BKT EuroCup side will face the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague giant EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Sunday's final
Domestic Cups: Trento reaches its first Cup final
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Dolomiti Energia Trento has reach the Italian Cup finals for the first time in club history, and will be playing against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Sunday’s final. In Saturday’s semifinal drama, Trento edged Pallacanestro Trieste 82-79 to come one win away from its first major trophy. In a history win, Quinn Ellis starred with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Anthony Lamb netted 18 points, while Myles Cale, Andrea Pecchia and Saliou Niang scored 10 apiece, as Pecchia also had 7 rebounds. Triesto was led by 25 points from Michele Ruzzier, 21 points from Markel Brown and 19 points from Denzel Valentine.
Trento had a better start to the game, and had 29-15 early in the second quarter, but Trieste rallied back and cot within 38-33 at halftime. In the third quarter, Trieste took its first lead, 45-47, and proceeded to hold advantage in the fourth, and led 68-74. However, Niang had a three-point play, before Ellis and Lamb capped a 7-0 run. A triple from Cale put Trento up 78-77, and Niang’s fastbreak bucket made it 80-37 with 37 seconds left, as Trento prevailed.
Spain: Real Madrid downs Gran Canaria
Real Madrid is one step away from its Spanish Cup crown defense after downing tournament host Dreamland Gran Canaria 63-80 on Saturday night. In the final, Los Blancos will face Unicaja Malaga.
Gran Canaria had a better start to the semifinal, and held Real to just 10 first-quarter points. The margin grew to 26-12 after a 10-2 run, which included a triple from John Shurna, to open the second quarter. But Real answered with a 1-14 run, fueled by 8 points from Mario Hezonja and capped by a triple from Facundo Campazzo. Gran Canaria led 31-30 at the break, but Campazzo hit back-to-back triples to start Real’s 0-13 run to give it a 45-53 lead. Los Blancos never looked back, and Sergio Llull took over in the fourth as he fueled another spurt, increasing the margin to 54-73 midway through the fourth quarter, sealing the deal.
Hezonja had 14 points and 6 rebounds, Campazzo 13 points and 7 assists. Llull scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, while Walter Tavares collected 7 points and 11 rebounds. Caleb Homesley was the only Gran Canaria scorer in double figures with 15 points.
Lithuania: Wolves, Lietkabelis ousted in the semis
Zalgiris Kaunas is back to the Lithuanian Cup final and will be playing for sixth straight crown after a 79-56 semifinal win over 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys on Saturday night. This is also the 11th consecutive time Zalgiris will play in the finals, where it will face Neptunas, which edged Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius 87-83 in the other semifinal. Lonnie Walker finished the game with 19 points, Ignas Brazdeikis had 16, Sylvain Francisco 14 points and Deividas Sirvydis 10 points and 7 rebounds. Mantas Rubstavicius scored 14 and Djordje Gagic 10 points for Lietkabelis.
Zalgiris went in front early, building a 14-4 lead with Brazdeikis, Francisco and Edgaras Ulanovas scoring all points. Zalgiris extended it to 23-10 before the end of the first quarter and kept the margin safe. Gagic helped Lietkabelis get the margin into single digit, but Zalgiris ended up holding a 38-27 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Brazdeikis scored the first 5 points, followed by back-to-back triples from Francisco. Ulanovas scored the next 5 points, including a three-pointer, extending the margin to 54-36. Rubstavicius and Oleksandr Kovliar got life back into Lietkabelis, and the margin was 58-48 early in the fourth, but Sirvydis scored 5 points, including a three-pointer and Zalgiris never looked back.
In the first semifinal, Wolves found themselves behind 33-25, but rallied behind Tre'Shawn Thurman's 9 consecutive points. Threes from Matas Jogela and Anthony Cowan put Wolves in front and they held 43-44 halftime lead. But Neptunas retook the lead early in the third, then used a 7-0 run to open a 65-58 margin after 30 minutes. In the fourth, first Kristupas Zemaitis, then Cowan, were leading Wolves' attempts to rally, but Desure Buie, Arnas Berucka and Myles Hesson hit key three-pointers as Neptunas held on. Cowan had 21 points and 8 assists, while Thurman posted 20 points and 8 rebounds in Wolves' loss, while Buie had 22 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds for the winner, with Hesson netting 19 points.