Suproleague, Group B, Round 8, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, December 21

PARTIZAN Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - TSV BAYER 04 Leverkusen (Germany) 108-99 (26-20, 30-28, 26-27, 26-24)

PARTIZAN: Milisavljevic 18 (5 assists), Petrovic 14, Beric 31 (5 assists), Canak 20 (11 rebounds), Bulatovic 9, Markovic 14, Glintic 2, Gajic, Varda.

TSV BAYER 04: Evans 15, Hansen 22, Hutchinson 6, Lokhmanchuk 24, Gnad 19, Kovacev 2, Henjak 2, Weber 9, Gieseck.

Though still shocked by the death of their team mate Haris Brkic, the Partizan basketball players succeeded in playing most of the match with high concentration and defeating the German Bayer.

The home team led during the entire match, several times even 10 to 15 points, but managed the victory only in the very last minutes.      

"You won for Haris" chanted a once again sold-out "Pionir" at the end of the game, which had Brkic's tragic death looming over it.

Round 9 (January 4, 2001): Pau-Orthez - Iraklis, Efes - Plannja Basket, Oostende - Krka, TSV Bayer 04 - Scavolini, Maccabi - Partizan.

Postponed match between Efes and Partizan will be played in Istanbul, on December 28.

ULEB's EuroLeague, Group D, Round 8, Podgorica, Yugoslavia, December 21

BUDUCNOST Podgorica (Yugoslavia) - LONDON TOWERS (England) 101-83 (25-27, 25-16, 19-18, 31-22)

BUDUCNOST: Rakocevic 20, Vukcevic 19, Kuzmanovic, Tomasevic 21 (8 rebounds), Topic 24 (8 rebounds), Obradovic 10, Sekulic, Radunovic 3, Milojevic 4.

LONDON TOWERS: Tejlor 9, Dak 22, Karter 19, Beknal 9, Voren 17, Burgs 3, Bejker, Henri, Henlan 2, Videman 2.

Group D - current standings

                          G W L Pts
1. Barcelona              8 6 2  14 
2. Muller                 8 5 3  13
3. BUDUCNOST              8 5 3  13
4. PAOK                   8 5 3  13
5. London Towers          8 1 7   9
6. Opel Skyliners         8 1 7   9

Round 9 (January 11, 2001): Barcelona - London Towers, Muller - Opel Skyliners, PAOK - Buducnost.

Korac Cup, Group C, Round 4, Moscow, Russia, December 20

KHIMKI Moscow (Russia) - FMP ZELEZNIK Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 89-66

Group C - current standings

                  G W L Pts
1. Levski         4 3 1  7 
2. Darussafaka    4 2 2  6
3. Khimki         4 2 2  6
4. FMP ZELEZNIK   4 1 3  5

ROUND 5 (January 10, 2001): Darussafaka - FMP Zeleznik, Levski - Khimki.

Korac Cup, Group D, Round 4, Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, December 20

VOJVODINA Novi Sad (Yugoslavia) - HEMOFARM Vrsac (Yugoslavia) 66-70

Group D - current standings

                    G W L Pts
1. Fenerbahce       4 4 0  8 
2. HEMOFARM         4 3 1  7
3. Turk Telekom     4 1 3  5
4. VOJVODINA        4 1 3  4

ROUND 5 (January 10, 2001): Hemofarm - Fenerbahce, Vojvodina - Turk Telekom.

Vujanic (left, Red Star) and Corrales look for the lose ball

Saporta Cup, Group C, Round 8, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, December 19

RED STAR Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - CAJA SAN FERNANDO (Spain) 80-76 (25-15, 14-15, 17-25, 22-22)

Pionir Hall. Attendance: 1,000.

RED STAR: Jelic 8, Radmanovic 15 (8 rebounds), Tica 4, Vujanic 21 (4 assists), Prekovic 22, Stefanovic, Sljivancanin 4, Miskovic 6.

