A rejuvenated Trento squad uses a decisive third-quarter run to claim a crucial road win
From break to breakthrough: Trento dominates Ulm after regrouping
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 9 of 18
Regular Season
group b
ratiopharm ulmULM
87100
Dolomiti Energia TrentoTRE
group b
Overview
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Dolomiti Energia Trento produced one of its best offensive performances of the season in grabbing an important road victory over ratiopharm ulm - a win that could build the Italian team’s confidence.
Trento prevailed 87-100 in Germany to reach triple figures on the scoreboard for the second time following a 96-107 road win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica in Round 2.
“I am really happy for the guys because we were coming back from a break, where I saw they got regenerated. They were drained before the break and now they had more energy. They were solid,” said Trento head coach Massimo Cancellieri.
After a first half in which Ulm finished leading 46-45, Trento took control of the game in the third quarter with a 3-15 run for a 56-68 advantage. Ulm could not get closer than 9 points the rest of the way.
“In the first half, they scored too many points. We scored a lot, too, but we knew we wouldn’t win like that. We got a lot of stops and just kept scoring in the second half to give us the win,” said DeVante’ Jones, who collected 19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in the win, which improved Trento’s record to 4-5 and snapped a two-game losing streak.
Cancellieri, who saw Jordan Bayehe also score 19 points and DJ Steward chip in 18 points and 4 assists, thinks this victory could lead to a push for the team.
“I have to give credit to how poised our players were in the clutch moments. We played excellent defense in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter we were managing it and taking advantage of every miss the opponents made, or we forced them to make,” he said. “Overall, it was a solid game and an important win for us, mostly for the confidence because this team is young and in the process of growing. They need confidence and wins give confidence.”
Trento shot 59.0% on two-pointers and 33.3% from long range against Ulm. Both of those numbers were much higher than the team’s averages coming into the game. The Italian side had made 50.5% on two-pointers over the first eight games and 26.2% from long range - ranking 17th and 20th, respectively And even the 100 points scored were 21 more than the team’s 79.0 points average beforehand.
One reason for Trento’s success was also Ulm’s continued struggles on the defensive side of the ball. Ty Harrelson’s team ranked 18th in scoring defense (94.5 ppg), 19th in two-point shooting (61.1%) and 20th in three-point percentage (40.5%) entering the game.
Add to that Ulm sending Trento to the free throw line 35 times - the Italian side made 27 of the attempts for 77.1% while Ulm hit 17 of 21.
Nelson Weidemann scored a career-high 21 points - but only 5 of those came in the second half for Ulm. Mark Smith poured in 20 points and new acquisition Justin Simon contributed 13 points and 4 rebounds in his first game.
“Overall, it was a disappointing result. There were some good things and hopefully we can build off them,” said Harrelson, whose team has now lost five of its last six games for a 4-5 record. “We have to learn from our mistakes and we have to play with a sense of urgency on every possession. And we’re not doing it. And it’s my job to get the team to understand how important each possession is.”
