Alessandro Magro praises a resilient Trieste and criticizes his own team: “Not very solid”

Pallacanestro Trieste defeated BC Roma 116-100 at the end of a hard-fought game, especially in the first half. Despite the absence of Paul Watson, who was sidelined by the flu, the Giallorossi started with determination and, spurred on by five consecutive points from Stevenson, took a 6-point lead (16-22). The lead grew to +7 (25-32) before the home team closed the gap from the free-throw line, ending the first quarter at 28-32.

Early in the second quarter, Davis immediately hit a three-pointer. The game remained tightly contested, and with two minutes left in the half, the score was tied at 46-46. The lead changed hands several times until Jones hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, allowing the Giuliani to head into the locker room ahead 58-56.

Upon returning to the court, the home team went on a 6-0 run, but Rome responded with a dunk by Flowers and a three-pointer by Strautins, closing the gap to three points. Trieste, however, improved its three-point shooting accuracy and gradually took control of the game, building a double-digit lead by the end of the third quarter (92-82).

In the final quarter, Mannion and Stevenson tried to close the gap for the Giallorossi, but Ross and McDermott restored the 10-point lead. A three-pointer by Simonovic kept BC Roma’s hopes alive, before McDermott—following a layup by Jones—hit another three-pointer to make it 105–93. Finally, three-pointers by Galloway and Ross definitively extinguished the visitors’ chances of a comeback, securing Trieste’s 116-100 victory.

“There was a different level of energy over the 40 minutes,” emphasized the visiting coach, Alessandro Magro. “Then, regardless of the run they went on and the fourth quarter, we also ran some low-quality offensive plays. This is shown by the fact that Trieste got to all the loose balls first, grabbed almost all the rebounds, and did a good job of alternating between outside shots and drives to the basket.”

“We’re a team that can score a lot, and we did that again today, but we need to be more solid on defense, and we didn’t manage to do that. Credit goes to Trieste—you can see they have a lot of confidence right now—while we now need to find that confidence and try to win when we score 100 points. I decided to play Olynyk, but he was dealing with a physical issue.”