Trento eases to home win over Promitheas

Dolomiti Energia Trento made it two wins out of two by breezing to a 78-51 home victory over Promitheas Patras, which dropped to 0-2. The visitors started strong and led by 9 in the first quarter, but Trento used a 24-4 charge either side of halftime to break the game open. The lead reached 17 midway through the third and Trento was never threatened after that. Luke Maye led the way with 15 points, while Jacorey Williams combined 12 points and 7 rebounds. Andrea Mezzanotte scored 10 and Gary Browne had 8 points, 6 assists and 3 steals for the winners. Michalis Lountzis led Promitheas with 16 points, but a total of 19 turnovers hindered the visiting team’s challenge.

Both teams focussed their early efforts inside, with Dimitris Agravanis and Danny Agbelese both scoring twice around the basket to give Promitheas a 4-12 lead on a 0-8 run. Kelvin Martin netted the game’s first three-pointer to get Trento moving and Toto Forray added another before Maye scored twice to help make it 15-18 at the end of the first. Maye netted again and Luca Conti struck from deep to give Trento its first lead as Trento’s fightback continued. Lountzis snapped the 10-0 run with a layup, a tough jumper and then a three-pointer to restore a Promitheas lead, 23-25. Mezzanotte made a triple to end a 1-9 run before Agbelese and Martin traded close-range scores. Williams dunked to send Trento ahead, 30-29, and Jeremy Morgan’s three followed by 3 free throws made it 36-29 at the break as the hosts finished the half with another 10-0 run.

Maye started the second half with a three-pointer before Agbelese scored from close-range to reopen Promitheas's account. Browne made consecutive triples and Maye added another to make it 50-33. Charis Giannopoulos stopped the rot from deep before a three-point play from Williams highlighted the end of the third quarter, which finished 55-39. Three consecutive scores from Mezzanotte stretched the lead beyond 20 points and a fastbreak layup from Forray made it 64-39. Forray and Lountzis added more triples and Maye did the same as the lead jumped to 27. Conti’s stepback jumper took the advantage past 30 before Lountzis took his team past 50 points to make it a little closer.

Big runs propel Trento

After falling behind early, Trento used several big runs to establish and then stretch its lead: 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, 13-0 to bridge the second and third, 11-2 early in the third, and 12-0 to start the fourth.

Long-range shooting helps host

One of the reasons for Trento's dominance was a huge difference in three-point shooting. Promitheas was 0-of-7 from deep until Michail Lountzis struck with 4 minutes remaining before halftime. But that didn’t lead to much improvement as the visiting team finished with 3-of-24 shooting from three-point range (12.5%). Trento, however, made 12 of its 25 long-range attempts (48%), led by 3 from Luke Maye.

Hot and cold for Agravanis

Dimitris Agravanis was the main factor behind Promitheas's strong start. He dunked hard for the first points of the game and finished the first quarter with 8 points and 4 rebounds. But the forward managed only 1 more point and 4 rebounds after that.

Next round

Trento will defend its 100% record with a trip to Nanterre 92 next Tuesday, while Promitheas travels to Frutti Extra Bursaspor the same evening.