By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Partizan Belgrade was very close to capturing its first EuroLeague win after returning to the competition following an eight-year absence but a mistake in the last moments of regulation vs. Baskonia proved to be costly.
With Partizan up 89 – 86 in Vitoria and just seven seconds to play, Baskonia looked for a 3-pointer to force the overtime. Zeljko Obradovic’s players played defense instead of fouling and Markus Howard pulled from the perimeter and hit the 3-pointer in front of both Kevin Punter and Zach LeDay to send the match to the extra period.
Baskonia ended up winning the match, behind Howard’s 33 points.
According to LeDay the direction from the bench was to foul but he and his teammates failed to follow it. “The plan was to foul a player but when you’re on the court, things happen fast,” LeDay said per Mozzart Sport. “We have to focus. He hit a lot of tough shots, especially the last one but I repeat… we have to stay focused on us and the mistakes we make we have to make it right.”
“Small details have decided, but we have to move on, to focus on the challenges ahead. To listen to the coach and correct mistakes. We will definitely watch this game again, we will analyze everything and get ready for a new opponent”.
LeDay finished with 23 points plus 10 rebounds. He and Partizan will look for their first EuroLeague victory of the season next week at home vs. Olimpia Milano Tuesday (18/10). “Small details have decided, but we have to move on, to focus on the challenges ahead,” LeDay mentioned. “To listen to the coach and correct mistakes. We will definitely watch this game again, we will analyze everything and get ready for the next opponent”.