Olimpija made a comeback and won against @PartizanBC 77 – 78 (@ABA_League)

Belgrade team Partizan Nis lost as host against Olimpija from Ljubljana with the score of 77 – 78 in the Round 9 of ABA League, mostly because of the good defense in the second half.

The best scorer was Jan Span with 20 points (6 three points shoots scored). Devin Oliver added 16 points for guests.

In Partizan, Strahinja Gavrilovic scored 17, Nigel Williams-Goss 16 and Vanja Marinkovic finished the game with 14 points.

Starting five for Partizan were Mihajlo Andrić, Đoko Šalić, Strahinja Gavrilović, Vanja Marinković and Nigel Williams-Goss. For Petrol Olimpija starting five were Devin Oliver, Jan Špan, Jordan Morgan, Domen Lorbek and the captain Gregor Hrovat.

In the first half, Partizan played solid defense, but after the 15 minutes break black and whites lost their game and made a lot of mistakes that was punished by Slovenian team.

First points were made by Marinković, and first part of the quarter Partizan showed good offense but also defense, that was weak spot for this black and whites team. Team play allowed them to lead 14 – 4 after 5 minutes of the game. As match continued, Miroslav Nikolić’s team just improved their game and in the end of the first quarter they were leading 20 – 9 against Olimpija.

In the second quarter, Olimpija started to play zone and after 3 minutes in that quarter result was 26 – 22 for Partizan. But little more than five minutes before the end young Andrea Stevanović blocked Hrovat’s dunk attempt and Partizan after that used fast break to get back in the game. That was turning point for black and whites because in the end of first half they were again leading by 10 points (45 – 35). Then Marinković made last points for Partizan, buzzer beatter from more than a half court.

Second half started with ball possession for guests and first part of the third quarter both teams were good offensively, especially Olimpija from three points line and three minutes before the end of the quarter team from Ljubljana had a chance to take a lead but they didn’t use the advantage and for one minute both teams didn’t score at all. Their chance to take the lead Olimpija used at less than two minutes before the end for the score 56 – 57. And guests kept the lead till the end of the third quarter (58 – 61).

Leading points for Partizan in the last quarter are scored by Vanja Marinković (65 – 63), but it lasted shortly because guests from Ljubljana took over the lead in the next attack. For about 2 minutes both teams didn’t score and first point was made from free points line by Partizan, and after another unsuccessful attack from guests black and whites took the lead again, but again guests made three points shot and took the lead again. This time Partizan responded and both teams were playing for one ball, but then Olimpija players played good defence and as a reward they scored for three point lead 71 – 74. At exact one minute before the end the score was 75 – 76 for guests, and they had possession. At the end the score was 77 – 78 for guests. Partizan had the last possession but Nigel Williams-Goss didn’t use the chance to score and win.