Turk Telekom Ankara celebrated its first road win in Group A by defeating host Dolomiti Energia Trento 70-76 on Tuesday. Turk Telekom improved to 4-3, three victories better than any of the three teams behind it in Group B entering Round 7. One of those Trento, which fell to 1-6. Trento never trailed in the game and led by as much as 13 points in the third quarter, but still had to shake off a Trento charge in the final 5 minutes to prevail.
Turk Telekom wins in Trento, 70-76
Aubrey Dawkins had 15 points for the winners, while JaJuan Johnson added 12, Dorukhan Engindeniz 11 and Can Ogut 10 plus 6 assists. For Trento, Cameron Reynolds had 21 points while Jordan Caroline had 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Related Videos
Johnson and Jonathan Williams got their respective teams going with short-range shots before Aaron Harrison put Turk Telekom in front 2-4. Reynolds tied for Trento but Erdi Gulaslan had 6 points in a 2-10 charge that Johnson finished as the visitors zoomed ahead 6-14. Trento exited a timeout to get a transition triple from Reynolds and a jumper from Luca Conti at 11-14. Engindeniz answered from deep for Turk Telekom, but Reynolds kept it going and Desonta Bradford stole and dunked to trim the difference to 15-17 after 10 minutes.
Conti forged a tie to start the second quarter that Ogut broke with a step-back triple. Caroline converted Trento's first offensive rebound, but Dawkins reverse-dunked an alley-oop and drilled a triple on either side of Johnson's block and jumper. When Johnson backed down for a layup, Turk Telekom had its highest lead yet, 21-31. Caroline hit a trio of inside baskets and free throws to get Trento within 31-34 before Dawkins dunked off a steal for a 31-36 halftime score.
Dawkins rung up a triple to start the second half but Caroline continued getting to the line, keeping the hosts in striking distance, 34-39. Engindeniz and Anthony Clemmons rebuilt a 34-43 advantage for Turk Telekom before Dawkins reappeared from deep and Johnson detonated a dunk for the biggest lead yet, 36-48. Berk Demir and Engindeniz kept the visitors in front 41-53 before Reynolds drilled his and Trento's second triple, but Ogut copied him immediately. Only a late triple from Toto Forray let Trento keep the gap to single digits, 49-58, after 30 minutes.
Ogut fed Samet Geyik for a slam early in the fourth quarter, but free throws from Maximilian Ladurner and Bradford kept Trento within 55-60. Harrison added free throws for Turk Telekom but so did Caroline for Trento, for whom Ladurner added a long two-pointer at 59-62. Johnson came to Turk Telekom's rescue with a strong drive but Reynolds struck from the corner to make it 62-64 with 3:30 left. After Ogut hit free throws and Reynolds another basket, Engindeniz made 3 of 3 from the line and Dawkins downed a third-chance inside basket at 64-71 that proved enough for Turk Telekom to take the victory back to Ankara.