Partizan battles for 78-79 road win in Belgrade derby

A big battle of Belgrade's eternal rivals went to the road team again as Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade held off Crvena Zvezda Merdianbet Belgrade 78-79 at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall on Friday night. Both teams now have 10-11 records, but Zvezda holds a tiebreaker because it won the first game between these teams by 3 points. In this one, Partizan seemed in control the entire night, as it took the lead for good in the first quarter, however, it never led by more than 8 points. As the game was approaching the finish line, Zach LeDay kept the visitors in front before Kevin Punter and Dante Exum made free throws in the final 2 minutes to preserve the win.
LeDay scored 9 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, hitting 4 of 5 from long range on the night. Exum also scored 20, and had 5 assists, while Mathias Lessort collected 13 points plus 8 rebounds. Zvezda had Luca Vildoza shine with 26 points, and Nemanja Nedovic netted 23, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer that could not have saved Zvezda from a loss, but did preserve the tiebreak advantage. Ognjen Dobric scored 13 for the hosts.
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Zvezda had a better opening with Nedovic and Vildoza each knocking down a triple, but Partizan took the lead for good after 5 minutes. Lessort had 6 early points, and along with Exum fueled a 2-13 run that gave Partizan an 11-19 lead. Vildoza ended the first quarter with a buzzer-beating triple to cut it to 18-20, and the teams kept trading blows in the second quarter. Zvezda came within 30-31 behind Nedovic, who had 14 points before halftime, but a triple apiece from Kevin Punter and Yam Madar had Partizan up 34-40, and LeDay's three made it 37-45 at halftime.
Baskets were few and far between in the third quarter. Dobric and Exum traded three-pointers early, but Zvezda's defense held Partizan to just 6 points in the first 8 minutes of the quarter. Nedovic cut the score to 50-51, but Aleksa Avramovic and LeDay had three-pointer each in the final minute of the third to give Partizan some breathing room at 54-57 entering the fourth. Alen Smailagic's hustle plays extended the difference to 54-61, but back-to-back threes from Dobric helped make it 62-63. But Partizan found answers again, with LeDay stringing together 7 points, including a step-back triple and a turnaround mid-range jumper to open a 64-70 advantage. Vildoza answered with a wide-open three, and Nedovic took it to the rim to help cut it to 71-72, but in the final 69 seconds, Punter made a pair of free throws and Exum made 5 of 6 for Partizan to steal a big road win against its arch rival.