Led by the immaculate Jordan Ford, Trento ground out a hard-fought win after erasing an 11-point second half deficit
Resilient Trento overpowers plucky Trefl in rollercoaster, 84-78
Dolomiti Energia Trento chalked up its first win of the season in the BKT EuroCup after guard Jordan Ford produced a masterclass second-half performance to lead the Italian side to an 84-78 home victory over Polish rival Trefl Sopot.
Ford scored 18 of his game-high 20 points in the second half as he shot the lights out of the battling visitors, who had engineered a 4-23 run in the third quarter which turned a 44-36 halftime deficit into a 48-59 lead on the back of ironclad defense.
Anthony Lamb netted 13 points for Trento and Quinn Ellis added 12, while Selom Mawuge scored 9 and Saliou Niang chipped in with 7 to go with 8 boards. At the other end, Jakub Schenk and Aaron Best amassed 16 points each for Trefl, Marcus Weathers racked up 15 and 8 rebounds while Tarik Phillip and Jaroslaw Zyskowski scored 11 points each.
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Lamb scored 9 of Trento’s opening 11 points as the home side dominated the first quarter to clinch it 25-15, with Niang making his presence felt in the paint. Despite Ford being tightly marked by Trefl's backcourt, Trento was able to keep up the momentum in the second quarter, taking an eight-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
However, the hosts went ice-cold from the floor early in the third, shooting just 5 of 19 from deep at that stage which allowed Trefl, galvanized by Best and Weathers, to turn the game on its head.
Ford then turned on the heat as he found his range from downtown, allowing Trento to slash the deficit to 61-64 at the end of the third quarter before the Italian outfit forced the final twist in the fourth.
Trefl lost its lead for good after Ford nailed a triple to give the hosts a 72-70 edge and then buried another on to make it 78-72, forcing the visitors into submission after a rip-roaring contest.
The American guard’s heroics apart, Trento edged Trefl in rebounding (40-38) and assists (16-14), having made 10 of 28 shots from beyond the arc while Trefl went 8 of 22.