Zvezda cruises into another final

Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade moved one step from capturing its fifth straight ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Belgrade qualifying title as the reigning ANGT champion beat Zemun Belgrade 94-69 to reach the final. In the title game, Crvena Zvezda will take on Partizan Belgrade in a repeat of the 2012 Belgrade final, which Zvezda won 74-73. Nemanja Kapetanovic nailed five three-pointers in scoring 18 points while Vojislav Stojanovic had 16 points and seven rebounds and Nikola Popovic added 12 points in the win. Borisa Simanic collected nine points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks and all 12 Zvezda players scored at least two points. Zemun was paced by Nikola Cirkovic, who scored 30 points despite being saddled the first half with foul trouble. Marko Pecarski added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Stojanovic opened the game with a driving layup and was followed by a Simanic three-pointer. After Stojanovic found David Miladinovic for a dunk, Aleksandar Aranitovic converted a three-point play for a 10-0 lead. Zemun committed four turnovers in the first three minutes and finally scored on a Cirkovic layup with 6:21 minutes left in the first quarter. Cirkovic headed to the bench just seconds later with his second foul. And Zvezda continued to pull away with Stojanovic’s breakaway dunk pushing the margin to 19-2. After a time out, Zemun started finding its way into the game with Stefan Drobnjak and Nikola Spasov scoring to make it 21-6. Stefan Kenic and Aleksa Radanov pushed the margin out to 25-6 and it was 25-8 after one quarter. Kenic started the second quarter with a three-pointer for a 20-point lead - 28-8. Miladinovic increased the margin to 35-12 when Cirkovic came back with about six minutes left in the first half. Cirkovic committed his third foul on his first defensive possession but remained on the court. Kapetanovic nailed two three-balls for a 42-16 advantage. Pecarski, who turned only 15 on February 12, hit a three-pointer and Cirkovic followed with a long ball of his own to trim the gap to 44-22. Pecarski threw down a dunk and hit another three-pointer before Cirkovic nailed a jumper and three-ball as Zemun was within 49-32. Zvezda led 51-32 at intermission.

Popovic scored two baskets early in the second half as Zvezda’s lead grew to 57-34. But Cirkovic knocked down two three-pointers and hit a driving layup to make it 61-42. Zemun however could not come up with the defensive stops though Cirkovic nailed another long ball to trim the gap to 65-47. Aranitovic and Miladinovic pushed the margin to 71-48 before a Cirkovic three off the glass just before the buzzer made it 71-51 after 30 minutes. Vuk Vulikic opened the fourth with a three-pointer and Cirkovic knocked down a jumper as the advantage was down to 71-56. But Kapetanovic nailed a three-ball from the right corner and added a three-point play to make it 79-58. Vulikic and Nikola Stankovic scored to cut the margin to 81-63 but Kapetanovic added two more long balls for a 90-65 advantage.