Bertram Derthona remains with full points. Eurobasket Roma defeated 82 to 73
BERTRAM DERTHONA – LEONIS ROMA 82 – 73
(17-14, 30-30, 56-53)
BERTRAM DERTHONA: Meluzzi, Stefanelli, Sorokas 14, Radonjic 15, Divac, Apuzzone, Quaglia, Garri 13, Mei 7, Johnson 21, Spanghero 12 All. Pansa.
LEONIS ROMA: Deloach 14, Casale 2, Fanti 7, Poletti 13, Frassinetti 7, Sims 12, Bonessio, Cecchietti, Piazza 13, Brkic 5 All. Bonora.
VOGHERA. With a great long-range second half (66% from the three-point range) the Lions confirmed their full points by winning an important test against Eurobasket Roma 82 to 73. Coach Lorenzo Pansa's rotations are still fundamental. MVP of the match Johnson (21 points) followed by Montenegrin Radonjic who scored 15 points.
The two quintets come face to face in what has been defined as the big match of the day. From the very first moments of the game, Eurobasket Roma tried to attack coach Pansa's formation with Sims and Deloach trying to penetrate the Juventus defense. However, Tortona has great quality in three-point shots on his side, in the hands of Sorokas and Johnson. The Lions, after four points in the low post from Garri and Radonjic, managed to score a 6-0 partial from seven meters away. Coach Bonora then decides to send the American duo onto the field who, after a short rest, are able to provide greater liveliness and clarity under the basket, managing to score six players in the first ten laps of the clock. The first quarter therefore ends 17 to 14 for Bertram Derthona after Leonis' break.
The second quarter opens immediately with a back-and-forth between Deloach and Johnson but what sends the PalaOltrepo' crowd into raptures is the dunk by the Lithuanian Sorokas. The player remains in excellent shape both defensively and in the scoring phase, forcing coach Bonora to call a timeout. Almost three minutes from the end, however, Eurobasket returns forcefully to the charge. Sims and then Poletti almost managed to eliminate the gap that had developed by reaching -1 (28-27) and then managing, a handful of seconds from the siren, to level the score with Piazza by responding to captain Garri's momentary basket on the post. The first half thus ends with the result 30-30.
In the second half the teams, in the first stages of the game, continue to travel point to point. Until, six minutes from the end, the first mini break for Rome arrives. The triple from number 10 Frassinetti gives the visiting team the lead but the prompt response from Montenegrin Radonjic closes the gap (43-44). Coach Pansa calls timeout after Deloach scores four points, the last of which comes from a valuable assist from Piazza. Sorokas, Radonjic and Mei try with three triples to give a breath of fresh air, bringing the Lions to the final stage at 56-53. Mei and Johnson extend when possible, but Deloach and Sims sign the counterpartial, remaining just two points behind. After Spanghero's triple and the foul won by Garri in the following action, the home crowd explodes with shouts of "Leoni, Leoni" to try to give a final rush of adrenaline. As the final stages of the game approached, Derthona began to have control over the match. At 1'21” it was again the American Melvin Johnson who scored his fifth personal triple, thus going +9 (80-71). It ends 82 to 73 and Derthona brings home their third consecutive victory in the regular season.
Lorenzo Pansa: "Honestly, we weren't good at managing the game for a long part of the game. We played a match at a pace that Roma would have liked and that was more pleasing to their qualities. However, we did well in the decisive moment of the match which allowed us to reach the last lap of the game with a reassuring lead. This is a team that comes together in difficult moments and every time there is a different protagonist and that's what we want to do."
