KRKA K.O. Giants With Big Run

Matej Rojc and KRKA put the shackles on their opponents and went on to win their second Last 16 game

KRKA Novo Mesto trailed by five but went on a 24-0 run bridging the second and third quarters before claiming a 62-46 EuroChallenge Last 16 win over Antwerp Giants.

Beaten last week in Turkey by Pinar Karsiyaka, KRKA followed that up with an impressive triumph at Red Star Belgrade in the Adriatic League and then returned home to improve to 2-1 in Group J.

Antwerp, with the defeat, are 0-3.

The Giants were on top 24-19 with 4:43 to go in the first half when it all went terribly wrong for the Belgian side.

KRKA center Smiljan Pavic made a lay-up and Edo Muric dunked on a fast break before Christopher Booker drilled a jumper to give the hosts the lead.

The home side went to the break on top, 28-24, and blew the game open at the start of the third quarter, sparked by Booker's three-point play.

Antwerp ended a 12-minute scoring drought when Roel Moors laid one up and in on a fast break with 2:59 remaining in the third frame.

The KRKA lead was 42-26, though, and they were never in doubt of losing their grip on the contest the rest of the way.

Booker's 17 points led KRKA while Darnell Wilson finished with a game-high 23 in defeat.

Quotes KRKA vs. Antwerp Giants

Graham Brown, player of Antwerp Giants:
"We can be satisfied with our defence, especially in the first half. Unfortunately our attack was not so good, without the rhythm and that's the reason, that we lost this game. I know that we can show better offensive play and that gives us good hope for the future games. We just have to keep working on such defence."

Eddy Casteels, coach of Antwerp Giants:
"62 points in Novo mesto with high energy and solid defence is not bad, but we didn't find solutions in offence. They focused on Tim Black and so they stopped most of our attacks. We need some support so in next few days we should bring in another player."

Edo Murić, player of Krka:
"The game was far from that that we can show in our best moments. But we were still able to win and that's important for us. I hope we will be able to show a better performance on Saturday when we will play an important game in NLB league with Radnicki. We could make a big step to the Final four of that competition."

Aleksandar Džikić, coach of Krka:
"I was afraid of the Antwerp formation because they play with four small players with very agile power forward, and we couldn't play so good against such formations. On the other hand we have to play with similar team Radnicki on Saturday ant that was good preparation for them. I could be satisfied with some moments, and we also have to work on some other things. It's important that our youngest players Matej Rojc and Edo Murič played so much. I hope that people will recognize that we work in benefit of Slovenian basketball."