Slovenian basketball club Union Olimpija failed to accomplish a stunning
reversal against Tau Ceramica of Spain yesterday, suffering their second defeat
in the second round of Euroleague, Europe's premier basketball competition.
The club from the Slovenian capital Ljubljana lost a nail-biter against Tau
Ceramica with 90-91 before the cheering home crowd, the Slovenian news agency
STA reported.
After clearly dominating the first half and heading into half-time with a
12-point lead, Tau Ceramica built up an impressive 21-point lead (49-70) by the
end of the third quarter, said the reports.
Union Olimpija's captain Marko Milic effected a reversal with seven
consecutive point and took Olimpija within six points of the Spanish club five
minutes before the final whistle.
In the nervous final minutes, a three-pointer by Jonathan Wallace took
Olimpija into the lead for the first time. But Tau Ceramica scored through Mirza
Teletovic just three seconds before the end.
One week ago, Union Olimpija opened this year's campaign in theEuroleague in
Badalona with a 64-81 loss to DKV Joventut.
Slovenia's sole representative in Euroleague is playing in Group C, which
also includes Turkey's Fenerbahce Ulker, Lottomatica Roma of Italy and Alba
Berlin. Tau Ceramica survived the tough test on Thursday and became the only
undefeated team in the group.
Union Olimpija aims to progress through the group stage, which the team has
failed to achieve since the 2003/04 season.
The first stage of the 2008/2009 Euroleague is to finish on Jan. 15, 2009,
with the top four of six teams in every group advancing to the Top 16 stage.