Zvezda beat Partizan in another thrilling Belgrade derby

Sunday, 03. March 2019 at 17:58

Belgrade is Red this Sunday evening. 

Joe Ragland (Photo: Crvena zvezda mts)

ABA League Round 20, Sunday, 3.3.2019:

CRVENA ZVEZDA MTS – Partizan NIS 70:68 (16:16, 16:18, 20:14, 18:20)

MATCH STATISTICS

PHOTO GALLERY

POST-GAME COMMENTS

Game recap: Belgrade is Red this Sunday evening! Crvena zvezda mts defeated Partizan NIS in a thrilling city derby, in which the winner was decided in the very last second. Zvezda’s captain Branko Lazić played a great defense on Partizan NIS youngster Vanja Marinković and prevented him to take the game into overtime.

Apart from a sweet win over the big rivals Crvena zvezda mts haven't gained anything else from this match as they had already secued the top spot in the regular season. On the other side, the game itself was much more important for Partizan NIS as they are still trying to reach the 2nd place on the standings, however after losing the derby they remained with 1 win less than 2nd placed Cedevita.

Key moments: As we have mentioned above, the game was quite thrilling until the very end. Zvezda were up by 70:68 after Joe Ragland scored both free throws on 10 seconds before the final buzzer. Partizan NIS called for a time-out and decided to go for the 3-point shot. The ball ended up in the hands of Marcus Paige who missed a 3-point shot, while he then made a foul on KC Rivers, with 4 seconds remaining on the game clock.

Rivers had a chance to seal the win for Crvena zvezda mts, but he missed both of his free throws! Vanja Marinković made a defensive rebound, he ran coast-to-coast to go for a lay-up… But, Zvezda’s captain Branko Lazić prevented Marinković to take the game into overtime.

Man of the match: Michael Ojo was just unstoppable down in the paint. Zvezda’s big guy forced his rivals to make many fouls on him, while he finished the match with 16 points and 9 rebounds.

Can’t trick the stats: The two sides had the same number of rebounds, the same number of turnovers, the same number of 3-point shots made… At the end, that one shot and one defense decided the winner.

 

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