Trabzonspor tops Trento for premier Last 32 win

Trabzonspor Medical Park registered its first ever Last 32 win, routing the visiting Dolomiti Energia Trento 92-70 on Wednesday. Both teams hold 1-1 record in Group K. Trabzonspor hit 9 of its 12 three-pointers in the first half, and behind Damian Kulig and Dwight Hardy went on a 22-3 spurt that bridged first and second quarters, opening up 30-17 lead. Margin was as big as 19 points before halftime, and broke the 20-point barrier in the third quarter, as Trento never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way. Hardy netted 23 points and dished 9 assists. Kulig scored 20, and Andrija Stipanovic had 16 points plus 7 rebounds. Berkay Candan chipped in with 10 in victory. Davide Pascolo was Trento’s only double-digit scorer with 17 points, while Jamarr Sanders, Filippo Baldi Rossi and Julian Wright had 9 apiece in the losing effort.

Kulig hit a pair of triples for the hosts, but Wright and Trent Locker helped fuel Trento's 0-10 run, as the visitors took 8-14 lead. But Hardy and Ryan Thompson got the hosts going, and after Andres Forray hit a triple for Trento, Hardy hit back-to-back threes, then made a steal and raced for a fastbreak basket. Kulig capped a 14-3 spurt to end the first quarter with Trabzonspor up 22-17. Triples from Kulig and Hakan Demirel opened 30-17 margin at the start of the second quarter, and a three from Hardy at the midway point of the quarter made it 35-20. Dominique Sutton scored twice for Trento, but Hardy and Derwin Kitchen hit back-to-back three-pointers during an 8-0 run, increasing the advantage to 43-24. Before the half, however, Trento’s Sanders assisted for Pasolo's basket, then scored five points of his own, including a triple before the halftime to make it 45-31 at the break.

In the beginning of the third quarter, Andrija Stipanovic and Kulig combined to score 10 points to keep the hosts comfortably in front, 56-39. Demirel and Hardy increased the margin to 62-41, before Baldi Rossi hit from downtown to cut the deficit to 65-48 going into the final quarter. Giuseppe Poeta and Candan traded triples in the opening minute of the fourth, before baskets from Gani Erdi Gulaslan and another triple from Hardy made it 77-54. Johan Lofberg and Pascolo hit from long range for Trento, as the lead was cut to 80-62, but in the final three minutes Stipanovic scored six points to help make it 90-64, the largest margin of the night.