CAJA SAN FERNANDO: Corrales 12, Scott 28, Tamames 2, Cattalini 2, Solana 13, Bogojevic, Schütte 7, Kornegay 12, Romero.

With an excellent play in the first and the last minutes of the match the host team defeated, for the second time in this season, Spanish Caja San Fernando and made a decisive step towards placing itself into the second phase of Saporta Cup.

Together with playmaker Vujanic, Prekovic, Radmanovic and Tica gave great contribution to significant victory, while the American Scott was the best player in the defeated team.

Shields (Opel) tries to score between Vukcevic (R) and Tomasevic

ULEB's EuroLeague, Group D, Round 7, Podgorica, Yugoslavia, December 13

BUDUCNOST Podgorica (Yugoslavia) - OPEL SKYLINERS Frankfurt (Germany) 79-73 (20-15, 21-14, 16-24, 22-20)

BUDUCNOST: Rakocevic 24, Vukcevic 6, Kuzmanovic 11, Tomasevic 16 (13 rebounds, 5 assists), Topic 13, Obradovic 5, Radonjic, Milojevic 4.

OPEL SKYLINERS: Nurnberger, Terdenge 16, Grey, Shields 13, Mccoy 19, Taylor 15, Boydakov 10, Roller.

Saporta Cup, Group C, Round 7, Bonn, Germany, December 12

TELEKOM BASKETS Bonn (Germany) - RED STAR Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 83-75

Korac Cup, Group C, Round 3, Sofia, Bulgaria, December 13

LEVSKI Sofia (Bulgaria) - FMP ZELEZNIK Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 78-75

Korac Cup, Group D, Round 3, Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, December 13

VOJVODINA Novi Sad (Yugoslavia) - FENERBAHCE (Turkey) 85-93

Korac Cup, Group D, Round 3, Vrsac, Yugoslavia, December 13

HEMOFARM Vrsac (Yugoslavia) - TURK TELEKOM (Turkey) 98-80

The Suproleague match between Efes Pilsen and Partizan Belgrade, scheduled to be played in Istanbul, on December 14, was postponed.

Branko Milisavljevic (left, Partizan)

SuproLeague, Group B, Round 6, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, December 7

PARTIZAN Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - OOSTENDE (Belgium) 89-80 (28-22, 17-23, 20-21, 24-14)

PARTIZAN: Milisavljevic 13, Petrovic 5, Beric 38 (4 assists), Canak 4, Varda 9 (7 rebounds), Brkic 6, Glintic 8, Bulatovic 6.

OOSTENDE: Holden 30, Biggs 14, Kullamae 4, Praskevicius 20, Van Den Spiegel 12, Beghin, Doyle, De Bell.

In the match of the SuproLeague group B round six Partizan has scored its fifth victory by defeating the greatest surprise of the competition so far, the Belgian Oostende. The hero of the match was Miroslav Beric who scored 38 points, and more importantly, took several successful actions in the crucial moments of the game.

ULEB's EuroLeague, Group D, Round 6, Barcelona, Spain, December 6

BARCELONA (Spain) - BUDUCNOST Podgorica (Yugoslavia) 92-75 (19-21, 21-10, 28-14, 24-30)

BARCELONA: Elson 8, Navarro 15, Jasikevicius 12, Gasol 13, Karnisovas 18, Digbeu 5, Duenas 6, Rentzias 15, Bravo.

BUDUCNOST: Obradovic 6, Rakocevic 11, Kuzmanovic, Tomasevic 29 (17 rebounds), Topic 6, Bakic, Radonjic 11, Vukcevic 3, Milojevic 9.

