Acie Law strikes late to lift Partizan MT: S past Real Madrid 80-79: Euroleague Recap
After overpowering Belgacom Spirou last week Partizan MT: S collected their second consecutive victory of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague by edging past Real Madrid 80-79 in a nail biter that was witnessed by a capacity crowd in
Pionir Arena.
This was an important must-win game for Partizan if they to keep their chances of reaching top 16 alive.
Both teams were levelled at 78 all in the last minute but two free throws from Acie Law in the dying seconds and then a missed downtown strike missed by Sergio Llull decided the winners on the night.
Nikola Pekovic keyed the winning team with 20 points on 8 for 14 from the glass and accurate 4 for 4 shooting from the free throw line while Milan Macvan completed a double-double with16 points and 12 rebounds. Acie
Law (14) and Dusan Kecman (10) were the other two prominent scorers from Partizan MT: S
Jaycee Carroll marshalled Real Madrid’s offense scoring game high 21 points on a near perfect shooting knocking down 5 for 6 from free throws and 2 for 2 from free throw line. Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez supported Carroll well
and added 13 points each.
The first 5 minutes of the game completely belonged to Partizan as they carried out a 10 point run. Carlos Suarez opened the scoring for Real by scoring through a tough jumper in the fifth minute followed by Llull’s free throw
to cut the deficit to 10-3.
However, Partizan continued with the offense and kept on chipping with points to maintain a healthy lead throughout the quarter. Two straight free throws in the last minute by Partizan’s Miroslav Raduljica helped them in acquiring
a 22-13 lead however a 3-pointer by Llull in the dying seconds slashed the deficit to 6 points and Real entered the second quarter trailing by 22-16.
Another downtown strike in the opening minute of next quarter by Jaycee reduced the deficit to only 3 points but a 5 point run by Nikola Pekovic again levitated Partizan’s lead to 27-19. Real however did not allow Partizan to walk
away with the show and kept on accumulating points to prevent lead for skyrocketing any further. In the 7th minute, a 5-0 run took Partizan ahead 39-35 followed by 4 free throws from Milan Macvan in the 9th minute to extend the lead to
43-37. A driving layup by Pekovic in the last few seconds ensured Partizan entered the second half with a lead of 5 points 45-40.
Third quarter was intense and both teams were neck to neck throughout. Real Madrid got ahead of Partizan for the first time in game when Rudy Fernandez drilled a three-pointer in the 8th minute with scores 53-54. Llull
and other players then scored quickly and by the end of quarter the momentum had shifted in favour of Real as they were leading 59-55.
Partizan struck twice earlier in the final quarter to regain the momentum however Jaycee Carroll did not allow them to acquire any significant lead. After 10 minutes of seesaw, scores were levelled at 78 all. Acie Law then scored
from two free throws in the last few seconds to escort his team to victory.
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