Wolves Rally Late But It Is Not Enough
- jholden90
- Mar 25
- 2 min read
By Dani Mcdermott and Hailey Koplowitz
AUR Wolves 39, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore 54
The American University of Rome Wolves men’s basketball team suffered a tough 39-54 defeat on the road against Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore last week.
After struggling in the first half the Wolves battled back in the fourth quarter to cut the lead in half and finished the game relatively close.
“Pressure up, foul them if we have to,” Travis Finley said breathlessly with under five minutes to play, as the Wolves made a final push in the fourth quarter.
Gabriele Liberati knocked down multiple three-pointers to keep the Wolves within striking distance, and Finley added key baskets to bring the deficit back under ten. Missed free throws and late execution allowed Cattolica to pull away, stretching the lead to 15 in the final minute to seal it.
Cattolica set the tone early, opening the scoring before AUR responded with its first points from Peter Bolin. The first quarter quickly turned into a back-and-forth battle, with both teams trading leads. A fast-break finish from Finley put AUR up 6–5.
Despite the competitive start, AUR’s physical defense led to multiple fouls, disrupting their rhythm. Cattolica capitalized late in the first quarter, with Mattia Quaiamini knocking down a crucial shot to close the period up 13–7.
From there, the game slipped. Cattolica built a double-digit lead in the second quarter, while AUR struggled to score consistently. Despite the effort, AUR struggled offensively, scoring fewer than 10 points in each of the first three quarters and never fully recovering. The quiet atmosphere of the arena mirrored the team’s frustration, highlighting ongoing struggles with offensive execution and consistency, as they look to regroup heading into their next matchup during the low table round robin games.
This loss puts the team at a higher risk of elimination if the team cannot defeat Unicamillus and Link Erasmus in the next two weeks, currently the eighth and seventh placed teams.
Comments