2015-16Regular SeasonRound 1
October 14, 2015 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 ARENA STOZICE
Miha Lapornik - Union Olimpija Ljubljana - EC15 (photo Union Olimpija)

Olimpija edges Trento in high-scoring thriller!

Union Olimpija Ljubljana had to wait until the final second to claim a 98-97 home win against Dolomiti Energia Trento in Group A in the Slovenian capital on Wednesday. Zack Wright led the winners with 18 points. Sava Lesic added 17, Miha Lapornik had 16, Ronalds Zakis got 14 while Sasa Zagorac contributed 13 for Olimpija. Julian Wright led Trento with 22 points. Davide Pascolo added 16, Jamarr Sanders had 13 while Peppe Poeta got 11 for the guests. It was a back and forth battle for 40 minutes - Trento led 22-26 after 10 minutes, Olimpoija regained the lead but Wright gave the guests a 48-52 margin at halftime. Luka Rupnik helped Olimpija get a 73-66 margin which Trento trimmed to 73-71 after 30 minutes. A three-pointer by Wright gave Olimpija a 91-81 lead with under 4 minutes left but Trento got within 98-97 and had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but Filippo Baldo Rossi's mid-range jumper did not fall in.

Wright had a strong start and got help from Davide Pascolo to give Trento an early 5-8 lead. Zagorac nailed a three-pointer and a jumper by Wright soon allowed Olimpija to regain the lead, 12-10. Trento kept powering the board and Wright scored again to put the guests back ahead, 15-16. Miha Lapornik found his first points and Zagorac hit a triple for a 20-18 Olimpija lead. Filippo Baldo Rossi and Dominique Sutton hit one each from beyond the arc in an 0-8 run which helped Trento get a 22-26 lead after 10 minutes. Ronalds Zakis stepped up with 5 quick points to put the hosts back ahead, 27-26, early in the second quarter. Pascolo and Peppe Poeta combined for all points in a 0-7 run for a 27-33 Trento lead. Blaz Mesicek and Sava Lesic tried to change things for Olimpija but a three-pointer by Jamarr Sanders boosted the guests' lead to 34-42. The hosts found a go-to guy in Wright, who allowed Olimpija to get as close as 48-52 at halftime.

