Dubai Basketball show their class to topple EuroLeague leaders Crvena Zvezda

Bosnian centre Kenan Kamenjas racks up 20 points and nine rebounds as hosts deliver best result of season so far

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  Dubai Basketball's Kenan Kamenjas and McKinley Wright during the 102-86 EuroLeague win against Crvena Zvezda.

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  Dubai Basketball's McKinley Wright goes to the basket against Crvena Zvezda.

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  Dubai Basketball's Awudu Abass scores against Crvena Zvezda.

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  Crvena Zvezda's Yago Dos Santos, left, and Aleksa Avramovic of Dubai Basketball in action. EPA

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  Crvena Zvezda's Yago Dos Santos and Aleksa Avramovic of Dubai Basketball in action. EPA

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  Crvena Zvezda's Codi Miller-Mcintyre, left, and Klemen Prespelic of Dubai Basketball. EPA

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  Crvena Zvezda's Codi Miller-Mcintyre, left, and Klemen Prespelic. EPA

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  Dwayne Bacon of Dubai Basketball and Crvena Zvezda's Nikola Kalinic. EPA

Dubai Basketball stormed to their biggest EuroLeague win of the season with a 102-86 home destruction of Serbian side Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) at the Coca-Cola Arena on Tuesday night.

The victory knocks the visitors off top spot in EuroLeague, ending their seven-game winning streak while lifting Dubai to 15th in the world’s second-best basketball competition.

Bosnian centre Kenan Kamenjas led Dubai with 20 points and nine rebounds – his strongest performance of the season – while US point guard McKinley Wright scored 18 points and added six assists against the Belgrade outfit.

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Serbian guard Aleksa Avramovic, a high-profile summer signing who missed the start of the season through injury, made his EuroLeague debut for Dubai, scoring 17 points off the bench.

Dubai were missing star Canadian centre Mfiondu Kabengele, who is averaging 13.9 points and 6.1 rebounds in EuroLeague play.

But that did not stop them from establishing a physical presence in the paint from tip-off against the 2023-24 ABA champions.

The home side set the tone with a fast tempo, focusing on offensive rebounding to create second-chance scoring while emphasising balanced ball movement.

The hosts finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds and 24 assists. Serbian forward Filip Petrusev added a strong all-around display with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while former NBA guard Dwayne Bacon added 16 points.

Head coach Jurica Golemac praised his team's spirit and urged the Dubai fans to keep turning out and backing the team as they seek to climb the standings.

“Today we played a good game with strong energy and focus," said Golemac. "I’m happy with how the team responded, especially after a tough week. We showed character, fighting from the start until the end.

“Now we have to prepare for the next one. It’s going to be another tough game and we’ll need our fans again because they give us that energy, especially in the important moments.”

Dubai’s next game is against second-placed Zalgiris Kaunas, with the Lithuanian giants visiting the Coca-Cola Arena on November 14.