Dubai Basketball have won all three of their opening games this season.
Dubai: Dubai Basketball opened their ABA League title defence with an 85-70 victory over Perpektiva Ilirija in Ljubljana, controlling the contest from start to finish at Tivoli Sports Hall.
Head coach Xavi Pascual rotated his squad for the season opener, naming Thomas Walkup, Davion Mintz, Tornike Shengelia, Mamadi Diakite and Dwayne Bacon in the starting five.
Regular starters McKinley Wright IV, Mfiondu Kabengele and Davis Bertans were given the night off, while Elie Okobo and Jaron Blossomgame entered the action after half-time as Pascual managed his options throughout the game.
Dubai quickly took control of the contest, converting five of their first seven attempts from beyond the arc. An early 7-0 run pushed the visitors into a 16-8 lead before Ilirija responded with five unanswered points.
Dubai soon regained the momentum, finishing the opening quarter with a 9-2 run to establish a 10-point advantage.
The visitors were slower to find their offensive rhythm in the second quarter, going without a field goal for the opening three minutes and 23 seconds. But once the shots began to fall, Dubai took firm control of the game, producing an impressive 17-0 run in less than four minutes.
Contributions came from across the team as Dubai stretched their advantage to 20 points by half-time, having converted seven of their 14 attempts from three-point range.
Kenan Kamenjas also made his presence felt on the boards, grabbing seven rebounds in just seven minutes during the second quarter.
Pascual made further changes at half-time, with Kosta Kondic, Elie Okobo, Nemanja Dangubic, Jaron Blossomgame and Mamadi Diakite starting the third quarter.
Okobo made an immediate impact off the bench, hitting a step-back three-pointer before delivering a perfectly weighted lob for Kenan Kamenjas to finish powerfully at the rim.
He remained on court for the entire third quarter, contributing eight points and two assists before being rested for the remainder of the contest.
Dubai headed into the final quarter with a commanding 24-point advantage and were able to control the tempo, running down the clock as Ilirija looked for a way back into the game.
The hosts produced a late surge, hitting three three-pointers during a 16-5 run over the final three-and-a-half minutes. But the deficit proved too large to overturn, with Dubai comfortably closing out the victory to collect three points from their opening ABA League fixture.
Edo Muric led Ilirija with 15 points and five rebounds, while Davion Mintz topped the scoring for Dubai with 20 points. Mintz shot an efficient 7-of-12 from the field, including 5-of-9 from three-point range.
Kamenjas finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Tornike Shengelia added 11 points and four assists.
Dubai Basketball will now return to the UAE to prepare for their EuroLeague Round 4 clash against Crvena Zvezda on Thursday, October 8.