Saporta Cup, Group C, Round 6, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, December 5

RED STAR Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - KERAVNOS KEO (Cyprus) 95-84

Korac Cup, Group C, Round 2, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, December 6

FMP ZELEZNIK Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - DARUSSAFAKA SK Turkey) 76-85

Korac Cup, Group D, Round 2, Istambul, Turkey, December 6

TURK TELEKOM (Turkey) - VOJVODINA Novi Sad (Yugoslavia) 83-71

Korac Cup, Group D, Round 2, Istambul, Turkey, December 6

FENERBAHCE (Turkey) - HEMOFARM Vrsac (Yugoslavia) 69-55

Suproleague, Group B, Round 5, Lulea, Sweden, November 16

PLANNJA BASKET Lulea (Sweden) - PARTIZAN Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 81-90 (16-22, 16-24, 30-22, 19-22)

PLANNJA: Fredriksson 3, Parn, Aulander 16, Dirden 11, Nicholas 17, Patiejunas 10, Pettersson 18, Ronndahl 6.

PARTIZAN: Bogojevic 10, Markovic 11, Beric 30, Bulatovic 19, Canak 10, Petrovic 5, Ilijevski 1, Cubrilo, Varda, Glintic 4.

Partizan has scored the fourth victory in Suproleague thanks to its best player Miroslav Beric. Partizan`s captain has, in the last minutes of the match when home team reduced the score to 70:71, first scored two three-point shots, then a two point shot and, it the end, he assisted Veselin Petrovic who settled the question about the winner with a three-pointer.

ULEB's Euroleague, Group D, Round 5, Verona, Italy, November 16

MULLER Verona (Italy) - BUDUCNOST Podgorica (Yugoslavia) 86-91 (16-18, 26-20, 26-30, 18-23)

MULLER: Albano 6, Schmidt 13, Bullock 20, Camata 14, Williams 21, Rombaldoni, Sartori, Conlon 12.

BUDUCNOST: Bakic 2, Rakocevic 16, Kuzmanovic, Tomasevic 26 (9 rebounds), Topic 15, Obradovic 13, Radonjic 13, Vukcevic 6.

Tonight in Verona Buducnost went from 10 points down in the 23rd minute (53-43) to 10 points lead in the 36th minute (77-87) to the final 5 points victory at the end of the match (86-91).

It was a rather strange game, however, what happened at the end was the most important and Buducnost played better during those crucial moments. Four players, Obradovic, Rakocevic, Radonjic and Tomasevic, played almost flawlessly in the last quarter.

Tomasevic scored only 8 points in the first half, but in the second he recovered his form and confirmed why he was currently leading the Euroleague MVP standings. He finished with 26 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 8 fouls committed against him, more than enough to compensate for his 7 turnovers. In the first half the result was very close, with only a small advantage for the home team, thanks to the scoring of its big men, Kamata and Conlon.

In the beginning of the 2nd half, Louis Bullock and Henry Williams scored some of their characteristic baskets and it looked as if the Italians were on their way to a clear victory.Unfortunately for them, however, the experienced Buducnost players had other thing in mind. After a three-pointer by Topic at the end of the third quarter, which tied the score, Buducnost took advantage and did not lose the lead until the end of the game. Müller tried to catch up by the 7-0 run and almost tied (84-87), but they missed the next three attacks and had to accept the five- point defeat as the game came to its end.

Milos Vujanic (Red Star)

Saporta Cup, Group C, Round 5, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, November 14

RED STAR Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - SAKALAI (Lithuania) 69-68 (29-14, 8-19, 14-17, 18-18)

RED STAR: Aleksic 4, Asceric, Miskovic 4, Prekovic 12, Radmanovic 14 (12 rebounds), Savanovic 13, Sljivancanin 10, Tica, Vujanic 12 (five assists, four steals).

SAKALAI: Budzinauskas 5, Gronskis 9, Jasaitis 3, Kiausas 2, Matulis 12, Priudokas 10, Salenga 13, Skaisgirys 14.

