London Lions hold off Olimpija Ljubljana

By Alan Mezoela on February 1, 2024

London Lions hold off Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, 85-92, in BKT EuroCup action at the Arena Stozice on Wednesday evening.

London Lions held off Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, 85-92, in BKT EuroCup action at the Arena Stozice on Wednesday evening.

With the victory, Lions (12-5) stayed alive in the race for a top-two spot in Group A.

Luke Nelson has a EuroCup career-high 19 points off the bench for London, playing a key role down the stretch as he helped his team to secure an important win.

“Every game in the EuroCup is very competitive,” Nelson said after the game.

“They only have one win but that doesn’t speak to the skill and talent level that they have. They play good basketball. They’re tough to guard. They had a couple of streaks, but we stayed resilient.

“Every game is important. We’re fighting for that second place. All we can do is win our games. And we did that.”

Following a tough start, London came back in the game in the second quarter leading by two at half-time.

Lions were forced to find a way to win without Head Coach Petar Bozic as he was ejected for a double technical with 6:34 remaining in the third quarter.

Cedevita rallied behind a Jaka Blazic on fire from behind the arc as he finished the game with five three-pointers as Lions had to come behind from down 10 to finish the period with a one point lead.

In the fourth, Ljubljana took the first strikes before they took turns in striking as the lead went back and forth. The Slovenian side looked like they broke the deadlock as they took a five point lead with four minutes remaining, however, Lions had other ideas.

A Nelson four point play saw Lions take the lead before the Lions rode out winners.

Away win for @LondonLions pic.twitter.com/ERZQG1yy9h

— BKT EuroCup (@EuroCup) January 31, 2024

Matt Morgan recorded 20 points in back-to-back games as he led the Lions with 26 points and 6 assists. Conor Morgan added 14 points.

Jaka Blazic led Olimpija Ljubljana with 28 points. Karlo Matkovic tallied 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks.

Up next, the London Lions will face Wolves Vilnus at home for the last game of the BKT EuroCup regular season on February 7th at 7.30pm.

Box score.

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