FMP Late Show Downs Zagreb

BC FMP rebounded from their Adriatic League mauling over the weekend at Union Olimpija and beat KK Zagreb in Croatia on Tuesday night in the EuroChallenge Last 16.

Miroslav Raduljica posted an efficiency rating of 33

Hammered 95-54 by Olimpia in Ljubljana, Belgrade outfit FMP bounced back with an 83-78 triumph at Zagreb.

The result has left FMP on top of Group J at 2-0 with Zagreb now 1-1.

For Zagreb, Krunoslav Simon's two free-throws knotted the game at 63-63 with 5:08 to play.

The rest of the game belonged to FMP.

Sasa Stefanovic (18 points) hit a three-pointer for the visitors that put them in front to stay.

Nemanja Protic, Predrag Samardziski, Miroslav Raduljica and Milos Dimic all added points in a variety of ways to help FMP seal the success.

Raduljica, a silver-medal winner for Serbia at the EuroBasket in Poland last summer, had 26 points to lead all scorers.

Damir Mulaomerovic poured in 23 in defeat.

FMP won despite being outrebounded 33-21.

Quotes KK Zagreb vs. BC FMP

Vlade Đurović, FMP coach:
"After this game we have a lot of reasons to be happy. We were in a horrible situation after having lost in Ljubljana three days ago. I don't remember ever losing a game with 41 points in my whole career. That game has mobilized all of us, we didn't want to get embarrased again in Zagreb. It turned out just the opposite - excellent for us. This victory is very important for us because in NLB league we do not have a lot of chance, objectively. So our ambitions are turned towards the EuroChallenge. Contrary to the last game we played in Zagreb two weeks ago, tonight all the important balls have reached the basket while Zagreb missed theirs and that solved the game."

Denis Bajramović, Zagreb coach:
"I would like to congratulate my collegue Đurović and his team on the deserved victory. No matter how mininally we were losing the follow up did not look good for us. I can't say anything against my players, we prepared well but it is just a day when nothing goes well. I can not be satisfied with a large number of three point shots. I have told my players that three point shots can not win. We have a series of six won games, in some of the games we scored the shots we missed tonight and this is the reason of this lost game. We were better in rebounds but too slow and inactive in defence. FMP is a young and aggressive team and they saw our weak points and deserved to win. The game we have just lost is not a big tragedy for us since there are four games to play in which we'll try to win to enter the next round."

Vladimir Krstić, Zagreb player:
"We missed the chance to confirm the victory from Liege. From the very beginning we did not play aggressively which can not be the way to play aginst any team in this cup. We let them develop their game, and they left us with 9 points defference. We had to play hard to catch it up. At the beginning of the second half we managed to lead with 6 points difference but then we missed a couple of attacks to make the difference bigger. FMP returned to the game and when it was to decide they were precise while we kept missing. We have four games ahead of us and I hope we'll do manage to improve the bad image from tonight."

Miroslav Radunica, FMP player:
"We had to make it up tonight for the high difference when we lost on Saturday in Ljubljana. When Saša Stefanović came it was very important for our team. His experience has helped a lot to find ther solutions in difficult sutuations in the game. Tonight he took the responsibility in important moments he scored shots we used to miss which opened the way to the victory. I am satisfied with the way we played. We played intelligently in the finals, we were not scared and the new points for us is the reward."