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.
