Partizan claim junior b'ball champ

Jay Asser 05:47 03/09/2016
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  • Pic by Chris Whiteoak/whiteoakpictures All smiles: Partizan celebrate winning the title.

    A second-half comeback by Partizan thwarted an upset bid by Egypt’s Al Ahli as the Serbian giants captured the second edition of the Dubai Junior International Basketball Championship.

    The all-international final ended in a closely-contested 59-55 victory for Partizan, who needed a surge after the intermission to fight off crowd favourites Ahli at American University in Dubai yesterday.

    Dusan Tanaskovic led the way with 21 points as Partizan leaned on the centre in the low post to leverage their size advantage. Luka Novakovic added 17 points for the Serbians, while guards Mohammad Boody and Omer Tark paced Al Ahli with 16 apiece.

    The Egyptians appeared to be in control when they increased their 29-23 half-time lead to nine points in the third quarter, but Partizan went on a 14-0 run to move ahead 51-46 with 1:30 left in the period.

    Ahli had their own run in the fourth quarter which included back-to-back 3-pointers, including a parking-lot heave by Boody, and a layup to go ahead 51-45 with six minutes remaining in the game.

    Partizan, however, would claw back once again with a seven-point spurt to take a 52-51 lead with four minutes left before holding on.

    After witnessing a sluggish performance in the first half, Partizan coach Marko Stankovic delivered a message to his players at half-time.

    “I said to my players they need to be more brave than the first half. Every time when they’re beneath the basket, they need to shoot, believe in their shot and be brave,” Stankovic said.

    The Serbians played with much more conviction in the second half and wore down Al Ahli’s zone defence which had been suffocating them earlier in the contest.

    The change in attack also breathed life into Partizan’s defence as turnovers were reduced, resulting in fewer fast break
    chances for the Egyptians.

    “It was the point of our defence in the second half because in the first half, we gave half of their points on fast breaks,” Stankovic said. “We had to stop their fast breaks and we needed to play with more fast breaks. It was a success.”

    In the first half, Al Ahli neutralised the size difference through their pace and swarming perimeter defence. Boody was everywhere as the jitterbug playmaker set up his team-mates with passes and notched a handful of steals to open up the game in transition.

    Partizan’s size, however, could only be contained for so long as Tanaskovic and his team-mates cleaned the offensive glass and lived in the paint in the second half.

    “The Partizan team is very good, physically tough, they have good size and a big body in [Tanaskovic],” said Al Ahli coach Ahmed Hosny. “No other team had this size.

    “Before we came, we knew the Serbian team is at another level, but we hopefully gained experience in this tournament.”

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