MVP of the game between Partizan and Scavolini: Veselin Petrovic

SuproLeague, Group B, Round 4, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, November 9

PARTIZAN Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - SCAVOLINI Pesaro (Italy) 76-73 (8-17, 27-21, 22-16, 19-19)

PARTIZAN: Bogojevic 3 (four assists), Beric 24 (four assists), Markovic, Canak 2, Bulatovic 9 (eight rebounds), Petrovic 25, Ilijevski 4, Glintic 7, Varda 2.

SCAVOLINI: Booker 7, Gigena 10, Middleton 8, Johnson 18, Maggioli, Zanelli 10, Tusek 12, Pecile.

As in two previous matches in Belgrade Partizan turned almost certain defeat into a victory.

Our team started the game badly and in the first quarter gained only eight points. They started also the second quarter with disorganized game, enabling Pesar team to make 18-point lead during this period of the match - 33:15.

However, with Veselin Petrovic's and Miroslav Beric's three-pointers and a few successfully performed counterattacks the Belgrade team managed to decrease the Italian guest's lead until the end of the second quarter.

Until the end of the game Partizan succeeded in maintaining the minimal lead, and the player of the match, Veselin Petrovic, by a turnaround three-pointer definitely decided the winner in the last minute.

Bojan Bakic (left, Buducnost) tries to stop Sigalas (PAOK)

ULEB's Euroleague, Group D, Round 4, Podgorica, Yugoslavia, November 8

BUDUCNOST Podgorica (Yugoslavia) - PAOK Salonika (Greece) 83-71 (18-17, 21-19, 13-25, 24-10)

BUDUCNOST: Bakic 4, Rakocevic 17, Kuzmanovic 7, Tomasevic 29 (11 rebounds), Topic 7, Brkic 11, Radonjic 6, Milojevic 2.

PAOK: Coldebella 3, Liadelis 21, Sigalas 9, Cargol 2, Blair 14, Koronios 7, Weis 2, Racca 13.

The home team excellently started the match, and already in the 4th minute, took the lead 11:2. Players chosen by coach Miroslav Nikolic kept this advantage up to the end of the first quarter. In the second ten minutes players of Podgorica team played even better and made the largest advantage in the match - 30:17.

In the third quarter, guests from Greece used weaker play of Buducnost and managed to tie the score. In the last minutes of the match, basketball players of the home team, Tomasevic, Rakocevic and Topic, scored several key points and thus secured the third victory for their team in EuroLeague.

Rupert (left, Racing) fights for posession with Dejan Miskovic (Red Star)

Saporta Cup, Group C, Round 4, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, November 7

RED STAR Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - BASKET RACING (Paris, France) 66-68 (21-18, 12-19, 21-14, 12-17)

RED STAR: Asceric 8 (five rebounds), Radmanovic 8, Sljivancaniin 17 (five rebounds), Vujanic 15, Prekovic 12 (four assists), Savanovic 2, Aleksic 2, Tica 2, Miskovic.

BASKET RACING: Parker 14, Lesmond 10, King 16, Rupert 5, Bryson 8, Kraidy 2, Diarra 5, Zig 8.

Dragisa Drobnjak (left, Krka) and Aleksandar Cubrilo

SuproLeague, Group B, Round 3, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, November 2

PARTIZAN Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - KRKA TELEKOM Novo Mesto (Slovenia) 77-67 (16-21, 17-17, 18-17, 26-12)

PARTIZAN: Bogojevic 3, Beric 28 (5 assists), Cubrilo 3, Canak 8, Bulatovic 13 (8 rebounds), Ilijevski 2, Petrovic, Markovic 11, Varda 9, Glintic.

KRKA: Petrov 13, Doncic 10, Davison 2, Arapovic 15, Anzulovic 10, Drobnjak 15, Scekic.

Partizan recorded its second win in Suprolegue after beating Slovenian Krka 77-67 at home.

From the start of the game the visitors imposed a tough pace and went ahead by 14 points (38-24). But when guests' center Arapovic went to the bench to rest, Partizan woke up. Ilijevski replaced Bogojevic at the point guard position imposing a ferocious pace on Krka's outside players, who lost control. The home team cut Krka's lead to five points at the half.

