Paolo Galbiati’s team downed the reigning EuroCup champion, despite the odds.
Trento fight and desire provided ‘good night’ against Gran Canaria



Dolomiti Energia Trento came into its game at Dreamland Gran Canaria in poor form. Maybe it was the island feeling that changed its fortunes, but the Italian club shocked the reigning BKT EuroCup champion 76-98 for an important win in the fight for the playoffs.
Trento had suffered an 86-78 loss at Treviso Basket in the Italian League over the weekend after losing at Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse in the EuroCup for its fourth defeat in the last five games.
A side transformed
Then came the inspiring fight Paolo Galbiati’s team showed against Gran Canaria.
“We competed and fought all night long. That was the key,” said Galbiati afterward. “We were very solid on defense and we shared the ball on offense. We had some very good performances, but everybody did their part.”
“Winning is always good. We had some problems in the previous weeks, so it was a good feeling to win again. We played a great game. I am more happy about the way we played than anything else,” added Andrejs Grazulis, who led the way with 23 points.
The team’s effort, energy and desire on defense really made the difference. Trento had given up an average of 90 points in its last four EuroCup losses while it won its only game in the last five 69-67. And Gran Canaria was ranked fourth in scoring at 90.5 points while leading the competition in assists at 23.6 per game and two-point shooting at 60.7%. It was fifth in three-pointers at 38.0%, too.
Gran Canaria scored a season-low 76 points while shooting 51.2% on two-pointers and 26.1% on three-pointers, in addition to dishing out 20 assists.
Perhaps even more surprising was Trento scoring 98 points, given that it had averaged only 78.9 points per game for the 15th-ranked team in scoring and was the second-worst three-point shooting team at 30.9%.
In addition, Gran Canaria was the second stingiest defense in the league, giving up just 75.3 points per game – and the Spanish side ranked second in three-point defense at just 31.7%. For the game, Trento nailed 12-of-28 triples for 42.9%.
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Trento was very balanced with five players scoring in double figures and the team dished out 23 assists.
“The most important number for me was 23 assists. It was a good night for us,” Galbiati said.
A night for Trento to remember, that’s for sure.