The Serbian team ended a three-game skid to rekindle its bid of making the knockout stages of the competition
Partizan beats ALBA, 85-71, to keep postseason hopes alive

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade bounced back from three successive defeats in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with an 85-71 home win over ALBA Berlin to stay in contention for a top 10 finish and hence a postseason spot in the continent’s premier competition.
Brandon Davies paced Partizan on 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor, while Carlik Jones followed with 15 points and 9 assists. Isaac Bonga chipped in with 14 points and 6 boards for the hosts, who improved to 16-15.
At the other end, Matt Thomas led ALBA with 16 points, Yanni Wetzell added 12 and Gabriele Procida netted 10 for the competition’s bottom team, which dropped to 5-26 despite putting on a brave performance at Belgrade Arena.
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Last week’s 65-97 home debacle against Anadolu Efes Istanbul had clearly rattled Partizan, as the home team made a jittery start against ALBA and shot a mere 1 of 7 from the floor in the opening exchanges. The visitors, who are looking incomparably more aggressive on defense under new head coach Pedro Calles, took a jittery first quarter 13-14 before Partizan found its range from deep in the second and turned the tide for good.
With offensive boards keeping Partizan afloat in the opening 10 minutes, Davies and Bonga led the charge in the second quarter and the hosts engineered a 40-34 halftime lead as they were roared on by a fervent home crowd, which again turned up in droves hoping to put some wind into their team’s sails.
Davies sank a pair of threes early in the third quarter which propelled Partizan into a 53-42 lead but following a barren spell at either end on offense, ALBA hit back with a barrage of triples to slash the deficit to 59-56 late in the period.
Bonga then sank a pair of free throws at the end of the third which instigated an 8-0 Partizan run which restored the home team’s 11-point lead, 67-56, which soon soared to 76-60 midway through the fourth as the home side pulled away.
ALBA fought hard to stay in the matchup but Partizan ultimately had too much firepower for the German side and will now head to a tough road game at Bayern Munich with restored confidence.
“Defense is going to be the key as we have to contain Bayern’s lethal three-point shooting,” Partizan head coach Zeljko Obradovic told the postgame press conference, having already turned his attention to the upcoming blockbuster. “We’re in with a chance if we show the same energy level as we did tonight and having lots of our travelling fans will certainly be a massive boost.”