Congratulations go out from BallinEurope to Cibona Zagreb, which won a closeout game four 77-64 over Cedevita Zagreb in the HKS championship series for the Croatian national title.
Reported Eurobasket.com, “Cibona led from the first minutes and controlled entire game increasing their lead in each quarter. They made 16-of-21 free shots (76.2 percent) during the game. Cibona forced 19 Cedevita turnovers. 27 personal fouls committed by Cedevita helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. Worth mentioning is a great performance by Goran Suton who helped to win the game, recording 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Davor Kus contributed with 18 points for the winners and Khalid El-Amin netted 16. Four Cibona players scored in double figures. American forward Haywood Owens replied with 14 points and eight rebounds while center Dalibor Bagaric added nine points in the effort for Cedevita.”
The title represents a rare bit of optimism for the storied club still reeling from a disastrous 2010-11 “featuring” an 0-10 Euroleague mark, a losing record in the Croatian League and elimination in the HKS semifinals. This season Cibona went just 13-13 in ABA play and 0-6 in the Eurocup, but proved itself the cream of the crop back home to go 19-1 overall in 2011-12.
With the Croatian spot already designated to Cedevita Zagreb for its second-place finish in the Adriatic, Cibona seems likely play in Eurocup again in 2012-13.
