2003-04Regular SeasonRound 3
November 20, 2003 CET: 20:40
Local time: 20:40 PALALOTTOMATICA

Group A has a new challenger near the top as Partizan Mobtel pulled off its first road win of the season, 63-77 against Lottomatica in Rome on Thursday. The hosts only led comfortably in the first quarter but after that, Partizan tied the game at the break and later soared to double-digit leads in the second half. Partizan is now one of four teams at 2-1 in second place in the group, while Lottomatica dropped to 0-3. Gerald Brown led Partizan's scorers with 17 points, Djuro Ostojic and Frederick House added 15 apiece, the latter also adding 9 boards, and Dusan Kecman nailed 13. For Lottomatica, Carlton Myers and Doremus Bennerman led the way with 13 points and Marko Tusek chipped in with 10.

The game got off to a heated start with Myers and Kecman landing face-to-face three-pointers against each other for an 8-7 scoreboard after 3 minutes. House soon made his presence felt with a pair of free throws and a three-pointer of his own that jacked Partizan into the lead at 10-14. Bennerman and Griffith joined the battle with basket for Lottomatica and then Davide Bonora put the home team back in front, 17-16, from the free throw line. Marko Tusek added his own free shots and Lubos Barton a layup to complete a 11-4 run for Roma, which now led 21-18. Kosta Perovic and Vule Avdalovic scored late for Partizan, but Lottomatic was still able to hold a 25-21 advantage after 10 minutes.

Unlike after the opening tipoff, the first basket of the second quarter arrived after 4 minutes as defenses took over and forced turnovers on both sides. A free throw by Goran Cakic fell for Partizan like a green light, as the scoring resumed. Myers sank the triple and Tusek another to put Lottomatica ahead by 8 points, 32-24. Brown replied soon. also from the arc, triggering the definitive reaction for Partizan. Free throws by Kecman and House, and later a jumper by Perovic, pulled Partizan within a single point, 33-32. The hosts were against the wall in the last minutes of the second period, and up came Alex Righetti from downtown to give some air to his team, 36-34. But the guests wouldn't surrender and Kecman scored again to tie the game for the first time at 36-36 with less than 1 minute to go. The game would go into halftime with a 38-38 tie after another jumper by Perovic matched the last free throws by Myers.

The third quarter followed the trend of the second as Partizan continued to push. Perovic put the guests ahead 41-42 and then arrived the battle of dunkers, two for House and one for Griffith, as the guests surged ahead 43-47. Quiet until then, Djuro Ostojic added 4 points to the Partizan advantage, but Myers stopped that run with a triple, 46-51. The battle under the boards was being won convincingly by the guests, 14-22, and that translated to a new maximum advantage 48-57, after a triple by Cakic. To the relief of the home fans, however, Righetti and Bennerman added 4 quick points for Lottomatica to come within 50-58 score after 30 minutes.

The last quarter started with a double-digit lead for Partizan and the guests never looked back again. Lottomatica had in Bennerman its best man in offense, but Partizan was already sure it was going to win the game. Kecman sank a dunk and Ostojic added a jumper to make it 52-64. Lottomatic coach Piero Bucchi gave it a last try with a timeout, but the answer were two more free throws by Ostojic. Bennerman added a triple to put the deficit of Lottomatic again below the 10 points but that was it. Kecman first and then House, soaring from downtown, put Partizan ahead for good, 61-74 in minute 39.

