Zalgiris Kaunas (7-6) started the EuroLeague double-round week with a defeat in Belgrade. Andrea Trinchieri’s team lost 78-84 (19-22, 22-22, 23-20, 14-20) to Partizan Belgrade (5-8).
Zalgiris made 14 three-point shots, including 7 in the first 5:40 of the third quarter, but the hosts answered with a 15-3 run bridging the third and fourth quarters. Even though the lead was never bigger than 7 points, Partizan never relinquished it.
Carlik Jones shined with 19 points and 10 assists and Tyrique Jones had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Frank Ntlikina netted 15 and Sterling Brown had 11 in a victory.
Lonnie Walker IV paced the visitors with 26 points on 6-for-11 three-point shooting and Brady Manek had 12 in defeat.
Walker IV nailed a pair of triples and Edgaras Ulanovas had a three-point play, but Carlik Jones was dishing assists and Tyrique Jones was dominating inside. Back-to-back triples from Vanja Marinkovic and Sterling Brown helped open a 9-15 lead for the hosts. Partizan’s two Joneses also connected for an alley-oop, but Matthew Mitchell and Walker IV each nailed a three-pointer to make it 19-22 after 10 minutes.
Manek knocked down a transition triple, but a three from Brown and baskets from Duane Washington and Ntilikina put Partizan up 24-32. Walker IV strung together 8 points, including a pair of threes, that all but erased the deficit, 32-34. Ntilikina hit a triple, but so did Manek. While Laurynas Birutis scored twice inside, Tyrique Jones had a three-point play and the hosts held a 41-44 edge at halftime.
The threes were raining at the start of the third quarter. Ulanovas started the run of threes, and Giedraitis hit two from downtown to make it 52-48. Ntilikina hit one for the hosts, but Walker IV knocked down his sixth and Manek made two more for the visitors to make it 61-54. However, Partizan stopped the bleeding with close-range baskets from Carlik Jones and Ntilikina. A triple from Carlik Jones tied it and Bonga's dunk helped the hosts finish a 10-0 run. Francisco's triple, the visitors’ seventh of the quarter tied things at 64-64 after 30 minutes.
Washington got the hosts going in the fourth with a floater and a three-point play. Francisco’s three snapped a 15-3 run, but Brown nailed a transition triple for a 67-75 advantage midway through the fourth quarter. All the points that followed came from the free throw line in a tense battle, before Carlik Jones hit a mid-range jumper, then Bonga followed with a runner in traffic to make it 74-81 with 1:29 to go and Partizan preserved the lead in the final 90 seconds.
