IZMIR (Basketball Champions League) - Dinamo Sassari led from start to finish and won for the third straight time in the Basketball Champions League on Tuesday night with a 79-70 triumph at Pinar Karsiyaka.

Beaten at home by the Turkish club on Gameday 1 back on October 11, 88-87, the Sardinian outfit led by as many 15 points before easing to victory in Izmir. The success has improved Dinamo Sassari's record to 4-4 in Group A. They now trail Pinar Karsiyaka (5-3), by a single game.

Dyshawn Pierre had another strong performance for the Italians, scoring 17 points and corralling 10 rebounds. Pierre was assertive from the off with 9 points in the first quarter. Two of his baskets came on fast-break dunks while he also had a third slam with a 1:00 remaining in the opening quarter that was probably the play of the game.

The Canadian caught the ball on the left wing, took two dribbles and then jammed the ball home with his right hand.

Pierre, who had one of his team's 2 blocks, said Dinamo Sassari's solid defense had been the biggest reason for their win.

"Our team was really focused on defense," Pierre said.

"We knew that last game (against Karsiyaka) was a really tough game playing them at home. We came out and played hard, played together."

Pierre, for the second consecutive game in the Basketball Champions League, put up big numbers. He had 17 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal in last week's win at Enisey Krasnoyarsk.

"At the end of the day, winning is all the matters," he said. 

Dinamo Sassari only had a 39-35 lead at half-time, though, and Pinar Karsiyaka turned up their defense in the third quarter but were undone by some timely shooting from Achille Polonara.

With his team up by 4 points and 6:25 left in the frame, Polonara failed to catch a pass cleanly and had to bend over to pick the ball up. A full two and a half meters behind the arc and with the shot clock winding down, the Italian launched a 3-ball that was successful to push the lead back to 7.

It was a momentum shifting play.

On another strong defensive stand for Pinar Karsiyaka, the shot clock again wound down to the last few seconds when Randolph caught a pass, stepped back behind the arc and drilled a 3-pointer.

The Italian club is in a rich vein of form because of the over the weekend, it won at Lega A leaders Brescia, 79-78.

"Congratulations to my players because we found the energy, despite being away from home for the past 10 days," Dinamo Sassari coach Federico Pasquini said.