Renfroe and Landale for a victory after a drama

Less than two seconds before the end of the game, Mornar was leading 72:73, when Renfroe forced a foul, scored one free throw for a tie, and then missed the second one, but Landale managed to put the ball back in for a very important triumph for the black and whites, with the score 75:73 (18:14, 20:15, 17:24, 20:20).

The drama in Aleksandar Nikolić Hall belongs to Partizan! The black and whites defeated Mornar in the 15th round of the ABA League, with Landale's buzzer beater, after Renfroe missed a free throw. Before that, on the other side, Waller scored and gave Mornar a 1-point advantage, at 1.9 seconds before the end of the game. So, after a timeout, Renfroe took the ball and forced a foul from Drenovac. He brought a tie with the first shot, and then he missed, but Jock Landale was ready to outjump Uroš Luković and put the ball back in the hoop, bringing Partizan a victory.

The beginning of the game went to Partizan, that responded  to the opponent's zone with three 3-pointers - two from Nikolić, and one from Stefan Janković. In the second quarter, the game wast tight, but Partizan managed to maintain and increase the advantage.

Still, the guest from Bar returned to the game, little by little, so the black and whites' +9 after 20 minutes of the game, soon became +3, and the last quarter brought a complete turnaround, when Mornar took the lead 3 minutes before the end. Then, Renfore responded on behalf of the Steamroller with two 3-pointers and the already described move that allowed the black and whites to win.

At the press conference after the game, Partizan NIS' coach, Andrea Trinchieri, said:

"The way Mornar play, that's the hardest game for us. Everything by heart, they are experienced. It costs our team mentally a lot when they play 40 minutes against a zone. We didn't play excellently for sure, but we won an important game. When we defeated Turk Telekom, everyone was very happy, but I know how much the EuroCup cost us. We played a good game in Lithuania and lost because of stupidity, and now we paid for it. We won tonight, we could have played a hundred times better, we could have made one open shot...It was hard without the fans, but that's not an excuse. We won the game thank to the things we invented. Our veteran Renfore wasn't afraid. Let's continue with the digging", said Trinchieri.

The black and whites have another game in the 7DAYS EuroCup, when ALBA from Berlin will be coming to Belgrade. The game is scheduled for January 9, at 8 PM. 

Partizan NIS 

N. Janković, Paige 5, Sy 2, Marinković, Veličković 2, Pecarski, Zagorac 6, Renfroe 18, S. Janković 11, Landale 12, Gagić 8, Nikolić 11.

Mornar

Grant 5, Mićović 4, Mijović 3, Drenovac 8, Pavić, Vujošević, Pavićević, Waller 24, Sane 9, Rebić 12, Luković 8

(Photo: Dušan Sandić) 

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