The visitors erased an early double-digit deficit to triumph in the Slovenian capital
Prometey rolls past Cedevita in Ljubljana, 83-90



Prometey Slobozhanske snapped a two-game losing streak and pulled out a valuable win over Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, 83-90, from Arena Stozice on Wednesday evening. The visitors trailed 22-32 early in the second quarter, but managed to swing it to 51-61 after the intermission and confirmed the outcome in the fourth quarter.
Prometey, which improved to 2-2, was led by Ronald March, who finished with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4-of-8 from downtown. Marcus Keene added 12 points, 5 boards and 7 assists, Ondrej Balvin posted 11 points and 14 rebounds and Ivan Tkachenko contributed 10 points. Klemen Prepelic tallied 16 points and 11 assists in his first game this season and Karlo Matkovic provided 18 points and 9 boards for Cedevita in a losing effort. Cedevita remained winless with 4 defeats in as many games.
Despite Oleksandr Lipovyy opening things with a triple, it was the home team that took control of the game thanks to the duo of Matkovic and Stewart, who combined for Cedevita’s first 10 points to take a 10-5 advantage. Blazic connected from downtown to make it bigger, but Prometey resisted thanks to a powerful rebounding display and a couple of threes by Keene to even things at 15-15. Cedevita stepped up thanks to Matkovic and Prepelic, who led an 11-3 run that closed the first period with the hosts up 26-18.
Things got worse for the visitors early in the second, as Stewart made it a double-digit margin, 30-20. Prometey called for a timeout and changed its style, forgetting about three-point shots and focusing on the inside. As such, Tai Oliase first and then Balvin, reduced the gap to 32-29 in the blink of an eye. Keene and March took over later, followed by a triple and a slam by Tkachenko that created a 39-44 edge for the visitors. Cedevita responded twice from deep to tie it again, 45-45, until Keene provided a couple of free throws to make it 45-47 at halftime.
Game Videos
Caleb Agada sustained Prometey’s offense early in the second half, extending the margin to 49-54, right before he headed the bench because of his third foul. But it didn’t stop the visitors, who found consecutive baskets by Odiase, Rashard Kelly and Lippovvy to complete a 20-point swing and take a 51-61 lead. Balvin kept showing muscle under the rim and helped Prometey retain a 56-65 advantage that March managed to increase to 60-72 soon after. Cedevita decided to bet on a zone defense, and it worked fine for a while, as it held the visitors scoreless for the last 2 minutes of the third quarter and reduced the gap to 65-72.
Prometey continued to struggle in offense entering the final stanza, spending 2 more minutes without scoring and allowing Cedevita to make it a one-possession game after Stewart and Matkovic scored, 70-72. March took over right after a Prometey timeout with a three that calmed things down for the visitors. Tkachenko showed up again with 5 points in a row that restored a double-digit lead to Prometey, 72-82. Stewart kept rocking to try to get his team closer, but another tripe by March entering crunch time maintained a comfortable cushion, 78-87, for Prometey, which never looked back.