Sutjeska secures first place, all playoff participants known

Sutjeska Mornar KK Sutjeska Elektroprivreda
Photo: KK Sutjeska Elektroprivreda
The basketball players of Sutjeska Elektroprivreda secured the first position in the standings ahead of the playoffs in the First A League, after defeating Mornar Barsko zlato 101:87 in Nikšić, in the derby of the penultimate round. With the victory of Lovćen in Kotor 87:59, and with Jedinstvo's defeat to Podgorica on Thursday 86:78, all the participants of the playoffs are known - Sutjeska, Primorje, Mornar and Lovćen will find themselves in the play-offs, and from the semi-finals, Budućnost Voli and SC Derbi will join.

The team from Nikšić, who are also expected to continue their fight in the play-offs of the Second ABA League where they qualified for the semi-finals, did not calculate against Mornar, whom they recently lost to in the quarter-finals of the Montenegrin Cup. This time, Barani were competitive only in the first quarter, which they won 25:18. Sutjeska turned things around in the second period, which they won by as much as 33:14, and with a furious game in the following period, they reached a 15-point surplus in the middle of the third quarter (69:54). Towards the end, Mornar had one more serious surge when they came close to a 5-point deficit (82:87) and a small attack, with 3 minutes left, but the home team responded with 10:1 and did not question the victory until the end.

For Sutjeska, as many as six players had double-digit performances, and the most efficient was Tadija Tadić with 14 points, Živanović scored 12, and Barović and Vučurović 11 points each. For Mornar, Alston Mason scored 26 points, Viktor Vujisić scored 20, and Nemanja Vranješ scored 16.

Baran's defeat was used by Lovćen, who tied with Mornar for 3rd place in the standings ahead of the final round, with an 87:59 victory in Kotor. Cetinje controlled the match for most of the game, and definitely turned it around in the last quarter, which they won 25:7. Milutin Đukanović scored 26 points for the guests, and Miloš Latković 16, while the only Kotor players in double figures were Marljukić with 14 and Jovanović with 11 points.

Dečić took a step towards survival with an expected away win against Ulcinj, a second division team from next season (95:89). However, it was not easy for Tuzan, although they led by 20 points in the last quarter (86:66), but it was just then that Ulcinj started a run of 19:0 and came within a point of the deficit! Robertson then hit a three-pointer for Dečić, then Radović for 2 points and Tuzan managed to prevent a surprise. Đorđe Marinović was the most efficient for the guests with 20 points, and Ulcinj was led by Vuk Vujačić with 29 and Petar Strugar with 27 points.

The battle for survival is much more uncertain, and Sunday brings two matches with high stakes. The derby for survival will practically be played between Teodo and Danilovgrad in Tivat (19:30h), because the home team has one more win (9-14), but also one more game than Danilovgrad (8-14), not counting the results with SC Derbi, which do not count towards the final placement of the other teams.

As early as 4 p.m., second-placed Primorje will host Ibar, who have the same record as Danilovgrad (8-14), so the outcome of the fight for survival will certainly be carried over to the final round, but Sunday's matches could be of great importance.

Comment on this topic.

Join the discussion or read the comments

Related news

Culture

Entertainment

Society

World

RTV PG AI Novinar