Lockett and Sanders shined after the break to make Trento get a 51-58 margin. Lesic stepped up for Olimpija with 6 unanswered points that brought his team within 57-58. Lesic soon added a basket off a steal to make Trento call timeout at 61-60. Zakis kept pacing Olimpija and Luka Rupnik struck twice from downtown to boost the hosts' margin to 73-66. Andres Forray joined the three-point shootout and free throws by Diego Flaccadori kept Trento within 73-71 after 30 minutes. Back-to-back triples by Lapornik kept Olimpija ahead, 79-75, early in the fourth quarter. Zakis and Wright soon combined for all points in a 6-0 run that made Trento call timeout at 88-78. Wright gave Olimpija a 91-81 lead with under 4 minutes left but Poeta and Wright fueled an 0-10 run which Sutton capped with a basket that tied it at 91-91. Wright and Kapornik gave Olimpija a 96-93 edge but Trento got within 98-97 on free throws by Sanders. Wright drew a foul with 12.3 seconds left but missed both attempts. Trento had a chance to win the game but Baldo Rossi missed a five-meter jumper at the buzzer.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Eurocupbasketball.com
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Referees: PEREA, OSCAR; OBRADOVIC, PETAR; CICI, GENTIAN
Attendance: 2200 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Union Olimpija Ljubljana22262525
Dolomiti Energia Trento26261926
End of Quarter1234
Union Olimpija Ljubljana22487398
Dolomiti Energia Trento26527197
Union Olimpija Ljubljana
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 WRIGHT, ZACK 30:15 18 6/11 1/2 3/6 2 2 4 6 2 2     3 4 20
5 RUPNIK, LUKA 9:27 7   2/2 1/2   1 1 5   2     2 1 9
7 HROVAT, GREGOR 17:34   0/2 0/1             1     1   -5
9 MESICEK, BLAZ 20:41 8 1/4 2/2   2 2 4           3 3 9
10 NIKOLIC, MITJA 20:05 3 1/2 0/1 1/4       2           4 4
12 VUCETIC, VASILIJE 2:01 2 1/1     1   1           2   1
13 LAPORNIK, MIHA 21:58 16 2/2 4/7     1 1 3 2       2 2 19
15 LESIC, SAVA 28:00 17 5/8 1/2 4/4   4 4 5 3 2     2 5 26
17 ZAGORAC, SASA 25:18 13 1/2 3/4 2/2   2 2 4   1     3 1 14
21 MAHKOVIC, BLAZ 9:21               1   2     4 1 -4
30 ZAKIS, RONALDS 15:20 14 5/9 1/1 1/1 3 1 4     2   2 1 1 10
31 CANCAR, VLATKO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           3 2 5     1         4
Totals 200:00 98 22/41 14/22 12/19 11 15 26 26 7 13 0 2 23 22 107
        53.7% 63.6% 63.2%
Head coach: POTOCNIK, GASPER
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Dolomiti Energia Trento
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 POETA, GIUSEPPE 21:31 11 2/5 2/3 1/3   1 1 4           3 13
4 SANDERS, JAMARR 28:47 13 4/7 1/2 2/2 1 2 3 5 3 2     2 4 20
7 PASCOLO, DAVIDE 23:28 16 8/13   0/2 3   3 2 1   2   2 1 16
8 BALDI ROSSI, FILIPPO 19:59 3 0/1 1/2   1 4 5 3 1 2     1   7
10 FORRAY, TOTO 17:03 3 0/1 1/2   1 1 2           3 1 1
11 LOFBERG, JOHAN 3:00 4 1/1   2/2 1   1             1 6
12 FLACCADORI, DIEGO 16:06 6 1/4 0/1 4/4       3 1 2     2 2 4
23 SUTTON, DOMINIQUE 16:39 9 2/2 1/2 2/3       2   4     4 3 4
24 LOCKETT, TRENT 22:59 8 3/5 0/1 2/2 1 4 5 3   1     4 1 9
25 LECHTHALER, LUCA 2:30 2 1/1                     2 1 1
30 WRIGHT, JULIAN 27:58 22 8/10 1/1 3/5 2 5 7 4   3     2 6 30
Team           3 2 5               5
Totals 200:00 97 30/50 7/14 16/23 13 19 32 26 6 14 2 0 22 23 116
        60% 50% 69.6%
Head coach: BUSCAGLIA, MAURIZIO

Head Coaches

POTOCNIK, GASPER
Union Olimpija Ljubljana
"We started the game in a fashion that we did not agree on. We talked about it for last three days, how to play against Trento, but we did not play like we talked about. We started too soft, [allowed] a lot of easy baskets, had difficulties in rebounding and defense. We shouldn't play like this in the next games. I am sure that our motivation was on a high level, but simply we were not ourselves in the first half. We played very bad defense. We were great in offense throughout whole game and this saved us today and we won because of it. In the second half we started well and got the lead, but then again we complicated our lives. We reacted poorly on pressing defense, lost a lot of balls, at the end even missed a couple of free throws, but today luck was on our side. In the end, victory is what matters, because it is important how you start the competition. I believe we will play better in the next games, if we want to think about being successful."
BUSCAGLIA, MAURIZIO
Dolomiti Energia Trento
"If we judge by result and statistics, we can say we played a good first international game in our club history. We were great in offense, but we should have played better in defense. We need to play better in our next games if we want to win. We played energetic, and we made a comeback after being down by 10 points, but Ljubljana's team was really great in offense today. We need to show in next games, that we learned something from today's loss. My players had the desire and motivation, but we need to focus on fixing details in defense. I am sorry for the last offense, because we had a chance to win the game, but some players made a couple of mistakes and we did not. Maybe it is better that we lost, but only if we learned something and got more experience for continuation of the Eurocup."

Players

LAPORNIK, MIHA
Union Olimpija Ljubljana
"We did not start the game like we agreed before the game. The agreement was that we will stop their offense from the start with small fouls, but we did not succeed in this. The opponent got into offensive rhythm with some easy baskets from fastbreaks and then it was really difficult to play with them, because they really were scoring in great fashion. In the second half we got in our rhythm, had a lead of 10 points, but at the end our composure fell. We had a lot of luck to win the game at the end."
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