Partizan holds off Zalgiris in Belgrade 9
Partizan Belgrade made it two wins in a row with a hard-earned 87-76 victory over Zalgiris Kaunas at Stark Arena, moving both teams to 2-3 records.
Partizan was in front nearly all the game, having a double-digit lead in the second quarter and reaching halftime up by 44-36. Zalgiris never gave up and came back for a couple of ties but couldn’t find a way to stop Kevin Punter, who led the winning team with 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Dante Exum (11), Zach LeDay, James Nunnally and Mathias Lessort (10 apiece) also scored in double figures for Partizan, while Keenan Evans topped Zalgiris with 16.
Partizan raced into a 15-7 lead with its first five baskets coming from five different players, but a trio of scores by Lukas Lekavicius brought Zalgiris back to lead 20-22 after 10 minutes. Three baskets in 90 seconds from Punter gave Partizan a double-digit lead, 40-30, which was extended to 49-37 shortly after halftime.
But Zalgiris kept on responding, with 6 points apiece for Rolands Smits and Evans pulling it back to 54-54. Punter drained another triple as the host again moved ahead, 69-63, midway through the fourth. Baskets were evenly traded to make it 74-70 with 3 minutes left before Partizan dominated the closing stages to cruise home.
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