The Group A leader opened the new calendar year with a win at Il T Quotidiano Arena
Late run allows Bahcesehir to beat Trento, 69-73, and advance to playoffs

Bahcesehir College Istanbul opened 2025 with a hard-fought 69-73 victory at Dolomiti Energia Trento on Friday night. The visitors led by as many as 16 (4-20) early in the game, but Trento bounced back and took its first lead in the third quarter (48-45). The Italians grabbed a 67-60 cushion midway through the fourth, but Bahcesehir responded with a late 2-13 surge to finish the game off. Bahcesehir remains top of Group A with an 11-2 record, while Trento dropped to 4-9. With this triumph, Bahcesehir has joined Valencia Basket in qualifying for the BKT EuroCup Playoffs.
Jaleen Smith and Tai Odiase paced Bahcesehir with 15 points each and Tyler Cavanaugh paired his 10 points with 8 rebounds. For Trento, Jordan Ford led all scorers with 19 points, Anthony Lamb scored 15 and Myles Cale netted 12.
Game Videos
Cavanaugh opened the scoring with a dunk before two triples from Jaleen Smith and a three-point play from Odiase gave Bahcesehir a 2-11 lead. Andrea Pecchia and Axel Bouteille traded baskets, with Sehmus Hazer scoring off the glass for a double-figure cushion, 4-15. Toto Forray came off the bench to reach A. J. Slaughter in third place on the all-time EuroCup charts with 143 games played. The Trento captain scored inside after a triple from Mateusz Ponitka, but Saliou Niang responded with one of his own and Cale completed a three-point play that cut the difference to 12-20. Lamb extended Trento’s run to 10-0 with a midrange jumper, but Cavanaugh ended it by making 2 of 2 from the line before another couple of free throws from Ponitka restored a 14-24 lead heading into the second quarter.
Lamb netted a triple before setting up Cale for an open basket that trimmed the deficit to 19-25. Yet, Bouteille responded with two unanswered baskets inside, bringing Bahcesehir’s advantage back to double digits. Pecchia and Ford scored inside, but Marko Simonovic sank a corner triple and Smith nailed a jumper to make it 23-34. A Cale bucket was followed by a triple from Forray before a three-point-play from Ford allowed Trento to cut the deficit to 31-38 at halftime.
Pecchia opened the third quarter with a layup before a jumper from Lamb brought Trento within 35-40. Cavanaugh netted from beyond the arc, but a Cale bucket and a triple from Lamb cut the deficit to 40-43. Odiase took his tally to 11 points with a slam, but Niang responded with back-to-back baskets and Ford drilled a three for Trento’s first lead of the night, 48-45. An exchange of blows from the line was followed by a three-pointer from Cale and a layup from Lamb, who opened a 56-48 lead. Yet, Simonovic scored inside and Hazer nailed two free throws that trimmed the difference to 56-52 heading into the closing quarter.
Haltali and Smith netted inside to tie it, but Lamb knocked down a three to put Trento back ahead, 59-56. Then, Ford took over by adding 8 points to his tally, allowing Trento to open a 67-60 lead. Smith responded with a three-point play before a triple from Cavanaugh slashed the deficit to 67-66. Selom Mawugbe and Odiase traded scores inside before Smith netted off the glass to put Bahcesehir back in front, 69-70, with 1:28 minutes remaining. The visitors tightened up their defense and Hazer made 3 of 4 from the line to seal the victory.