Dubai Basketball beat Perpektiva Ilirija 85-70 in ABA League opener

Mixed · 2Dubai Basketball began their ABA League title defence with an 85-70 win over Perpektiva Ilirija at Tivoli Sports Hall in Ljubljana, leading from start to finish. 1 2 Mixed · 2Head coach Xavi Pascual changed his starting five, starting Thomas Walkup, Davion Mintz, Tornike Shengelia and Mamadi Diakite alongside Dwayne Bacon, and rested regular starters McKinley Wright IV, Mfiondu Kabengele and Davis Bertans. 1 2 Mixed · 2Dubai hit five of their first seven three-point attempts, and an early 7-0 burst put them 16-8 up before Ilirija scored five straight points; a 9-2 run closed the first quarter with Dubai 10 ahead. 1 2

Mixed · 2In the second quarter Dubai went three minutes and 23 seconds without a field goal, then scored 17 unanswered points in under four minutes and led by 20 at half-time, shooting 7-of-14 from three-point range. 1 2 Mixed · 2Elie Okobo and Jaron Blossomgame came off the bench after the break; Okobo played the whole third quarter, scoring eight points with two assists, including a step-back three and a lob to Kenan Kamenjas. 1 2 Mixed · 2Dubai led by 24 entering the final quarter and ran down the clock, while Ilirija finished with a 16-5 run over the last three-and-a-half minutes, including three three-pointers, which was not enough. 1 2

Mixed · 2Mintz led Dubai with 20 points (7-of-12 from the field, 5-of-9 from three), Kamenjas had 11 points and eight rebounds, and Shengelia 11 points and four assists; Edo Muric top-scored for Ilirija with 15 points and five rebounds. 1 2 Mixed · 2Dubai return to the UAE to prepare for a EuroLeague round-four game against Crvena Zvezda on Thursday, 8 October. 1 2