Partizan mt:s topped Belgacom Spirou 91-81

Partizan mt:s downed Belgian champion Belgacom Spirou Charleroi 91-81 in front of a loud and faithful home crowd at Pionir Arena for its first victory in this Turkish Airlines Euroleague season. Partizan led for the great majority of this fast-paced Group C encounter, but could not break the game open until the final three minutes of the fourth quarter when Acie Law scored crucial points to secure the home team’s win. Law ended up being the top scorer in the game with 26 points and he dished out 7 assist as well. Nikola Pekovic scored 21 on 9-of-13 shooting, while Milan Macvan had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Dragan Milosavljevic also finished the game in double figures with 14 points. Demond Mallet led Belgacom Spirou with 19, Toko Shengelia had 16, Chris Hill added 15 and 9 rebounds and Andre Riddick and Jiri Welsch netted 10 apiece in the losing effort.

The opening minutes gave hints that Partizan would look to go inside often as Pekovic scored twice from close range and Macvan added a driving lay-up. The visitors kept pace through Welsch, Mallet and Shengelia as the two teams scored on 10 of the first 11 possessions in the game. Milosavljevic scored the only three-pointer of the quarter and Pekovic was successful inside for 13-8 lead after four minutes. After Pekovic and Macvan each scored again from inside the paint, Law’s coast-to-coast drive gave the hosts a 19-11 advantage. Spirou used couple of offensive rebounds and good transition game to get to the foul line and cut the lead to 19-17 with Welsch and Caleb Green hitting 4 of 6 free throws. In the final minute of the quarter, Dusan Kecman scored his first points of the Euroleague season and Miroslav Raduljica made a free throw as Partizan mt:s held 22-17 lead after 10 minutes.

Kecman opened the scoring in the second quarter with a driving layup, but Mallet and Green scored back-to-back three-pointers that pulled visitors within 1. In a high-scoring quarter, Milosavljevic and Mallet exchanged threes, then Macvan and Hill exchanged buckets in the paint. Justin Hamilton’s three-pointer, the fourth shot behind the 6.75-meter line, made in the quarter by Belgacom Spirou, tied the game at 31-31. After a timeout by Partizan head coach Vlade Jovanovic, Macvan scored his first three to keep the home side in front and Pekovic’s basket-plus-foul and Milosavljevic’s alley-oop gave them 6-point cushion midway through the quarter. Milosavljevic scored twice from the line to give the home team a 43-35 lead, but Shengelia hit an open three and a hook-shot in the paint to reduce the deficit to 45-44 with two minutes to go in the half. Still, Law hit 2 more free throws, then Kecman sank the eighth three-pointer of the quarter, and Law ended the second quarter with a pull-up jumper to give Partizan at halftime a 52-44 lead.

Riddick cut that lead in half in the first 30 seconds of the third quarter. A Mallet three-pointer made it 1-point game once again and Riddick’s monster dunk tied the game 53-53. Pekovic and Macvan quickly scored 5 points, but Mallet and Hill replied with three pointers that gave Spirou its first lead of the game, 58-60. Law answered with 2 from the free throw line and a shot behind the arc, but Hill scored two three-pointers to keep visitors in front. A Lucic three-pointer from the left corner forced another lead-change, and the seesaw battle continued as Shengelia and Law scored in the final minute of the third quarter and Partizan took a 73-70 advantage into the final quarter.

Shengelia’s basket-plus-foul started off the scoring in the fourth quarter, but those were the only points for the visitors in the opening four minutes. During that time, Milosavljevic scored 4 points and Macvan drove to the basket giving Partizan 79-73 advantage. After baskets by Hamilton and Pekovic made it a 7-point game, Partizan responded through Law’s driving layup. Lucic scored a three-pointer from the right corner for an 86-78 lead with three minutes to go. Green and Mallet hit 3 of 4 free throws, but Law made a tough lay-up and a three-pointer for the first and only double-digit lead of the game, 91-81 with 1:19 to go. That turned out to be the final score of the game as the home side celebrated the victory with their faithful fans.