The Italian team is mounting a late charge for postseason action
Trento boosts playoff hopes by thrashing Joventut, 86-100
Dolomiti Energia Trento kept its playoff ambitions alive with an 86-100 road win at Joventut Badalona, leaving the two teams tied at 6-8 just outside the Group A top six. Trento also holds the head-to-head tiebreak advantage after completing a season sweep of the Spanish team.
Trento controlled the whole game, leading 44-52 at halftime and holding several double-digit advantages in the second half to cruise home. Myles Cale netted Trento’s first 10 points and top scored with 21, while Jordan Ford grabbed all of his 15 points in the last 12 minutes. Quinn Ellis scored 14, Anthony Lamb and Selom Mawugbe contributed 11, while Saliou Niang posted 8 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Sam Dekker paced Joventut with 19 points, with Devon Dotson adding 16. Ante Tomic and Kassius Robertson both scored 14 in defeat.
Game Videos
Dekker’s driving layup opened the scoring before Cale’s triple gave Trento its first lead. Art Pustovyi and Robertson netted inside, but Cale’s free throws and three-point play made it 6-11. After Toto Forray’s three kept Trento firing, Dekker and Tomic narrowed the gap. Forray scored again and Ellis netted three times in 3 minutes, but Robertson’s driving bucket made it 18-24 after ten minutes.
Pustovyi and Niang traded inside blows and Lamb’s triple made it a double-digit game, 20-31. Cale added another three-pointer before Dotson’s layup snapped a 0-10 run. Jordan Bayehe’s 4 points were followed by a jumper from Ellis as Trento stayed comfortable, 28-40. Pau Ribas finally hit Joventut’s first triple, Dekker added a reverse slam and Dotson struck from deep to make it 36-42. Forray responded with a triple and Mawugbe dunked hard, before Robertson followed a three with a putback to make it 44-52 at the break.
Lamb hit a pair of jumpers to keep Trento pushing early in the third, as Dekker responded with two scores for Joventut. Mawugbe’s alley-oop pushed the lead to 49-60, but Tomic’s hook shot and Adam Hanga’s three-pointer narrowed the gap. Cale answered with his third triple and Ellis added a dunk, taking the lead back to double digits at 56-67. Dekker’s layup was bettered by Lamb’s three, and 5 points from Ford stretched the lead to 61-76 with 10 minutes left.
Dotson’s fastbreak slam was met by another Cale triple to start the final period. Tomic’s layup and Dekker’s deep strike kept Joventut hoping, 68-81. Close-range buckets for Niang and Mawugbe extended the gap, before Tomic and Robertson pulled it back to 73-85 midway through the fourth. Cale’s free throws and Ford’s floater settled Trento, and Yannick Kraag’s triple was nowhere near enough as Ford scored three more baskets to seal a big road win.