The basketball team of Bosnia and Herzegovina was defeated by Serbia on Sunday evening in Sarajevo with 72:74, in the matches of the second round of qualification for the World Championship.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s basketball players did not manage to get their first victory in the qualifiers, even though they had the upper hand for most of the match against a favored opponent. However, Serbia is similar to the first round, in the last quarter managed to make a turnaroundfirst of all thanks to the good game of Jatramaz and Tanasković who caused big problems for Bosnia and Herzegovina. teams in the attack phase. The defeat was also caused by Atić’s foul in the 32nd minute and then technical exclusion error by Atićwhen the decline in the game of Bosnia and Herzegovina began. teams.
After the first three minutes in which they did not hit the basket, missing five attacks, the BiH basketball players managed to consolidate and thanks to the excellent defense completely download the game. Vrabac played an excellent role in both directions, and he was joined by Castaneda, Alibegović and Atić, who gave Bosnia and Herzegovina a six-point lead.
In the second quarter of BiH. basketball players, led by the support of more than 5,000 fans in Skenderijathey continued their good defense, and with points from Ilić and Simanić and a three-pointer from Castaneda in the 15th minute, they went nine points ahead. Bosnia and Herzegovina held the advantage until the last minute Serbia succeeded with a series of points to get back to just four points behind.
In the second half, the good game of Bosnia and Herzegovina continued. teams in defense, but also several missed clean shots which they missed the chance for a double-digit lead. Instead, Serbia came back completely level and after five minutes came only one point behind. He ended the streak Penava hits with a foul and returns to plus four point advantage.
BiH struggled a lot in shooting for three points, but also from the free throw line, but Penava maintained the advantage of the BiH selection with five tied points.
The key moment happened in the 32nd minute when Atić received the fourth personaland due to the stormy reaction and the technical one that was exclusionary, BiH was left without an important player for the last eight minutes.
That’s when BH’s game began to decline. team, so Serbia slowly began to take control, and a minute later, after a long time, it took the lead. To two Momirov’s triples from the same place, Serbia took the lead with four points, which was ultimately unattainable for Bosnia and Herzegovina. team, which nevertheless had the opportunity to reach a tie in the end, and perhaps a victory. Castaneda scored five points in the last 26 seconds, and Serbia lost possession six seconds before the end when throwing the ball into play, so BiH had the last attack, but Alibegović missed a shot for extra time in the last second.
In the end, Serbia got the second victory and the first place in the group tied with Turkeywhich beat Switzerland 85:60 today away from home.
Castaneda with 19, Sulejmanović with 11, Vrabac with nine, and Alibegović, Atić and Penava with eight points were the most effective in the BiH selection. Serbia was translated by Tanasković with 24, Jaramaz with 15 and Momirov with 11 points.
The qualifications continue at the end of February and the beginning of March next year when Bosnia and Herzegovina plays a double-header with Switzerland.
Gjergja: Small details made the difference
The coach of the basketball national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dario Gjergja, congratulated the national team of Serbia on the victory, but emphasized that it would not be undeserved if BiH also won.
Small details made the difference. We had a lot of missed free throws and three-pointers, said Gjergja, adding that i the departure of Atić due to five personal fouls godfather to the defeat.
This is sport, and sport is sometimes exact. Some guys haven’t played at this leveland that is not easy to do in two or three days. It is a process that will take time, but I believe that this will be an incentive for them to do something more. We deserved maybe a lot more, but I have to be proud of them. When the other guys come along, and I hope they do, we’ll have a chance to do even better things, said the coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The matches with Switzerland will be decisive and we knew that before. What you do against Turkey and Serbia is a bonus. I don’t think they can repeat what the Swiss showed against Serbia, and that was seen today against Turkey. We have to focus on us, analyze this well, see where we went wrong and bring it to the level of the new year, concluded Gjergja.
(Female | Photo: FIBA)
