EUROLEAGUE – Partizan shock Maccabi on opening night of Quarter-Final action

TEL AVIV (Euroleague) - No matter what round, or who their opponents are, Partizan Belgrade continue to spring surprises.

On Tuesday night, the famous basketball institution shocked hosts Maccabi Tel Aviv 85-77 to move to within two wins of the Euroleague Final Four.

The wheels came off in spectacular fashion for Maccabi, who led 66-58 at the end of the third quarter but were outscored 27-11 over the final 10 minutes.

Partizan boss Dusko Vujosevic, quite possibly the best coach in Europe, said after the win: "The series is long.

"Whatever is done should be forgotten and we go to our next match.

"The pressure is bigger after this win, and we must deal with it."

The man who tore Maccabi apart was Serbia international Dusan Kecman.

The 32-year-old buried seven of nine shots from long range and finished with a season-high 29 points to lead all scorers.

"It doesn't matter how I played, what matters is that we won the game," Kecman said.

"We were under pressure in the first half, but came out of it in the second half.

"We made some open shots and it helped us gain confidence. It's a big win for us and I believe we can win more games against Maccabi."

Vujosevic's team won at Unicaja Malaga in the Regular Season, and then in the Top 16 it upset Panathinaikos in Athens and beat Regal Barcelona in the Pionir.

After its latest triumph, Vujosevic wisely expressed the opinion that Maccabi would not roll over in the coming games.

"Our team and Maccabi are the same teams like before this game, and they are still the favorites," he said.

Barcelona won the opening game in their Quarter-Final series against Real Madrid, 68-61.

In a rematch of the Copa del Rey Final, which Barca won at a canter, Pete Mickael had 18 points to lead the Catalan club.

CSKA Moscow, fresh off their Russian Cup Final triumph over Unics Kazan, thrashed Caja Laboral 86-63 in the Universal Sports Hall CSKA.

Russia international Andrey Vorontsevich led a balanced CSKA attack with 15 points.

In the other Quarter-Final opener, Olympiacos scraped an 83-79 win over Asseco Prokom of Poland.

The main man for the winners was Lithuania international Linas Kleiza, who had 26 points, six rebounds and two assists.

The next game in each of the last-eight ties will be played in the same arenas on Thursday night.

FIBA