The London Lions boss got the better of his Besiktas counterpart Dusan Alimpijevic in no uncertain terms.
Petar Bozic proved his worth in a battle of Serbian coaches
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Regular Season
Round 16 of 18
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London Lions head coach Petar Bozic enjoyed arguably his most emphatic win at the helm of the club as it blew away Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul 93-72 at home in a rip-roaring BKT EuroCup Group A clash.
The result also means that Bozic completed a regular-season double over his Serbian compatriot Dusan Alimpijevic, as London edged Besiktas 80-83 in November’s reverse fixture in Round 7. The 45-year-old coach, who won eight successive league titles with Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade as a player and coached the club in 2015-2016, is making giant strides at London as the club aims to make a telling impact in the competition.
Alimpijevic was the first to acknowledge Bozic’s effect after the home team dominated in every department. “The London coach and players really deserved this win and congrats to them,” the Besiktas head coach said.
“They prepared well and that fact that they beat us twice this season tells a story. I feel sorry that we didn’t send the right message to the 2,500 Besiktas fans who came here to support us. We will try to make it up to them.”
Some superb dunks by David Nwaba and Josh Sharma had the home fans in full swing, while Matt Morgan poured a game-high 20 points as London took the game by the scruff of the neck at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. Morgan was quick to point out that the Lions beat Besiktas at the visiting team’s own game, with the hosts prevailing in a physical battle.
“We just played with intensity,” he commented. “We know how physical they are, they’re a really good team and we did a good job matching them for 40 minutes. It was a team effort as everybody who came on did their job. I love the physicality, but at the end of the day it’s just basketball. I’ve got some really good friends over there.”
An important win for London
London put behind its patchy home form and improved to 4-4 at Copper Box Arena. Bozic praised the home faithful, who often looked like visitors on their own court in comparison to the fervent 2,500 Besiktas fans, who cheered their team relentlessly. Inadvertently, that might have played into London’s hands as the Lions have a 7-1 record on the road, where they seem more comfortable this season.
“This team has character and gets fired up for away games when the crowd is against them, but our fans were definitely motivated tonight and got behind us,” Bozic stressed.
“It was an extremely important game for both teams. We knew that Besiktas is a very dangerous team which they showed in the third quarter, but we were fortunate to have enough guys in the rotation. I am proud this arena was full again and hopefully we will see more of that in the next few months.”
Both sets of fans generated an electrifying yet amicable atmosphere and Alimpijevic hailed the effort by Besiktas fans, who came from various parts of Britain, Europe and Istanbul itself to support their team.
“Their presence here to generate a full house was good for the EuroCup, good for the club and good for the city [of London],” he said. “We let them down, though, and that makes me sad.”