STOJAKOVIĆ TOOK ILLINOIS TO THE FINAL FOUR! Chicago and the entire state celebrate the “Balkan boys”, a huge win for the guys with “ić” in their names! (VIDEO)

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! In the case of Andrej Stojaković, the son of legendary Serbian national team player Predrag, you can bet that’s true!

The younger Stojaković led his University of Illinois to the final tournament of the best college basketball teams in America tonight in Houston, after a 71:59 win over Iowa!

Andrej scored 17 points (shooting 9-7, 5 reb), was at his best when it mattered most, hitting several of the biggest shots in the closing moments when the winner was decided.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Illinois Men's Basketball (@illinimbb)

Standing shoulder to shoulder with him were the other Balkan boys, several players from our region who make up Illinois’ starting five.

The excellent David Mirković (Montenegro) grabbed everything under the basket (12 rebounds), scored 9 points, while the Croatian twins were also outstanding, Tomislav Ivišić (13 pts, 4 reb, 2 blk) and his brother Zvonimir (4 pts, 1 blk).

The top scorer for the Fighting Illini was Wagler with 25 points (3 ast, 2 reb), who, along with the others, will next weekend in Indianapolis have the chance to win the most popular sports trophy in America, the NCAA championship title.

SRĐAN SE OŽENIO IRANKOM, PA JE DOVEO U SVOJE SELO: Kako je Nasim postala Jelena u kući u kojoj se govori 5 jezika i proizvodi organska hrana! (VIDEO, FOTO)

Mihajlo Petrović and Toni Bilić, two more of our guys in Illinois jerseys, did not enter the game tonight.

The last time Illinois played in the final tournament was back in 2005, when they were defeated in the final by North Carolina.

Tonight there is great celebration in Chicago and across Illinois, and we can only imagine what it will be like if the guys in orange jerseys return from March Madness with the crown.