DUBAI: Dubai Basketball began their busy month by registering their fourth straight victory in the ABA League at Coca-Cola Arena following a dominant 90-61 win against Croatia’s Cibona — a result that sees them edge closer to securing a play-off berth.
Following a three-week international break, Dubai Basketball were back in action on Sunday night, the first of five March games including three back-to-back, and they put on an impressive show to overcome Cibona to take their record to 16:5 for the season.
Twenty-eight seconds had passed before Awudu Abass opened the scoring with an emphatic dunk and later added to his tally with the game’s first three-pointer — a jump-shot just outside the arc. That saw the hosts take a 7-2 lead and while Cibona reduced the deficit to a single point, Dubai Basketball upped the tempo with captain Klemen Prepelic’s and Davis Bertans’ jump-shots helping the team to close out the opening quarter at 29-19.
With the home crowd making themselves heard following an entertaining first quarter, Dubai Basketball continued to find the basket, including Isaiah Taylor — with a three-pointer — Danilo Andusic and Nemanja Dangubic, as the team went into half-time with a 46-33 advantage.
Cibona would reduce the deficit to nine points early on in the third quarter, but the home team regained their composure, with Nate Mason among the players to find the basket while Prepelic’s clutch buckets sent the crowd into a frenzy.
With a 19-point advantage, the hosts added to their tally with French center Jerry Boutsiele and Taylor among the point-scorers to close out the quarter and seal their 16th win of the season.
By the time the final buzzer went, Prepelic finished as the game’s top-scorer with 14 points while Ahmet Duverioglu led with seven assists — a tally also matched by Mason when it came to assists.
For Dubai Basketball, head coach Jurica Golemac was pleased with how his players performed but said that there was still room for improvement.
“It was a long break and it was not a perfect game,” he said. “We made some mistakes but we had good intensity during the game. Everybody shared the minutes in the end and we deserved to win. The fans were also great. They always give us the energy, which was shown throughout the game.”
He added: “We do need to improve on a lot of things. Every day is a new day and it’s important to improve and not stop working.”
As with every Dubai Basketball home game, the crowd was treated to a spectacular display of entertainment. The Dunking Devils delivered an awe-inspiring showcase of aerial acrobatics and the Hip Hop Cardio Kids took to the court, showing off their dance moves and getting the entire crowd on their feet.
Dubai Basketball will next be in action again at Coca-Cola on Saturday, March 8 when they take on SC Derby before they return again to the arena on Monday, March 17 for the highly anticipated game against ABA League leaders, Partizan Mozzart.
