Bosna lost a 15-point lead in Hungary, will have a tough job in the second leg

(Patria) - Hungarian Szombathely defeated Bosna tonight in their arena, in the first leg of the FIBA Europe Cup quarterfinals, with a score of 81:66, thus gaining an advantage before the second leg in Sarajevo.

Muhamed Pašalić's team showed more fight than in the last match against Partizan, but made several crucial mistakes in the final moments of tonight's game.

In addition, a motivated Perl was the biggest problem for the Students' defense and one of the main reasons for the Sarajevo team's defeat, writes arenasport.

The first quarter saw an even game on both sides. In Bosna's ranks, Halilović stood out the most, carrying his team's offense.

Midway through the period, led by Perl, the home team managed to gain a seven-point lead, but the Students equalized with points from Šalić at the very end, so after ten minutes of play, the score was 23:23.



The second quarter was dominated by Bosna. The Sarajevo team played very effectively, scoring from different positions, with Atić and Caruthers particularly standing out.

At one point, the Students went on a 17:0 run and gained a double-digit lead. The teams went into halftime with Bosna leading 46:37.

However, the second half brought a completely different picture on the court.

Bosna had significant problems in offense in the third quarter and waited almost five minutes for their first points in the second half.

Szombathely played much more aggressively in defense during that period, closing off the approaches to the basket and taking control of the game through Novaković and Perl. The home team won the third quarter 22:10.

The beginning of the last quarter was also not good for the guests from Sarajevo.

Bosna's players failed to score for more than three minutes, which the hosts used to further increase their lead. However, midway through the quarter, the Students played tighter defense and managed to get closer with points from Young and Plummer.



Just when it seemed that Bosna might catch up completely, new offensive errors followed, while Perl continued to score and maintain his team's lead.

Szombathely thus regained control in the final minutes and brought the match to an end for a final score of 81:66.

The most effective player for the winning team was Perl with 29 points, while Aleksa Novaković added 16. For Bosna, Joesaar was the best with 11, while Atić scored 10 points.

The second leg, which will decide who advances to the FIBA Europe Cup semifinals, will be played in seven days in Sarajevo.