Partizan Mozzart Bet pull off a stunning 4th quarter comeback to beat Cedevita Olimpija
Partizan Mozzart Bet came back from a 14-point deficit in the 4th quarter to seize a huge win vs. Cedevita Olimpija in this week's NLB Match of the Round.
Duane Washington (Photo: ABA League j.t.d./Dragana Stjepanovic)
2024/25 AdmiralBet ABA League Round 14, Monday, 30 December 2024:
PARTIZAN MOZZART BET - Cedevita Olimpija 78:76 (14:21, 20:18, 18:24, 26:13)
Game recap: The last game of the year simply could not be more thrilling! Partizan Mozzart Bet and Cedevita Olimpija gave us another instant classic in which the black-and-whites eventually prevailed after a huge comeback.
The Belgrade troops were down by 14 points, 8 minutes before the end of the match, but they managed to pull off one of the biggest comebacks of the season and to clinch a very important win.
Eventually the game hero was Duane Washington who scored the game-winning 2-pointer, just 10 seconds before the end of the match.
Partizan Mozzart Bet have therefore bounced back after two consecutive defeats in the league and they now have the overall score of 12-2. On the other side, Cedevita Olimpija failed to grab their 5th win in a row and therefore dropped to the overall score of 7-7.
Key moments: Everything that Cedevita Olimpija were building throughout the game just collapsed in less than a quarter. The Dragons were up by 66:52, with 8 minutes before the end, while even though they easily dropped that lead in the following minutes, they still managed to create a 4-point gap – 76:72, with 30 seconds remaining on the game clock.
Partizan Mozzart Bet scored two quick points as Duane Washington hit both of his two free throws – 76:74, while on the other side of the court Cedevita Olimpija point guard Aleksej Nikolić made just 1 out of 2 free throws – 77:74.
Partizan Mozzart Bet suddently got a chance to tie the game and that is exactly what they did as Carlik Jones made a 3-pointer – 77:77.
Cedevita Olimpija called for a time out, however they never even started setting their time-out plan into motion as they lost the ball while going to the opponent’s half. Sterling Brown made the key steal, then Isaac Bonga sent a long pass to Duane Washington who scored an easy lay-up to put Partizan Mozzart Bet in front – 78:76.
Cedevita Olimpija still had time to win this game, but the 3-point attempts made by Brynton Lemar and then by Aleksej Nikolić did not go through the basket.
Man of the match: This is an easy choice this time. Duane Waashington scored 4 big points in the last 30 seconds of the game and has therefore pushed Partizan Mozzart Bet toward this stunning comeback.
Can't trick the stats: At the end, that one turnover, one steal and two points made by Duane Washington made the difference in this fantastic match.
Stats
Players on court
| PAR | Min | PtsP | RebsR | AssA | StS | FoulF | ValV | |
| 0 | Davies B. | 13:07 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 3 | Ntilikina F. | 20:01 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 4 | Washington D. | 27:24 | 18 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 18 |
| 12 | Brown S. | 32:18 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 17 |
| 17 | Bonga I. | 23:21 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| COL | Min | PtsP | RebsR | AssA | StS | FoulF | ValV | |
| 0 | Stewart JR D. | 33:45 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| 1 | Robinson D. | 28:45 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 5 | Nikolić A. | 28:19 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| 9 | Lemar B. | 28:52 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 26 |
| 11 | Blažič J. | 22:14 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
Top players
| VALUE (INDEX) | ||||
| Washington D. | 18 | - | 26 | Lemar B. |
| POINTS | ||||
| Washington D. | 18 | - | 24 | Lemar B. |
| REBOUNDS | ||||
| Bonga I. | 7 | - | 6 | Stewart JR D. |
| ASSISTS | ||||
| Washington D. | 4 | - | 6 | Stewart JR D. |
