Bertram comes close to a coup at home to Virtus Bologna: Derthona beaten in the sprint in the championship recovery
Virtus Segafredo Bologna – Bertram Derthona 85-81
(12-18, 44-40, 69-58)
Scoreboards:
Bologna: Cordinier 6, Belinelli 14, Pajola 3, Clyburn 2, Visconti ne, Shengelia 12, Morgan 16, Polonara 7, Diouf 8, Zizic 14, Akele ne, Tucker 3. All. Banchi.
Bertram: Zerini 4, Vital 8, Kuhse 13, Gorham 6, Candi 2, Denegri 5, Strautins 17, Baldasso 15, Kamagate 4, Biligha 4, Severini 3, Weems. All. De Raffaele.
Referees: Giovannetti of Terni, Borgioni of Rome, Borgo of Grumolo delle Abbadesse (VI).
Bertram Derthona's winning streak between the championship and the Champions League ends at four. The Virtus Segafredo Bologna field remains a taboo for Tortona, this time in the recovery of the fourth day of the Serie A Unipol won by the Virtussini by 85-81. But there is regret for the very last seconds of the game. After reopening a challenge that between the two central quarters Virtus had brought to its side with a partial of 57-40 after the +6 Tortona of the first period, Bertram, still down by 12 points with less than five minutes to go (83-71), even created the possibility of playing the action for the victory. With Bologna at 83-81, the home team makes a mistake in attack and with 27" to go, Bertram starts the action that could change everything: the ball ends up with Gorham whose mid-range shot doesn't find the bottom of the net, the rebound ends up in the hands of Cordinier and the subsequent systematic fouls send Clyburn to the free throw line, whose 2/2 with 7" to go makes it 85-81, closing the match in favor of Bologna.
The ones who brought Derthona back were Baldasso, the most determined not to give up (15 points in 17'), two consecutive baskets with a foul by Strautins and the two supports near the rim by Zerini and Gorham to complete the 55-0 with 10" to go that had suddenly neutralized the advantage that Virtus had maintained at around double digits, especially exploiting the offensive talent of Belinelli, Morgan and Shengelia and the physical size of Zizic. With the victory Bologna maintains its unbeaten record in the championship and reaches Trento at the top of the standings with 12 points, 4 more than Bertram who remains in fourth place.
There is no time to regret too much for Tortona. On Saturday there is the new away match in Emilia on the field of UNAHOTELS Reggio Emilia, scheduled for 20 pm at PalaBigi for the seventh day.
STATEMENTS “Congratulations to Bologna who had the merit of turning the game with great intensity in the second and third quarters. We had a great impact, then we got lost in some defensive situations that we knew very well, so a bit of Bologna's talent and a bit of our naivety that we have to remove changed the direction of the challenge”, is the analysis in the coach's press conference Walter De Raffaele. "The important thing is that we came back into the game with players who had played little previously, with atypical quintets we had mixed the cards. It's a shame about the last action, it could have been managed differently, I would have preferred a three-point shot to win it, so there's a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth. We had low shooting percentages, we were also naive in spending so many fouls that allowed Virtus to shoot so many free throws compared to our habits".
