The visitors forced Baskonia into submission with a strong finish after hosts had erased a 16-point deficit
Partizan breaks 24-year old jinx to grab first road win of the season
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 5 of 38
Regular Season
Baskonia Vitoria-GasteizBKN
7991
Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradePAR
Overview
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It was a long wait for Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade but the Serbian team finally ended its winless spell at Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz, forcing the Spanish outfit into submission on its home court for the first time since October 2001.
Partizan prevailed 79-91 on the back of a super-strong finish as it produced a 2-14 run to close out an electrifying contest, with the hosts erasing a 47-63 deficit in the third quarter to set up a grandstand home stretch when they simply ran out of gas.
Smarting from a timid 93-86 reverse at Real Madrid earlier this week, the visitors headed into the game like their lives depended on it and rose to the occasion, as Carlik Jones paced Partizan on 18 points and Duane Washington added 17 while Jabari Parker chipped in with 14 and 9 boards.
Tyrique Jones underlined a smooth team effort with 10 points and 7 rebounds as Partizan sank 10-of-18 three-pointers and racked up 36 boards, 13 of which were on the offensive end. Coach Zeljko Obradovic was pleased with the effort, but for a several-minute barren spell in the third quarter which allowed Baskonia to catch up.
“We played really well but then we got nervous and they came back because they are a team that fights,” Obradovic said in his post-game comments. “We had an excellent momentum in the last three minutes of the game and it was necessary to win it. It’s a very competitive season, anyone can beat anybody, and hence every win is massive.”
Carlik Jones produced his best EuroLeague performance of the season and pulled the strings alongside Washington, whose three-point play followed by a clutch shot from downtown in the closing stages put Partizan out of sight against battling Baskonia.
Jones hailed the collective team effort in which Parker and Washington stood out, as Partizan shared the ball selflessly to generate 19 assists against just 8 turnovers.
“It was a big win for us and I give a lot of credit to my teammates for trusting me and the coach trusted me too,” the livewire point guard said. “It wasn’t just me, a lot of guys stepped up like Jabari (Parker) and Wash (Duane Washington). Baskonia made a run and but we got stops and handled it well.”
Having endured a patchy season last term, Washington served up arguably his most mature EuroLeague performance for Partizan and came up big when the chips were down.
“We held it together and found some offensive rhythm in the last half of the fourth quarter after they made some tough shots,” he said. “The loss (to Real Madrid) earlier this week made us feel we weren’t playing like ourselves but we got another opportunity today to show who we are. We had a good game plan, we knew what was at stake and how hard they were going to play.”
Baskonia head coach Paolo Galbiati had no complaints. “We competed, we put everything on the floor but it wasn’t enough,” he told the post-game press conference. “We struggled defensively because of their size and they also punished us for missing some open shots.”
