2020-21Regular SeasonRound 1
September 29, 2020 CET: 19:00
Local time: 19:00 MORACA

Ivanovic sparks Buducnost to opening-night win

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica tipped off its 2020-21 7DAYS EuroCup season with a 93-81 home victory over Germani Brescia in Group B. Nikola Ivanovic spearheaded a 14-2 Buducnost run to start the fourth quarter with 10 of his team-high 24 points. Justin Cobbs and Melvin Ejim both scored 16 points and Willie Reed added 13 points for the winners. Dusan Ristic paced Brescia with 17 points while Kenny Chery had 12 points and both Drew Crawford and Christian Burns netted 10 in the loss.

Rashad Vaughn’s mid-range jumper was Buducnost’s first basket of the EuroCup season. Brian Sacchetti answered with a three-pointer at the other end for Brescia’s first lead 2-3. Ejim’s three-pointer helped the home side open a 4-point gap. Ristic scored 6 points and Andrea Ancellotti hit from outside as Brescia used a 4-15 surge to move ahead 14-21. The difference stood at 19-23 after 10 minutes. Chery’s free throws opened the second quarter scoring for Brescia, which held Buducnost scoreless for more than 2 minutes before Suad Sehovic’s three-pointer. Ristic pushed the gap to 24-29 before Reed came off the Buducnost bench for 6 points and 4 Cobbs free throws had the hosts up 37-33. Ristic and TJ Cline both connected from long range for Brescia as the lead switched hands five times in the final 2 minutes of the first half. Brescia led 42-43 at the break.

The game remained tight in the early going of the second half with Crawford scoring 5 straight points for Brescia to nose ahead 46-48. Cobbs pushed Buducnost back up 53-52. Sacchetti and Chery both knocked down three-pointers to give Brescia leads, but were answered at the other end by 5 more points from Reed. The score was 65-65 after 30 minutes. Ivanovic took over in the fourth quarter with 2 three-pointers, a driving layup and jumper, while the Buducnost defense held Brescia to a single basket for a 79-67 lead with 3 minutes to play. Crawford’s free throw ended the drought and Cline hit a hook shot to trim the gap to 79-70. Ejim delivered the knockout punch with a three-point play and 2 more free throws for an 84-71 advantage with less than 2 minutes remaining.

Pivotal performer

Nikola Ivanovic was outstanding off the bench with 24 points, including two fourth-quarter three-pointers and 12 of 13 free throws made while also chipping in 2 rebounds, 5 assists and 11 fouls received for performance n index rating of 31.

Willie Reed or Willis Reed?

Buducnost big man Willie Reed produced like the Basketball Hall of Famer Willis Reed as the 30-year-old collected 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting and 3-of-4 free throws to go with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in his EuroCup debut.

Telling numbers

Buducnost outrebounded Brescia 43-26 and made 28-of-32 (87.5%) free throws while holding the visitors to just 8-of-29 (27.6%) on three-pointers. Brescia could not take advantage of committing just 6 turnovers.

Next games

Buducnost will head out onto the road for its next matchup against Boulogne Metropolitans 92 on Tuesday, October 6. Brescia will have its EuroCup home opener the following evening against ratiopharm Ulm.

Nikola Ivanovic - Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (photo Buducnost) - EC20
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: FOUFIS, IOANNIS; ISGUDER, SINAN; LAVRUKHIN, ARTEM
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica19232328
Germani Brescia23202216
End of Quarter1234
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica19426593
Germani Brescia23436581
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 COBBS, JUSTIN 35:27 16 5/12 0/1 6/6 1 3 4 5 2 3     1 4 19
2 IVANOVIC, NIKOLA 26:21 24 3/6 2/5 12/13   2 2 5   1     3 11 31
3 EJIM, MELVIN 30:39 16 4/7 1/3 5/6 3 6 9     1   1 2 5 20
4 SEHOVIC, SUAD 19:51 3   1/3   1 3 4       1   3 1 4
7 NIKOLIC, DANILO 26:08 8 2/2 1/2 1/2 2 1 3 3   1     2 2 11
8 APIC, DRAGAN 15:54 6 3/4     2 4 6 1   2     2   8
19 NIKOLIC, ZORAN 9:04   0/2       1 1   2 3     2 1 -3
20 VAUGHN, RASHAD 10:01 2 1/2 0/1                        
30 POPOVIC, PETAR 14:05 5 2/3 0/1 1/1   2 2           2 1 4
33 REED, WILLIE 12:30 13 5/5   3/4 2 4 6 1   2 2   2 2 19
44 ZUGIC, FEDOR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           4 2 6               6
Totals 200:00 93 25/43 5/16 28/32 15 28 43 15 4 13 3 1 19 27 119
        58.1% 31.3% 87.5%
Head coach: MIJOVIC , PETAR
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
Germani Brescia
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
6 CLINE, TJ 20:26 7 1/2 1/1 2/2   1 1 4 1 1     3 1 9
7 VITALI, LUCA 19:16 4 1/3 0/2 2/2 1   1 3 1 1     2 2 4
8 PARRILLO, SALVATORE 1:51     0/1                   1   -2
11 CHERY, KENNY 30:28 12 3/4 1/6 3/4 1 3 4 6         3 2 14
12 BORTOLANI, GIORDANO 10:10 4 1/3 0/3 2/2 1 2 3     1     1 2 2
21 RISTIC, DUSAN 19:43 17 7/11 1/1     2 2 2         2   15
22 CRAWFORD, DREW 25:50 10 1/4 2/3 2/4 1 1 2 3   2   1 3 3 6
23 BURNS, CHRISTIAN 17:58 10 4/7 0/2 2/4 2 2 4 2     1 2 2 4 10
24 KALINOSKI, TYLER 13:15 6 3/3 0/4         4   1     5 2 2
34 MOSS, DAVID 19:10 2 1/2 0/2   1 2 3 1         2 2 3
41 SACCHETTI, BRIAN 19:34 6   2/3   1 2 3 2 1       1 1 11
45 ANCELLOTTI, ANDREA 2:19 3   1/1           1       2   2
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 81 22/39 8/29 13/18 10 16 26 27 4 6 1 3 27 19 79
        56.4% 27.6% 72.2%
Head coach: ESPOSITO, VINCENZO

Head Coaches

MIJOVIC , PETAR
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
"It was a very important victory for us. We expected a tough game with a lot of energy from both sides. It was the first game for both sides, especially in a situation like this without fans. I expected a tough game. Brescia is a good team, a very good opponent with a very good coach. They have great foreigners and great domestic players. For us, at the start of the season, it was a very important game."
ESPOSITO, VINCENZO
Germani Brescia
"Congratulations to the Buducnost on the victory. It’s always important to win the first game; it gives you confidence. The opponent played well for all 40 minutes and we only played 20-25. When you play like that against good teams, you can't be satisfied. They had a lot more rebounds than us, which is disappointing because we were giving the rival extra possessions. In the last quarter, we ran out of energy, just like two days earlier away to Varese, when we led for three quarters and then hurried and allowed the rival to win."

Players

EJIM, MELVIN
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
It was a very important victory for us. It's always good to start the season with a win. We were even for 25 minutes, but in the last 15, we really stepped up. Nikola had a great game, all the guys were really good and we got a victory. Brescia has a good team; they are very tough and experienced, so it wasn't easy to get the win."
IVANOVIC, NIKOLA
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica
"It seems like the beginning of the game we were a bit nervous and it reflected on the way we made some decisions - both offensively and defensively. But I think it was a good way to step up in the third and likewise in the fourth quarter and in the end we played a pretty solid game for us."
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