The home side trailed for much of the contest and then prevailed down the stretch with five players finishing in double digits
Baskonia grinds down Partizan, 88-82, thanks to cohesive team effort

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz celebrated an impressive 88-82 home win over Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in Round 1 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after coming from behind in an enthralling contest which lit up a packed Buesa Arena.
New arrival Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, who joined Baskonia from French rival LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne during the offseason, came up big on his debut for the Spanish outfit as he earned the player of the game award after racking up 15 points, 4 boards, 2 assists and 1 block in a smooth all-round performance.
Sharpshooter Markus Howard netted a team-high 17 points for Baskonia, captain Tadas Sedekerskis added 14, Chima Moneke posted 13 and Trent Forrest chipped in with 10, including a clutch three-pointer off the glass in the fourth quarter which gave the home team the lead for good, 73-72.
At the other end, twin towers Tyrique Jones and Brandon Davies carried a new-look Partizan with 22 and 20 points, respectively. Vanja Marinkovic scored 11 points against his former club and Iffe Lundberg netted 10 for the visitors, who ran out of steam down the stretch after dominating the first half.
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Ironclad defense saw Partizan engineer a 32-38 first-half lead, with Tyrique Jones proving a handful for Baskonia’s big men. Davis too enjoyed plain sailing on offense, with Partizan sinking five shots from downtown in the opening two quarters while stifling out Baskonia’s long-range artillery.
Jones continued to torment his markers in the third, scoring 9 points in the opening five minutes with some lightning moves close to the rim, but Howard and Luwawu-Cabarrot found their range too at the other end as Baskonia slashed the deficit to 59-60 heading into the final 10 minutes of a rip-roaring matchup.
The home fans were in raptures when Luwawu-Cabarrot scored the final basket of the third period, rounding his marker before he took off and rocked the rim with a one-handed slam jam which could figure as a strong contender for one of the best dunks of the season.
With Jones slowly running out of steam, Davis took over the mantle for Partizan early in the fourth quarter, but one could sense the visitors would be forced into submission after Forrest made that audacious shot off the glass to turn the tide.
With their confidence high, Baskonia hit top gear in a frantic finish and made sure they gave head coach Pablo Laso a dream debut on an emotional homecoming to his boyhood club, where he featured as a player from 1984 to 1995.
Davies and Marinkovic kept Partizan barely afloat in the last two minutes with a couple of fine shots from deep, but it was too little too late as Howard kept his nerve from the foul line to seal Baskonia’s victory.