Buducnost rallies to shock CSKA

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica pulled off the upset of the season thus far as they shocked previously-undefeated CSKA Moscow 93-92 in the Montenegrin capital on Friday. The hosts won the game on Danilo Nikolic's put-back of an airball in the waning seconds. Two games after setting a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague record with 21 three-pointers made against KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, Buducnost nailed 12 three-pointers in the second half in coming back from a 17-point deficit against CSKA. Buducnost raised its record to 2-7 while CSKA fell to 1-8. Earl Clark scored 18 points to pace Buducnost while Nemanja Gordic picked up 17 points and 7 assists. Nikolic hit 4 three-pointers for 14 points and Coty Clarke chipped in 12 points and 4 assists. CSKA, which dropped to 8-1, was led by Nando De Colo with 19 points, 6 assists and 3 steals. Will Clyburn had 15 points, Alec Peters and Cory Higgins both scored 12 and Kyle Hines added 10 points in the loss.

CSKA started the game in strong form with the first 11 points as Buducnost went more than 3 minutes until Alen Omic finally got the hosts on the scoreboard. Buducnost got closer as Clark and Gordic combined for 9 points to make it 17-19. And it was 17-21 after 10 minutes. Filip Barovic and Nikola Ivanovic came off the Buducnost bench and kept the team within 24-27. But then the combo of De Colo and Hines took over on offense with 10 points in a 1-13 run and the CSKA defense held Buducnost without a basket for nearly 4 minutes for a 25-40 lead. CSKA was able to twice push the advantage to 17 points and was up 35-49 at the break. Buducnost came out tough early in the third quarter, when Clark's three-point play and a three-pointer from Suad Sehovic trimmed the gap to 43-51. The CSKA lead climbed back to 14 points, 45-59, after three-balls from Peters and De Colo. Soon, Clark and Gordic both hit twice from long range, sending the crowd into a frenzy with at 65-67 after three quarters. The Buducnost barrage from outside continued until Nikolic knotted the score at 71-71. An unsportsmanlike foul resulted in 5 points for CSKA, but the hosts were not fazed, as Nikolic and Coty Clarke both hit long balls at 79-79. Nikolic's fourth triple made it 84-84 before Clark's free throws supplied Buducnost’s first lead, 86-84. Edwin Jackson's first three-pointer put Buducnost up 91-89 inside of 2 minutes before Hines split two free throws and Clyburn hit both of his for a 91-92 CSKA Lead. On Buducnost's last offense, Nikolic rebounded and put-back Jackson's miss in the waning seconds for the lead. The upset was complete when a jumper by Higgins was off the mark.

Game changing sequence

The game was tied 71-71 when Filip Barovic was called for an unsportsmanlike foul. CSKA turned that into a five-point lead, but hero Danilo Nikolic promptly answered with a three-pointer to show CSKA that this was going to be a dogfight until the bitter end.

Pivotal performer

Nikolic was huge with his 4 three-pointers and put-back in the final seconds, but Nemanja Gordic was the motor for Buducnost, hitting 2 three-pointers in the big third-quarter comeback and finishing with 17 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists.

History made

Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic was among the crowd of 5,083 at the Moraca Sports Center, setting a new attendance record.

2,000 points

CKSA veteran Kyle Hines went into the game with 1,993 points during his illustrious EuroLeague career. The big man broke the 2,000-point mark in the second quarter on a dunk, like so many of his other 2,000 points. Congrats to the 32-year-old Kyle Hines.

Telling numbers

Buducnost made 14 of 23 three-pointers for 60.9% while CSKA was sharp, too, hitting 65.0% of its two-pointers and 52.9% on threes. But CSKA turned the ball over 14 times to 12 for Buducnost

Next games

Buducnost will be flying high as it heads on the road in search of another upset, travelling to Greece to face Olympiacos Piraeus in Round 10. CSKA will remain on the road and look to bounce back with a very tough test at Real Madrid.