2003-04Top 16Round 4
March 25, 2004 CET: 20:40
Local time: 20:40 ZAVOD TIVOLI

Skipper Bologna set up a showdown at home in Bologna next week for the Final Four berth from Group E when it went on the road and slammed Union Olimpija 73-86 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on Thursday night. Skipper improved to 3-1 and stayed tied with Efes Pilsen for first place in Group E. Efes visits Bologna next week. Olimpija's hopes to make the Final Four evaporated as its record dropped to 1-3 with a second loss to Skipper. Milos Vujanic and Hanno Mottola led the winners with 22 points apiece. Vujanic made 8 of 12 two-pointers while Mottola made 7 of 7 free throws, and Gianluca Basile added 16 points for Skipper. Marino Bazdaric led Olimpija with 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Dzenan Rahimic added 13 points and Saso Ozbolt chipped in 10 for the hosts.

Skipper opened the game at full speed, with a 1-7 run in which Basile drilled a three-pointer and Smodis added a basket in the paint. Mottola and Smodis dominated the boards, while Olimpija could not find the way to the basket, missing 5 of its first 6 shots. A layup in penetration by Vujanic and 5 points by Mottola extended Skipper's lead to 3-16 midway through the quarter, following 2 foul shots by Basile. Olimpija entered the foul bonus soon after that, and everything seemed to go wrong for the hosts, as Patricio Prato added a left-handed layup to make it a 15-point game at 5-20. The hosts' defense was poor, and Skipper took over with superb shot selection. Marko Maravic stepped up for Olimpija with 6 quick points, but the hosts only managed to exchange baskets with Skipper. A late three-pointer by Vujanic gave Skipper a 17-32 lead after 10 minutes during which the guests had outrebounded Olimpija by 10-5 and drilled all 4 of their shots from downtown.

Vujanic and Basile combined for 6 points early in the second quarter as Skipper's lead reached 19-40 on a fastbreak dunk by Carlos Delfino. Olimpija struggled on both ends of the court until Saso Ozbolt and Aloysius Aganonye combined for all the hosts' points in a 9-4 run which brought them within 30-47 after 17 minutes. But then Erazem Lorbek, back at Hala Tivoli to face his former team, drilled a three-pointer, which Delfino followed with a slam and Mottola a six-meter jumper for a new 22-point Skipper lead, 32-54. Rahimic and Anagonye combined on 4 foul shots to cut the difference to 36-54 at halftime. Olimpija had made only 11 of 32 shots by then while Vujanic, Mottola and Basile had combined for 41 of Skipper's points.

Olimpija needed a quick comeback early in the third quarter, but instead went scoreless for 2 minutes during which a put-back by Mottola and a strong drive by Basile re-opened a 22-point advantage at 36-58. Only then did Olimpija wake up, as a basket by Marino Bazdaric sparked a 12-2 run in which Ozbolt drilled a three and Vladimer Boisa added 5 points. That brought the hosts within 48-60, but Skipper used some showtime, with incredible reverse layups by Mottola and Basile, to keep a safe lead at 50-65. Mottola was unstoppable in the offensive end, but Olimpija continued to cut into the lead with a five-meter jumper by Smiljan Papic and free throws by Pero Dujmovic that made it 59-69 after 30 minutes.

Olimpija struggled to score early in the fourth quarter, too, going pointless for almost 4 minutes. Meanwhile, Skipper went on a game-breaking 0-7 run in which Vujanic had 5 points that extended the guests' lead to 59-76. Olimpija's defense couldn't contain Skipper long enough for the hosts to threaten any further. A two-handed slam by Smodis helped Skipper extend the margin to 61-78. Skipper entered the final 2 minutes with a 67-84 lead after a triple by Prato, and cruised to a comfortable win.

