In the second game of the semifinals, Split defeated Cibona 93:71 in Zagreb and thus went 2-0 in the series. They will play against the winner of Zadar and Gorica which is currently 1-1.
After the first quarter, Cibona had a 28:27 advantage, but at halftime, KK Split was up by 7. Split’s excellent game continued in the third quarter when they led by 19, and in the fourth, the advantage only grew to confirm a spot in the finals.
Roko-Leni Ukić scored 18 points as the most efficient KK Split player, and Marko Luković added 16 points. Darko Planinić led Cibona with 16 points.
After 13 years, Split entered the Croatian championship finals, and the Yellows recorded their seventh victory against Cibona this season.
In the first semifinal game, Split celebrated convincingly 95-80.
Because of the tight schedule and Split’s ABA League relegation game on Thursday, there was tension between Cibona and Split. KK Split wanted to move the date of the second semifinal match against Cibona to May 22, to which the Croatian Basketball Federation agreed, but they also needed Cibona’s consent. The Zagreb club ultimately refused.
“I think two things were important in today’s game. One is that we didn’t give ourselves any excuse given what we’ve been going through the last few days and to realize that today was the biggest chance to win,” the KK Split coach Mile Karakas said and added that Cibona did not surprise them with their game.
“After 6:0, the reality was that Cibona would come out as strong as possible at the beginning. When we rejected that first and second blow, we knew that they would fall and that our quality would come forward,” added Karakas, who is thrilled to be in KK Split’s first Croatian final after 13 long years.
KK Split was welcomed home to Gripe with a flare spectacle which you can see below.
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