Angelico Biella 90 Orsi Tortona 84
Second consecutive away match for coach Cavina's boys and unfortunately this time too the point-to-point finish is not in favor of the Bianconeri. Great regret for the many missed free throws during the match and therefore for two defeats which always occurred in the final minutes.
Biella leaves with the former Venuto, Ferguson, De Vico, Hall already seen in Milan and Infante. Tortona responds with Spissu, Marks, Reati, Brooks and Ammannato. The first basket is by Mike Hall after a minute which starts a 6-0 run interrupted by Brooks' first basket with Tortona struggling in attack and after 4 minutes of play the run says 12-4 for the owners of home . A steal from Spissu and a triple from Reati bring the guests back into contact. A triple with a foul converted into a 4-point play by Reati gives Tortona their first lead at 14 to 17. Pierich with the triple closes the score to 13 to 2 in favor of the guests but Tortona immediately extends the lead with a triple from Brooks and a basket from underneath by Marks. A triple from Bianchi closes the first quarter with Tortona ahead 25 to 21 with 9 points each from Reati and Brooks.
The second quarter opens with a foul and subsequent technical to Pierich which puts the local crowd into the game which is immediately followed by a technical to the Tortona bench. De Vico suffers in defense against Reati and Biella is in the bonus after just 2 minutes in the quarter but Tortona does not capitalize from the line. Garri scores a triple of plus 9 (22 to 31). Slowly the gap widens (10 to 3 Tortona in the quarter with Biella scoring only from the line) and coach Carrea calls timeout to talk about it. But a triple from Marks and a free throw from Garri immediately arrive for the new plus 13 midway through the second quarter. Biella is in objective offensive difficulty even if they keep afloat thanks to some offensive rebounds (there will be 9 at the end of the first half) and by obtaining free throws but the away team's advantage is always around 15 points. Hall tries to put the team on his shoulders with 4 consecutive points and Tortona messes up the percentages a bit. At half-time the scoreboard says Biella 39 Tortona 48 with a basket from Ferguson almost at the siren to close a 6-0 home score. 15 points for Reati, 12 for Brooks and Marks on one side, 14 for Hall on the other. 69% from two and 57% from three for coach Cavina's boys.
Upon returning, a partial score of 5-0 signed by Ferguson reopens the match with Biella putting in more intensity with Ammannato committing a foul followed by a technical which definitively removes him from the match, further reducing the rotations for coach Cavina. Coach who also has to deal with the three fouls by Brooks and Garri in a third quarter of less than excellent basketball where the referees stand as protagonists by calling fouls and technicals in sequence even if Tortona does his part by scoring only 4 points in 5 minutes . Yet another rebound from Infante, triple from Venuto and the comeback is done (54 Biella 55 Tortona 4 from the last interval). Biella is also starting to have problems with fouls, Tortona goes to the line but struggles to capitalize (9 out of 17 so far) even if he always manages to keep his head ahead. Two triples from Reati put the guests ahead again and ended the third quarter at 67-61. 22 points from Reati on one side and 19 from Ferguson on the other. Biella shoots decidedly worse than Tortona (36% versus 59%) but thanks to 17 offensive rebounds it has a decidedly higher number of possessions.
The match is now point to point and Biella remains in desperate need of the two points as does Tortona. With his sixth triple, Reati once again puts the score two possessions away (67 Biella 72 Tortona 7 minutes from the siren). Now the match is not beautiful but absolutely intense. Pierich with the triple brings him back to within 2 of 72 at 74 with 5 minutes to go. Practically an overtime with both teams in bonuses: the precision from the foul line will be decisive. Reati and Ferguson score in sequence from 3: everything is always equal. Meanwhile, Brooks also commits his fifth foul and Biella leads 79 to 78 with 3'30” to go. Tortona seems more tired, rotations are mandatory at this point and Venuto puts his team ahead by 3 with 1'21” left. Bianchi "robbery" the minus 1 on a lost ball but he still came with the triple to put the plus 4 for the hosts which effectively put an end to the dispute. The final seconds with the systematic foul do not change the outcome of the match and actually widen the gap in favor of the Biella team. It ends 90 to 84.
Biella: Hall 21, Ferguson 30, Banti 2, La Torre 0, Infante 9, Grande 2, Venuto 8, De Vico 4, Pierich 14. All.Carrea.
Tortona: Spissu 3, Gay 0, Reati 29, Bianchi 7, Marks 16, Garri 13, Antonietti 0, Ammannato 0, Brooks 16. All. Cavina.
