Partizan have taken game one of the Serbian finals after defeating Red Star 92-83 and securing their tenth straight win over a Serbian opponent.
Partizan mt:s – Crvena zvezda Diva 92-83 ( 23-14, 22-21, 19-28, 28-20 )
One of the keys to Partizan’s victory was their excellent outside shooting (13/27), especially in the fourth quarter Heroes of the game were Dragan Milosovljavic with four triples from six attempted, and Andjusic (3/5).
The first ten minutes was all Partizan, as they raced to a nine point advantage with two three’s from Bertan.
The black and whites had the highest lead in 18th minute (41-25), but the halftime advantage was ten points. Red Star repeated with a strong third quarter, reminiscent of their semi-final series against Radnicki.
Both teams played in the series, and Red Star this time had the answer – with aggressive defense – they turned Partizan’s advantage (59-49) in the first of just two leads in the game (63-62).
Milutinovic missed a triple and in the final moments of the third quarter Raduljica scored to narrow the gap to just one (64-63).
Partizan has again created a solid lead, but Red Star is held until the middle of the last period, when Lesić passed the ball to the basket for 75-71, it ensured a nervous last few minutes for the balck and whites.
With the final triple of the match heroes Andjusic and Milosavljevic the match was settled (84-71). Red Star fought to the end, but Partizan was routinely kept the advantage and the lead 1-0 in the series.
Milosavljevic led the Partizan’s scorers with 18 points, Andjusic added 16, James 15 and Raduljica 13 points while Macvan added nine rebounds and 5 assists.
For Red Star Thomas hit 21 points, Subotic got 13 and Nedovic 10 points.
Game two is on Friday.
