Radnicki’s late surge

Day 14, Group A – Vouliagmeni (GRE) v Radnicki Kragujevac (SRB) 9-10

With everything settled, this game was about prestige and for the Greeks, about preparing for their first-ever Final Eight. It was a fine battle, Radnicki wanted to end the season on a high, to leave all the problems they had to deal with during the season.

The lead was changing from time to time but neither side could take the upper hand for a while – it stood 4-4 at halftime, then the Greeks managed to gain a two-goal lead after 6-6. However, in the dying seconds Radnicki earned a penalty after a lucky rebound, Nikola Lukic buried it to halve the distance before the last break. 

Vouliagmeni missed a crucial 6 on 5 early in the fourth so instead of resetting the two-goal gap soon they found themselves being caught up as Nemanja Stanojevic made it 8-8 from action. The post denied their next man-up and soon Radnicki went 8-9 up with a penalty and after another killed man-down Stanojevic hit another one. This 0-4 run decided the outcome – the Greeks were unable to score for 6:34 minutes and even though they could finally pull one back with 2:35 to go, they cannot add any more in the remaining time, despite having two more 6 on 5s.