The Italian side responded after suffering two heavy defeats in Rounds 3 and 4
Trento shocks Hapoel with fourth-quarter comeback, 79-73
Dolomiti Energia Trento pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the young BKT EuroCup season as it shocked Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv 79-73 at home, bouncing back from two bad losses in a row. Trento trailed by nine points with under seven minutes to go against the EuroCup title contender before finishing the game on a 20-5 run.
Anthony Lamb scored nine of his 23 points in the final stretch and Jordan Ford tallied 17 points as Trento improved to a 2-3 mark in Group A. The Italian team had lost its last two games by 21 and 40 points and Hapoel had won its last three games. Marcus Foster was on his way to becoming the hero before Trento’s big finish, scoring 18 points, while Johnathan Motley collected 16 points and 6 rebounds in a losing effort. Hapoel fell to 3-2 in the group.
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Trento scored the first four points of the game, with a second score from Lamb giving the Italian side a 10-4 lead. A three-pointer by Toto Forray increased the cushion to 17-8 as Trento’s defense held strong in the early going. Eigirdas Zukauskas twice scored to extend the gap to double figures 26-16 and the home side was up 26-18 after 10 minutes.
Saliou Niang opened the second quarter with a triple for the home side, which gave Trento a 29-18 lead. The hosts’ offense stalled with just one jumper over the next 6:10 minutes while Motley scored eight points in a 2-14 run to pull Hapoel ahead, 31-32. Trento punched back with a 10-2 surge to move back ahead 41-34 and went into the break with a 41-38 lead.
Lamb’s triple early in the second half was matched by a Foster three-pointer and Motley gave the guests the lead, 44-45. Lamb continued his strong game with another score while Foster knocked down another triple. The game remained tight and the lead changed hands three times in the final 61 seconds of the third quarter, with Hapoel 57-58 ahead after 30 minutes.
Hapoel started the fourth quarter better, especially Foster, who had eight straight points including two dunks for a 59-68 advantage with under seven minutes to go. Trento picked up its defense and held the guests scoreless for nearly five minutes to even the game at 68-68. And Myles Cale converted a four-point play to make it 72-70 with 1:45 minutes to go. Joe Ragland evened the game, 73-73, with a three-pointer with 49 seconds to go, only to have Lamb hit a fadeaway jumper with 32 seconds remaining to put the hosts back up. Lamb added a blocked shot and two free throws to his stat line with 15 seconds to go for a 77-73 lead to ice the game.