By Nikola Miloradovic / info@eurohoops.net
Belgrade – After the departure of Željko Obradović, Partizan managed to defeat Bayern Munich and Crvena zvezda in the EuroLeague, but could not get past Virtus Bologna in front of their home crowd.
Led by a 20-point performance from Carsen Edwards, Virtus Bologna cruised to an 86–68 victory at Belgrade Arena.
Carsen Edwards led the way for Virtus Bologna, while Derrick Alston Jr. and Matt Morgan added 14 points each, and Aleksej Smailagić finished with seven points and four rebounds, scoring some important points in the fourth quarter.
For Partizan, Sterling Brown was the top scorer with 15 points. Duane Washington added 14 points, and Bruno Fernando followed with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Jabari Parker didn’t play.
The game was even until Partizan took a 37–30 lead midway through the second period, but that sparked a 10–0 run by Virtus, with the visitors heading into the break up 40–37.
From that point on, the Italian side stayed in front, extending the lead to 63–52 late in the third quarter before pushing it to 70–52 at the start of the fourth. Partizan tried to respond with a 7–2 run, but that was as close as they would get. Carsen Edwards led the charge as Virtus quickly stretched the margin to 84–61, making the rest of the game a comfortable path to victory for the Bologna side.
Virtus Bologna improved to 8–8 and moved into 12th place in the standings after 16 games, while Partizan dropped to 17th with a 6–10 record.