Bertram scores seven goals: positive streak extended with Pistoia. The eagerly awaited Champions League match with Würzburg on Wednesday
Bertram Derthona Tortona – Pistoia Estra 94-68
(32-17, 54-34, 72-50)
Tortona: Zerini 2, Vital ne, Kuhse 15, Gorham 7, Candi 9, Farias 2, Denegri 13, Baldasso 15, Kamagate 8, Biligha 1, Severini 9, Weems 13. Coach De Raffaele.
Pistoia: Benetti 6, Della Rosa n/a, Ceron 5, Paschall 3, Agostini n/a, Kemp 13, Cooke 16, Forrest 13, Boglio, Saccaggi 12. Coach Okorn.
Referees: Bartoli of Trieste, Village of Grumolo delle Abbadesse (VI), Catani of Pescara.
viewers: 1962.
Bertram Derthona Tortona's fourth consecutive victory in Serie A arrives with a game easily conducted from start to finish. Estra Pistoia is unable to oppose Tortona's golden moment, 94-68 the eloquent score with which the home team makes the challenge of the 23rd day at the PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris in Casale Monferrato without history. The men in black and white thus record victory number 7 in as many games of their March Madness between Serie A and Champions League, once again effectively defending the eighth position in the standings and presenting themselves without blemishes to one of the most important challenges in the club's history, the play-off for the quarter-finals of the BCL against the Germans of Würzburg, scheduled for Wednesday at 18:30 once again on the Casale parquet.
Against the Tuscan bottom team, without captain Della Rosa due to injury, Bertram – who in turn spared Vital after the blow to the chest suffered during the week against AEK Athens – made things clear from the very first moments with great offensive prolificacy, a constant throughout the match. In the first three minutes, 14 points were scored for the first break of the match (+8) favored by Kuhse's precision from the arc and Kamagate's dominant physicality under the basket. After the time-out called by guest coach Okorn, Tortona's offensive production did not decrease, on the contrary, it increased, two triples in a row by Baldasso and Weems (also 3 assists in the first quarter) and the usual dominance under the rim by Kamagate (7+6 rebounds in the opening period) were worth a lead that felt like a game already underway two minutes after the first mini-break, 31-11.
Pistoia tries to react somehow, a choral effort produces at most a -12 (38-26 at 13'), to distance themselves immediately are Candi and Denegri who in pair produce the 7-0 to return to flirt with the twenty margin (45-26 at 16'). Cooke takes advantage of the work of his teammates, but at the end of the first half the triple of Baldasso and a basket from outside by Candi bring the +20 Bertram to the interval, 54-34.
The second half was soon transformed into a long wait towards the final siren, the triple by Denegri (15/35 from three for Derthona) for the +32 maximum gap right in the middle of the final period (88-56) and the new championship points for 2006 by Farias for the explosion of joy at the PalaEnergica are the last notes to report.
In the standings, the fourteenth victory allows for the umpteenth time to keep at bay the only pursuer of its precious eighth position, Venice, precisely the opponent in the direct clash next Sunday in Laguna. But, in one of the most important weeks of the season, there will first be one of the games in the history of Derthona Basket to think about.
STATEMENTS “We played a serious game for the entire 40 minutes”, is the coach's comment Walter De Raffaele. "It was important to play it like this against a struggling opponent, I'm sure that Pistoia will play with a knife between their teeth until the end of the season. In fact, I wish them good luck for the affection that ties me to the Pistoia people given my past as a player there. Once again we played a team game, we were good at imposing our physicality and intensity from the first quarter and this allowed us to do other things in the continuation of the game, also managing the rotations. Würzburg? We hope to have the strong support of our fans, who come in large numbers because it's a do-or-die game".
