Napredak topped Zrinjski for their first ever BIBL win

KK Napredak Rubin achieved their first ever win in the EUROHLD Balkan League, after beating HKK Zrinjski Mostar 79;59 at home in Hala Sportova i Krusevac. After tonight′s game the Bosnian side Zrinjski is the only team left without a win in Group B of the BIBL.
 
It was Zrinjski who opened the score tonight, as Armin Avdibegovic gave his team a 0:3 lead. Right after that Slaven Cupkovic tied the score at 3:3, before Pejovic and Jones exchange baskets for 5:5. In the next six minutes the home side KK Napredak Rubin made a run of 12:2 which put them up ahead by 10 points - 17:7. After 10 minutes of play they were up by 8 - 19:11.
 
Aco Mandic extended Napredak′s lead to 21:11 early in the second quarter. Branimir Masic and Marcel Jones scored the next five points, as Zrinjski got closer to their opposition - 21:16 with 8.47 left in the half. In the following minutes the home side scored 8 points against 3 for Zrinjski, getting a double-digit lead again - 29:19 five and a half minutes before halftime. Napredak held their lead in the next couple of minutes, as at one point it was 11 points (34:23) - the biggest so far. Vladimir Radmanovac made it 37:25, before Zrinjski responded with six unanswered points to settle things at 37:31 halfway through the game.
 
Neither side could put anything together early in the second half, but however Zrinjski scored five points against only one for Napredak, cutting the deficit down to just four - 40:36. Sasa Mihajlovic and Marko Puzic scored in two consecutive offenses for Napredak, extending their lead to 45:36 halfway through the third period. The home team kept their momentum going, as with 2:49 left they had their biggest lead in the game so far - 53:37. After three quarters of basketball in Hala Sportova it was Napredak who had the lead - 57:43.
 
In the opening moments of the fourth period Napredak extended their lead to 18 points - 61:43, and kept on going - they led by 20 points for the first time with 7 minutes to go, as the score was 66:46. With five minutes left to play Napredak still had their 20-point lead - 71:51. The home team kept their lead until the very end, settling for the win with the final score being 79:59 - a deserved 20-point victory.
 
Aco Mandic and Slaven Cupkovic led Napredak in scoring with 15 points each. Aleksandar Lekic added 12 in just 14 minutes, as he didn′t miss a single field goal shot. All of Napredak′s players who took part in tonight′s game managed to score at least 2 points.

Diego Kapelan was the only player for HKK Zrinjski to score in double digits. He had 13 points in his BIBL debut. Branimir Masic added 8 points in the loss, while four other players finished with six points each.
 
Napredak outrebounded their opposition 38 to 29, and also had more assists, steals and blocks. Zrinjski made 16 turnovers against 15 for the home team.
 
With this win KK Napredak moved up to the fifth spot in Group B with a balance of 1-2, while HKK Zrinjski remained without a single win after three games - 0-3 and the sixth position.
 
In their next game Napredak are visiting Levski in Sofia, while Zrinjski will travel to Kavadarci to face the defending champs KK Feni.