By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Carlik Jones is expected to be the lead of Partizan Mozzart Bet and that’s exactly what happened in Berlin.
The Serbs prevailed 91-90 over ALBA Berlin with Jones scoring 24 points, including the basket which decided the game for the 5th straight win of Partizan which now has a 7-8 record.
Add to that five rebounds, six assists, two steals, and only one turnover. Tyrique Jones added 20 points and seven rebounds and Sterling Brown added 18.
“We love you guys always, you never disappoint and it always feels like a home game”, said Carlik Jones for the Partizan fans who made their team feel like playing at home with their presence in Berlin.
“All factors were in our favor and also luck, even if we dominated most of the game”, admitted a bit later coach Zeljko Obradovic, talking about the closing seconds.
For the losing side, David McCormack had 16 points but missed crucial free throws in the closing seconds as ALBA dropped to 3-12.
A thriller in the end
Partizan had the lead in the first half, which ended with the score 51-46 for the guests. ALBA lost the lead at the end of the first quarter (30-28) and never recovered it after that despite staying close.
Tyrique Jones with 16 points, Carlik Jones with 11 points, and Duane Washington with 13 points – even if he didn’t score after that – had all scored in double digits for Partizan before halftime.
The Serbs continued to be in the driver’s seat and built an 11-point lead (75-64) at the end of the third, creating distance and controlling things.
Still, ALBA didn’t give up, managed to make it a three-point game twice (82-79, 84-81), and even trimmed the lead to one (84-83) making things interesting with two minutes left.
With the game on the line, Isaac Bonga missed for Partizan and David McCormack with two free throws gave ALBA the lead (85-84). Bonga missed again and ALBA with a three by Tim Schneider got a four-point cushion.
Vanja Marinkovic trimmed the lead to one (88-87) for Partizan, ALBA’s Matteo Spagnolo missed and Carlik Jones was fouled. He made two free throws (89-88) with 29 seconds left and the hosts got the ball.
McCormack was fouled again with 10 seconds on the clock, made one of two (89-89) and Partizan had one last shot with Carlik Jones making it count (91-89).
Still, ALBA had 1.7 seconds to fight for survival. Spagnolo made the inbound pass in the paint and McCormack was fouled while trying to get an alley-oop.
He went to the free throws line, missed the first, made the second (91-90) and the game was over. Partizan’s Brandon Davies got fouled, missed both free throws and ALBA was not able to create a miracle in the 11th hour.
Photo credit: EuroLeague