Bertram also beats AEK Athens in sprint: Derthona on the move towards play-off against Würzburg
Bertram Derthona Tortona – AEK Betsson Athens 83-82
(27-21, 45-37, 68-61)
Tortona: Zerini 2, Vital 14, Kuhse 12, Gorham 16, Candi 7, Denegri, Baldasso 7, Kamagate 4, Biligha 10, Severini, Josovic ne, Weems 11. All. De Raffaele.
AEK: Skordilis, Hubb 18, Karampaelas ne, Filonis, Bryce 2, Kuzminskas 21, Netzipoglou 4, Obiesie 4, Kouzeloglou, Arsenopoulos ne, Golden 14, Hale 19. All. Sakota.
Referees: Red (FRA), Kozlovskis (LVA), Praksch (HUN).
viewers: 1281.
Bertram without end. Derthona wins its sixth consecutive victory, knocking down the unbeaten run in the Top 16 of AEK Betsson Athens, beaten in yet another breathtaking sprint of the black and white season. At the PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris in Casale Monferrato, the score for the home team is 83-82 in the fifth and penultimate day of Group I of the second group stage of the Champions League. The decisive free throw scored with 1 seconds to go by Tommaso Baldasso, a consequence of the foul suffered by Filonis with the score tied at 3 after having won the defensive rebound on Hale's three-pointer missed at -82" that could have given the victory to the Greeks. In the end, both teams are satisfied, Bertram because it continues its golden period giving itself momentum in view of the real play-off next week against Würzburg that will determine the second qualifier for the quarter-finals, AEK because by defending the +3 from the first leg it wins first place in the group with one round to spare. The injury to Christian Vital, forced to leave with 7 minutes to go after a very hard blow to the side suffered in a clash on an offensive rebound with his teammate Gorham (the first instrumental tests carried out at the end of the game gave negative results).
Without RaiQuan Gray due to injury but supported by the incessant cheering of over 300 fans who came from Greece and also from France thanks to the fans of Olympique Marseille with which it is twinned, AEK spent almost the entire match chasing a Bertram that started off well (21-11 at 7') and maintained the lead for a large part by once again taking advantage of a choral performance. Gorham's first-half baskets, the production on the Biligha-Candi axis, the precious work under the basket by Zerini, the intimidation of Kamagate and the series of triples at the beginning of the second half by Vital and Weems, raised Bertram to the maximum lead of 61-49 in the 26th minute, despite a Kuzminskas in Euroleague version on the other side. The Athenian team relied on two former players from the Italian championship to avoid sinking, former Trento Hubb and former Cremona Golden, the main authors of the overtaking at 76-77 with 2'21” left on the final siren. Hale's triple at the dawn of the last minute seemed to be the winning basket for AEK (76-80), on the opposite side Gorham scored all 3 free throws on a foul suffered from beyond the arc (79-80 at -50”), but Hale was still unstoppable in penetration for 79-82 at -27”. Kuhse saved the Tortona homeland with a triple on Baldasso's assist for the new tie at -15”, 82-82. Then the final with Hale's error and the foul on Baldasso that gave the victory to Derthona.
The third victory in the group gives Weems and his teammates the second place alone but there is still one last effort to be made in the home match on Wednesday 26 March at 18:30 against Würzburg, whose home defeat with Patras after two extra times (115-119) leaves them behind at 4 points in the standings but changes the perspective of the direct clash little: Bertram will only need to win, without worrying about the -1 of the first leg, to book their ticket to the quarter-final series.
STATEMENTS In the post-match press conference they spoke Tommy Kuhse and coach Walter De Raffaele. “It was a tough battle against a great team, we showed great character and above all we remained united until the end”, is the comment of American play. “This is definitely a very significant victory for us, achieved against a great team, a club with great tradition and great fans: as a club we must be honoured to have experienced a match in such an atmosphere and to have brought it home”, is the comment of De Raffaele. "We fought the whole game against a team that has players who have had a long career in the Euroleague like Kuzminskas, Hubb and Hale who hit very difficult shots. But we never gave up, we also reacted to Vital's injury, honestly we got to the end without energy but the resilience of this team was once again proverbial".
