By Stefan Djordjevic/ sdjordjevic@eurohoops.net
Buducnost VOLI managed to bounce back from 0-2 in the ABA Finals and force Game 5 but Crvena Zvezda mts didn’t allow them to go any further and secured a 67-60 win to become the champions.
As Eurohoops reported back in April, this year’s winner of the ABA League will get one of the wild cards and a spot in the 2021-22 EuroLeague season.
This is Zvezda’s fifth title overall in the competition and second straight, with the note that the 2019-20 season wasn’t finished due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Landry Nnoko had a huge presence for Zvezda with 17 points, using to the fullest the fact that Willie Reed wasn’t available to Buducnost due to injury. Jordan Loyd scored 15 with 13 coming in the second half while Ognjen Dobric added 12 points.
For Buducnost, Justin Cobbs went stellar with 21 points but didn’t receive much help from teammates offensively as he was the only double-digit scorer for his squad. Nikola Ivanovic, Luka Mitrovic, and Zoran Nikolic scored eight each.
Crvena Zvezda had an upper hand throughout the whole game and held the lead, although Buducnost kept the constant pressure and didn’t allow the hosts to get any significant distance.
The 9-2 run at the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter which culminated with Marko Simonovic’s three-pointer to put Zvezda up 60-51 practically decided the victor of the duel as Buducnost couldn’t find a proper solution in crunch time offensively while Loyd banked in a three of his own with 30 seconds left to brush away any doubts.
Photo Credit: ABA Liga