Zach LeDay records three season-high marks, leads Partizan past Trento / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: BNS Credit BNS

Group A second-place Partizan Belgrade (12-4) had a great night, winning against last-place Dolomiti Energia Trento(1-14), and finished their regular season in style.

Player of the Game EFF 30 Zach LeDay Points 20 Accuracy 7-12 Rebounds 13 Assists 2

The final score was 79-63 (18-15, 19-14, 24-24, 18-10). Partizan enter the playoffs on a three-game winning streak.

Both teams played solid defense in the fourth quarter. Reynolds knocked down his fourth 3-pointer and cut the hosts’ deficit to 7 (61-68) with 3:55 remaining.

Meanwhile, LeDay answered with a pair of free throws, Aleksa Avramovic added a layup and Gregor Glas drained a crucial triple (77-63) with 59 seconds remaining to secure a victory for Partizan.

Zach LeDay led Partizan with season-high 20 points (5/9 2PT, 2/3 3PT, 4/4 FT), season-high 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a season-high 30 PIR.

"It was our last game in this part of the EuroCup. We came over here to play against a team that is last in the standings, but we always think that this is not correct or real," told head coach Zeljko Obradovic after the game.

"We respect Trento very much and we know that this team has quality. Personally, I know very well their coach, my friend Lele Molin, and I know that during the season they went through a lot of problems, injuries. It was important to play a serious game and I think we did it, so congratulations to my players. Now we know we are in the second position and we need to wait to see against who will play in the playoffs, that is a win-or-die situation."

On the opposing side, Cameron Reynolds was the high-scorer for Trento, ending with 15 points (0/4 2PT, 4/14 3PT, 3/3 FT).

"It’s been a nice game. We competed and made a good effort on the offensive and defensive side. For sure we suffered all game long their size and power under the boards. They grabbed 49 rebounds. They shot with not-so-good percentages from the field, but they got 19 offensive rebounds and that’s something we cannot allow." Emanuele Molin said post-game.

Points this season

48%85,1Points made:85,1Accuracy:47,8%Place in standings:4Record max:106Record min:60Best scorer:Kevin PunterTeamEuroCupStatisticsSchedule

"On the other side, on the offensive end in the first three quarters we got 12 turnovers, and at the end of the game we had 17, plus the shooting percentage that we had in the fourth quarter didn’t let us have the possibility of fighting for the win. Anyway, I believe that the team showed commitment, we fought in a tough game, so I’m pretty happy for that."

In the second quarter, Partizan started to extend their lead, playing solid defense and keeping finding the basket with consistency (35-22).

LeDay was really hard to stop for Trento who managed to score twelve points during that stint including two 3-pointers. But the hosts didn’t give up, made 8-2 scoring run and cut the deficit to 8 after the first half (29-37).

Alen Smailagic made a 3-pointer which gave Partizan eleven points lead (42-31) but after that quick spark, the visitors struggled a bit offensively, while Dolomiti Energia started to climb back a little to make the game more interesting.

With some precious baskets made by Cameron Reynolds and Dominique Johnson, the Italian side took the lead (51-49). But Partizan responded with a 9-0 run in the last minutes and brought back 8 points lead before the last quarter (61-53).

Partizan: Zach LeDay 20 (13 REB), Dallas Moore 12, Yam Madar 11 (8 REB)

Trento: Cameron Reynolds 15, Dominique Johnson 13, Diego Flaccadori 9 (5 AST).

Thank you for being with us! Subscribe to BN+ and browse ad-free.