By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
It was tense and in the end, it was decided on the last second. Nemanja Nedovic from the free throws line gave Crvena Zvezda the 73-71 win over Partizan in a big night of basketball in Belgrade.
In total, Nedovic had five points, but that’s a footnote as his last play of the game entered the lore of the Belgrade derbies.
Filip Petrusev with 17 points was the top scorer of the winning side and Joel Bolomboy had 14 points and eight rebounds, but it was defense that set the tone and also covered a bad shooting night for Zvezda with just three out of 19 threes made.
“We got the defeat last week that we shouldn’t”, said Petrusev referring to the upset by Maccabi Tel Aviv, “so we came here to win, to play good, to play hard and that’s what we did. I think we wanted it more. In the end we had turnovers, but also crucial offensive rebounds”.
Or as Partizan’s coach Zeljko Obradovic said: “Tonight luck was on their side”.
On the other side, Carlik Jones with 20 points tried his best for Partizan. He was the only scorer in double digits for the home side, which dropped to 12-12 in the 11th position of the standings, while Zvezda at 14-10 remained tied with Panathinaikos and Bayern Munich between the 5th and the 7th spot.
A thriller until the end
The game was a battle as expected, however, despite constant lead changes the guests had a three-point cushion after the first quarter (21-18) and a five-point lead at halftime (42-37).
Partizan was in the game, took the 51-49 lead with a three by Carlik Jones, and four minutes left in the third quarter. Still with two free throws by Codi Miller McIntire, Zvezda entered the last period leading by two (55-53).
With the game on the line, Crvena Zvezda entered the last two minutes leading by one (71-70), and with 69 seconds left, Nikola Kalinic fouled Carlik Jones and Partizan’s leader made one out of two (71-71).
In the time remaining Nemanja Nedovic missed a three, and Sterling Brown also couldn’t score for Partizan. In the last possession of the game, Yago Dos Santos fumbled the ball but it ended up in Nedovic’s hands and he was fouled by Brown with one second left on the act of shooting three.
Nedovic made the first two free throws (73-71), missed on purpose the last one and Zvezda got the win.