Strong fourth quarter gives Mornar the win and 1-0 lead

KK Mornar Bar won the first game of the Montenegrin battle in the EUROHOLD Balkan League quarterfinal playoffs, defeating KK Ulcinj 69:60 at home in Topolica Hall. The key to Mornar′s win was the great second half production by Djordje Pavicevic′s boys.
 
In the opening minutes of the game Ulcinj seemed like the more motivated squad and quickly led the game 0:4 after baskets from both players named Aleksandar Radulovic. Mornar still struggled, as they let Ulcinj build a 2:8 lead with 6.20 left in the quarter. However, the home side responded with a 5:0 run, to bring the gap down to just one point. The home team didn′t get their first lead of the game until there were 56 seconds to go  and they made the score 16:15. After 10 minutes Mornar were up 18:17.
 
Sasa Mijajlovic scored the first basket of the second quarter for 18:19. In the next couple of minutes the score was tied a few times, but Ulcinj still held a 22:24 lead with 7.25 left. Nemanja Radovic scored five unanswered points for 27:24. Ulcinj′s answer was a six to nothing run, to make the score 27:30 with 2.40 left. Until the end of the first half, Mornar scored only 2 points against 6 for Ulcinj, as halfway through the game, the visiting team led 29:36.
 
Mornar opened up the second half with a run of eight straight points to make the score 37:36. However Ulcinj quickly scored a three in response for 37:39. The visitors had the lead in the next minutes, but weren′t able to break ahead from the home team. Ivan Jelenic scored for 43:42 for Mornar, before Aleksandar Radulovic gave Ulcinj a 43:44 lead with 1.50 left. After 30 minutes, Ulcinj led 44:47 as former Mornar player Milos Djurisic gave his team this lead with a three-pointer with 2 seconds left.
 
Things weren′t looking good for the home side in the opening minutes of the fourth period. Ulcinj increased their lead to 46:52, as Sinisa Tepavcevic scored a three to finish a five to nothing run. 6.08 before the end Ulcinj led the game again by six points (49:55) after a three by Jeftic. Saralija scored a three, but Djurisic immediately answered with a basket for 52:57 with 4.49 on the clock. The turning point in the game was Mornar′s 12:0 run in the next 3 minutes, as they led 64:57 with 1.33 left. Nemanja Radovic and Mirza Saralija scored 10 out of those 12 points. Aleksandar Radulovic dunked for 64:60 with 23 seconds to go, but in Ulcinj′s following offense Latkovic turned the ball over, and Mornar managed to score 5 more points for the final score 69:60.
 
Mornar outscored Ulcinj 25:13 in the last period in order to get the win and a 1-0 lead in the series. Nemanja Radovic had a key role for the success, scoring 19 points and adding 10 rebounds. Mirza Sarajlija had 10 points including some key baskets, while Ivan Jelenic scored 13 points.
 
Big man Aleksandar Radulovic had a solid night for Ulcinj with a strong double-double - 15 points and 17 rebounds. Milos Djurisic scored 14 points against his former club, while Sinisa Tepavcevic added 10.
 
The second game is next week in Ulcinj - on the 30th of March from 19.00 local time.