Trento trailed for the majority of the game, but Devante Jones and Matas Jogela led a comeback in the Greek capital
‘Surprisingly smarter’ Trento rallied big to sting Panionios
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 5 of 18
Regular Season
group b
Panionios Cosmorama Travel AthensPAN
8791
Dolomiti Energia TrentoTRE
group b
Overview
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For about 35 minutes, Dolomiti Energia Trento seemed to be destined for another BKT EuroCup loss.
On the road against a desperate Panionios Cosmorama Travel Athens, Trento was trailing from the second minute of the game, shooting below 30% from the field in the first half, and down by as many as 14 points in the third quarter. However, when the final buzzer sounded, Trento's players were the ones celebrating a come-from-behind 87-91 win.
“It’s still early in the season, but getting wins like this is very key”, said Trento guard Devante Jones in a postgame interview for EuroLeague TV. “[It gives us] more confidence.”
Jones paced the team with 20 points and 6 rebounds, but did not shy away from pointing out: “Third quarter I did not play well, but my team did a great job.”
Indeed, with Jones held scoreless in the first 9 minutes of the third stanza, his teammates shot 10-for-10 on two-pointers in the that quarter.
Still, it seemed as though the game was slipping away from Trento. Panionios built multiple double-digit leads, and opened a 72-58 margin late in the third behind Matt Lewis and Giorgios Tsalmpouris.
That’s when Jones ended his scoring drought, sparking a 2-10 run that bridged third and fourth quarters. Matas Jogela stepped up early in the fourth, stringing together 8 points to get the visitors within 79-78. Then it was Devante Jones time as he sank a corner three-pointer and then scored at the rim to keep Trento within a single point.
The teams were tied going into the final minute, when Jones took it to the rim once again to put Trento ahead 87-89 with 29 seconds to go, before sealing the deal from the free throw line to improve Trento to a 2-3 record.
It was not a pretty game, but both teams had a visible desire to win. At halftime, Trento was only 6 of 21 (28.6%) on two-pointers and 4 of 15 (26.7%) behind the arc. The three-point shots did not start falling after the break either, but the visitors had 15 offensive rebounds for the night, and stepped it up on defense in the fourth, allowing only 15 points.
“I think we changed something on defense that broke their rhythm, and stopped our bleeding,” said Trento head coach Massimo Cancellieri.
“On offense, finally in the last quarter we were able to attack where we were supposed to. We were a little bit smarter at the end," he said and added: "Surprisingly, but we were.”
Meanwhile, not even a coaching change and the appointment of Ilias Zouros could help Panionios from dropping to a 1-4 record with their fourth straight EuroCup loss and eighth straight in all competitions.
This one came without the services of Michalis Lountzis, Jaylen Hands and Tyler Wahl, who have combined for 28.8 points and 13.4 rebounds so far this season.
“In a situation without the players, they were playing excellent basketball with big heart. And they were showing respect for their jersey,” Trento's coach complimented Panionios.
“I am very proud, we gave everything on the court,” Zouros said. “We missed some shots that can happen, but we have to improve our defense. I am sure the team will be better, but for us the most important is to have our players.”
