Kumanovo holds on for a dramatic win in Craiova

KK Kumanovo 2009 won its fourth game in a row in the Second Stage of group C in EUROHOLD Balkan League. The Macedonian team defeated SCM U Craiova 75-74 in a dramatic fashion. The visitors led for most of the time but at the end the home side had a chance to win that was missed.

This was the last game for both teams in the Second Stage as Kumanovo finished with 4-2 record and Craiova with 3-3. Now both teams will wait for the last game next week between Mornar and Peja to understand their position. If Peja wins they will finish first and Kumanovo second while Craiova will be third. If Mornar takes the game then Kumanovo will win the group and qualify for the semifinal, Craiova will be second and Peja third.

It was a very tight first half with both teams leading. However Kumanovo was the one that was more time up and after they finished the half on 8-0 run the advantage became 9 points.

The visitors were leading in the third quarter as well and they even went up by double digits. The hosts however managed to make a 13-4 run which cut the deficit down to just 2 points. The last basket for the quarter though was for Kumanovo but still the game was wide open.

Kumanovo was holding on to its slim advantage in the fourth quarter with few important baskets when the hosts were closing. A 7-0 run for the visitors gave them a 9-point lead with 5.45 to go and Craiova answered with 4 points. Then the hosts missed a few chances to cut the gap and that happened with 58 seconds to play. Then Kumanovo missed and the home team scored to cut its deficit to only a point. However in the next offense Kostoski was let free and scored to put the visitors up by 3 with 17.5 seconds to the end. Craiova added the next 2 points and then fouled Kostoski who made one free throw. Then with 7.3 to be played was fouled Micic who also made only one free throw. Kumanovo though lost the ball and gave last chance to Craiova with 5.5 seconds to the buzzer but the hosts missed their last shot and the game was over.

Top scorer for the winners was Aleksandar Kostoski with 23 points while Vukasin Mandic added 17 and 8 rebounds.

For the home side Djordje Micic had 19 points as Marko Boltic finished with 17.

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FULL STATS FROM THE GAME SCM U CRAIOVA - KK KUMANOVO 2009