Dominion Bilbao Basket captures top spot in Group A

Dominion Bilbao Basket grabbed first place in Group A by beating Dolomiti Energia Trento 104-91 at home. Clevin Hannah collected 22 points and 8 assists while Dairis Bertrans scored 16 points as Dominion BB notched its sixth straight victory to take Group A honors with an 8-2 record. Axel Hervelle added 13 points; Mirza Begic had 12 points and 3 blocks; and Alex Mumbru chipped in 11 points in the win. Trento saw its four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 7-3 in the group despite 20 points from Dominique Sutton, while Jamarr Sanders had 14 points, Davide Pascolo scored 12 and Andres Forray added 10 points.

Mumbru opened the scoring for Dominion, while Pascolo hit first for Trento and Julian Wright free throws gave the guests a 2-4 lead. Bertans knotted the game and back-to-back three-pointers from Alex Suarez and Bertans had Dominion ahead 12-4. Forray cut the gap to 5 points, but Bertans and Mumbru followed with more threes for an 18-7 advantage. Bertans’s third triple pushed the lead to 21-9. Wright and Sutton both hit from long range for the guests, but Mumbru and Hervelle both converted three-point plays and Raul Lopez continued the long range barrage in building a 34-19 cushion. It was down to 34-22 after 10 minutes. Hervelle’s three finished a 7-0 run to start the second quarter for a 41-22 lead. Lopez was on target from outside again before Alex Ruoff scored two baskets as the lead swelled to 50-24. Trento struggled to get stops defensively as Pascolo trimmed the deficit to 53-30. Bertans nailed another triple to make it 58-32 and the lead was 58-36 at intermission.

Diego Flaccadori and Forray both nailed three-pointers as Trento scored the first 10 points of the second half to cut the deficit to 58-46. Giorgos Bogris finally got Dominion on the scoreboard in the third quarter after nearly three minutes of play. But Sanders hit a three-pointer and Filippo Baldi Rossi made free throws to trim the gap to 62-53. Bertrans re-established a double-digit lead and Trento was held scoreless for more than two minutes, allowing Dominion to use a 10-0 run to build a 76-54 advantage with Hervelle hitting a three and Tobias Borg scoring 4 points. Hannah’s three and Ruoff’s free throw increased the gap to 80-56. It was 82-63 at the end of three quarters. Hannah started the fourth with another three for a 22-point lead, but Sanders and Sutton hit back-to-back triples and Pascolo scored a pair of baskets to trim the margin to 90-77 midway through the fourth. Sanders, Trent Lockett and Sutton all hit from downtown to cut the deficit to 96-86 with two minutes to play. But Sutton was called for an unsportsmanlike foul and Ruoff and Hervelle both made 2 free throws to push the lead to 100-86. Sanders hit one more three-pointer, but it was too little too late.