June 4, 2023 - Zadar is the Croatian basketball champion for the fourth time in the club's history after defeating Split in three games in the finals.
On Sunday, after two away victories, Zadar celebrated at home, at the "Krešimir Ćosić" hall. Without any drama, Zadar convincingly won 99-62 (27-17, 24-9, 18-10, 30-26), leaving Split without a chance at the championship title.
This was the eighth final Split has lost. However, Zadar still holds the record in this area, losing the finals twelve times in the club's history. Cibona still holds the record in Croatia with 20 championship titles, while Cedevita Zagreb has won the title five times.
This season's final series was a replay of the finals two years ago when Zadar and Split met. Zadar was also better then.
Sunday's game was already decided after the first half. Zadar won the first quarter 27-17, and then further increased their advantage and went to halftime leading 51-26. There was no coming back for the Split team. In the third quarter, Zadar was ahead by more than 30 points, and in the last quarter, they were up by 40.
Luka Božić was Zadar's hero, recording a triple-double performance with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. He also had three steals. Dario Drežnjak scored 19 points, Arijan Lakić added 13 with five rebounds, and Marko Ramljak 10 points and five rebounds.
Tonko Vuko was the best for Split with 11 points, and Boris Tišma scored eight with six rebounds and three assists.
Source: HRT
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