Zach LeDay shined against his former club and carried Milan with a game-high 20 points
Milan snaps three-game losing streak to overpower Partizan
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 25 of 38
Regular Season
EA7 Emporio Armani MilanEA7
8579
Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradePAR
Overview
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EA7 Emporio Armani Milan clawed its way back into postseason contention with a hard-fought 85-79 home win over Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, improving to 12-13 after three successive defeats as Zach LeDay delivered a vintage performance against his former club.
LeDay racked up 20 points and 4 rebounds against Partizan, a club still close to his heart after spending three memorable seasons with the Serbian side and he made his feelings clear in no uncertain terms after a grueling contest.
“All my love to the best people of Belgrade,” the American forward voiced his message to Partizan fans after sinking 7 clutch points in the home straight to make sure Milan stayed on course to fight for a spot in the business end of the competition.
“We moved the ball inside and out, we played a good game of basketball as a team. We’re in a tough moment of the season, so the main thing is to stay together and keep supporting each other. Today we found a different way to win, we keep working and we go forward,” LeDay added.
Big man Josh Nebo contributed with 15 points, forming a devastating partnership with Marko Guduric as he dunked time and again on the Serbian guard’s inch-perfect passes. Quinn Ellis came up with a mature performance as he racked up 11 points and 5 boards, taking on a bigger role after Leandro Bolmaro’s elbow injury, as Milan dished out 18 team assists against just 8 turnovers.
“Marko threw some good lobs today and it’s just a combination of us working together as well as the right chemistry we’ve got. We did a good job today,” Nebo said.
Milan led throughout the contest, but Partizan kept chipping away at the home team, playing rock-solid defense in the third quarter after trailing 52-43 at halftime. Just when the visitors looked likely to turn the tide, Milan delivered a salvo of four successive three-pointers to engineer a 69-57 lead ahead of the fourth.
Partizan closed in to 71-68, but Milan had more resources in the home stretch as Partizan’s depleted back court had the additional burden of Cam Payne playing with 4 fouls since the latter stages of the first half.
The Serbian team thus dropped to 8-17 after celebrating a pair of wins, which came on the back of seven successive defeats, but head coach Joan Penarroya was upbeat about his team’s performance.
“It’s impossible to be happy after a loss, but I am very proud of my team as we played with a lot of commitment,” the Spanish tactician said. “It was an amazing effort and we improved on defense in the second half, but some bad moments at the end of the third quarter cost us.”
Sterling Brown paced Partizan on 17 points while Payne added 16 and Dylan Osetkowski racked up 14. Tonye Jekiri added 12 and 6 rebounds but the other big man, Bruno Fernando, had a forgettable evening as he finished on a mere 3 points and got ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct towards the end of the third quarter.
The outcome spelled welcome respite for Milan head coach Peppe Poeta, who praised his team’s gritty defense when the chips were down, although he insisted there was still room for improvement.
“We reacted in the right way starting from defense,” he said. “That’s where we have to improve and be more consistent because you have to limit the damage when you have three or four scoreless possessions.
“We have to find a way every time to stick together and get the mental edge. It was not easy because they were in a good moment after beating Hapoel in Munich. I hope Bolmaro recovers quickly from his elbow injury.”
