Bertram surrenders at home to league leaders Trapani
Bertram Derthona Tortona – Trapani Shark 91-101
(17-23, 54-51, 70-80)
Tortona: Zerini, Vital 18, Kuhse 9, Gorham 4, Farias n/o, Denegri 10, Baldasso 17, Kamagate 8, Biligha 10, Severini 2, Diodati n/o, Weems 13. Coach De Raffaele.
Trapani: Eboua 2, Notae 20, Horton 8, Robinson 9, Rossato 3, Alibegovic 10, Galloway 12, Petrucelli 17, Yeboah 12, Mollura ne, Gentile, Brown 8. All. Repesa.
Referees: Lo Guzzo of Pisa, Gonella of Genoa, Bartolomeo of San Pietro Vernotico (BR).
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Bertram doesn't just need a strong performance to get the better of the league leaders. Trapani confirms itself as the most prolific attack of the tournament and wins at the PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris in Casale Monferrato by 101-91 in the 25th day of the Serie A Unipol. A game full of back-and-forths, the best moment for the home team coincides with the second best performance ever in terms of scoring in a single quarter since Derthona has been in Serie A, the 37 points in the second period with which they close the first half ahead. Then in the second half Trapani shows they have more arrows, Notae and Petrucelli the most obvious, and forces Bertram to take the second consecutive defeat that keeps them out of the playoff zone with their ninth place at 28 points.
The heavy absence of Leonardo Candi, whose injury on the eve of the match removes one of the most in-form players on the roster from the rotation in the last month, forces the black and whites into an emergency, obviously still without the long-term absentee Strautins. But once again Tortona immediately finds resources from its "second lines", Denegri and Biligha are the architects coming off the bench of the rebound of the first attempt to escape by the guests, ahead 17-23 at the first mini-break after a start of 7-15. The play-pivot axis of push continues to bear fruit at the start of the second quarter, Severini and Baldasso are excellent shoulders to allow the fiery Denegri to bring Derthona back into contact in just two minutes, 25-26. Trapani tries several runs with the talent of Galloway, but Bertram is always there and three baskets almost in a row by Weems plus a layup by Kuhse mean an overtaking just before the half-time, 51-49, with PalaEnergica exploding on the subsequent triple by Vital that seals the second period with 37 points and +3 on the general scoreboard at half-time, 54-51.
Upon returning to the court, Vital and Kamagate's dunks sign the maximum gap, the +5 of 61-56 with a 7-0 partial, but this time it is the guests' turn to reply in a powerful way. It is Notae (13 points in the period) to inspire the 4-19 that in five minutes changes the face of the challenge again bringing Trapani to a double-digit advantage (68-80 at 29'), the same one that it maintains at the end of the third period, closed with a partial of 29-16 with which it responds to the previous black and white quarter, presenting itself at the final sprint with a 10-point advantage, 70-80.
Tortona's resilience, however, is well known, the defense forces the Sicilians to remain fasting for the first three and a half minutes and dragged by two triples by Baldasso comes an 8-0 break that puts the two teams back in contact, 78-80. The last moment in which Derthona manages to stalk the opponent is the 82-85 with which they enter the last five minutes, Baldasso increases his loot even more but Trapani, after the shots to the sides by Horton and Petrucelli, in the decisive moment returns to show off Notae, with Yeboah who takes credit for the baskets that close the challenge, the two triples of 87-96 at -2' and of 89-99 at -54".
Now the long-awaited commitment on Wednesday evening in the Canary Islands for the first match of the Champions League quarter-finals against La Laguna Tenerife. For the next championship match the appointment will be in Sardinia, Sunday 1 April at 13:17 at the home of Banco di Sardegna Sassari.
STATEMENTS “Faced with such a high-level opponent, I honestly believe it was impossible to ask for more from my team, given the conditions we are in at the moment, both obvious and not obvious on a physical level.", is the coach's comment Walter De Raffaele. "We tried to resist in every way, good in the first two quarters, bad at the beginning of the second half, then we came back, but there was always something missing, a lost ball, a lack of execution, a solid defense. While they in the decisive moment brought out all the talent of a deep team built to win. Against an opponent like that you can't afford to give anything away, everyone was called to perform at a higher level".
