Partizan holds off Zemun, wins Group B

Partizan Belgrade collected its second victory at the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT with a 63-69 win over Zemun Belgrade in Group B play. Slobodan Jovanovic and Nikola Tanaskovic both scored 14 points and Mladen Armus scored 12 points and Dimitrije Spasojevic collected 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks for Partizan, which improved to 2-0 in the group, won the first place and booked its place in the semifinals. Zemun dropped to 1-1 despite 24 points and seven rebounds from Nikola Cirkovic while Dorde Dimitrijevic added 17 points in the loss. Zemun will play a do-or-die game for the second place against Canarias BA on Saturday.

Jovanovic started the game with a three-pointer for Partizan. Zemun took its first lead on Cirkovic’s two free throws to make it 4-3. The game went back and forth with six lead changes when Cirkovic hit a layup for an 11-10 lead. Two more Cirkovic baskets and a Milos Bojanovic free throw had Zemun up 18-12. Jovanovic knocked down another three-pointer to cut the gap to 18-15. And it was 20-15 after 10 minutes. Marko Pecarski’s two free throws started the second quarter for a 22-15 cushion. But Filip Anicic threw down a dunk and Armus scored six points in a 2-13 Partizan run and a 24-28 lead. Dimitrijevic’s basket made it 26-28 at the break.

Luka Radovanovic evened the game to start the second half and Armus gave Partizan back the lead 28-30. Dimitrijevic followed up with a three-pointer for a 31-30 lead. But Spasojevic hit two free throws and a layup to push Partizan ahead 31-36. Dimitrijevic answered with a three-ball and another score to knot the game at 36-36. But Jovanovic’s basket started an 0-6 surge for a 36-42 lead. Cirkovic kept Zemun close with a three-point play but Jovanovic nailed a long ball to re-establish the six-point margin 39-45. Nikola Spasov’s three-ball just before the end of the third quarter brought Zemun to within 46-47. Spasojevic made two baskets in helping Partizan push ahead 46-53. Cirkovic’s steal and layup made it 48-53. But Luka Sljukic knocked down a trey for a 48-58 advantage. Dimitrijevic answered with a long ball and Cirkovic got the margin to 55-61. Partizan once again pushed the lead to double digits, 55-65 with less than three minutes to play. Cirkovic would not let his team go down without a fight and scored three baskets to trim the deficit to 63-66 with 25 seconds to play. Dusan Antic split two free throws with 11 seconds left to make it a two-possession game and then Cirkovic turned the ball over with six seconds to play to decide the game for good.