WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR: M.J.
History has been written - Montenegrin basketball players won in their first match against selections from outside Europe and in the fight for Mundobasket and showed that they did not get a chance to fight for the World Championship by chance.
Montenegro outplayed New Zealand 88:64 and already after the first round in group B of the pre-qualification tournament in Mexico for placement in Mundobasket clearly showed that they will fight for one of the first two places and passage to the semi-finals.
At the start, Montenegro had 5:0 and 7:2, but New Zealand managed to quickly equalize. However, after Bojana Kovačević's three-pointer and Maja Bigović's point, our national team had +6 (14:8) in the sixth minute, while at the end of the first period it was 16:12. Already in the first quarter, coach Jelena Škerović tried to divide the playing time among all the players, because in the first match it is certain that our basketball players have not yet adapted to a completely different climate, the time difference, and the fact that they are at 2,300 meters above sea level.
But the girls who got a chance from the bench also brought special energy and had a special role. After starting to combine "man" and "zone", New Zealand managed to disrupt the rhythm of the "reds", and with a 9:0 run at the start of the second quarter, they managed to turn it around (21:16 - 13th minute). However, our basketball players "took off" quickly - after two and a half minutes without a basket, Kovačević hit a three-pointer, and then Dragana Živković had her own miniature, scored four points and tied the game - 23:23. It was clear that a dramatic match was to follow. Živković crowned a great period with an assist for Milica Jovanović, who gave Montenegro the lead again in the 15th minute with a three-pointer, the first in the second half - 26:25. That was the beginning of our series (10:1), in which Jovanović scored eight points, and with two three-pointers launched Montenegro to +7 (33:26), and then Živković scored for the biggest difference in the first half - 35: 26, while at the big break it was 37:32.
In the third part, Montenegro made a crucial step - Jelena Škerović's team scored easy points, had good percentages, and with as many as 29 points she managed to make a decisive difference. Namely, Montenegro opened the second half with a series of 9:0, so after Maja Bigović's point in the 22nd minute, it was 44:32, and Leković closed the ideal five minutes (total series 16:4) for +17 (53:36). . In the 27th minute, Sofija Živaljević scored two three-pointers (61:40), and Kovačević concluded the perfect quarter with five points - 66:45.
It was clear that a great job had been done and that Montenegro was about to win. But our basketball players kept the rhythm, played great, kept a big difference, so in the 35th minute it was +24 (75:51). Given that the situation in the group can be complicated, it was clear in the camp of our selection that the difference is also important, so our basketball players played to the maximum. The difference grew like that, and in the 38th minute, after Bigović's throw for +27 (85:58), which ended the premier match ideally...
Bojana Kovačević scored 18 points (four triples), had 7 rebounds and 4 assists, Maja Bigović 16, with 6 caught balls, Dragana Živković 11, with 6 assists and 5 rebounds, Milica Jovanović 10, Anastasija Drobnjak and Sofija Živaljević 9 each. Jovana Pašić 7, Marija Leković 6, with 5 assists and 3 rebounds, Ksenija Šćepanović 2, with 6 rebounds.
