Galil Gilboa smashed Mornar and almost secure the first place in Group A

                 The Israeli Galil Gilboa almost secured the first spot in Group A of EUROHOLD Balkan League after a blow win over Mornar Bar at home - 92:67.  Galil played a solid game,  getting the lead from the first minute to the end. This game was really important  for both teams, as if Mornar managed to win it, they would outrun their opponents for the first place in the group.  Both coaches used their best possible squad’s as the only missing name was Galil’s power house Ido Kozikaro, who broke his arm in training last week. As a quality tonight’s clash was one of the best as a performance this season.

 
               The game started with a nice jump shot by Joseph Jones, followed by a quick answer from the Mornar’s young prospect Lazar Radosavljevic. Galil made a 5:0 series for 7:2, but Akeem Scott immediately exploded with a powerful three.  Mornar scored another three pointer – made by Radosavljevic, setting the score to 11:10 with 6 minutes remaining in the first period.  Courtney Fell gave his team a 5
points lead with two nice moves – superb assist and a dunk, although that Mornar started to play a strong full-court man to man defence. 2:08 before the end of the quarter Yan Martin extend the lead of Galil to 8 points – 22:14, scoring behind the line. Ivan Jelenic opened his account for the tonight’s game with two nice placed three pointers,  followed by one successful free throw by Scott.  After 10 minutes on the court the Israeli team were up by 4 – 27:23.

 

                 The quests started the second quarter not in the best possible way, as Radoje Vujosevic made a offensive foul, and immeadiately another one in defence giving easy 3 points for Galil. Yan Martin scored the first three pointer  in the period, made the difference for the first time in the game in double digits – 33:23. The
third personal foul of Vujosevic in less than 3 minutes, put Romeo Travis on the free-throw line, but the American forward managed to score only the first one.  Galil finished their next offence with a dunk by Fells, but Mirza Sarajlija made a successful fast buzzer shot from 9 meters. Nikola Ivanovic missed an easy play under the basket, which gave to Galil chance to made a fast break, ended with a superb alley-op by Courtney Fells. Mornar’s best player Lazar Radosavljevic made another three-pointer for 43:35, but Galil quickly managed to increase their lead again to double-digits as in the next 2 minutes they made a 9:2 series.  Ivan Jelenic and Stevan Milosevic made an excellent doble move and set the score to 52:39, with 20 minutes remaining. Galil finished the first half with an amazing field goal percentage, as they made 21 shots from 29 attempts, while the guest from Bar  – only 13 from 32.

 
                   Ivan Jelenic scored the first basket in the third period, but it was followed by a 9:0 series from the hosts from Galil. The Israeli team started better in this quarter, being more active on defense and finishing their attacks with a spectacular moves. Nikola Ivanovic and Ivan Jelenic answered with a fast lay-ups, but it was not enough to decrease their trail and to conteract to the Galil’s good play. Chris Thomas scored a three, setting the score to 64:48 with 5:33 minutes to go in the third. In Galil’s next offence Courtney Fells exploded with another monster dunk, proving once again that is one of the most quality players in EUROHOLD Balkan League this season. Romeo Travis and Joseph Jones were simply unstoppable under the basket for the young Mornar’s squad, as the duo increased the lead of their team to more that 20 points – 72:52, 2:25 before the end of the period. Until the end Lior Lubin put  Jones and Fells on the bench, giving opportunity to the local players to prove themselves. The third quarter ended at 74:56.

 

                    In the decisive 10 minutes Lior Lubin used to try a lot of tactical variation’s on the court as he rotated almost all his squad. On the other side Mornar finished the game with a very bad field goal percentage, which along with the lost battle under the basket, huge number of turnovers (20) and the lack of experience were decisive tonight.  The final score was set to 92:67, as Galil managed to win all four quarters. In the next round, Galil Gilboa are going to Belgrade to face the local side OKK Beograd, while Mornar will have a difficult challenge, as they will host Rilski Sportist at home in a direct clash for the second place in Group A.