Partizan shocks Zvezda with comeback to reach first-place game

U18 Partizan NIS Belgrade came back from a 13-point deficit in the final 3 minutes to defeat host side U18 Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 78-77 and book its spot in the first-place game of the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade. Partizan trailed by 18 points early in the second half and was still down 62-75 before it finished the game with a 16-2 run, culminated by Lazar Stefanovic’s game-winning layup with 1.7 seconds to play. Stefanovic came off the bench for a game-high 22 points for Partizan, which took first place in Group A with a 3-0 record. Dordije Jovanovic added 13 points and 11 rebounds and Nikola Radovanovic collected 12 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 10 fouls drawn. Zvezda finished group play at 1-2 despite Filip Brankovic scoring 17 points, Milutin Ostojic hitting for 15 points, Nikola Manojlovic picking up 13 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists and Filip Andusic chipping in 8 points and 10 rebounds.

The game was tight early with the first somewhat bigger lead coming on Stefan Todorovic’s three-pointer to make it 9-5. Andusic and Manojlovic combined for all eight points in a 0-8 to put Zvezda up 9-13. And Luka Ilic increased the gap to 11-16 with the host side being up 16-18 after 10 minutes. Vuk Dobrasinovic and Ostojic both hit long balls to start the second quarter and Manojlovic pushed Zvezda up 22-32. Then it was time for Brankovic to take over with 13 straight points - all of them with three fouls - and Zvezda was leading 31-45 at the break. Partizan failed to score for the first 4:30 minutes of the second half and Zvezda increased the advantage to 31-49. Jovanovic finally got Partizan on the board and Stefanovic had five points in helping cut the gap to 40-51. Stefanovic hit another three-ball and Jovanovic’s trey got the deficit into single digits 50-59 with Zvezda leading 50-61 after 30 minutes. A Ostojic trey pushed Zvezda’s lead to 52-66 but Partizan was not done yet with Jovanovic and Stefanovic connecting from downtown to cut the margin to 62-70. Zvezda got the lead back up to 13 points - 62-75 with 2:56 minutes to play. Partizan did not give up with Stefanovic and Todorovic both nailing another triple and two Petar Zivojinovic free throws made it 76-77 with 15 seconds left. Zvezda turned the ball over with 9.1 seconds and then Stefanovic put up a layup attempt, which was given good with 1.7 seconds remaining due to basket inference to complete the improbable comeback.