After Trento rallied to take the lead at the end of the third quarter, Gran Canaria turned the game on its head.
Gran Canaria stepped up late in Trento



It looked like it was going to be a pleasant night for reigning EuroCup champion Gran Canaria. At the end of the first quarter at Il T Quotidiano Arena, the visitors led Dolomiti Energia Trento 20-31 having displayed astonishing shooting accuracy.
Gran Canaria had made 10-of-11 shots from the field in the first 10 minutes, including 6 triples on 7 attempts, with Nicolas Brussino and Sylven Landesberg ruling on the perimeter. The former had scored 12 points, going 4-of-4 from downtown, as the latter had 13 points without having missed a shot.
Despite that uncomfortable scenario, Trento refused to accept a blowout. The hosts locked in on defense and stepped up their rebounding, giving up just 31 points over the next 20 minutes. A 9-0 run led by Mattia Udom granted Trento its first lead of the game, 64-62, entering the last period.
"We had a good start of the game, but after that, we gave life to Trento for coming back. In the second quarter, we allowed too many offensive rebounds and second-chance points," Dream Gran Canaria head coach Jaka Lakovic stressed in the press conference. "We took a 10-point difference again, but they came back to the game again and for us, this is not acceptable."
Gran Canaria started the fourth quarter trailing also in PIR, as Trento ruled 79-57 thanks to 11 offensive rebounds and to only 9 turnovers against Gran Canaria’s 16. Even with average shooting from downtown (6 of 18), Trento seemed to have very good options to clinch its first win of the season.
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Instead, Gran Canaria took the court with great focus and renewed energy. An 8-0 run in less than 3 minutes to open the period returned a 64-70 lead to the guests, who never looked back. Even though Trento tried to fight back, another 0-10 run in the last 2:30 sealed the outcome for the visitors.
In that last quarter, Gran Canaria managed to lock down its defensive board and didn’t allow any offensive rebounds to its opponent. In addition, it took great care of the ball, with no turnovers against Trento’s 4. Once those problems were fixed, Gran Canaria came back to take full control of the game and the stats could not reveal anything but that. In the last quarter, the guests recorded a PIR of 33, while Trento ranked just 3.
"The team responded well," Lakovic acknowledged. "In the fourth quarter, we played great defense and took defensive rebounds that decided the game in our favor. We are happy but we have to improve."