In an exciting and high-scoring game in which neither team managed to take a double-digit lead, Hamburg Towers prevailed and grabbed its second road win of the season by beating Dolomiti Energia Trento 90-99 at BLM Group Arena on Wednesday night. The visitors entered the fourth quarter trailing 70-66, but scored 33 points in the last 10 minutes to seal the outcome and improve to 3-5 in Group B.
Hamburg outscores Trento on the road, 90-99
Caleb Homesley set the tone for Hamburg with 27 points and 5 three-pointers, Jaylon Brown contributed 20 points in just 19 minutes, Maik Kotsar signed off on a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds for a career-high PIR of 30 and Ray McCallum and Justus Hollatz provided 14 and 12 points, respectively. Diego Flaccadori led Trento with 19 points on 10-of-11 free-throw shooting. Cameron Reynolds followed with 16 points, while Johnathan Williams posted 13 points, 8 boards and 4 steals, and Toto Forray and Welsey Saunders had 11 points apiece for Trento, which dropped to 1-6.
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Reynolds pushed the hosts to a solid offensive start with 5 points in a row that built an 8-3 lead. Eddy Edigin and Hinrichs showed up to narrow the gap, but Trento found Saunders and Flaccadori to retain a 12-9 edge after 5 minutes. The visitors struggled to keep the ball safe on the offensive end until McCallum took the court; he provided a layup and drew an unsportsmanlike foul that tied the game at 14-14. Despite Forray taking over for the hosts to restore a 4-point advantage, consecutive baskets by Robin Christen, McCallum and Hollatz granted Hamburg its first lead, 20-21, at the end of the first quarter.
The run continued when the game resumed, as Kotsar scored inside and then stole a ball that turned into a three by McCallum for an 18-25 lead. Forray and Bradford drained a triple each to make it a one-possession game and Caroline joined in to keep Trento in the hunt. A triple by Homesley helped Hamburg stay in front, 29-35, midway through the second quarter. A put-back slam by Williams and a couple of turnovers by the visitors allowed Trento to react and get it even at 36-36. Homesley came to the rescue to drop back-to-back threes that kept Hamburg calm. Edigin and McCallum followed with consecutive baskets to send the game to the locker rooms with the visitors in charge 40-46.
Trento looked much more confident after the break as it sparked a 12-2 run in which Reynolds and Caroline combined for 10 points to turn things upside down, 52-48, in less than 3 minutes. The visitors didn’t panic, though, and managed to take the reins again, 52-57, through a 0-9 charge highlighted by back-to-back threes from Brown. The scoring rhythm didn’t decay, as Flaccadori took over and strung together a three and a three-point play to restore the lead for Trento. Forray followed with a couple of buckets before feeding Andrea Mezzanote for a 70-66 edge at the end of the third quarter.
Although Forray contributed another basket entering the fourth, back-to-back steals brought the visitors within 72-70. Trento’s timeout did not pay off, as Homesley finished the comeback with a three-point play and Hollatz provided 4 points in a row to make it 74-77. Bradford answered with another 4 of his own to tie it again, but Homesley showed up again to make his fifth triple of the night and give Hamburg an 80-86 edge with 5 minutes remaining. Kotsar, inside, and Brown, from deep, helped Hamburg enter crunch time with an 88-95 margin. Flaccadori connected from downtown soon after to give Trento hope, but Homesley replied with a drive and Brown followed with a transition dunk entering the last minute that extended the gap to 90-99 and put the game to bed.