The vacant hall in Železnik resonated during Mihailo Pavićević’s timeout. Mornar struggled to find their rhythm in the Belgrade suburbs, at one point trailing by 25 points, but they did show some response and managed to make it competitive towards the end. However, a miraculous comeback was not in the cards.

After a victory over Krk in the previous round, the team from Bar found themselves back in the loss column — marking their 24th defeat after 26 rounds of the AdmiralBet ABA League, with FMP defeating the Montenegrin side 87:72.

While hope is not entirely lost for Mornar just yet, it is becoming increasingly clear that only a possible expansion of the ABA League—frequently mentioned as of late—could save them from relegation this season.

The first half saw the score fluctuating between a seven to thirteen-point deficit for the team from Bar, and when FMP went on an 8:0 run to lead 15:8, they allowed their opponents to close the gap, but not quite overcome it.

Outside of Roko Rogić and Lovro Buljević, who accounted for nearly all points in the opening 20 minutes, few players were performing well during that stretch.

The score was 37:25 at halftime, and after three and a half minutes of the third quarter, it ballooned to 50:32, with Joshua Scott and Nikola Gašić contributing to a sizable 59:36 lead.

The score reached a staggering 61:36, but the players from Bar finally found their footing and closed the gap to 61:50 with a strong run.

In the final quarter, following a basket by Chick Carter, they threatened at 64:56, but their momentum was halted by Filip Barna’s nine consecutive points.

National team player Petar Popović also contributed six points for FMP, making it clear well before the final buzzer that a comeback was unlikely.

Buljević concluded the match with 21 points, while Rogić added 14. Lovre Runjić chipped in with 13, and Donald Pember scored 11. For FMP, Barna finished with 21, and Popović had 11.

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