Liga OTP banka Round 4 of Regular Season

Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The biggest surprise of round 4 was guest Ilirija's (#3) easy road victory over Zlatorog (#5) 93-69 on Wednesday evening. Ilirija forced 20 Zlatorog turnovers. It was a great shooting night for Ilirija especially from behind the arc, where they had solid 61.1 percentage. American guard Cameron Shelton (188-1999, college: LMU) fired 12 points and 5 assists for the winners. Guard Jan Copot (199-2001) chipped in 13 points and 5 rebounds. American forward Mahmoud Bangura (201-2003, college: UNCP) produced a double-double by scoring 19 points and 10 rebounds (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field) for lost side. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Ilirija maintains third position with 3-1 record behind leader Krka, which they share with Hopsi Polzela. Zlatorog at the other side keeps the fifth place with two games lost. They share the position with Nova Gorica. Ilirija is looking forward to face bottom-ranked Sentjur (#10) at home in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Zlatorog will play against Helios Suns (#9) in Domzale and is hoping to prove to their fans that the loss was just an accident.
Important game to mention about took place in Kranj. Eighth ranked Rogaska (1-3) saved a 2-point victory on the road edging 7th ranked Triglav (1-3) 74-72 in the fight for the seventh place. Worth to mention a great performance of American point guard Jalen Benjamin (178-2001, college: Santa Clara) who helped to win the game recording 27 points. Patrik Tabak contributed with 14 points and 4 assists for the winners. point guard Nejc Klavzar (187-1999) replied with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists for Triglav. Triglav's coach tried various players' combinations and tested in total eleven players in this game, but that didn't help. Rogaska left bottom position moving up to seventh place, which they share with defeated Triglav. Rogaska will play against league's leader Krka in Novo Mesto in the next round and they do not belong to the favorites in that game. Triglav's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Kranj to the arena Sencur Gor..
Undefeated leader Krka delivered the fourth consecutive victory on Wednesday night. This time they crushed bottom-ranked Helios Suns (0-4) 92-68 in Novo Mesto. Worth to mention a quality performance of Jazon Kroselj who helped to win the game recording 18 points and 5 assists. At the losing side Jost Flerin responded with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Krka have a solid four-game winning streak. They maintain first position with 4-0 record, which they share with Sencur Gor. Loser Helios Suns still closes the standings with four games lost. They share the position with Sentjur. Krka will meet Rogaska (#7) in the next round where they are favorite. Helios Suns will play against Zlatorog and hope to get finally their first victory.

In the last two games of round 4 Hopsi Polzela defeated Sentjur in a road game 84-67. Nova Gorica lost to undefeated Sencur Gor. at home 70-76.
The best stats of 4th round was 16 points and 6 rebounds by Jaka Klobucar of Nova Gorica.



Krka - Helios Suns 92-68:
Undefeated leader Krka delivered the fourth consecutive victory on Wednesday night. This time they crushed bottom-ranked Helios Suns (0-4) 92-68 in Novo Mesto. Krka outrebounded Helios Suns 39-23 including 27 on the defensive glass. Krka looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. Worth to mention a quality performance of guard Jazon Kroselj (185-2008) who helped to win the game recording 18 points and 5 assists and Lenart Sirc (204-2003) who added 12 points and 9 rebounds during the contest. At the losing side point guard Jost Flerin (200-2003) responded with 14 points and 7 rebounds and Maks Ciperle (200-2008) scored 13 points and 5 rebounds. Five Krka and four Helios Suns players scored in double figures. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Krka have a solid four-game winning streak. They maintain first position with 4-0 record, which they share with Sencur Gor. Loser Helios Suns still closes the standings with four games lost. They share the position with Sentjur. Krka will meet Rogaska (#7) in the next round where they are favorite. Helios Suns will play against Zlatorog and hope to get finally their first victory.
Top scorers:
Helios Suns: J.Flerin 14+7reb+2ast, M.Ciperle 13+5reb+1ast, D.Krizanic 10+1reb+1ast, C.Cabrilo 10+1reb+3ast, F.Pirs 7+1reb+3ast, L.Lovro 6+4reb+1ast
Krka: K.Jazon 18+2reb+5ast, B.Djordje 15+3reb, S.Lenart 12+9reb, M.Blaz 11+2reb+2ast, D.Jon 10+3reb+5ast, S.Naje 9+5reb+1ast

Zlatorog - Ilirija 69-93:
The biggest surprise of round 4 was guest Ilirija's (#3) easy road victory over Zlatorog (#5) 93-69 on Wednesday evening. Ilirija forced 20 Zlatorog turnovers. It was a great shooting night for Ilirija especially from behind the arc, where they had solid 61.1 percentage. American guard Cameron Shelton (188-1999, college: LMU) fired 12 points and 5 assists for the winners. Guard Jan Copot (199-2001) chipped in 13 points and 5 rebounds. Four Ilirija players scored in double figures. American forward Mahmoud Bangura (201-2003, college: UNCP) produced a double-double by scoring 19 points and 10 rebounds (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field) and German-Croatian guard Luka Stojic (192-2007) added 14 points respectively for lost side. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Ilirija maintains third position with 3-1 record behind leader Krka, which they share with Hopsi Polzela. Zlatorog at the other side keeps the fifth place with two games lost. They share the position with Nova Gorica. Ilirija is looking forward to face bottom-ranked Sentjur (#10) at home in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Zlatorog will play against Helios Suns (#9) in Domzale and is hoping to prove to their fans that the loss was just an accident.
Top scorers:
Zlatorog: M.Bangura 19+10reb, S.Luka 14+1reb+1ast, A.Stapleton 13+1ast, T.Pesjak 6+1reb+5ast, P.Dorotic 5+3reb+4ast, J.Santro 4+2reb+1ast
Ilirija: H.Vit 13+3reb+1ast, C.Jan 13+5reb+1ast, S.Cameron 12+4reb+5ast, M.Edo 12+1reb+3ast, T.Stefan 11+3reb+2ast, D.Hunter 9+5reb+2ast

