Crvena Zvezda made it to the Euroleague Basketball Nike International Junior Classification Tournament Belgrade-JCT final by downing Hemofarm Stada 86-65 at Basket City on Saturday night. Zvezda will face archribals Partizan mt:s in the title game tomorrow at 14:45 CET. Earlier on, Hemofarm will take Mega Vizura in the third place at 12:00 CET. Brano Djukanovic paced the winners with 19 points. Nikola Rebic added 18, Nikola Jankovic had 15 while Dusan Ristic got 14 for Zvezda. Nikola Milutinov led Hemofarm with 18 points. Luka Andjusic and Ognjen Vasiljevic each added 12.
A three-pointer by Andjusic and a jumper by Milutinov gave Hemofarm its only lead, 4-5, early in the game. It didn't last
long, as an 8-0 run soon put Zvezda back ahead, 12-5. Five unanswered points by Djukanovic soon made it a double-digit game,
19-9. Marko Tejic and Petar Aranitovic joined the three-point shootout to boost Zvezda's lead to 30-15 after 10 minutes.
Back-to-back dunks by Milutinov brought Hemofarm back to life, 35-25, early in the second quarter. Djukanovic kept pacing
Zvezda, however, and a jumper by Ristic gave his team a 43-30 lead. Andjusic and Milutinov allowed Hemofarm to get within
single digits, 46-37, at halftime. Milutinovic got Hemofarm even closer, 48-43, after the break and even Rebic led an 8-0 Zvezda run, back-to-back by Vasiljevic kept his team within 62-56 after 30 minutes. Jankovic shined early in the fourth quarter and a layup by Nikola Cvorovic sealed the outcome, 78-63, with over 4 minutes to go, enough for Zvezda to seal its ticket to the final.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Euroleague.net