Joventut scraped a precious home win in the hunt for a post-season berth.
Cedevita undone by offensive boards and turnovers



Joventut Badalona eked out an 83-81 win over Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana in a bid to clinch a post-season BKT EuroCup berth, as the home side collected more offensive boards and committed fewer turnovers than the visitors.
Joventut improved to 6-5 in Group A while Cedevita slumped to 0-11 after coming agonizingly close to celebrating its first win of the season, having led by 10 points early in the second quarter. The visitors nosed ahead 80-81 in the final minute but could not hold on as Andres Feliz scored the final 3 points of the enthralling contest.
A deeper Joventut roster racked up 12 offensive boards to Cedevita’s 5 and the home side also kept the turnovers down to 9 while the visitors had 15. Last but not least, Joventut dished out 22 assists to Cedevita’s 19, with both teams producing solid shooting percentages.
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Fine margins made the difference and presence in the paint was a telling factor, as Cedevita lost power forward Amadou Sow late in the third quarter, when he was helped by two teammates limp off the court with what looked like a twisted ankle.
Cedevita head coach Simone Pianigiani was quick to point out that his injury-hit team was much too shorthanded: “It’s clear my players made a great effort,” the Italian told the post-game press conference. “It’s difficult to compete given the situation we are in, as we have only one big man at the moment.
“In addition, we lost our only power forward tonight and we had to adjust. It came down to one shot, very much like in the first game and I think we deserved to win at least one of them. But that’s basketball. We committed 15 turnovers tonight and that’s too many, but I can only praise my players for showing the right spirit.”
Joventut head coach Carles Duran lauded his players for showing grim determination to come out on top after a patchy performance. “We are happy with the victory against a very good and talented team,” he said. “We need to improve in several departments but right now it’s the result that matters.”