BELGRADE (Superleague) - Partizan Belgrade are the only unbeaten team left in Serbia & Montenegro's Superleague after they made it six wins from six by prevailing 96-84 at Group A whipping boys Mornar.
League MVP Dejan Milojevic, a Serbo-Montenegrin international who may play at the FIBA World Championship, shone for the defending champions with 20 points and eight rebounds but the real star was young center Kosta Perovic. Perovic, who will be part of the NBA draft this summer, poured in 24 points from his 24 minutes, while he also added nine rebounds.
Partizan coach Dusko Vujosevic said: "We had some problems with the hosts' outside shooting, which built their self-confidence. But when we started to play like we can, we ended up winning despite having some injury problems through the likes of (Luka) Bogdanovic, (Aleksandar) Smiljanic and (Nikola) Pekovic."
Mornar are winless from their opening six league games.
FMP stay in second place and now have a 5-1 record after defeating bitter rivals Vojvodina 83-82 thanks to a buzzer-beater from Marko Marinovic. Trailing 82-80 with four seconds remaining, the FMP guard nailed his first free-throw before pulling down the rebound from his second and landing a game-winning jumper.
Marinovic ended up with 15 points and was his side's second leading scorer, behind Dusko Savanovic (18 points).
Vojvodina trailed 56-42 after 23 minutes but launched a superb comeback, only to be pipped at the end. Marko Scekic was their top scorer with 15 points.
Elsewhere in Group A, Borac used captain Djordje Micic's 17 points to defeat Masinac 82-70. Both sides have 2-4 records.
In Group B, Red Star defeated last year's runners-up Hemofarm 85-75 in the Belgrade derby to progress to 5-1 this season. Another Serbia & Montenegro national team player Milan Gurovic, the leading scorer in the league this season, was once again the inspiration behind Red Star with 32 points, 21 of those coming from behind the arc.
Red Star coach Dragan Sakota sung the praises of his side's fans, who hours earlier had been cheering on the city's football club, Red Star Belgrade, in their 4-2 extra-time cup final win.
"I must thank our supporters for coming straight from the football final to our match," said Sakota, who is also coach of the Serbia & Montenegro national team.
"They were crucial for this win. Their support was outstanding even though they had previously been outside under heavy rain, helping our footballers win the cup (against OFK Beograd) despite being down 2-0 at one stage."
American Robert Conley scored 20 points for Hemofarm.
Red Star are level at the top of the group with Buducnost, who were 82-78 winners against Zdravlje. Miljan Pavkovic (19 points) was one of five Buducnost players to pour in double-figure scores.
OKK Beograd (4-2) stayed in the race for the play-offs by beating winless Atlas 99-93 away. Marko Brkic and Dalibor Djapa both scored 18 points for OKK.
From Darko Nikolic, PA Sport, Belgrade