Sassari’s balanced offense handles Buducnost

Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari made a big step to stay in the race for a place in the eighthfinals by topping Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 87-70 on Wednesday night. Sassari improved to 2-2 in a share of second place in Group H, and hold a tie-break advantage over Buducnost which dropped to 1-3 in the last place. The hosts broke the game open after the break, extending their 46-39 lead to an 18-point margin, and never looked back. David Logan and Shane Lawal led Sassari’s balanced attack with each collecting 14 points and 7 rebounds. Edgar Sosa and Rakim Sanders scored 13 apiece, while Jerome Dyson had 11 points and 7 assists, and Brian Sachetti also scored 11 in victory. Cedomir Vitkovac had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Buducnost, while J.R. Reynolds and Darko Planinic had 10 apiece in defeat.

Logan and Lawal, helped by a triple from Sosa, gave Sassari early 12-8 lead. Planinic and Vitkovic battled inside to score for Buducnost, but a triple from Manuel Vanuzzo sparked an 8-0 run capped by a triple from Sanders for 20-12. But the visitors did not let Sassari pull away just yet, as Reynolds finished the quarter to cut the deficit to 23-18, and Ivan Paunic hit from behind the arc for 26-21 early in the second. After three-pointers from Sacchetti and Sanders opened a double-digit lead, 32-21, Vladimir Dasic hit a three for the visitors to help them stay in range. A triple from Omar Cook, followed by a layup from Planinic helped make it a 5-point affair, before Lawal ended the half with a fastbreak dunk for 46-39 halftime lead.

At the start of the third, Lawal, Logan and Dyson all scored fastbreak baskets in a 7-0 run. Bojan Subotic from the outside and Reynolds from the inside kept Buducnost within 10 points, before Logan hit a triple and Lawal and Sanders fueled another run that got Sassari to 64-46. Dasic, Paunic and Planinic countered with a 0-8 run, but Sosa had a layup and a triple for 70-54 going into the fourth quarter. In the final 10 minutes, teams traded baskets with Sosa, Dyson and Sacchetti making sure advantage does not drop below 14 points the rest of the way.