By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The “eternal derby” No. 2 between Crvena Zvezda and Partizan in the ABA League this season belongs to Zvezda. One powerful second-half performance pushed Zvezda to a comfortable win 86-74.
This victory checked Red Star’s ticket to the playoffs while pushing their archrivals to the sixth spot in the standings. Only four teams advance to the postseason in ABA League.
Ognjen Dobric once again showed his shooting touch as he nailed six triples (6/7 for three) scoring 18 points. With six three-pointers tonight Dobric combined for 13 triples in the last two games in the ABA League.
The first half was quite intense as the teams exchanged leads several times. Partizan won the first quarter 24-22 thanks to Novica Velickovic’s buzzer-beating triple at the end of the first period, but it was Zvezda that won the first half thanks to Dobric’s hot hand.
The 23-year-old Serb nailed four 3-pointers (4/5) in the first 20 minutes of action, helping the hosts grab a 6-point halftime lead (49-43).
At the start of the third quarter, Partizan tried to bounce back. However, Zvezda’s hero from the EuroLeague win against Olympiacos Euroleague Dylan Ennis denied them a counterattack. He scored 5 quick points and stole the ball twice in a row. After that, it was a one-sided game. Zvezda didn’t have problems to close the game and win the third straight match in ABA.
Taylor Rochestie scored only 5 points tonight but paced the offense for Zvezda with 10 assists.
Novica Velickovic gave his best for Partizan with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists, but it wasn’t enough.
With this win, Zvezda moved-up to a 15-3 record while Partizan fall to a 9-9.