Partizan eases past Panathinaikos for 2-0 mark

U18 Partizan NIS Belgrade grabbed its second victory in as many games at the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Belgrade after defeating U18 Panathinaikos OPAP Athens 63-102 in Group A. Nikola Radovanovic paced five Partizan players in double figures with 20 points while Lazar Stefanovic added 17 points, Dordije Jovanovic picked up 15 points, Stefan Todorovic tallied 11 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists and Petar Zivojinovic chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds. Panathinaikos had Marios Giotis lead the way with 25 points and Emmanouil Kontoudis picked up 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists but they were not enough as the Greek side fell to 1-1.

Ousainou Saar, who did not play in Partizan’s first game of the competition, scored four quick points as Partizan built a 3-9 lead. Kontoudis hit five points at the other end in getting the gap to 10-11. Partizan delivered a big punch with a 2-12 run for a 12-23 advantage and it was 16-26 after 10 minutes. Stefanovic and Todorovic both knocked down long balls early in the second quarter as the gap grew to 18-34. Triples from Radovanovic and Jovanovic keyed a 4-12 surge for a 27-48 cushion, which was 31-53 at the break. Panathinaikos did not score for the first 3 minutes of the second half and Partizan moved ahead 31-56 before back-to-back three-pointers from Radovanovic and a triple from Jovanovic came in a 0-13 run for a 33-69 cushion. The Serbian side did not slow down and a trey from Nikola Dimitrijevic made it 35-75 and the score was 41-77 after 30 minutes. Two baskets from Georgios Bampiris cut the deficit to 45-79. Jovanovic followed with seven points to make sure that Panathinaikos would not get any closer the rest of the game.