Olimpija comes back from 21 points down to beat Spars

U18 Petrol Olimpija Ljubljana came back from a 21-point deficit to beat U18 Spars Sarajevo 78-76 in Group B of the Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade. Olimpija trailed by 21 points early in the second quarter and by 16 points in the early stages of the fourth quarter but watched Peter Vukovic score 18 of his 22 points in the final 10 minutes for Olimpija’s first win. Miha Cerkvenik added 17 points, Uros Sikanic collected 15 points and 10 rebounds and Alen Malovcic chipped in 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. Spars had five players score in double figures, led by Djordje Topolovic with 18 points. Haris Dedajic had 16 points, Nikola Micic picked up 14 points and 11 rebounds, Deni Radak scored 14 points and Harun Huseinspahic added 11 points in the loss, which dropped Spars to 1-1 in the group but is it still alive for a spot in the first-place game.

Olimpija was close early on at 7-8 before Dedajic converted a four-point play to start a 3-13 Spars run for a 10-21 lead. Radak and Huseinspahic both had three-point plays in a 2-8 Spars spurt to go ahead 14-29. And the Bosnia and Herzegovina side was up 15-29 after 10 minutes. Topolovic picked up 7 points in a 2-9 start to the second quarter and a 17-38 cushion. Cerkvenik knocked down two three-pointers at the other end to get Olimpija within 25-38, and four points from Kim Klavzar trimmed the gap to 32-41. But Spars went into the break ahead 34-48. Two scores from Radak increased the lead to 36-54 and the gap was still 17 at 40-57 and 48-64 late in the third quarter, which ended with Spars up 50-64. Dedajic’s score early in the final frame left Spars ahead 50-66. Then came the Olimpija comeback. Vukovic converted a three-point play and added two three-pointers in an 18-4 surge to cut the gap to 68-70. Vukovic’s next three-pointer knotted the game at 74-74 and his final three-ball put Olimpija ahead 77-76 with 32 seconds left. Cerkvenik added a free throw with 8 seconds to play to make it 78-76 before Micic and Nino Herenda both missed three-pointers for Spars in the waning seconds.