With 2 seconds left in the game, Kamar Baldwin made a tough jumper from mid range and scored the winning basket for Trento, in a 85-84 upset of Olimpia in Game 1 of the Italian league quarterfinals. Game 2 is scheduled to be played tomorrow again in Milan. “We started te game well, then after the first period our defense was mediocre and our offense lacked both discipline and sharpness,” Coach Ettore Messina admitted. Olimpia led by as many as 13 points early in the game and scored 32 in the first quarter. However, when the percentages went down and the turnovers went up, Trento came back easily. Derek Cooke had a monster inside game, scoring 22 point at the rim. “We felt we needed one more guard and two bigs, Melli and Hines, were enought against Cooke and Biligha. We are convinced of it, if they are not enough that’s a problem of course because they should be enough,” Messina pointed out explaining the reason behing the return after almost five months of previously injured Billy Baron who made a three and a couple of free throws. After surrendering the 13-point lead, the game was very close for the rest of the night. Trento tried to get away late in the third building a seven-point lead that Olimpia canceled in the fourth quarter. The defense went up a notch, for some possessions at least. After a Cooke three-point play, Olimpia scored with Mirotic from the line, forced a turnover, scored with Shields from the line again and led by one point with 10 seconds left. Trento used the clock, and Baldwin made the tough jumper to win the game.

Billy Baron

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