Knox leads Trento past Oldenburg

Dolomiti Energia Trento pulled away in the fourth quarter on its way to a 91-81 win over visiting EWE Baskets Oldenburg on Wednesday night. It was the second consecutive win for Trento and its first at home this season to improve to 2-1 in Group D, while Oldenburg remained winless at 0-3. The two teams traded leads for almost 30 minutes before Trento went on a 19-5 spurt to bridge third and fourth quarters, open a 16-point lead and secure the win. Justin Knox shined with 25 points and 6 rebounds and Alessandro Gentile had 19 points with 6 rebounds. Aaron Craft collected 11 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals, while James Blackmon also scored 11 points in a victory. Nathan Boothe scored 20 points for the visitors, Robin Amaize netted 16, Braydon Hobbs finished with 10 points and Rasid Mahalbasic had 7 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in the losing effort.

Trento scored on five of its first six possessions, but Philipp Schwethelm and Braydon Hobbs hit triples for Oldenburg to help it take a 12-14 lead. Rashard Kelly scored twice from close range and Gentile had a three-point play to make it 23-22, but Boothe scored to end the first quarter and then strung 8 points to make it 34-37 midway through the second. Gentile answered with 6 points, including a three-point play, and Aaron Craft knocked down a last-second triple to make it 47-43 at halftime. Mahalbasic had a tip-in and dished 3 assists to lead Oldenburg back in front, 54-55, but Trento took over again after Knox knocked down a triple and a jumper and Gentile made a pair of baskets to set a 69-63 score at the end of the third. The scoring slowed down in the fourth quarter, but a transition triple from Blackmon and a pair of baskets from Knox opened an 84-68 lead with 3 minutes to go and Trento was well on its way to its first home win of the season.

Key run

There were 11 lead changes and 10 ties in the first 27 minutes of the game, before Aaron Craft, Justin Knox and Alessandro Gentile combined to score 14 points in a 19-5 run that started with 1:35 left in the third quarter and finished with 3 minutes left in the game, which decided the game.

Ale shines

Gentile's 19 points tied for the second-most he has scored in his 32 appearances in the competition, behind only his 22-point performance in Game 1 of the quarterfinals in 2011, when he played for Benetton Treviso against Goettingen as an 18-year old.

Looking at stats

Oldenburg had 19 assists to Trento's 18, had 10 steals to Trento's 8, and committed 12 turnovers to Trento's 15, and hit 11 three-pointers while the hosts made just 6. But it is Trento that won the game by 10 points because Oldenburg needed 32 attempts for those 11 threes, and shot just 48.6% two-pointers.

Next up

In Round 4 next week both teams play at home on Wednesday. Trento will host Asseco Arka Gdynia (1-2), while Oldenburg will welcome Group D leader Unicaja Malaga (3-0).