By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Barcelona handed Crvena Zvezda their first loss in the 2024-25 EuroLeague season behind the efforts of Kevin Punter and Jan Vesely. Two former players of Partizan Belgrade, Zvezda’s archrival in Serbia.
Punter finished the game with a season-high 26 points on 10-13 shots, including the go-ahead triple for the 93 – 96 with 55 seconds remaining in overtime and the free throws to ice the victory. Vesely had 19 points and five rebounds.
“I am happy for all the players but especially for Kevin and Vesely. They were Partizan players and of course they are happy to win tonight,” mentioned Barca coach Joan Penarroya in the post-game presser.
“We fought through a lot of adversity,” said Punter. He played for Partizan from 2021-24 while serving as team captain during his stint. “Those guys made some big plays and we kept responding. We showed a lot of character sending it to overtime… and we got the win.”
“We know how difficult it is to play in this arena,” mentioned Vesely. His own run with Partizan was much earlier, back in 2008 – 211 when the Czech big man was making his EuroLeague beginnings as a youngster. “Red Star is a great team. They showed it in the beginning of the season. I’m happy we managed to win here.”