Olimpija holds onto tight road win in Dijon!

Union Olimpija Ljubljana picked up its first victory in Group K of the Last 32 by winning on the road 77-81 against JDA Dijon on Wednesday. Halil Kanacevic paced Olimpija with 27 points and 13 rebounds while Blaz Mahkovic scored 17 points and Hristo Nikolov had 14 points in helping the Slovenian side to a 1-1 record. Dino Muric collected 7 points and 10 rebounds and Marko Marinovic had 11 assists in the victory. Dijon dropped to 0-2 in the group despite 22 points from Steven Gray. Andre Harris had 13 points and 8 rebounds and both Kris Joseph and Zach Moss scored 10 points in defeat.

Kanacevic started the game with a three-pointer for the guests and Moss gave Dijon its first lead, 4-3. Nikolov scored to give Olimpija a 4-9 advantage and then his three-ball made it 9-14. Dijon cut it to 12-14 but Mahkovic scored on three straight possessions – the last being a triple – for a 12-21 cushion. After Joseph stopped the run, Kanacevic completed a three-point play as Olimpija opened its first double digit lead, 14-24. The margin was 16-26 after 10 minutes. Gray and Moss scored to cut the gap to 20-26 and Harris scored after a Dijon offensive rebound as the hosts trimmed the difference to 25-28. After Klemen Prepelic nailed a trey to push the margin back out to 29-35, Harris and Moss scored and Erving Walker’s 2 foul shots had Dijon to within 36-37 at intermission.

Gray opened the second half with 2 three-pointers for a 42-37 lead. Nikolov scored back-to-back baskets and Mahkovic made 2 free throws to get Olimpija back ahead 42-43. After Mahkovic extended the lead to 42-45, Harris nailed a trey to even it at 45-45. Kanacevic pushed Olimpija back ahead and a Nikolov three-ball made it 47-52 before a layup and dunk from Kanacevic had the guests up 47-56. Joseph followed with a triple and Dijon trailed 52-58 after 30 minutes. Aldo Curti cut the deficit to 54-58 with the first score of the fourth quarter, but Kanacevic scored a basket and his shot from downtown was followed by another from Paolo Marinelli for a 56-66 lead with 7 minutes to play. Gray knocked down his own triple and added free throws to get Dijon within 63-68. Muric punched back with a three-pointer to make it 63-71 but Walker and Gray both drained their own to make it a two-point game. Marinelli’s triple and 2 free throws by Kanacevic increased the Olimpija margin to 71-78 with 58 seconds to play. Dijon would not go down without a fight as Antoine Mendy and Gray hit long balls to trim the gap to 77-79 with 32 seconds remaining. After Marinelli converted 2 free throws with 21 seconds left, Gray, Walker and Mendy all missed three-pointers in the closing seconds, letting Olimpija take the victory home to Ljubljana.