guys in Petar Popovic and Zoran Nikolic, who boosted Buducnost's lead to 46-25. Galatasaray got within 50-32 at halftime. Nothing changed after the break, as Buducnost boosted its margin to 68-47 late in the third quarter and kept a double-digit margin all the way until the final seconds.

Hendrix got Galatasaray going with a layup but Danilo Nikolic, Gordic and Zoran Nikolic soon gave Buducnost a 7-2 lead. A red hot Danilo Nikolic followed a four-point play with another bomb from downtown and five unanswered points by Gibson made the guests call timeout, 19-4, after a 19-2 run. Rakeem Christmas followed a three-point play with a dunk, getting help from Renfroe and Hopson to bring Galatasaray a bit closer, 25-14, after 10 minutes. Danilo Nikolic hit another jumper early in the second quarter and Zoran Nikolic added back-to-back jump hooks for a 33-18 Buducnost lead. Hopson struck from downtown and Renfroe added a layup but Popovic and Zoran Nikolic fueled an 8-0 run that broke the game open, 46-25. T.J. Cline and Summers brought Galatasaray a bit closer, 50-32, at halftime. Emir Preldzic nailed a jumper and found Renfroe for a triple that gave the guests hope at 54-37. Christmas scored twice in the paint before fouling out. Buducnost bounced back, as Gordic found Zoran Nikolic for a dunk and hit a buzzer-beating jumper. Back-to-back three-pointers from Kyle Landry and Gibson boosted the hosts' lead to 68-47, which Summers cut to 69-49 after 30 minutes. Galatasary did not give up, as Hendrix and Hopson brought their team within 77-62 with four minutes left. Gibson took over with a driving layup and an off-balance basket and Ivanovic added free throws to make sure Buducnost rounded a great home win.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday. Buducnost hosts FC Bayern Munich in a showdown between still-undefeated teams. Galatasaray welcomes Lietkabelis Panevezys.

Zoran Nikolic - Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (photo Buducnost) - EC17
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: CORTES, CARLOS; FRITZ, CLEMENS ; DIFALLAH, MEHDI
Attendance: 3074
By Quarter1234
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica25251918
Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul14181729
End of Quarter1234
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica25506987
Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul14324978
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 IVANOVIC, NIKOLA 21:48 14 5/7 0/2 4/4 2   2 4 2 1       2 19
4 SEHOVIC, SUAD 24:54     0/1   1 4 5 1 1       2   4
8 SEHOVIC, SEAD DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 STAROVLAH, MILIC 6:48 2 0/2   2/2                 3 2 -1
10 GORDIC, NEMANJA 26:47 13 4/7 1/4 2/6   1 1 4 1 1     4 6 10
12 BOJIC, BOGDAN 0:22                              
13 ILIC, ALEKSA 20:18 2 1/2     2 6 8 1   1     1   8
19 NIKOLIC, ZORAN 24:55 14 6/6   2/2 3 6 9 2   1 1   2 4 27
22 GIBSON, KYLE 28:42 14 3/5 2/8 2/2   3 3 1   1       2 11
30 POPOVIC, PETAR 10:39 7 2/4   3/4       3 1 1   1 1 3 8
33 LANDRY, KYLE 14:55 6 1/4 1/2 1/2 1 3 4           3 2 4
34 NIKOLIC, DANILO 19:52 15 2/4 3/4 2/3   3 3           2 3 15
Team             3 3               3
Totals 200:00 87 24/41 7/21 18/25 9 29 38 16 5 6 1 1 18 24 108
        58.5% 33.3% 72%
Head coach: DZIKIC, ALEKSANDAR
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 HARDY, DWIGHT 25:12 7 2/3 0/3 3/5       2   1     1 2 3
7 HENDRIX, RICHARD 22:27 10 5/7     2 6 8 1   1     4 1 13
10 CLINE, TJ 12:30 7 2/3 1/1         2         3   5
11 ARAR, EGE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 RENFROE, ALEX 36:42 14 3/6 1/3 5/5 2 4 6 5   2     3 5 20
25 CHRISTMAS, RAKEEM 11:53 9 4/5   1/1 1 1 2   1 2     5 1 5
32 HOPSON, SCOTTY 26:43 14 2/7 2/6 4/4 1 4 5 3 2 1 1     3 18
35 SUMMERS, DAJUAN 28:02 14 3/9 2/4 2/2 2 2 4 1       1 4 2 8
55 PRELDZIC, EMIR 24:56 3 1/3 0/2 1/2   2 2 7   1     3 4 7
61 KOKSAL, GOKSENIN 11:35   0/1 0/1                   1   -3
63 AYDIN, SERKAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 78 22/44 6/20 16/19 9 21 30 21 3 8 1 1 24 18 79
        50% 30% 84.2%
Head coach: KUNTER, ERMAN

Head Coaches

DZIKIC, ALEKSANDAR
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
"I would like to dedicate this victory to our center Filip Barovic, who has a very serious eye injury. Our guard Petar Popovic played tonight on his responsibility because of injury, that says a lot about our mentality. We won against one of three best teams in our group. This kind of games are best motivation for us. Still, we are our biggest opponents. I don’t want to think about second round of tournament, just next game."
KUNTER, ERMAN
Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul
"We lost the game in the first half. This is our fourth game in a row away from home, but that is no excuse. We didn’t have the rhythm from the start. Attitude on the floor was not good. I still think we have a chance to qualify."

Players

POPOVIC, PETAR
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
"Every player is really happy after this victory against a great Galatasaray team. An important period of hard games is behind us, but every next step and game is more important."
CLINE, TJ
Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul
"They executed really well the whole game. We were close, we fought hard and went down the stretch. I hope we can carry the momentum of how we played in the fourth quarter to the next game."
RENFROE, ALEX
Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul
"Buducnost played much better than us. They showed us how you have to play in European competition to win. We have our problems, but we are working hard to be better."