Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated Partizan Belgrade 95-93 as Jimmy Clark drained the game winning basket as the clock hit zero to give the yellow-and-blue the victory. With the win, Oded Katash’s team improved their Euroleague record to 11-15 as they will play the backend of the double week in Serbia at Red Star Belgrade on Friday.

Prior to the game, Maccabi held a very special ceremony honoring Partizan for hosting the club for more than two years after the terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Dylan Osetkowski and Iffe Lundberg were the principles for their respective squads in the opening quarter while Jimmy Clark and Isaac Bonga scored as well as Maccabi went ahead 27-22. Osetkowski continued to find the basket as Sterling Brown and Bonga added points while Lundberg continued to score for the hosts but Partizan took a 50-48 lead into halftime.

Brown didn’t miss as the third quarter began while Roman Sorkin and Clark responded, but Brown and Payne bumped up the lead to 77-72. Lundberg and Marcio Santos filled the basket, Bruno Fernando scored some key baskets, but Clark nailed the game winning jumper at time expired to give Maccabi the win.

Clark and Lundberg each scored 21 points while Santos added 17 points in the win while Brown scored 19 points as Osetkowski and Fernando each put in 17 points in the defeat.

“I’m very happy for the win and we found a way,” Maccabi Tel Aviv Head Coach Oded Katash said. “We couldn’t have done It without the crowd in a great atmosphere. We weren’t aggressive enough and at halftime I told the guys, it doesn’t feel that we wanted to win. Credit to Partizan and we knew it was going to be a totally different game than last time, but I’m happy for Jimmy, he really deserved it, but we have to learn the lesson.”

Katash also spoke about the ceremony held before the contest, “It was very emotional for me. The way they hosted us made us feel it was our second home, it was very special and I want to thanks everyone in Belgrade, they deserved this ceremony.”

“Congratulations to Maccabi for the win and to congratulations to my players, we deserved more,” Partizan Head Coach Joan Pennaroya began. “In the last minutes Maccabi scored the important shots and we missed those shots. We started the game poorly and Maccabi scored a lot in the first few minutes but we improved our situation. At the end it was a 50/50 situation but they scored the good shots and we missed them.”

Dylan Osetkowski scored on the inside and outside for Partizan Belgrade and Jimmy Clark and Iffe Lundberg both scored from deep to get the game underway, Roman Sorkin and Isaac Bonga traded baskets, Clark put in a 3-point play and Lundberg followed up with another 3-pointer as Maccabi grabbed a 14-7 lead midway though the first quarter. Osetkowski, Bruno Fernando and Sterling Brown all came back with points, TJ Leaf and Nick Calathes scored, Marcio Santos went from downtown, Bonga scored off the glass as did Jeff Dowtin to give the yellow-and-blue a 27-22 lead after ten minutes of play.

Oshae Brissett led off the second quarter with points, Leaf went end to end for a bucket and Tamir Blatt went from way downtown, Tonye Jekiri, Osetkowski, Brown and Cam Payne responded in quick order with an 11-0 run to give Joan Pennaroya’s team a 35-34 lead with six minutes remaining in the first half. Osetkowski went from beyond the arc again, Lundberg hit a baseline jumper, Jaylen Hoard and Clark scored as well, Brown went from deep while Bonga and Fernando also scored inside as Lundberg dropped a pair of jumpers in the paint but Partizan took a 50-48 advantage into halftime.

Fernando scored to open up the third quarter, Brown went from deep, Osetkowski put in a 3-point play, Clark dialled up long distance and added a deuce, Brissett and Arijan Lakic traded triples, Brown went from downtown as did Clark at the other end, but yet another triple by Brown and a basket at the buzzer by Payne gave Partizan a 77-72 lead after thirty minutes of action.

Jekiri led off the fourth quarter with a long deuce, Lundberg put in a layup, Bonga and Santos traded buckets, Lundberg went from deep, Fernando scored in the paint, Santos went from downtown, Payne did as well, Santos hit a trio of free throws, Fernando scored a pair from the line to knot the score up at 93-93 but Jimmy Clark hit a winner shot as the clock expired to hand Maccabi the victory.