Partizan delivers in Coach Trinchieri's debut

Partizan NIS Belgrade dominated early and held on late for a 76-71 victory over Dolomiti Energia Trento on Tuesday evening at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. In the first game for Coach Andrea Trinchieri on the Partizan bench, the home side raced to an 11-1 start and led by 15 after 10 minutes. Trento battled to within 1 in the third quarter, but could get no closer. The result lifted Partizan to fifth place in Group C with a 2-4 record, while Trento slipped to 1-5. Jock Landale scored a season-high 18 points for the winners, Marcus Paige added 16 points and 6 assists, Rade Zagorac scored 12 and Vanja Marinkovic 10. Nikola Jovanovic posted a career-high 20 points in just 16 minutes before fouling out and Devyn Marble netted 10 points for Trento.

It was all Partizan early after Trento had to sit leading scorer Dustin Hogue after he was called for a pair of offensive fouls in the first two minutes. Paige took charge with a pair of assists, a floater and a triple as the hosts staked out an 11-1 start. More than five minutes passed from tip-off before Davide Pascolo's put-back gave Trento its first basket. Paige added another three and an assist to make it 16-3 before taking a rest. Zagorac's three-pointer extended the difference to 22-7 after 10 minutes. Trento found its footing and scored the first 8 points of the second quarter – half coming through Pascolo – to get back in the game. The margin was trimmed to 32-28 on a Diego Flaccadori score and the same player's three-pointer made it 36-32 at halftime. Marble and Jovanovic teamed together as Trento continued to close the deficit. Jovanovic free throws made it 45-44 midway through the quarter. However Jovanovic was ejected for elbowing Stefan Jankovic and 5 points from Zagorac in the final minute of the third helped Partizan claim a 56-49 advantage. Bandja Sy threw down an alley-oop slam and drilled a three from the corner in an 8-0 run to open the fourth quarter as Partizan roared to a 15-point lead. Beto Gomes struck twice from deep to cap a 0-10 Trento charge that made it 64-59 and his third triple made it 70-67 with 1:50 remaining. Partizan held on down the stretch and free throws by Marinkovic put the game on ice.

Paige and Partizan's incredible start

Partizan thoroughly dominated the first 10 minutes, racing out to an 11-1 start and leading 22-7 when the first buzzer sounded. Paige did much of the damage for Partizan in that stretch with 8 points on perfect shooting, 2 rebounds and 3 assists. And he only played 6:28 of the first 10 minutes!

Stellar stat

Partizan outrebounded Trento 44-32 and collected 11 offensive rebounds compared to 7 for the visitors. Seven different Partizan players had at least 1 offensive rebound and collectively they scored 16 second-chance points.

A bittersweet night for Trento's Jovanovic

Center Nikola Jovanovic, who spent time in the Partizan youth system, but played for archrival Crvena Zvezda mts Belgarde last season, got it going for Trento with a career-high 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting plus 6 rebounds in just 16 minutes. However, after leading his team back into the game, Jovanovic was ejected midway through the third quarter when his elbow connected with the back of Stefan Jankovic's head while battling for a rebound.

Next round

Trento returns home to face group leader LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Tuesday. Partizan will look to continue its momentum and complete a season sweep of Zenit St. Petersburg when the two sides meet in Russia next Wednesday.