Adriatic League, Partizan surges

Partizan NIS Belgrade’s climb up the Adriatic League standings continued as the Serbian powerhouse took out Igokea Aleksandrovac at home. The contest was part of three games from Round 19 on Saturday night, with the rest of the round to be played out over the coming days. Also, celebrating victories are Cedevita Zagreb and Union Olimpija Ljubljana.

Partizan vs. Igokea, 74-65
Partizan continued to put its patchy early season from behind it with another victory, its sixth consecutive triumph, a win that put the club fourth with a 12-7 record. Dragon Milosavljevic and Milan Macvan both offered 13 points to the winning cause, while Nikola Milutinov provided a strong defensive base with 8 boards in the paint at the protection end. A big 21-13 first quarter provided Partizan with a base and the club never looked back, riding a 19-21 losing third act to ease to victory down the stretch.

Cedevita Zagreb vs. MZT Skopje Aerodrom, 81-70
Last season’s beaten Adriatic League finalists, Cedevita Zagreb, are on course again this season. The club cemented third place (13-6) in the standings with a home success over MZT Skopje. The hosts recovered from a losing 21-23 first period to take the second stanza 27-15 and set up a comfortable second half. The scoring of Fran Pilepic paced the Croatian winners as he notched 18 points, while Miro Bilan doubled up with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Metelac Farmakom vs. Union Olimpija Ljubljana, 67-76
Union Olimpija grabbed an away victory over Metelac Faramakom to take sole possession of 5th place in the standings with a 10-9 record. The visitors controlled the second half and posted 40 rebounds in a big effort in the paint.