Derthona plays a great match, Milan only imposes itself towards the end
Bertram Derthona-EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 75-77
(24-25, 46-42, 57-59)
Scoreboards:
Derthona: Christon 24, Mortellaro ne, Candi, Tavernelli 1, Nikolic ne, Filloy 6, Severini 8, Daum 11, Cain 2, Radošević 7, Macura 16, Filoni. All. Ramondino
Milan: Davies 4, Pangos 5, Tonut 6, Melli 10, Baron 21, Napier 15, Ricci 1, Biligha 6, Baldasso ne, Shields 4, Datome 5, Voigtmann. All. Messina
High level match for Bertram Derthona, who in a sold out PalaEnergica played on par with EA7 Emporio Armani Milano for all forty minutes, only giving in at the end. The team coached by Ramondino leads at half-time, resists the opponents' breaks in the second half by responding blow for blow and plays for the two points until the siren. In the final stages, the coolness and talent of Baron and Napier allow Milano to achieve success.
First period with a very high offensive pace for the two teams, who play to their respective strengths: Macura (10 points) and Melli (8 points) are the best scorers of the opening 10' who are closed ahead by Milan (24-25). The second half opens with baskets from outside by Filloy and Severini and plays by Radošević that put Derthona ahead: the team coached by Ramondino continues to find good offensive solutions even in the following minutes and leads 46-42 at halftime.
Upon returning from the locker rooms, the EA7 defense noticeably increases its tone, slowing down the Juventus attack: Milan overtakes at the end of the half with points from Baron and leads 30-57 in the 59th minute. In the last quarter the team coached by Messina produced a mini break which widened the margin, without however closing the game: Derthona - with Severini's triple and Daum's basket - entered the last minute trailing by two points (69 -71). In the thrilling final, Milan maintained the minimum accumulated margin and prevailed 75-77.
Thus coach Marco Ramondino at the end of the race: “Congratulations to Milan for this evening's victory, at the end of a very tough and balanced match. We did our best, with some mistakes, but growing over the course of the match in some aspects such as defense on the pick'n'roll. In the second half the percentages did not reward the quality of the shots constructed which could have given us continuity and allowed us to either take a small lead at the start of the third period or avoid ending up at -7 at the start of the last quarter. Our boys, even on a physical level, produced a truly important effort in every single match up and as a team. Milan is deadly at punishing mismatches, creating triangles to give the ball to their big men who are difficult to mark: we chose to force them into slightly more static attacks by narrowing the field. Today, in the mistakes of the great competitive spirit that the match required, we did our best: the effort produced takes away clarity and rhythm, but having had the shot to equalize is the best snapshot of what the team did".
