Montepaschi displayed some real character by beating Partizan in Beograd Arena without McCalebb and Lavrinovic, to get their first Top16 win.
Siena got a quick early lead 0-4. Partizan temporarily tied the game at four points each before Siena scoring five unanswered points for 4-9. The Italian champions expanded their lead to seven, 10-17 with easy baskets by Zisis and Stonerook. Partizan ran another 5-0, but Jaric, who had come from the bench, made the final score of first quarter, 15-19.
The second quarter might have been one of the worst ones, in terms of quality and scoring, as Partizan needed seven minutes to score while Siena scored… two. With three minutes to go the visitors started finding their way to Partizan’s basket and got a double digits lead, 15-25. Partizan fought back and with a quick 7-0 in forty seconds for 22-25. Michelori and Kaukenas kept their calm from the charity strip to make the final score of half time, 26-31.
The Partisans were again nervous in the start of the third quarter committing four turnovers while Siena continued finding their way to the opponents’ basket. Siena slowly but steadily established double digits lead throughout the third quarter before Partizan cutting it back to five but Michelori had the answers, once more. Score after thirty minutes: 41-50.
Siena started the last quarter in style and with five quick points made it 43-55. The away team continued outplaying in Partizan, who simply could not break through their opponents’, seminar-like, defensive lines. Siena even took a sixteen points lead for 45-61. All that Partizan could do was reduce their loss to a respectable level. Final score was 58-66.
Partizan: Jerrells 13, Kecman, Klobucar, Lucic 5, Milosavljevic 7, Katic 4, Jawai 2, Bozic 3, Gist 15, Vesely 9
Montepaschi Siena: Zisis 13, Hairtson 3, Carraretto 10, Rakovic 2, Kaukenas 14, Ress, Michelori 15, Akindele, Jaric 2, Stonerook 5, Moss 2
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