The Partizan's captain Miroslav Beric proved that he needed to warm up in order to provide points. He opened the final ten minutes with two baskets and Dragan Markovic connected with two three-pointers (11 pts) of his own sparking a 14-2 run.

When coach Pipan took Arapovic out five minutes before the end, Krka lost its floor general and it was all over. Beric continued his show, scoring 28 points (2PFGs - 3/11, 3PFGs - 4/5, FTs - 10/15) and was rightfully voted MVP of the game.

EuroLeague, Group D, Round 3, London, England, November 2

LONDON TOWERS London (England) - BUDUCNOST Podgorica (Yugoslavia) 88-95 (17-35, 24-20, 23-26, 24-14).

Saporta Cup, Group C, Round 3, Spain, November 1

CAJA SAN FERNANDO (Spain) - RED STAR Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 79-81 (11-14, 20-28, 30-18, 18-21)

After scoring an important away win in Spain, Red Star has a good opportunity to advance to the Saporta Cup eighth-finals.

From the start of the game Red Star played strong defence in the first half and scored many "easy" points from the counter-attacks.

Yugoslav team, which dominated the game and led by 18 points in the first half, allowed the opponent to cut the deficit in the third quarter. However, young players from Belgrade were more precise from the line in the final minutes of the match.

The best Red Star's scorer was Prekovic with 22 points (six three-pointers), while Yugoslav team's captain Radmanovic grabbed 12 rebounds.

Dejan Tomasevic (Buducnost)

EuroLeague, Group D, Round 2, Frankfurt, Germany, October 25

OPEL SKYLINERS Frankfurt (Germany) - BUDUCNOST Podgorica (Yugoslavia) 79-94 (15-25, 21-22, 8-23, 15-24)

OPEL SKYLINERS: Taylor 11, Terdenge 15, Gray 13, Shields 5, McCoy 18, Palmer 6, Maras 3, Lutchke 8.

BUDUCNOST: Bakic 5, Radonjic 12, Kuzmanovic 10, Tomasevic 26, Topic 15, Brkic 13, Rakocevic 7, Milojevic 6.

As expected, Buducnost celebrated their first victory in the ULEB's EuroLeague this season, proving that there is a great difference in quality of the Yugoslav champion and the German team. At the start of the second quarter guests from Podgorica managed to make a 16-point-lead. In the second half, when hosts almost closed a gap, Miroslav Nikolic's players came strong and with a 12-point-lead (84-72) three minutes left, put the match beyond the doubt.

SuproLeague, Group B, Round 2, Thessaloniki, Greece, October 25

IRAKLIS BALKAN Thessaloniki (Greece) - PARTIZAN Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 91-76 (19-25, 22-17, 30-11, 20-23)

IRAKLIS BALKAN: Karassev 21, Nakic 16, Hatzivrettas 21, Hupmann 5, Farmer 8, Santangelo 2, Papadopoulos 9, Karagoutis 9.

PARTIZAN: Bogojevic 4, Beric 17, Cubrilo 9, Canak 14, Bulatovic 16, Petrovic, Ilijevski, Markovic 3, Varda.

Watching the first half, nobody could imagine that Iraklis would win the game so easily. Partizan was better in the first two periods, as its players made many three point shots.

But in the second half Partizan simply surrendered to host team. Iraklis successfully punished most of missed shots of Partizan players in the counter-attacks. Strong centers of Greek team grabbed more offensive and defensive rebounds. As a result, Iraklis won the third quarter 30-11 and practically secured the victory.

Saporta cup, Group C, Round 2, Belgrade, October 24

RED STAR Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - Telekom Basket Bonn (Germany) 94-89 (26-17, 28-13, 17-30, 23-29)

Korac Cup 2001, qualifications, second leg matches, October 25

APOLLON (Cyprus) - HEMOFARM Vrsac (Yugoslavia) 70-75. Hemofarm advanced to the next round of the Korac Cup 150-120 on aggregate.

