Bertram Derthona beats Viola Reggio Calabria in the championship match
BERTRAM DERTHONA: Meluzzi 3, Stefanelli 9, Sorokas 17, Radonjic 0, Divac 0, Apuzzo 0, Quaglia 0, Garri 8, Mei 6, Johnson 13, Spanghero 24.
METEXTRA REGGIO CALABRIA: Pacher 14, Passera 7, Tflaj ne, Caroti 0, Fabi 5, Baldassarre 1, Rossato 4, Agbogan 0, Benvenuti 15, Marino ne, Roberts 26.
PalaOltrepo' finds its Lions again in a season marked by many changes, starting with the new main sponsor Bertram Yacht. Many flocked to the first staging of the new season. There is a lot of curiosity. This evening the public was able to see the Lions triumph in their first outing of the season that had just begun, 80-72.
From the very first minutes the two teams went point to point with the Bianconeri led by the Spanghero-Johnson-Garri trio. The two quintets, over the 10 laps of the clock, showed good defensive solidity, preventing Sorokas and, on the other side of the midfield, Roberts from finding their personal joy several times. A bit of shyness about the new stage is also an accomplice. The second period opens with a score of 17 to 13 for the home team. Lions travel on shields. In three minutes of play they didn't let coach Calvani's quintet breathe, allowing them only one point. Almost five minutes from the end of the first half, Derthona acquired its momentary maximum advantage with Mei and Meluzzi who, in the space of two minutes, made three baskets from within seven metres. At the end there is still room for Spanghero's triple which sends the two teams to the locker rooms with the scoreboard reading 37 to 28. Upon returning to the parquet the Viola try to get back into the game but the Lions manage to maintain the double figure of advantage thanks to the Lithuanian Sorokas, very inspired, and the rotations implemented by coach Pansa. Thus we go to the last act with a score of 58-40. In the fourth quarter, coach Calvani's men show all their pride. With almost six laps of the clock to go they reduce the deficit by twelve points thanks to the made in USA duo Pacher and Roberts. What seemed like it could be a sweet ending is vindicated in a heart-pounding finale. With just over five minutes to go, Bertram Derthona found himself already having five fouls, with the Viola starting to breathe heavily down their necks. Roberts and Baldassarre arrive to recover the race. The team tries to rely on Johnson but number 23 Roberts never misses a shot again, sending the Viola ahead for the first time. With just over a minute to go the scoreboard reads 64-66. We only fight on free throws but forty minutes are not enough; we have to go to overtime. Their men's defense misses Sorokas marking bringing back the inertia for the Bianconeri. Spanghero finishes with six points and Johnson closes it with the Lions' last triple of the match. Bertram Derthona thus wins the first double ball of the season that has just begun with 80-72 against Viola Reggio Calabria.
Coach Pansa: “We played three quarters as well as we could not have hoped for. We have to keep in mind that Reggio Calabria is a bad customer at this point in the season and the last quarter was a demonstration of this. We managed to maintain great quality and solid rebounding for thirty minutes. In the last quarter we went out of control, struggling on this last detail. However, we had a great reaction in extra time, managing to choose two offensive situations that gave us serenity. We are an extremely open construction site and we are working on this blackout. Viola deserves the credit for having expressed all their best play in those ten minutes."