Triglav - Rogaska 72-74:
Important game to mention about took place in Kranj. Eighth ranked Rogaska (1-3) saved a 2-point victory on the road edging 7th ranked Triglav (1-3) 74-72 in the fight for the seventh place. Worth to mention a great performance of American point guard Jalen Benjamin (178-2001, college: Santa Clara) who helped to win the game recording 27 points. Guard Patrik Tabak (195-2000) contributed with 14 points and 4 assists for the winners. point guard Nejc Klavzar (187-1999) replied with 13 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists and ex-international Leon Santelj (205-1995) added 12 points and 8 rebounds in the effort for Triglav. Five Triglav players scored in double figures. Triglav's coach tried various players' combinations and tested in total eleven players in this game, but that didn't help. Rogaska left bottom position moving up to seventh place, which they share with defeated Triglav. Rogaska will play against league's leader Krka in Novo Mesto in the next round and they do not belong to the favorites in that game. Triglav's supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Kranj to the arena Sencur Gor..
Top scorers:
Triglav: A.Bobnar 13+4reb+1ast, N.Klavzar 13+6reb+7ast, L.Santelj 12+8reb+1ast, N.Belko 11+2reb+7ast, I.Zukanovic 11+3reb+2ast, M.Mikus 10+4reb+1ast
Rogaska: B.Jalen 27+2reb+3ast, T.Patrik 14+2reb+4ast, D.Jan 9+10reb, R.Jalen 9+8reb, M.Bojan 4+3reb, K.Rok 4+2reb

Sentjur - Hopsi Polzela 67-84:
There was no surprise when bottom-ranked Sentjur (0-4) was defeated at home by fourth ranked Hopsi Polzela (3-1) 84-67 on Saturday. Hopsi Polzela outrebounded Sentjur 43-31 including 29 on the defensive glass. Worth to mention a great performance of the former international power forward Dino Muric (201-1990) who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 15 points and 16 rebounds and center Ziga Fifolt (210-1993) who added 17 points and 7 rebounds during the contest. Hopsi Polzela's coach Nejc Kobal used a ten-player rotation and allowed the starting five to rest. At the losing side the former international Urban Durnik (204-1997) responded with 14 points and 9 rebounds and swingman Ozbej Glavan (198-2001) produced a double-double by scoring 11 points and 11 rebounds. Four Sentjur players scored in double figures. Hopsi Polzela moved-up to third place, which they share with Ilirija. Loser Sentjur still closes the standings with four games lost. They share the position with Helios Suns. Hopsi Polzela will meet at home Nova Gorica (#5) in the next round. Sentjur will play against Ilirija (#4) in Ljubljana and looks forward to get finally their first victory.
Top scorers:
Sentjur: M.Domen 16+6ast, U.Durnik 14+9reb+1ast, S.Malone 12+2reb+1ast, O.Glavan 11+11reb+1ast, R.Pajk 4+4reb+1ast, Z.Kosic 4+4ast
Hopsi Polzela: F.Ziga 17+7reb, M.Dino 15+16reb+3ast, D.Nik 12+10reb, B.Nejc 9+3reb+10ast, V.Daniel 9+2reb+1ast, H.Kameron 8+2ast

Nova Gorica - Sencur Gor. 70-76:
No shocking result in a game when top-ranked Sencur Gor. (4-0) defeated on the road 5th ranked Nova Gorica (2-2) 76-70 on Saturday. Worth to mention a great performance of Latvian Ricards Vanags (204-2002) who helped to win the game recording 14 points and 7 rebounds and American guard Xavier Lipscomb (188-2002, college: Mt.St.Mary's) who added 12 points and 6 rebounds during the contest. Vanags is a former Eurobasket Summer League player, which is considered top international summer league in the market. At the losing side Igor Struger (204-2001) responded with a double-double by scoring 14 points and 10 rebounds and ex-international Jaka Klobucar (198-1987) scored 16 points and 6 rebounds. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Sencur Gor. have a solid four-game winning streak. They keep a position of league leader, which they share with Krka. Newly promoted Nova Gorica keeps the fifth place with two games lost. They share the position with Zlatorog. Sencur Gor.'s supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Kranj Triglav.
Top scorers:
Nova Gorica: J.Klobucar 16+6reb+3ast, L.Arian 14+5reb+4ast, I.Struger 14+10reb+1ast, K.Janko 9+2reb+2ast, N.Dizdarevic 8+1reb+2ast, L.Jereb 5+3reb+5ast
Sencur Gor.: V.Ricards 14+7reb+1ast, L.Xavier 12+6reb+3ast, S.Grosic 12+3reb+2ast, U.Nik 9+5reb+1ast, K.Tine 6+2reb, L.Majstorovic 6+4reb