Bertram looking for a hat trick against Varese to defend the playoff position. Coach De Raffaele's words
No stopping. Bertram Derthona Tortona is called to ride the wave of the positive start of the most challenging month of the season, at least up to this point. What it started in Trento and continued during the week against Promitheas Patrasso, the black and white team wants to continue further to the detriment of Openjobmetis Varese, opponent in the challenge of the 21st day of the Serie A Unipol championship, scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday 9 March, at 16 pm at the PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris in Casale Monferrato. After having conquered the field of the former solitary leader and relaunched its ambitions in the Top 16 of the Champions League also signing the largest victory of its year with the +20 over the Greeks, the hat trick of successes would serve to repel the assault on its eighth place by direct competitor Venezia, who a few hours earlier, at midday, will seek success in Sassari to temporarily equal Bertram in the standings.
ENCOURAGING PREVIOUS MATCH. The first leg in Masnago, the first away game of the season, was a spectacular victory for Tortona, with 105 points scored (a season high only surpassed by the 106 scored in Brescia in mid-January), 31 points from Tommy Kuhse (even more recently beaten by Gorham's 35 in Trento), and a powerful 22-0 run to overturn an 11-point deficit suffered shortly after the start of the second half and secure a final score of 95-105. The Lombardy team is struggling through a difficult period, with five straight losses that have pushed them back to within a whisker of the relegation zone, in thirteenth place, just two points ahead of the relegation spots and 10 points behind Tortona. Under new coach Ioannis Kastritis, who replaced the relieved Herman Mandole after the Italian Cup and national team breaks, signs of a recovery have emerged, materializing last Sunday in an overtime defeat on one of the league's toughest courts, Trapani (106-93). Bertram's playoff ambitions are there to prevent Openjobmetis's decisive turnaround, before flying to Greece for the third time this season to try to repeat their victory against Patras on Wednesday. With Jaron Johnson out of the squad and Keifer Sykes released to Legia Warsaw on the eve of the match, Varese will have their league's second-leading scorer back for tomorrow's match, Jaylen Hands (17.2 points per game), whose two-match suspension following the ejection he received in Trapani was later reduced to one and converted into a fine.
MATCH SPONSOR: Cantine Volpi will be the match sponsor for the match against Varese. For the occasion, the historic Tortona winery, Premium Sponsor of the Leoni club, will place a €10 voucher for a tasting at Cascina La Zerba in Volpedo on each seat in the arena. It will also offer a Derthona Basket merchandise item to the winning team of the halftime DB Game, and a bottle of wine to all adult participants. This season, too, the Cantine Volpi stand will be present during Bertram home games in the Hospitality Room of the PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris, where its wines can be tasted.
QUOTES: "Varese is a team that came close to winning in Trapani, playing a great game. They showed great physical aptitude on defense, and we'll need to leverage this energy to be present on the rebounds and limit the open-court play that highlights their talent ," said coach Walter De Raffaele . " We're coming off two very important victories for both the league and the cup, two team wins against quality opponents. The team's cohesion and willingness to play are key elements in a long, difficult season with many matches. And victories boost self-esteem."
