Petrolina AEK Larnaca held off a late BC Sigal Prishtina rally to secure an 83-70 win which sees them through to the Round of 32 in the FIBA Europe Cup. Sigal Prishtina’s journey in FIBA Europe Cup ended on Tuesday night, in front of 1800 spectators who never stopped believing in Prishtina, even when they were down by 19 points. Energia Targu Jiu from Romania has already secured their place in the second phase of FIBA Europe Cup with a record of 4 wins and 1 loss. Tonight the Romanian team and Astana from Kazakhstan will play only for prestige, given the fact that out of 14 groups, only the teams holding the first and second places in group and also top four teams that hold the third place will qualify for the second phase.
Linos Gavriel, Head coach of BC AEK: “Prishtina played really well in this phase of the FIBA Europe Cup and we were aware that it will be very hard for us to play in their court. This was the reason that we were maximally focused during the game and we showed character when it was needed the most. We were up by 19 points and very fast we went down to 3 points, but it is important that in those moments we played hard and we managed to win and continue to the next phase of the competition.”
Primor Brezec, basketball player of BC AEK: “It is normal that in some moments during the game we started losing our tempo. These things happen to great teams, so we didn’t panic, but we started to improve slowly and in the end we managed to win. We won thanks to a great team work and that is very important. I am used to playing in such atmospheres. Every game is the same to me, I give my best in court and I am happy if we win.”
Marjan Ilievski, Head coach of BC Sigal Prishtina: “It is important that the players didn’t lack the desire to win. They gave their best but unfortunately that wasn’t enough. Playing in three different competitions made us really tired and that was shown in this game. However, we will now focus on the Balkan League and local competitions.”
Edmond Azemi, captain of BC Sigal Prishtina: “We didn’t give up at any moment, not even then when we were down by 19 points and that is best shown by the fact that we got close to 3 points, but that wasn’t enough. Now we have to recuperate and move forward, since great challenges are ahead of us in the Balkan League as well as local competitions.”
Sigal Prishtina-AEK 70:83 (16:27, 17:22, 23:13, 14:21)
Youth and Sports Center, Prishtina.
Spectators: 1800.
Referees: N. Somos, L. M. Castillo, M. Nedosoviq.
Sigal Prishtina: Kaçaniku, Azemi 6, Peci, Berisha 23, Sinani 2, Marinov 12, Washburn, Morina 9, Abukar 11, K. El-Amin 5, Mazreku 2, Hasani.
AEK Larnaca: Palalas 5, Leontiou, Brown 15, Brezec 22, Kilaras, Petroviq 2, McFadden 29, Roundy, Trisokkas 5, Gilling 3, Panteli 2.