GS Medical Park make it to the top 16; Rout Union Olimpija 80-59: Euroleague Basketball (Part 2)
Medical Park’s head coach, Oktay Mahmuti was thrilled with his team reaching the top 16.
“We are happy and honoured to be in the Top 16 in our very first season in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague. It was really a very important step for us. I’m pleased because of my players’ sacrifice and performance since the beginning
of the season. We had ups and downs, but it was really very important to move in to the Top 16. I’m also proud of being the head coach of this team”
He had every reason to be overjoyed because his team performed professionally tonight. Park started the game dominantly and never trailed throughout the game.
Luksa Andric and Ender Arslan lifted back to back layups in the first minute to get Park going. Their offense dominated Union Olimpija’s as they got ahead 13-5 in the first four minutes. However Union were up to the task and did
not let Park run with the show by reeling off an 11-5 run in the last few minutes to close the first frame at 18-16.
The next quarter was pretty tight. Union fought hard in the first few minutes and although they never managed to get ahead, they remained within striking distance. Union were trailing behind by a point, 25-24, before Park changed
gears and reeled off an impressive 7-0 spurt to get in the driving seat.
However, Union came back hard again to slash the lead. Boris Rothbart lifted a driving layup in the second last minute to get Union as close as 39-35. In the ensuing passage neither team managed to make a shot and 39-35 it was
at the end of the first half.
The third frame decided the fate of the game. Park hit the floor running and sprinted to a vociferous 20-9 run and put themselves in a commanding position at 59-44.
Union needed to fire early in the deciding quarter to get themselves a chance of winning; however they failed to do so. The onslaught continued from the other end however, pushing the game miles away from Union.
Union gave up the fight midway through the frame, and Park went on to win the game by 21 points.
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