Maxima Roma advances to Nova Arena: Bertram loses 75-89
Bertram Derthona Tortona – Maxima Roma 75-89
(20-22, 38-47, 62-72)
Derthona : Eboua 7, Hubb 2, Gorham 12, Pecchia 2, A. Alibegovic 3, Di Meo ne, Bortolani 1, Olejniczak 12, Maddox 14, Gazzotti ne, Jallow 15, Durham 7. Coach Fioretti.
Maxima : Brown 7, Bilan 17, Holiday 13, Tyson 3, M. Alibegovic 10, Carnevale ne, Lemar 6, Veronesi 20, Moon 4, Bonacini ne, Wheatle 6, Camara 3. All. Cotelli
Referees : Baldini, Paglialunga, Valleriani.
Spectators : 2.750
Maxima Roma won the fourth match of the 2026-27 LBA Serie A SisalClub at the Nova Arena. The Roman team defeated home team Bertram Derthona Tortona 89-75, ending a match characterized by the visitors' lead from the final basket of the first quarter at the buzzer onward. They took advantage of Holiday's early scoring streak and consolidated their performance with Veronesi's MVP-winning performance, along with Bilan's work under the basket and a consistent ability to repel the home team's comeback attempts. After trailing by 15 points in the second quarter, Bertram attempted to come back several times in the second half, repeatedly falling behind by 5-6 points, and repeatedly missing shots from beyond the arc to break the deadlock. The last time it happened was at 69-75 with eight minutes left, where a 9-0 run by the visitors put the match definitively in Rome's direction.
The match
The home team's initial plan included a series of low-post serves to Jallow, and the German small forward's size delivered results, scoring the first basket of the game and drawing two fouls on Moon in the first minute, although Hubb also picked up two early fouls on the Juventus side. The Bertram defense didn't allow Maxima any space at the rim, and they were 6-0 for the first three and a half minutes. However, the Romans responded and even took the lead with a three-pointer from Lemar (14-15 in the 7th minute), about thirty seconds after Paul Eboua made his official debut for Derthona amid thunderous applause from the Nova Arena after a month and a half of injury-related absence.
Holiday's driving basket at the buzzer, in addition to giving Maxima a 20-22 lead in the first quarter, started a 10-0 run for the Romans with the same point guard and former player Mirza Alibegovic scoring their first double-digit lead after just a minute and a half of the second half, 20-30. The Romans continued to score consistently, with two triples from Veronesi (11 points at halftime) and the usual Holiday (13) making it +15 at 23-38 in the 14th minute (Roma 7/12 from three in the first half). Initiatives inside the opponent's area by Olejniczak and Gorham allowed Maddox's steal at halftime with a winning counterattack to give Tortona a breather and allow them to go into the locker rooms with a double-digit deficit, 38-47.
The second half began with Hubb returning to the court after two early fouls in the first period, Jallow's dunk, and Olejniczak's offensive rebound converted into two points, putting Derthona back in contention and rekindling the home crowd: 42-47 after a minute and a half with an 8-0 run spanning the middle and middle of the second quarter. Bertram also missed a pair of three-pointers to bring the score to two, while Maxima failed to produce similar numbers from beyond the arc at the other end. Tyson and Wheatle scored two in a row to bring the visitors back to double digits, 42-53. The safety margin was maintained until the end of the third quarter after a back-and-forth three-pointer between M. Alibegovic and Durham, who, at the buzzer, made it 62-72 at the final break.
Another crucial basket, this time from Amar Alibegovic, gave Bertram another boost (69-75 in the 32nd minute), but as often happened in the game, Veronesi immediately put his team back on the run with a 3/3 free throw line (69-78). With five minutes left, Roma equaled their maximum lead, 69-84, and that was the Bianconeri's third league defeat.
In Serie A, Bertram will return to play next Sunday, October 25th, again at home at noon sharp against Napoli Basketball, a match preceded on Wednesday 28th at 19 pm by the second consecutive home match against the Spanish team San Pablo Burgos for the fourth day of the BKT EuroCup.
The statements
Coach Mario Fioretti: "We closed the game well, but after 7-8 minutes of the first quarter, we started to suffer heavily on defense. We tried to stay on the offensive throughout, but we were never able to limit them in our half. In the fourth quarter, we tried everything as a starting five, in terms of chemistry. We're really struggling to connect the two phases of the game; we're clearly in a tough situation. It was a really bad game on our part, and when you play like this, as the head coach, I'm undoubtedly the one responsible for that. We've been struggling since the beginning of the season; in some games, we've fought until the very end, even in last Wednesday's game in Thessaloniki against Aris, we were down 4 with 4 minutes left and had the ball, but we're having too many ups and downs. I absolutely have to try to do something because it's the best thing to do."
"It's definitely a different start to the season than last year. And when you're in a club like this, a lot of things don't go right, like at the start of the third and part of the fourth quarter, when we found some good open shots on the ball circulation but didn't make one. It's not just that; everything I said before is the real factor, plus this."
(PHOTOCREDIT: DERTHONA BASKET)