VOJVODINA Novi Sad (Yugoslavia) - MZT SKOPLJE 2000 (Macedonia) 93-85. Vojvodina advanced to the next round of the Korac Cup 174-163 on aggregate.

FMP ZELEZNIK Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - YAMBOLGAS (Bulgaria) 75-62. FMP Zeleznik advanced to the next round of the Korac Cup 142-127 on aggregate.

SuproLeague, Group B, Round 1, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, October 19

PARTIZAN Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - PAU-ORTHEZ (France) 75-69 (17-24, 10-19, 25-12, 23-14)

"Pionir" Hall. Attendance: 3,000.

PARTIZAN: Bogojevic, Beric 18, Cubrilo 9, Canak 19, Bulatovic 12, Petrovic 4, Ilijevski 2, Markovic 5, Varda 6, Glintic.

PAU-ORTHEZ: Carr 24, M. Pietrus Dubos 9, Esteller 15, Lawson 3, Fauthoux 6, Drozdov, F. Pietrus 9, Masingue 3.

Orthez immediately took advantage of their host''s bad start establishing the initial advantage. The French dominated the boards and shot well from three-point range.

In the second quarter Orthez established full domination, but in the third quarter Partizan made a 16-0 run. With Nenad Canak (19 points), aided by Miroslav Beric (18 pts) Partizan prevailed in the final moments over the shocked French team, who had 21 turnovers.

Milenko Topic (right, Buducnost) and Seikaly fight for the ball

Without assistance of injured playmaker of the Yugoslav national team, Sasa Obradovic, Buducnost side was defeated by Spanish Barcelona in the first round of the ULEB's EuroLeague. Host team made a good start and took a lead, but a man of the match, 20-year-old center Gasol (26 points), along with his teammates, managed to get a win against a strong rival.

EuroLeague, Group D, Round 1, Podgorica, Yugoslavia, October 18

BUDUCNOST Podgorica (Yugoslavia) - BARCELONA (Spain) 77-85 (19-26, 25-19, 17-19, 16-21)

Moraca Hall. Attendance: 3,000.

BUDUCNOST: Bakic 4, Brkic 14, Radonjic 14, Sekulic, Vukcevic 2, Radunovic, Kuzmanovic 2, Milojevic 10, Tomasevic 23, Topic 8.

BARCELONA: Rodriguez 9, Seikaly 8, De la Fuente 6, Elson 10, Digbeu 2, Navara 2, Duenas 7, Jasikevicius 13, Rentzias 2, Gasol 26.

A much-weakened Red Star side (Jelic, Djokic, Sljivancanin and Asceric were absent through injuries) was defeated by Keravnos in Cyprus 79-93.

Captain of the Canadian national team Barrett was simply unstoppable, as he scored 28 points (2PFGs - 4/6, FT - 8/9, 3PFGs - 4/4!) for Keravnos.

Saporta cup, Group C, Round 1, Cyprus, October 17

KERAVNOS KEO (Cyprus) - RED STAR Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 93-79 (21-22, 24-21, 21-20, 27-16)

Attendance: 1,000.

KERAVNOS KEO: Stylianides 10, Butler 15, Anastasiades 13, Barrett 28, Fowlkes 15, Florent 6, Trisokka 6, Karagiannis.

RED STAR: Radmanovic 11, Aleksic 10, Popovic 10, Vujanic 15, Prekovic 5, Savanovic 15, Tica 5, Cvetic 2, Miskovic 6.

Korac Cup 2001, qualifications, first leg matches, October 18

HEMOFARM Vrsac (Yugoslavia) - APOLLON (Cyprus) 75-50
MZT SKOPLJE 2000 (Macedonia) - VOJVODINA Novi Sad (Yugoslavia) 78-81
YAMBOLGAS (Bulgaria) - FMP ZELEZNIK Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 65-67