Dubai Basketball secured their first away victory and second consecutive win in Europe’s ABA League after beating Slovenia’s Cedevita Olimpija 92-84 on Sunday night.
Dubai Basketball tipped off at the Arena Stožice, looking to build on their thrilling debut win against defending champions Crvena Zvezda last weekend and they put on a solid team performance.
Playing in his homeland, Slovenia, captain Klemen Prepelic led from the front with 23 points including five rebounds, four assists and two steals, while ‘dynamic duo’ Nate Mason (20 and 7 assists) and Isaiah Taylor (10) also hit double figures.
Jacorey Williams dominated in the paint with nine rebounds and six points, along with a stellar defensive performance that helped keep Cedevita Olimpija’s star & NBA veteran, Devin Robinson, to only 14 points.
Prepelic opened the game with a jump shot and added to his tally with two free throws to give Dubai an early lead. Despite the hosts levelling the score, Dubai’s captain added to his points tally with a 7-4 run, before taking complete control of the game.
Cedevita Olimpija had no answers for Nate Mason, who put up eight first-quarter points, extending the lead to 29-17. The momentum didn’t stop there, as the visitors went into half-time with a healthy 63-42 lead.
After scoring 20 points in the third quarter, Dubai Basketball rallied to hold off Cedevita Olimpija, with Prepelic and Williams adding to the team’s tally to secure the 92-84 win – a result that sees Dubai Basketball shocking the league with an incredible start to the inaugural season.
Dubai Basketball head coach Jurica Golemac had nothing but praise for his players.
“It was a dominant game. We controlled it for 35 to 37 minutes and the players stuck to everything we agreed on. Cedevita Olimpija is a difficult opponent so we knew we had to be very energetic, maintain a very high intensity, which is difficult to do for 40 minutes,” Golemac said.
“Overall, I am satisfied. When we saw the games schedule,everyone said let’s go and win the first two which we have done. We all want to be very competitive and aggressive and not think about being beaten.
“We have high ambitions. I told my players in the locker room that ‘small games are the biggest games’. We have played these two games where we were not favourites, now we have Mega, then Borac Čačak next and we now need to rest and work well in training for those games.”
Dubai Basketball will play their next game at home against Serbia’s Mega MIS on Saturday, October 5 , at Coca-Cola Arena.