Berme' Reggio Calabria 66 Bears Tortona 79
Reggio to get out of the quagmire of the low ranking, Tortona to continue to be the second single force in the championship: this was the theme of the match which once again smiled on president Tava's team which remained in solitary second place in the standings coming into the break Easter to recharge your batteries and recover from all your physical ailments.
Coach Cavina also lives today with an incomplete roster (Simoncelli absent) as has often happened to him this season and starts with Spissu, Marks, Reati, Brooks and Garri.
The first basket is scored by Marks who responds to Brackins and Brooks with four points each. Good pace at the start from both sides with the attacks seeming to prevail over the defences. Marks finds a three-point play to keep him in contact. Rullo and Reati also join the game while Garri struggles a bit to contain Crosariol on the rebound even though he finds the support of the plus one on his offensive rebound. Triple by Brooks to which Crosariol responds with a two plus one. Marks finds a great cut on an assist from Brooks: the two of them are the Juventus attack in this first quarter. Garri, perhaps stimulated by the comparison between former Azzurri players with Crosariol, is also a factor in attack. 21 equal at the end of the first quarter with Brackins and Brooks already at 8. Tortona almost perfect from two (80% with 8/10), very imprecise from three (10% with 1/10).
Adegboye also reaches 8 for the new internal advantage which is followed by Mordente and Brackins for the first hint of an advantage for the home team. 6 to 0 in the second quarter and coach Cavina immediately calls a timeout to stop Reggio's inertia. Reati finds the triple but subsequently loses two balls in attack also thanks to the greater defensive intensity in Reggio in this phase of the match which can take advantage of wider rotations available to coach Frates. Basket and foul for Costa to put seven points between the two teams, maximum gap at the moment. Now Tortona is struggling in attack and is suffering from defensive rebounds (9 balls have already been captured in attack so far by the home team). The first triple also arrives for Spissu who brings the Bianconeri closer followed shortly afterwards by two free throws from Garri. Rullo misses a wide open shot and Brooks takes advantage of his physical and technical superiority against Lupusor with a basket and a foul. New external advantage 38-37 with an open score of 5 to 0 that Frates tries to interrupt and a basket by Adegboye puts an end to the second half at 39-38 for Bermè. Brackins 12 and Adegboye 10 on one side, Brooks 12 and Marks on the other. Similar percentages from the field where Reggio's 0% from three on 10 attempts stands out.
Brooks picks up where he left off and allows his team to get their head back and shortly after Marks cuts the home defense in two for the new plus-three winger. Brackins misses two consecutive free throws and Bermè is immediately punished by Brooks' triple and Garri's free kick to make it 9-0 in this third quarter. Coach Frates immediately calls a timeout but Reati punishes Rullo's defense with a triple that widens the gap to 9 points halfway through the third quarter. Now Reggio is in difficulty and Reati attacks to win two free throws which bring Tortona's lead to double figures. However, Spissu's third foul arrives and shakes coach Cavina's thoughts a bit but Bermè doesn't take advantage of it to return and finds herself in difficulty with only Brackins producing points. Some errors in attack prevent Tortona from extending their lead but the lead settles at around 10 points. The usual Brackins tries to play the charge and a 5-0 run arrives which reopens the games even if he continues to argue with the 3-point basket. We go to the last mini break with the external advantage: 56 to 49 with four men in double figures for the lions (Brooks 19, Marks and Garri 12, Offenses 10) while at home in Reggio the 20 points from Brackins and the 0 out of 16 stand out by 3 points.
Reati opens the quarter with a very heavy triple followed by a support from Marks. New 5-0 partial and still 10 points ahead for Tortona. Rullo continues to argue with the iron and Bermè is already in the bonus after only two minutes of the last quarter. Garri scores a triple for plus 13, a new maximum lead immediately followed by another raid by Marks. Adegboye scores the first three-point "goal" for Reggio and at plus 10 Cavina immediately stops the game to talk about it. The seconds pass and the score continues to smile on our boys with Spissu scoring another triple for 56 to 69 less than 5 minutes from the final siren. Reati immediately afterwards punishes the home defense with a triple for plus 14. Reggio tries to believe in it again but only Brackins and Adegboye have an offensive turnover. The last minutes are garbage time: Tortona flies by conquering the PalaPentimele. 79 to 66 the final. Orsi are always second in the standings.
Spissu 9, Marks 12, Reati 16, Brooks 23, Garri 19 and 10 rebounds on one side, Brackins 24, Adegboye 19, Crosariol 10 and 13 rebounds on the other.
