The duo combined for 41 points as the Argentine became the all-time leader in EuroCup games played
Lamb, Ford helped Forray celebrate history, keep Trento in playoff hunt
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Anthony Lamb and Jordan Ford carried the offense for Dolomiti Energia Trento in a big victory over ratiopharm Ulm to keep the team’s playoff hopes alive on a historic night for Toto Forray.
The veteran Forray became the BKT EuroCup’s all-time leader in games played with 145 appearances in Trento’s 86-71 win at home. The 38-year-old surpassed the Valencia Basket great Rafa Martinez in his ninth season in the competition.
“I’m really grateful we got this win for Toto. It’s an amazing accomplish to play in this many EuroCup games. Hopefully nobody ever breaks it so Toto has it forever,” said Lamb, who led Trento with 21 points, including three big jumpers in the final 4 minutes as Ulm had made a final comeback attempt.
Ford was hot all game with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, which featured 4 three-pointers made for the home side. Myles Cale added 14 points and Saliou Niang chipped in 8 points and 12 rebounds.
"It was a good win for us. We are still in a tough moment because we are missing players. We are overusing some players but it’s a great group. I’m happy because it’s a nice win after some tough losses. It was a great reaction as a group,” said Trento coach Paolo Galbiati.
The victory snaps a three-game losing streak for Trento, which improved to 5-10 in Group A but is still two wins off sixth place, the final spot for the postseason.
Trento came into the game struggling to stop opposing offenses, ranking 17th in the opposing team’s PIR at 98.6 and last in the EuroCup in the opposing team’s three-point percentage at 39.7%.
Ulm was actually the second-best long-range shooting team at 38.0% coming into the game but converted just 7-of-29 three-point attempts for 24.1%. And the German side’s PIR was just 72.
“We had a lot of stretches where we played really good defense. We talked really well. Our bigs came in big protecting the rim. It showed growth and that is the area where we need to grow the most,” added Lamb.
Forray's historic night of longevity was joined by more history at the other end of the spectrum in the closing stages of the game. Mario Machetti was subbed into the game with 74 seconds to play to become the third-youngest player in EuroCup history at the age of 15 years, 9 months and 1 day. The only two players who were younger were Stefan Petkovic of Benetton Freibourg (15y 0m 10d on December 4, 2007) and Nikolaos Vasileiou of Promitheas Patras (15y 6m 4d on November 4, 2020).
Slotted right behind Machetti is a pretty famous name as the fourth-youngest player in EuroCup history is Victor Wembanyama, who was 15 years 9 months and 25 days when he played for Nanterre 92 on October 29, 2019.
Coach Galbiati also gave a pair of teenage brothers the chance to debut in the end as Tobia Triggiani (born March 9, 2007) and Vittorio Triggiani (August 3, 2008) entered the game with 53 seconds remaining.
It seemed fitting that the young trio made their debuts on a night when the club’s veteran legend Forray was being honored.