The game went down to the wire
Virtus gets off the mark with hard-fought win at Partizan, 69-70
Virtus Segafredo Bologna registered its first win of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season by edging Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 69-70 in the Serbian capital on Tuesday.
Virtus improved to 1-4 in the standings, while Partizan dropped to 2-3. Will Clyburn paced the winners with 27 points, scoring the go-ahead layup with 12.5 seconds remaining. Isaia Cordinier added 12 and 10 rebounds, and Matt Morgan had 10 points for Virtus. Tyrique Jones led Partizan with 20 points and 5 steals. Iffe Lundberg added 14 points and Vanja Marinkovic had 10 for the hosts.
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Sterling Brown got Partizan going with a layup and a three-point play, then Lundberg added a jumper for a 7-1 lead. Ante Zizic stepped up with a put-back slam, which Clyburn followed with a layup high off the backboard that brought Virtus within 7-5. Brandon Davies scored around the basket and Marinkovic followed a layup with a fast-break basket that made the guests call a timeout at 13-5. Tyrique Jones soon added a three-point play for a 16-7 score. Clyburn struck from downtown and followed Morgan's triple with a jump hook to bring Virtus within 16-15. Tyrique Jones single-handedly restored a 20-15 Partizan lead after 10 minutes.
Aleksej Pokusevski struck from beyond the arc early in the second quarter. Rayjon Tucker buried an off-balance shot and soon added a jumper to bring Virtus within 23-19. Carlik Jones sank a mid-range jumper that a red-hot Tucker erased with a two-handed slam. Clyburn beat the shot clock with a wild turnaround jumper and Toko Shengelia added a driving layup that tied it at 25-25. Tyrique Jones took over with a huge dunk and Brown bettered Morgan's layup with a three-pointer. Clyburn scored around the rim, then Isaac Bonga and Lundberg restored a 34-29 Partizan margin. Clyburn and Lundberg traded three-pointers to fix the halftime score at 37-32.
Lundberg and Cordinier exchanged three-point plays soon after the break. Cordinier kept pacing Virtus with a jumper and the free throw that came with it. Marinkovic hit a corner three-pointer and an outstanding Tyrique Jones restored a 47-41 Partizan lead. Momo Diouf scored down low, Marinkovic insisted from downtown and Tyrique Jones's put-back basket made Virtus call a timeout at 52-43. Clyburn buried a triple that Jones improved with consecutive dunks. Clyburn scored around the basket and followed Cordinier's layup with a dunk off a steal for a 56-55 Virtus deficit. Bonga rescued Partizan with a put-back layup and got help from Carlik Jones and Tyrique Jones to give the hosts a 61-57 edge after 30 minutes.
Morgan was the first player to score in the fourth quarter. Brandon Davis hit a jumper and Zizic got Virtus as close as 63-61. Carlik Jones ignited the crowd with a driving layup that Shengelia improved on that with a three-pointer. Cordinier made free throws to complete Virtus's comeback, 65-66, with 3:41 left. Lundberg buried a critical three-pointer in the penultimate minute, good for a 68-66 Partizan lead. Clyburn scored around the basket, then Lundberg split foul shots for a 69-68 Partizan lead. Both teams exchanged turnovers and Clyburn scored in penetration, putting Virtus ahead, 69-70, with 12.5 seconds left. It all came down to the final second, which saw Frank Ntilikina airball a three-point shot at the buzzer.