Radnicki 034 Group with a crucial victory, but it`s not over

Serbians Radnicki 034 Group and Romanians CSU Cuadripol Brasov knew their game in Kragujevac tonight would probably be the decider for the 4th place in Group A and thus the qualification for the quarterfinal stage. If Radnicki 034 Group had won it by more than 10 points, it would have been virtually done and dusted, as they would have the tiebreak advantage, being 1 point ahead with just two games to go for both teams. If CSU Cuadripol had snatched the victory, then they would have been almost certain quarterfinalists. Eventually, in an intense game with a dramatic ending Radnicki won by just 2 points - 79-77 - and now have the upper hand. But the door is still open for the Romanian team to qualify, if they can get one more win than their rivals in the remaining 2 rounds.

Radnicki 034 Group had a very good first quarter and especially one of their players - Danilo Draskovic. The power forward scored 16 of his team`s 23 points in that frame, including 4 three-pointers. He opened the game with one of those for the 3-0 lead of his team, then the visitors equalized and managed to keep the balance for a few minutes. In the last 2 minutes of the period Radnicki were able to open up an 8 point lead after another one of Draskovic`s treys (18-11), but then CSU Cuadripol cut it to 5 - 23-18 at the 10 point mark.
 
In the second quarter the fortunes turned around completely for Draskovic and his team. The Montenegrin was pointless in that 10-minute period, while Radnicki 5-point lead turned into a 5-point deficit. Less than 3 minutes into the quarter the Brasov team had already tied the scores at 28-28. Then the hosts led again and were in front for the next 4 minutes, before the turnaround happened just before the break. First CSU Cuadripol led 34-35, then Radnicki peeped in front briefly once again, but then it was 36-38 and and even 38-45, before Petar Beader scored the closing basket of the first half - 40-45. Romanian center Ionut Dragusin was now at the heals of Draskovic, having notched up 15 points until half-time, and he had also grabbed 9 rebounds already.
 
Americans Rashaun Broadus, LeRoy Dawson and Alex Hartman joined Dragusin in his scoring efforts in the third quarter, but the Radnicki had learned their lessons from the poor second period. By the 30th minute Broadus already had 10 points (after he had scored just 2 in the entire first half and was going to score none in the fourth quarter), but Draskovic switched to automatic fire again. With his deadly shots the hosts fought back and when Radovan Pesic scored a triple too the scores were tied again at the end of the third quarter - 66-66.
 
In the fourth it was a game of nerves and it was a matter of which team would show mental toughness to win the quarter, the game and the almost certain quarterfinal slot. It was the visitors that still had a slender lead for the first six minutes of the period. Both teams knew the importance of those final minutes, so the players were quite nervous and that resulted in quite a few turnovers and missed shots. Marko Pavlovic released some of the pressure with a dunk that tied it at 72-72, followed less than a minute later by a crucial Uros Duvnjak triple, which gave the hosts the lead. CSU Cuadripol made it a 1-point game with a lay-up by Andrei Mandache (with 2`20`` to go). Then both teams` scorers hit a brick wall again until it came down to the final 30 seconds - the time for even tighter defence and tactical fouls. No one wanted to give the opposition an opportunity to shoot from the arc and they all hoped whoever they fouled would miss from the line. No one was missing either, until CSU Cuadripol`s best performer Dragusin only hit the second of his two free throws with 9 seconds left. At 79-76 it was crucial for his team that he scored the first one, then probably miss the second one and hope for an offensive rebound. He did exactly the opposite though and at 79-77 it was all over and Radnicki 034 Group celebrated an all-important victory.
 
Despite scoring nothing it both the 2nd and the 4th quarter, Danilo Draskovic finished as the top scorer for the winning team with 24 points; he was 3/3 for 2 pt and an impressive 6/9 from 3-point land. He also added 10 boards for his double-double and was definitely the MVP of the game.
 
Petar Beader had another 16 points and 8 rebounds for the Serbs, while Marko Pavlovic added 11 and 7 respectively.
 
Ionut Dragusin was unlucky that his great performance didn`t lead to victory. The 7 ft 3 inch giant registered more than half of his team`s total rebounds - 20 out of 39. He only scored 5 points in the second half, but it was enough to finish with 20, which meant he had achieved a rare "double double-double".
 
Four other CSU Cuadripol players scored in double figures - LeRoy Dawson (14), Darko Veljovic (12), Andrei Mandache and Rashaun Broadus (10 each).