London roars past Trento 70-84 for first-ever season sweep

London Lions celebrated their first-ever sweep in the 7DAYS EuroCup after a game-high 23 points from forward Sam Dekker helped them to an impressive 70-84 victory at Dolomiti Energia Trento. The result lifted London to 5-6 in Group B and boosted its hopes of reaching the playoffs, while Trento dropped to 2-9 after a lackluster second-half performance condemned the Italian side to a third successive loss.
Center Kosta Koufos added 14 points and 10 rebounds for London, while Aaron Best and Tomislav Zubcic chipped in with 12 points each. Darion Atkins and Aaron Best paced Trento with 13 points apiece and Diego Flaccadori added 11.
The opening stages of the first quarter served up a see-saw battle with the lead changing hands several times before a 15-4 run gave Trento a 24-14 lead, engineered by some fine perimeter shooting and a barrage of turnovers by London, which nonetheless slashed the deficit to 24-20 by the end of the first period.
The Lions scored the opening 5 points in the second quarter to reclaim the lead but Trento hit back with an 11-2 run to surge ahead again before the visitors closed the gap to 42-40 at halftime, thanks to a Jordan Taylor three-pointer on the buzzer.
Dekker, who had 14 points at halftime, played a major role in keeping London afloat in the first half, with the Lions trailing by only 2 points although they committed a staggering 16 turnovers through the opening two quarters.
Game Videos
The momentum changed for good after the break as Trento began to struggle in offense while Dekker kept tormenting the home team’s defense and was joined Koufos, who dominated the paint at both ends of the court.
With London leading 61-67 early in the fourth quarter, it was Best’s turn to take over the mantle as he nailed a pair of huge three-pointers to give the visitors a 12-point lead and they never looked back.
With Trento looking totally devoid of energy in the closing stages, London’s advantage soared to 63-81 before the home team narrowed it down in the last 2 minutes. However, Trento’s effort was too little too late to stop London from snapping a three-game losing streak.
The Lions, in contrast, will be overjoyed after bouncing back from last week’s tough home loss to Hapoel Tel Aviv, when they blew a 15-point lead in the 93-95 defeat. Having beaten Trento 80-75 at home in Round 2, Wednesday night’s victory gave London a sweet double ahead of decisive Group B clashes for a berth in the playoffs.