Partizan without enough power for the third place

 
Belgrade/Paris, May. 12. 2010 (Serbia today) -Partizan basketball team have secured fourth place at the Euroleague Final Four in Paris, having been defeated by CSKA Moscow 90-88 in the third-place match. The game was decided after overtime, just as in the semi-final against Olympiacos. After an unconvincing first half and facing a 33-22 deficit, Partizan came out strong in the second half, with Jan Vesely going on a run of points and Lawrence Roberts's three-pointer and dunk. On 18 minutes, Partizan had closed the gap to only four points and completely caught up with CSKA Moscow after Aleksandar Rasic;s three-pointer. Before long, Partizan were in the lead, which they managed to maintain. However, a debatable refereeing decision, when Alex Maric was penalised with an offensive foul and Vesely complained to a referee and earned himself a technical foul. CSKA were once again in the lead for a brief moment, as youngster Djekic made sure Partizan were in the slenderest of leads going into the final period. Dusan Kecman provided a mini run at the start of the fourth period to counter points from CSKA's Holden and Siskauskas. CSKA increased the lead to three points. In Partizan's subsequent attack, the Russians did not allow any three-points from Partizan and quickly fouled Maric, who responded by netting both points from the free-throw line. In the dying moments of the overtime, laden with fouls from both ends, CSKA held to their slender lead. Partizan had a chance to clinch the game with the final attack 2.6 seconds from the buzzer, however Bo McCalebb missed a three-pointer for the win and CSKA Moscow claimed the third spot at the Euroleague Final Four with a 90-88 win.