KK Mornar Bar upset KK Torus - SC Boris Trajkovski in the season opener in Skopje

KK Mornar Bar, the BIBL semifinalist from last season upset KK Torus - SC Boris Trajkovski in the season opener of the EUROHOLD Balkan League for 2011/2012. The Montenegrin squad defeated KK Torus in their debut in the BIBL in front of their own crowd, beating them 79:84 in an exciting game of basketball.

Justin Reynolds opened up the score tonight, scoring KK Torus – SC Boris Trajkovski’s first basket in the EUROHOLD Balkan League for 2:0. The home side was the more active team in the opening minutes of the contest – they led 12:7 halfway through the first quarter, as Justin Reynolds showed some good stuff. However in the next minute Mornar scored six unanswered points, in order to get the lead for the first time – 12:13 with 4:47 to go. The Montenegrin side held the
lead until the very last seconds, as at one point they increased it to 6 points (17:23), but after 10 minutes the score was tied at 23:23.
 
Both teams exchanged the lead five times in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but it was the home side who managed to finally breakaway with a bigger lead – 37:32 with 5:05 left in the first half. Torus kept the lead in the next minutes
and didn’t let it slip until the end of the second quarter and respectively first half – 43:38 for the home side, as three players had  already scored in double figures – Trajkovski (13), Karadjovski (11) and Reynolds (11).
 
Radoje Vujosevic scored for 43:40, before Bojan Trajkovski scored in two consecutive offenses for Torus, split by a basket by Vujosevic again, in order to make it 48:42. Torus remained with the lead in the following minutes, as at one point Slobodan Petrovski’s squad was up by 9 points – 60:51 with 3:59 let. Until the
end of the period Mornar outscored their opposition 13:2, in order to win the third period by 26:19 and hold a 62:64 lead after 30 minutes of play.
 
Mornar continued with the display of good basketball, and extended their lead in the beginning of the last period – first to 5 points (64:69) and after that to 8 -
64:72 with 6:27 on the clock. The guest team held on to the lead, as it was varying
between 8 and 9 points, before Torus got back in the game, reducing their deficit to 74:77 after a 3-pointer by veteran Pero Blazevski. Ivica Dimcevski made it 76:77 with 2:20 left, before Dimitar Karadjovski tied the game at 78:78 1:45 before the end of regulation.
 
Both teams exchanged free-throw shots, as Ivan Jelenic and Akeem Scott eache made one, as well as Bojan Trajkovski who scored 1 for 79:80 with 1:01 left. Mirza
Sarajilija dished an assist to Ivan Jelenic who gave his team a 79:82 lead 50 seconds before the final buzzer. Mirza Sarajilija was the hero for Mornar, as he scored two more free-throws for 79:84, while Bojan Trajkovski missed a three-pointer that would cut his team’s deficit to 82:84 with 2 seconds remaining, so it was Mornar Bar who were celebrating the victory.
 
Filip Barovic scored the most points for the winners - 16.  Lazar Radosavljevic added 14, while Nikola Ivanovic came off the bench scoring 11. Radoje Vujosevic finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in the win.
 
Bojan Trajkovski had 21 points and 7 rebounds in the loss for KK Torus - SC Boris Trajkovski and Dimitar Karadjovski added 20 points. Justin Reynolds was the only other player to finish in double digits - 11 points.