The slow burning Lions leave it late in Slovenia to confirm their 12th European victory of the season.
Guards Matt Morgan and Luke Nelson combined for 45 points as London keep the pressure on second placed Tel Aviv..
Perhaps to many’s surprise, the London Lions have continued to upsetthe odds in this year’s EuroCup - regularly picking up crucial road victoriesin tightly contested games. Although on this occasion they were facing anout-of-sorts Ljubljana side, the Lions dug deep to pick up their eighth awayvictory of the campaign.
As a result, Petar Božić’s team will finish the regular season of this season’s EuroCup campaign with one road defeat to their name - which came in Paris on Boxing Day.
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Having won just one of their 16 EuroCup games heading into the game, the hosts entered the fixture without any pressure - which perhaps benefited them.
Ljubljana won the first quarter 20-13, with 23-year-old AlexandarShashkov draining a three-pointer at the buzzer to give his side a seven-pointcushion with 10 minutes of action in the books.
In the second quarter, the roles reversed as London found its feet in the game. Matt Morgan, who knocked down three triples of his own on the night, found his range as the American led London into the lead ahead of the halftime break.
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The home side, locally known as ‘The Dragons’, showed plenty of fighting spirit in the third quarter when both sides had the hot hand.
Jaka Blažič led the game in scoring with 28 points, converting six ofhis 11 three-point attempts in his 29 minutes on the floor. The Slovenian’sshooting, alongside Karlo Matković’s intensity on both ends of the court,helped to keep Lljubljana in the contest.
However, sloppy possessions prevented the hosts from taking the leadinto the final quarter. Instead, London had a narrow one-point advantage with10 minutes of basketball to be played.
At the end of the third quarter, Great Britain's Luke Nelson foundsome good form which he carried over into the fourth. The guard finished theevening by making seven of his nine shooting attempts - which included afour-point play in the late stages of the match.
The teams were level on points with just over two minutes left in the game. However, a strong finish from the visitors resulted in the Lions taking another valuable victory back to East London.
Watch the highlights from Cedevita OlimpijaLjubljana vs London Lions here.
