Ghanaian Small Forward, Ben Bentil recorded a near double-double in Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade MTS)’s debut loss in the 2022-2023 Adriatic Basketball League.
The Adriatic Basketball League is a basketball competition that has teams from Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina featuring in it.
Red Star lost 96-98 to Croatia’s Zadar; a game in which Bentil registered 19 points, nine rebounds, two steals and three assists in 28:45 minutes.
The former Olimpia Milano player converted four of eight two-point shots and was equally efficient from three-point range as he scored three of six attempts. He added to his point tally by scoring a couple of free throws.
The loss is the first for Red Star in five ABA League games; Red Star is third in the 14-team league standings behind fellow Serbian rivals Partizan Belgrade and FMP Beograd.
Bentil is averaging 13 points, five rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals in five ABA League games in his first season after joining from Italian side, Olimpia Milano.
In Europe, Bentil has been in impressive form, averaging 14.2 points, 6.2 points and 1.2 assists in six Euroleague games, though the Serbian club has won just one game all season.
Red Star plays Turkish club, Fenerbache next on Thursday, November 10 at 17:00 GMT.
Bentil is the first Ghana-born player to play in the NBA after a brief run with Dallas Mavericks.