Gran Canaria survived Trefl rally to win, 73-76, in Sopot

The visitors gave up a 17-point second-half lead, but managed to secure the win in a thrilling finish

Regular Season

Round 18 of 18

game Dreamland Gran Canaria vs Trefl Sopot

Group A

4 February 2025, 18:00

Regular Season

4 February 2025, 18:00

Regular Season

Trefl Sopot

SOP

73

76

Dreamland Gran Canaria

DGC

Final Score

l

w

l

w

Dreamland Gran Canaria closed out the BKT EuroCup Regular Season with a tough win over Trefl Sopot, 73-76, on Tuesday evening. The victory improved the team's record to 12-6 and secured at least third place in Group A, with the chance to climb to second if Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv loses on Wednesday. A 0-13 run early in the first quarter gave Gran Canaria a double-digit lead that grew to 45-62 in the third, but a comeback built on a 25-3 run bridging the last 2 periods brought the game to the line. A deflection by Nico Brussino and a couple of free throws by Andrew Albicy closed the game in the last minute. With this defeat, Trefl closed its season with only one win in 18 rounds.

Gran Canaria was led by Nico Brussino, who neared a triple-double with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. George Conditt and Andrew Albicy also scored 12 points and Jovan Klavic and Pierre Pelos netted 10 apiece. Geoffrey Groselle paced Trefl with 14 points, Aaron Best followed with 13, Nick Johnson produced a double-double of 11 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, and Jakub Schenk finished with 10 points in the losing effort.

Best and Johnson got the home team going and set an initial 4-2 edge, but Klajic celebrated his second start of the season with a three-pointer that highlighted a 0-13 run in which he had 8 points to push Gran Canaria up 4-15. Groselle took over for Trefl and secured a couple of inside baskets that aborted the visitors’ escape, 10-17. He committed his second foul soon after, though, as the visitors used Conditt inside to punish Trefl with another strong spark, 5-11, in which Conditt netted 6 points to finish the first quarter clearly in charge, 15-28.

The difference rose to 14 points after Tobey scored inside early in the second. The hosts gave the reins to Schenk and Jaroslaw Zyskowski and it worked fine in the beginning. Six points from them got Trefl within 24-32, right before a timeout. Then Marcus Weathers joined the party with 4 points in a row against Massamba Diop to make it 28-34 midway through the second quarter. Diop took revenge very soon with three buckets in as many minutes, as Gran Canaria recovered a double-digit edge, 33-45. A triple by Brussino dug it deeper and an inside basket by Mike Tobey closed the first half with the visitors dominating 37-50.

Best started strong and provided a layup and a corner three to make it 42-52. Gran Canaria was not so fluent in offense as it was before intermission, but the hosts couldn’t take advantage of it to reduce the gap to single digits. Back-to-back three-pointers by Brussino and Albicy solidified the visitors’ lead, which reached a game-high 17 points (45-62) after Conditt scored again inside the paint. With the game on the threshold of a break, Trefl found some air through Groselle, who brought his team within 56-63, with 4 points and an assist for Moten’s three. Then, another three-pointer by Best capped a 14-1 run for the hosts, who entered the last stanza with renewed hopes, 59-65.

Gran Canaria’s scoring drought continued when the game resumed, as the visitors were held scoreless for the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter. On the flip side, Trefl remained hot and managed to turn the tables, 67-65, with still 7 minutes to go, thanks to a short jumper by Johnson. The run didn’t stop there, as Nahiem Alleyne drilled a three to make it 70-65. Brussino and Pelos managed to stop the bleeding when they converted a couple of offensive rebounds, forcing a timeout by the hosts with the score 70-69. The momentum changed, as Salvo and Conditt completed the comeback, 70-72, right before Trefl stopped the game again. Pelos and Zyskowski swapped points and Groselle missed a free throw that could have tied the game, leaving it 73-74 with 37 seconds to go. The hosts had a chance to get back in charge, but a deflection by Brussino allowed Albicy to convert a pair of free throws, as a late three-point attempt by Johnson didn’t find the rim and confirmed the road win for Gran Canaria.