Thursday, November 20, 2003
Alessio Ditta, Rome
No results found.
Referees: AMOROS, XAVIER; ARTEAGA, JUAN CARLOS; GKONTAS, SPIROS
Attendance: 3000
By Quarter1234
Lottomatica Roma25131213
Partizan20182019
End of Quarter1234
Lottomatica Roma25385063
Partizan20385877
Lottomatica Roma
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 GRIFFITH, RASHARD 22:30 9 4/6   1/2 1 3 4 1 1 2 2   3 2 11
6 BOWDLER, JAMES CALLOWAY 8:15 1     1/2   2 2     1       1 2
7 BENNERMAN, DOREMUS 31:15 13 3/4 1/3 4/4   1 1     2       3 12
8 TONOLLI, ALESSANDRO 19:00 1 0/1 0/1 1/2   1 1   2       4 2 -1
9 RIGHETTI, ALEX 19:15 5 1/3 1/2     1 1   2 3     3 1  
10 MYERS, CARLTON 27:30 13 1/3 3/6 2/2   2 2   2 4     5 6 9
11 BRANCH, JOHNNY EDWARD DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 BONORA, DAVIDE 13:15 4 0/1 0/1 4/4                 2 2 2
14 CIPOLAT, ROBERTO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 BARTON, LUBOS 32:00 7 3/5 0/2 1/2 1 4 5   1       3 2 7
20 TUSEK, MARKO 27:00 10 4/6 0/4 2/2 1 2 3 1 1       3 3 9
Team             1 1   3           4
Totals 200:00 63 16/29 5/19 16/20 3 17 20 2 12 12 2 0 23 22 55
        55.2% 26.3% 80%
Head coach: BUCCHI, PIERO
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Partizan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 HOUSE, FRED 38:00 15 2/6 2/5 5/6 2 7 9   2 3   1 3 6 17
6 SILOBAD, MLADJAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 KECMAN, DUSAN 31:00 13 4/6 1/3 2/3 1 4 5 1 2 3     2 5 16
8 OSTOJIC, DJURO 33:00 15 3/4 1/1 6/7 3 4 7 1 1 2     4 7 23
9 KOVAC, MIRKO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
10 MATERIC, PREDRAG 5:15           1 1               1
11 CAKIC, GORAN 22:00 6 1/3 1/4 1/2 3   3           4 1  
13 PEROVIC, KOSTA 22:45 6 3/7   0/1 2 4 6   1 1     2   5
14 AVDALOVIC, VULE 11:15 5 0/3 0/3 5/6                 4 3 -3
15 BROWN, GERALD 36:45 17 7/11 1/1   2 3 5 1 2 2   1 3 1 16
Team           2 2 4   4           8
Totals 200:00 77 20/40 6/17 19/25 15 25 40 3 12 11 0 2 22 23 83
        50% 35.3% 76%
Head coach: VUJOSEVIC, DUSKO
This game has no play by play yet

Head Coaches

BUCCHI, PIERO
Lottomatica Roma
"We shot awfully, and there are also 20 rebounds of difference between both teams. We have head problems in offense and we lack intensity, plus we don't have the optimal physical condition. Griffith needs more time to adapt to the team, and his teammates try to make it easier for him. Nevertheless, our progress is not good enough. Bennerman is doing what he is supposed to do, even though his stats talk for him tonight."
VUJOSEVIC, DUSKO
Partizan
"I don't want to underevaluate the team from Roma, which has problems of misfortune and head. We have played well, and we rely upon youg players which later are free to fly to the bigger teams. Perovic is a great example of strong will, humility and a need to work hard."

Players

GRIFFITH, RASHARD
Lottomatica Roma
"It was a difficult game, and we need to circulate the ball more. It is a difficult moment but I'm convinced of a resurgence of my team."
MYERS, CARLTON
Lottomatica Roma
"I have no words to describe what happened. This is a big disappointment and I think we hardly stand any chance in this group to advance to the Top 16. I don't want to speak about another American player coming to the team. It's not the best time for that now."
HOUSE, FRED
Partizan
"I expected a difficult game but in the end it all worked well, because we only suffered for two quarters. Then, when Myers left the court it was much easier for us to rech the victory."
PEROVIC, KOSTA
Partizan
"It's the first time I come to Roma to play. I respect Griffith but I think he was tired tonight. I think we proved our quality tonight with our 40 boards."
No results found.