The home team bounced back from a 16-point deficit to prevail in a titanic tussle
Partizan roars back to win pulsating Serbian Derby over Zvezda
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 15 of 38
Regular Season
Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradePAR
7976
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet BelgradeCZV
Overview
w
w
l
l
l
l
l
w
l
w
Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade ground out a memorable 79-76 Rivalry Series home win over Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade and improved to 6-9 to get its season back on track after a tough few weeks amid a 1-7 run, the resignation of legendary coach Zeljko Obradovic and fan dissent.
All that became water under the bridge after Partizan wiped out a 16-point third-quarter deficit against Zvezda as Duane Washington produced a monster home straight, carrying Partizan over the finish line almost single-handedly as he ripped into the old enemy down the stretch.
Partizan looked out for the count after Zvezda, which had the upper hand in the first half, romped its way into a 44-60 lead and subdued a noisy home crowd. Partizan’s comeback started with 5 unanswered points to close out the third quarter, but Zvezda still looked safe and sound early in the fourth and as it maintained a 51-65 advantage.
Enter Washington. The livewire guard, hitherto largely a peripheral figure, took over and mixed audacious layups with laser-beam three-pointers as Partizan turned the matchup on its head. The black-and-white half of Belgrade was in a state of frenzy as Partizan nosed ahead 73-72, and although the pendulum briefly swung back Zvezda’s way after Jared Butler’s three-pointer, Partizan had the last laugh in a frantic finish as Washington sank a pair of clutch free throws.
The outcome was a third straight win in all competitions for Partizan’s interim head coach Mirko Ocokoljic, who took over from nine-time EuroLeague winner Obradovic under the most intense pressure, facing jeers from the crowd in his debut 92-85 win over FC Bayern Munich when the Partizan players were made to feel like the away time by their own faithful.
Having beaten U-BT Cluj-Napoca by the same score in the regional ABA League, Ocokoljic stepped up boldly for the biggest game of career as head coach and got one over Zvezda counterpart Sasa Obradovic, his former mentor at AS Monaco, where the pair enjoyed a trophy-laden spell in the French League and took the franchise to the 2023 EuroLeague Final Four.
“I always believed we could come back and win,” Ocokoljic said with a shy smile on his face in the post-game comments. “We found the right five in the fourth quarter to tighten up the defense and we were also able to make some tough shots on offense.
“We managed the minutes well and although we struggled for 25 minutes or so, we had enough left in the tank down the stretch to grind out the victory. This is a morale-boosting win to carry on in the same direction and we showed tonight that we’ve got the potential.
“All credit goes to the players as they put their hearts on the sleeve and left it all out there on the court. They stood tall and defiant in the face of adversity and engineered a fantastic win.”
Zvezda looked the more likely winner for the lion’s share of the matchup as Jordan Nwora scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and Butler netted as many, but both were eclipsed by Washington, who sank a game-high 25. Isaac Bonga was also instrumental with 16 points and 11 boards, while Tyrique Jones posted 15 points to go with 8 rebounds, inflicting a third defeat in the last four games on Zvezda, which dropped to 9-6.
Sasa Obradovic was in a sour mood after the bruising battle, which still produced several spectacular plays while the drama kept fans on the edge of their seats throughout.
“For the first time, I didn’t know what to do to win the game,” a grim-looking Obradovic told the post-game news conference. ”We played well and I congratulated the players after the game as I thought we deserved to win. We lost the handle on it in the fourth quarter, but it’s not a disaster and we’ll move on.”
