Partizan shines at both ends in routing Nanterre

Partizan NIS Belgrade put together a dominant defensive performance in front of its faithful fans, downing JSF Nanterre 73-43 in Hala Pionir on Friday. The win improved the Serbian champs to 1-1 in Group A, while Nanterre dropped to 0-2 in its Turkish Airlines Euroleague debut season. The result was Partizan’s second-best defensive efforts– in terms of points allowed – and one of the top 10 marks in competition history. Partizan held Bamberg to 37 points in a January 2008 game. The hosts allowed only 7 points in the second quarter, and finished it with an 11-2 run, opening up a 37-23 halftime lead. After the break, Partizan never looked back, and used a 20-2 run in the fourth quarter en route to huge victory. Dragan Milosavljevic paced the winners with 26 points and 6 rebounds, while Bogdan Bogdanovic had 16 points and 5 assists. Dejan Musli chipped in with 10 points plus 7 rebounds in victory. For Nanterre, Mam Jaiteh scored 8 points, while Trenton Meacham had 6 points plus 5 assists.

First quarter: Partizan goes in front behind Milosavljevic and Musli

Ali Traore made a hook-shot to start the scoring, and the hosts opened their account with a mid-range jumper from Joffrey Lauvergne. Nanterre converted its opening three possessions, however, as Traore added a short jumper, and Meacham scored from long range for 2-7. Milosavljevic answered with couple of layups, and after Jeremy Nzeulie scored another triple for the visitors, Tarence Kinsey scored inside twice for 10-10. After Jaiteh made an acrobatic layup, and landed on his back after it, Milosavljevic answered with a triple, giving the hosts their first lead. Musli followed it up with an easy layup for 15-12. After Jekel Foster hit a jumper to add to Nanterre's tally, Partizan went inside to Musli on three consecutive possessions, and Musli scored from close range on all three of them, extending the lead to 21-16 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Hosts take big lead with end-of-the-half run

Partizan continued to be aggressive on defense, and controlled the boards, while a put-back from Milosavljevic and an off-balance three-pointer from Bogdan Bogdanovic made it 26-16. The hosts did not allow a single point over nearly four minutes at the beginning of the second quarter, before Jaiteh's lay-in ended Nanterre's drought. Sergii Gladyr followed it up with a three-pointer, his first of the season. But Milosavljevic made a runner and a long jumper to keep Partizan in control, 30-21, sparking an 11-2 run that also included a triple from Leo Westermann, and an alley-oop layup from Milosavljevic to go into the break up 37-23.

Third quarter: Fans entertained as Partizan sparkles

A Meacham triple started the scoring in the third quarter, but Milosavljevic drove for a layup, then got fans going crazy with an alley-oop dunk after a half-court pass from Leo Westerman made it 41-26. But a basket-plus-foul from Will Daniels started the visitors’ run, as Nzeulie hit a triple and Jaiteh scored an easy fastbreak dunk, cutting it to 43-34. But after a timeout, the hosts scored 8 consecutive points, including back-to-back triples from Bogdanovic for 51-34. Foster snapped the run with a triple from the left corner, but Partizan kept its intensity, and the margin, going into the fourth quarter up 53-38.

Fourth quarter: 11-0 run, continues stellar defense seal victory

Milosavljevic stayed hot in the fourth quarter, sinking two more triples at both ends of an 11-0 run. In between, layups from Bogdanovic and Musli extended it to 64-38. Jaiteh hit a jumper to score the visitors’ first points of the fourth quarter, but there was no drop off in intensity by Partizan. Boris Dallo made a jumper, and Kinsey added couple of baskets, as the lead reached 73-40. In the final minute, Xavier Corosine hit a three-pointer, to round out the scoring.