A great start, several periods of good play in the remainder, but all of that was not enough to catch up with the rivals and knock out the Euroleague participant.
SC Derby basketball players did not disappoint against Partizan, but they recorded another defeat in the Admiralbet ABA League, their eighth in a row - 78:66.
Petar Mijović's team thus remains at the bottom of Group A, with a score of 2-11, and has been waiting for a victory since the end of October.
Derby entered the match in a great mood, Aleksa Ilić and Mateo Drežnjak were in high spirits, so the scoreboard in "Morača" quickly read 12:3. On the other hand, the guests struggled with three-point shots, but when Sterling Brown finally hit a 6,75 from outside the line and reduced the lead to 14:12, it seemed as if he had announced the first major crisis for the hosts.
Partizan tied the game at 18:18 after another three-pointer by Dylan Ostekovski, and after two points by Duane Washington, they took the lead for the first time since 2:0 (22:20) and continued to lose the lead until the end.
Tonje Džekiri's easy points for the "black and whites" 12:0 series left the "students" at minus 10 (30:20) with four minutes left until halftime, and then the guests' advantage grew, so SC Derby went into the break with a 14-point deficit (42:28).
Mijović's team refused to give up, taking advantage of Partizan's nervousness, and after a dunk and a 2+1 by Ilić and another three-pointer by Dreznjak, the "students" were very close (50:46).
When Filip Andjušić brought the "students" back to minus four (57:53) at the beginning of the last period, it seemed that everything could get even worse in the second half, but Nick Kalates and Washington repelled the attack with three-pointers (63:53) and everything was easier for the Euroleague participant.
Ilić (16 points and five rebounds) and Drežnjak (16 points, five assists and four steals) were the most efficient players for the Podgorica team, while Darius Johnson and Emir Hadžibegović scored six points each.
Against Partizan, Washington finished with 22 points, and Džekiri added 15.
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