Thursday, March 25, 2004
Ziga Bojc, Ljubljana
No results found.
Referees: KOUKOULEKIDIS, STELIOS; ALZURIA, MANUEL; HIERREZUELO, DANIEL; KOLLER, VILLIAM
Attendance: 4050
By Quarter1234
Union Olimpija17192314
Skipper Fortitudo Bologna32221517
End of Quarter1234
Union Olimpija17365973
Skipper Fortitudo Bologna32546986
Union Olimpija
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 MALI, GREGA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 BAZDARIC, MARINO 35:00 16 3/8 2/6 4/4   7 7 3 1 2   1 2 5 18
7 BOISA, VLADIMER 23:15 5 1/6 1/3   2 3 5 1 1 1     2 1 3
13 MARAVIC, MARKO 14:00 8 3/3 0/2 2/2 1   1 1         2 1 7
14 SMIGIC, DANILO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 RAHIMIC, DZENAN 28:00 13 4/6 0/1 5/10 3 1 4   1 3   1 3 7 10
21 ZAGORAC, SASA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
22 PETROV, SIMON 26:00 5 0/1 1/3 2/2   1 1     1   2 3 4 1
25 ANAGONYE, ALOYSIUS 21:45 6 2/4   2/2 4 3 7 2 1 4 2   4 1 9
30 PAVIC, SMILJAN 7:00 2 1/4     3 2 5         3     1
31 OZBOLT, SASO 24:15 10   3/5 1/2   1 1   1 1     4 1 5
45 DUJMOVIC, PERO 20:45 8 1/3 0/4 6/6         1 2     2 4 3
Team                                
Totals 200:00 73 15/35 7/24 22/28 13 18 31 7 6 14 2 7 22 24 57
        42.9% 29.2% 78.6%
Head coach: FILIPOVSKI, SASO
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
Skipper Fortitudo Bologna
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 MOTTOLA, HANNO 34:30 22 6/11 1/1 7/7 4 2 6     2 2 1 4 7 25
5 BASILE, GIANLUCA 32:45 16 3/7 2/4 4/5   3 3 2   1     2 3 14
6 MANCINELLI, STEFANO 7:15   0/1       1 1   1     1      
7 BELINELLI, MARCO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 SMODIS, MATJAZ 23:00 7 3/3 0/2 1/2 1 6 7 1   2 2   4 4 12
12 POZZECCO, GIANMARCO 10:00   0/1       2 2 2 1 1     3    
13 VUJANIC, MILOS 34:00 22 8/12 1/4 3/3 3 3 6 2 4 4     3 7 27
15 LORBEK, ERAZEM 15:15 5 1/3 1/1   1 2 3 1   2 2   4   3
18 GUYTON, AJ DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 PRATO, PATRICIO 15:30 6 1/1 1/1 1/2   2 2           2 1 6
20 DELFINO, CARLOS 27:45 8 4/7 0/3     4 4 1 1 1 1   2   6
Team                                
Totals 200:00 86 26/46 6/16 16/19 9 25 34 9 7 13 7 2 24 22 93
        56.5% 37.5% 84.2%
Head coach: REPESA, JASMIN
This game has no play by play yet

Head Coaches

FILIPOVSKI, SASO
Union Olimpija
"The start was fatal for us. We did not play as we talked about playing, above all in defense. We committed 14 turnovers with which Skipper made 14 fastbreaks. We are not a team that can compete with Skipper if we are not playing our best for 40 minutes. The victory of the Italian team is deserved and I can only congratulate them."
REPESA, JASMIN
Skipper Fortitudo Bologna
"We came to Ljubljana with our minds set on the victory. Now, we have the qualification for the Final Four in our hands. We just have to beat Efes. In the third quarter, we let Olimpija cut into the lead but in the last 10 minutes we played once against how we planned. With a few good fastbreaks, we stabilized our game and achieved a valuable victory."

Players

DUJMOVIC, PERO
Union Olimpija
"Bad start and bad end, we could say. Skipper cut our line to our players under the basket and those of us on the wing could do little against such a good Skipper defense. For me, Skipper is the best team in our group and I wish them the best on the road to the Final Four."
LORBEK, ERAZEM
Skipper Fortitudo Bologna
"We had a real good start. Each player who went on the court gave his best and did his work. In the last quarter, the coach gave some chances to the rest of the bench players, who were able to finish the victory without problems."
SMODIS, MATJAZ
Skipper Fortitudo Bologna
"We prepared ourselves well for this game, because we knew that Union Olimpija plays very well at home. Their victory against Efes Pilsen was a sufficient warning to make us play 100 percent from the first minute. After that, we didn't let them back in the game, and as such we deserved the victory."
No results found.