The Roca Team came within a breath of a miraculous comeback on the evening of Tuesday, November 11 in Belgrade, falling 78-76 to Partizan in a EuroLeague thriller that had nearly 20,000 Serbian fans on their feet at the Stark Arena.
What began as a nightmare outing turned into one of the most dramatic finishes of Monaco’s season. Vassilis Spanoulis’ side were overwhelmed early on by a red-hot Duane Washington Jr., who exploded for 11 points in the opening three minutes to give Partizan an early double-digit lead. Monaco’s offense struggled to find rhythm, and by the third quarter, the deficit had ballooned to 20 points.
But the Roca Boys refused to go quietly. Led by captain Mike James, alongside Nemanja Nedovic and Kevarrius Hayes, Monaco mounted an extraordinary 22-0 run in the final minutes — turning despair into belief. With less than two minutes to play, the visitors astonishingly took a 76-74 lead, silencing the partisan crowd.
However, Partizan found just enough composure to edge back in front through Aleksa Pokusevski and two clutch free throws in the dying seconds. Despite multiple chances to seal the comeback, including late attempts from James and Nedovic, Monaco’s final shots wouldn’t drop.
Head coach Vassilis Spanoulis praised his side’s resilience but admitted that early lapses had cost them dearly. “We showed a lot of character in that fourth quarter, but we made too many mistakes before that. We didn’t play our game for most of the match,” he said.
Forward Terry Tarpey echoed that sentiment: “It was a rollercoaster. We showed our DNA in that final stretch — intensity, fight, togetherness — but it came too late.”
Despite the narrow loss, Monaco remain in strong EuroLeague form, holding a top-five position as they now turn their focus to the next challenge — another fiery clash in Belgrade, this time against Red Star.
