Trento collapses in the finale against Cremona, Paolo Galbiati eats his hands

Trento collapses in the final against Cremona, Paolo Galbiati eats his hands

Dolomiti Energia Trentino got off to a strong start, reaching as high as +19, but ran out of energy in the final and Vanoli Cremona managed to get the better of them in a hard-fought point-to-point game. The bianconeri, still without Quinn Ellis and with Eigirdas Zukauskas not at his best, fail to keep the’unbeatenà inside. Now the head already goes to the next challenge: in less than 48 hours Trento will be on the court in Sofia to face Hapoel Tel Aviv. Top scorers of the night for the bianconeri were Nikolic and Cale, both with 13 points.

THE STORY – Dolomiti Energia Trentino started with: Ford, Cale, Pecchia, Lamb and Bayehe while Napoli responds with: Davis, Willis, Conti, Dreznjak and Owens.

Lamb opens the challenge with a triple, capitalizing on an offensive rebound by Bayehe, who shortly after dunks an alley-oop served by Cale. Pecchia scores a beautiful triple, but Vanoli breaks free with a basket by Corey Davis. Cale answers with a jumper for a 10-2 lead, but Davis strikes back with another basket from the mid-range. Vanoli tries to come back down with Willis, but Trento stretches again with Ford and Cale, flying to 19-9 and forcing coach Brotto to call timeout. Ford ends the quarter with a triple, setting the score at 22-9 in favor of Dolomiti Energia Trentino.

Poser opens the restart with a support at the buzzer, but Ford immediately responds with a stunning triple for 25-11. Forray scores from the corner, Owens retaliates for Cremona, but Mawugbe backs two points and Forray scores another triple, forcing coach Brotto to call timeout at 33-15.Drežnjak shortens with a support, but Pecchia immediately responds by hitting from long distance. Willis makes a 2/2 at the lunette, followed by a Drežnjak triple that brings Vanoli to -14. Coach Galbiati decides to stop the game with a timeout. On the return, Pecchia scores in transition, but Jones places a spectacular triple at the buzzer. In the final quarter, Cremona manages to recover a few more points, closing the partial with a small gap. At’halftime, the score è 44-36 in favor of Dolomiti Energia Trentino.

The second half opened with two free throws made by Drežnjak, but Niang immediately answered with a nice penetration that brought two points. Drežnjak again accurate at the lunette, while Bayehe retaliates with excellent movement under the basket. Zampini scores with an effective cut, bringing the score to 48-42. Dolomiti Energia Trentino struggles to find rhythm on offense, and Nikolic takes advantage with a dunk that shortens the gap to -4. Davis answers Mawugbe with a basket, but Forray scores a key triple to give the Bianconeri some breathing room again. Pecchia lights up and scores four consecutive points, but Zampini hits from long distance to keep Trento ahead. The third quarter ends 59-52 in favor of Dolomiti Energia Trentino.

Poser opens the fourth period with a dunk and shortly after responds with two more points, bringing Cremona to -3. Poser himself signs a half-hook, followed by a triple by Willis that completes the overtake. Lamb breaks the 0-12 streak by making two free throws, but Jones immediately responds with a triple. Davis scores the 63-69 basket, forcing coach Galbiati to call timeout. Trento comes back well from the timeout: Forray and Lamb shorten the distance to -2. However, Willis and Owens bring Vanoli back to +6, forcing Galbiati to stop the game again. Cale tries to keep the bianconeri in the game with a penetration, but Davis hits from distance, signing the maximum lead for Cremona. In the final, Trento misses too many free throws, while Cremona maintains the coolness needed to close the game on 76-80.

"Kudos to Vanoli, we have to eat our hands, è clearly we were very tired after Friday night’s game but we definitely have to do better. We missed shots to the iron, open shots and free throws. In the first half we did the right things but as long as we were fresh we had to be more cynical and not allow them to think they could get back into the game" says Galbiati after the game.