Partizan Belgrade vs Maccabi Tel Aviv

Partizan Belgrade bounced back to EuroLeague wins after a blowout loss to Olympiacos Piraeus with an impressive offensive game in front of its home crowd.  The Serbian side beat Maccabi Tel Aviv  96 – 88 thanks to a particularly strong fourth quarter and dynamic finish.

Dante Exum (21 points, five assists, four rebounds), Zach LeDay (21 points, seven rebounds) and Mathias Lessort (16 points, eight rebounds – seven of them on offense, four assists) carried Partizan all the way until crunch time. It was then when Lessort tipped the ball in after a missed jumper by Kevin Punter (13 points) to put Partizan up 92 – 84 with 72 seconds to play and secure a three-possession advantage for his squad ahead of the final minute.

LeDay threw down the slam with 12 seconds to play, putting the exclamation mark on one of Partizan’s top performances this season so far.

Maccabi was up 66 – 68 near the end of the third period and then saw Partizan making a 9 – 0 run behind back-to-back triples by Punter and Yam Madar. The Yellows tried to recover their lead but the Exum-LeDay-Lessort trinity kept Partizan ahead for the remainder of the match.

Wade Baldwin led Maccabi with a season-high 23 points plus seven assists but finished with 1-6 triples. Bonzie Colson produced 17 points, Alex Poythress had 16 points and Darrun Hilliard scored 14 for the Israeli team that didn’t manage to match Partizan’s intensity down the stretch.

AS Monaco vs Baskonia

Elie Okobo scored nine out of his game-high 22 points in the fourth period, including the go-ahead basket, to lead AS Monaco past Baskonia  79 – 74 and back to wins in the EuroLeague. The Monegasque side finished the game with an 11-4 run over the last 3:35 minutes to get the victory.

Okobo hit the triple to tie the score at 71 with 2:39 to play and cap a Monaco comeback from down eight (53-61) late in the third quarter. Alpha Diallo snatched the ball from Markus Howard on the other end and sent the ball to Okobo who hit the layup to put his team ahead 73 – 71.

After Monaco went up by four, Darius Thompson got Baskonia close 77 – 74 with 14 seconds remaining but Loyd made a pair of free throws to secure his team’s win.

In his best game with Baskonia after his return to the team, Pierria Henry had 17 points plus seven assists. Thompson added 13 points and Matt Costello posted 12 points plus nine rebounds for the visiting side that fell apart in the last decisive minutes after leading almost for the entire second half. Baskonia fell to 4-4 after its second straight loss.

Apart from Okobo, Loyd scored 12 and Donatas Motiejunas had 11 points. Mike James finished with 10 points (on 3-10 shots) plus seven assists.

Zalgiris Kaunas vs Emporio Armani Milano

Injury-plagued EA7 Emporio Armani Milan suffered another defeat, this time against Zalgiris Kaunas. The Lithuanian team kept the opponents to just 24 points at half-time, fought off Milan’s late push, and grabbed a 71-62 victory in Round 8 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.

Keenan Evans led the winning team with 23 points, while Rolands Smits followed with a 10 points and 10 rebounds double-double.

Ettore Messina’s team played another game without injured Shavon Shields and Billy Baron, while  Stefano Tonut and Luigi Datome also missed the match at Zalgirio Arena. Reportedly, they might add French swingman Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, after a series of absentees.

With a third straight win, Zalgiris improved to a 5-3 score, while Milan extended their losing streak to four games and has a 3-5 score after eight rounds in the EuroLeague.

Milan’ struggled to find points from the very beginning of the match, scoring just four in the first seven and a half minutes. With solid defense, they kept close, but couldn’t jeopardize the lead of the hosts who went to the break with a 34-24 lead.

Offensive woes continued for the guest even after the break. Still, Devon Hall and Naz Mitrou-Long kept their hopes up with a couple of three-point shots at the end of the third period, even though Zalgiris maintained a 10-point lead for the last ten minutes.

The Italian team managed to cut the deficit to four points in the fourth period, but Zalgiris answered at the right time, grabbed another double-digit lead, and it was all over for Milan at Kaunas.

Fenerbahce vs Panathinaikos

A dominating showing for Fenerbahce Beko attached with a reward of the 107-77 victory against Panathinaikos Friday. Almost the largest margin of defeat for the Greek giant in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.

Scottie Wilbekin was the enforcer for the home side of the Regular Season Round 8 fixture. The former Florida standout logged 19 points. Previously coming out of Florida and ex-Panathinaikos floor general Nick Calathes added nine points, seven assists, and five rebounds.

Scoring in double-digits for the sixth straight contest since the opening week, Johnathan Motley chipped in ten points. However, he fell narrowly short of a sixth consecutive showing with a double-digit PIR.

Matching the team’s top-scoring effort in EuroLeague, the players guided by the Greek tactician firing in 78.6% two-pointers and 48% three-pointers were brilliant. Making the most of the fifth game at home, the reigning Turkey champions improved the EuroLeague-best record to 7-1. Statement signing of the summer, Nemanja Bjelica dealing with a calf injury has yet to play in the 2022-23 season. His approaching return possibly signals even more to come.

Standing out for the visitors in Ulker Sports and Event Hall, Dwayne Bacon scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half. He extended his streak of pouring at least 12 points and connecting at least one three-pointer to seven games but the Greens dropped to 2-6 with a third loss in a row on the road.

Youngster Neoklis Avdalas hurt his left knee in recent action at the junior level. The remaining players were all healthy enough to become available, but Marius Grigonis exited with a back issue after logging 4:52 in the first half. Evaluating the severity of the setback, he will undergo medical exams tomorrow.

Following a brief lead late in the first quarter, it was an uphill battle without the Lithuanian guard and the team coached by Radonjic fell further behind after the break. His former Zalgiris teammate, Nigel Hayes-Davis putting in seven of his 16 points in the fourth quarter kept Fenerbahce in a commanding position.

Injury woes for the winning side as well. Dyshawn Pierre suffered a knee injury in the first quarter and did not return adding more responsibilities for Hayes-Davis. The Canadian forward was limited to two points and two rebounds in 3:52.