Partizan NIS Belgrade escaped from BLM Group Arena with a 63-79 victory over Dolomiti Energia Trento on Wednesday night.
Partizan holds off Trento, 63-79, for third straight win
Partizan improved to 12-4 and enters the knock-out rounds on a three-game winning streak, while already-eliminated Trento finished in last place in Group A with a 1-15 record after losing 12 games in a row. Despite building a 22-35 lead in the second quarter, Partizan saw Trento rally to lead 51-49 late in the third. A 0-9 spark in which Partizan went to the line 4 times helped the visitors regain a 53-61 advantage that they never surrendered. Zach LeDay recorded a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds to pace the winners, who also found solid contributions from Dallas More with 12 points and Yam Madar, who posted 11 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Cam Reynolds set the tone for Trento with 15 points, followed by Dominique Johnson with 13.
Related Videos
Trento had a great start from behind the arc, as Diego Flaccadori opened fire with a three right after the tip-off and Reynolds added two more of his own to build an 11-7 edge after 3 minutes. Partizan went inside looking for a reaction, but a turnover and missed free throws prevented it from getting momentum on offense. Kevin Punter scored a layup and Madar showed up from downtown to end the drought and put Partizan ahead 15-16. LeDay joined in later with a tip-in to close the first quarter with the visitors leading 15-18.
LeDay kept punishing Trento from inside early in the second, getting some help from Mathias Lessort to increase the margin to 17-24. Even though the hosts tried to change the trend with a timeout, Aleksa Abramovic and LeDay drilled consecutive three-pointers to keep Partizan going. A contested layup jumper and another triple by the latter made the difference reach double-digits, 22-35, as Trento looked completely stuck on offense. Maximilian Ladurner and Andrea Mezzanote came to the rescue to avoid an early sinking, helping Trento come within 29-37 at halftime.
Moore made a two-pointer and Alen Smailagic connected from deep to return a safe advantage to Partizan, 31-42, right after the intermission. The hosts didn’t give up, though, sparking a 2-8 run behind three-point plays by Jonathan Williams and Reynolds to stay into the game, 39-44. Flaccadori kept the rally alive and Johnson came up with 8 points in a row that flipped the coin, 51-49. Free throws allowed the visitors to stay calm and regain the lead, which LeDay fixed at 53-61 with a fastbreak dunk at the end of the third.
Desonta Bradford and LeDay swapped buckets to keep things unchanged until Madar went to the line to put Partizan ahead 55-65. Free throws by Abramovic allowed the visitors to stay out of reach, 58-68, halfway through the last quarter, but it was not enough to break the game. Both teams struggled to find offensive momentum and that benefitted the visitors, who entered crunch time with a 61-72 advantage. The beginning of the end for Trento started with a couple of free throws by Madar and finished with a three-pointer by Gregor Glas, which made it 61-77 entering the last minute.