SRB - Partizan win third cup in as many years

NIS (Radivoj Korac Cup) – Partizan used a strong fourth quarter to put some distance between them and opponents FMP as they secured a 72-62 win and claimed the Radivoj Korac Cup for the third year in a row.

The game was close through the first three periods, but Partizan outscored FMP 22-13 in the final frame. Dusan Kecman connected on a pair of three-pointers to start the fourth quarter and that proved to ignite his team.

Dusko Vujosevic’s side led a very close contest at the end of the first three quarters (18-16; 34-31; 50-49) and used a 22-5 run late on to pull away.

Lester McCalebb had 16 points in the winning cause, while Kecman added 14. FMP’s Miroslav Raduljica had 18 points to go along with six rebounds and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, despite his team having to settle for second best.

In the semi-finals, Partizan rallied from a 48-32 half-time deficit to beat Hemofarm 69-64. Stevan Karadzic’s men were outscored 21-6 in the third quarter and recovered somewhat in the final period. But with McCalebb leading the way, Partizan showed their first-half troubles were well behind them.

McCalebb scored a game-high 22 points and Kecman added 13, knocking down timely long bombs.

Stefan Markovic and Milan Macvan had 15 points each for Hemofarm. The game was tarnished by complaints of questionable refereeing decisions in the second half.

In the other semi-final, FMP’s Filip Covic made big shots from the field and the free-throw line to deliver a come-from-behind 84-83 win over Radnicki (Kragujevac).

Predrag Samardziski had 22 points and nine rebounds in the winning cause with Filip Covic adding 13 including some big baskets down the stretch as FMP overcame an 18-point deficit early in the game.

Radnicki got 33 points from Vukasin Aleksic – who won the cup last year when playing for Partizan – but it wasn’t enough. Dragan Milosavaljevic had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds for Radnicki who were up 49-40 at the break.

FIBA