BELGRADE (Basketball Champions League) - Dinamo Sassari were a third time lucky on Tuesday night as they edged Partizan in a 88-87 overtime thriller at the Pionir.

In the Basketball Champions League's Game of the Week, the visitors arrived from Italy after back-to-back excruciating defeats in the previous two rounds to Besiktas and MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg, clashes they lost to buzzer-beating 3-pointers.

They got a precious victory, but only just, with Joshua Carter's 21 points leading the way.

It didn't look good for Dinamo Sassari against Partizan as they trailed by as many as 14 points but when the going gets tough, the tough get going and that's exactly what Federico Pasquini's team did.

Down 78-72 and with the shot clock winding down, Sassari's Brian Sacchetti hit a jump shot near the free-throw line while falling back and was fouled. He sank the free-throw to cut Partizan's lead to just three points with 1:07 remaining in regulation.

The Italian club then had an opportunity to knot the contest when Joshua Carter was fouled by Serbia international Stefan Bircevic while attempting a 3-pointer.

Carter made the first two at the line but missed the third, and Partizan still had the lead with 29 seconds to play.

After William Hatcher made just one of two free-throws for Partizan with 14 seconds to go, Rok Stipcevic drove into the lane, drew the defense and handed the ball off to Gabriel Olaseni. The big center went up and scored to tie the game with 0.7 seconds to play and also drew a foul from Branislav Ratkovica. Olaseni missed the free-throw, however, and the game went to overtime.

"I want to say thanks to my players for the way they work every day, for the way they work to come out of the unlucky moments." - Pasquini

In the extra period, Partizan again took the lead but Carter's go-ahead 3-pointer with 20 seconds left put Sassari in front for good, although they had a nervous finish.

Partizan's Novica Velickovic, brilliant after coming off the bench in the second half, failed to score on a drive with 11 seconds to play and the hosts fouled Stipcevic, who split a pair of free-throws with 7 seconds to play for an 88-85 advantage.

Expecting a foul so his team would not be able to attempt a potential game-tying 3-pointer, Hatcher got into the shooting motion as Dinamo Sassari's Trevor Lacey approached him near midcourt.

The two collided, with Lacey getting the worst of it. He fouled out and also had to be helped off the floor with an apparent knee injury. Awarded three free-throws, Hatcher made the first, missed the second and sank the third to cut the deficit to 88-87 with 4 seconds to play.

Partizan fouled Stipcevic, who was off target with a first free-throw and then intentionally missed the second.

Serbia rebounded and had just enough time for Ratkovica to attempt a shot from around midcourt. The ball flew towards the basket but hit the back of the iron and stayed out as Dinamo Sassari claimed a narrow win.

At last, a game that was decided at the death had gone in favor of Dinamo Sassari.

"What I like very much is the mentality that these players, this group has," Pasquini said, "because every day they work hard. They want to stay together and they're happy to win a game like that...

"I want to say thanks to my players for the way they work every day, for the way they work to come out of the unlucky moments.

"I want to say thanks to the owner because he said some fantastic words to the players a couple of days ago. He said that he absolutely trusted in this team and he trusted in the quality of their jobs, so it doesn't matter if you're losing."

Partiza hurt their own cause at the free-throw line, making 23 of 39 (58.97 percent), although Dinamo Sassari also struggled to knock down some big ones and finished 20 of 33.