The Italian side improved to 3-4, with the visitors dropping to 2-5
Trento shocks Joventut with fourth-quarter rally
Dolomiti Energia Trento rallied from 13 points down in the final 6 minutes to shock Joventut Badalona 87-85 at home on Tuesday. Trento trailed by 16 points midway through the second quarter before getting close only to fall back behind by double figures. The hosts took advantage of Joventut collapsing in the closing minutes to improve to 3-4 this season, including a 3-1 mark at home.
Anthony Lamb scored 22 points, Jordan Ford had 14 points, Eigirdas Zukauskas 12 and Andrea Pecchia chipped in 11 points in the win. Joventut crashed to its fourth straight loss in Group A play for a 2-5 record - and just two wins in its last 10 regular season games dating back to last season. Ante Tomic collected a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds but committed 2 turnovers and an unsportsmanlike foul in the final 2 minutes. Devon Dotson had 14 points and Kassius Robertson and Adam Hanga both scored 12 points in the loss.
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Joventut came out firing on all cylinders with a 2-13 lead thanks to 4 points from Tomic and Yannick Kraag and a Hanga triple. Dotson scored back-to-back baskets and Pep Busquets drained a triple and the guests’ lead grew to 8-23. Zukauskas had 5 points at the other end and Trento trailed 17-30 after 10 minutes.
Trento scored the first 4 points of the second quarter to trim the gap to nine points. Joventut knocked down 3 triples and the cushion grew to 25-41. The hosts responded in strong fashion with an 18-5 run to finish the first half down just 43-46 thanks to 2 more three-pointers from Zukauskas and 5 points from Lamb.
Both teams struggled to execute offensively in the first 5 minutes of the third quarter and Joventut led 47-53. Ford started heating up a bit with four points for Trento but Artem Pustovyi netted up back-to-back scores to keep the visitors ahead 55-62. Ford’s first triple made it 60-62 only to see Joventut lead 60-66 after 30 minutes.
Joventut continued the momentum from the end of the third quarter, especially defensively in holding Trento to 2 points in the first 4 minutes and the visitors were up 62-75. Trento suddenly woke up and scored the next 11 points to bring it within 73-75. Dotson punched back with two baskets in the span of 8 seconds and Joventut had a bit of breathing room again at 73-79.
An unsportsmanlike foul on Tomic resulted in 3 points and then Lamb made a triple and the Joventut lead was just 81-82 with 61 seconds to go. Tomic turned the ball over trying to pass to Hanga with Pecchia snatching the ball and making the layup for Trento’s first lead. Tomic committed an offensive foul on the very next possession after which Joventut coach Daniel Miret was charged with technical and Lamb made the free throw. Dotson missed a chance to tie the game as he split foul shots before Lamb and Tomic swapped made free throws. Ford also split foul shots to make it 87-85 with 10 seconds to go and Keye Van der Vuurst missed the potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.