The 28-year-old tied his EuroCup career highs in points and PIR on the back of a blistering first half
Skylar Mays shines as Buducnost beats Chemnitz, closes in on postseason berth
Informes de partidos
3 Min lectura
Regular Season
Round 16 of 18
Regular Season
group b
Buducnost VOLI PodgoricaBUD
9781
NINERS ChemnitzNIN
group b
Overview
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Buducnost VOLI Podgorica took a big step toward securing a postseason spot in the BKT EuroCup after a 97-81 home win over Chemnitz NINERS on Tuesday left the Montenegrin side on a 10-6 record in the competition’s Group B.
Buducnost will be assured of reaching the business end of the competition if ratiopharm ulm loses on Wednesday night or if it wins either of its two remaining regular-season games.
Things did not go according to script for Buducnost early on as Chemnitz hit 3 of its opening 4 shots from downtown and took a 2-9 lead, which it extended to 12-20 midway through the first quarter. The hosts gradually regained their composure and a spectacular dunk by Mays slashed the deficit to 29-31 at the end of the opening period. It was a sign of things to come.
Mays, who equaled his career highs with 22 points and a PIR of 29, rolled around his marker and ripped through the paint to rock the rim, instigating a much-improved Buducnost performance in what turned out to be a vital second quarter.
Having engineered a 17-0 run, which turned a 34-35 deficit into a 51-35 lead, Buducnost dominated the period 31-14 and led 60-44 at halftime on the back of 17 points and 4 boards from Mays, as well as 24 team rebounds, which was double the amount Chemnitz managed.
Trailing 75-53 midway through the third, the visitors managed a 0-7 run and slashed the deficit to 78-65 ahead of the final 10 minutes, but that was as good as it got for them. Buducnost went on a 10-0 run as its lead soared to 88-67 and the writing was on the wall for Chemnitz, which slipped to 8-8 in the club’s maiden EuroCup season.
“It was good to see shots fall, but the most important thing is that we won,” a delighted Mays said. “I am just glad how the team played and how together we looked tonight. We love the fans, they give us such a boost and we appreciate when they come to support us. |We hope to give them something to keep cheering about.”
Head coach Andrej Zakelj was glad to see Buducnost bounce back from last week’s 96-74 drubbing at Besiktas GAIN Istanbul, although he criticized his team’s slow and sluggish start to the game.
“The first quarter was bad, to be honest,” he said. “From the second quarter onwards, we played much better basketball as we improved on defense and got more focused. I am satisfied with the outcome as we needed this win.”
