Bertram loses home clash with Treviso
Bertram Derthona – Nutribullet Treviso 90-95
(32-22, 46-46, 72-68)
Bertram: Zerini, Vital 22, Kuhse 12, Gorham, Candi, Denegri 3, Strautins 19, Baldasso 9, Kamagate 18, Severini 4, Borasi ne, Weems 3. All. De Raffaele.
Treviso: Bowman 21, Torresani, Salvietti n/a, De Marchi n/a, Mascolo 16, Martin n/a, Mezzanotte 4, Pellegrino, Olisevicius 25, Alston 6, Paulicap 14, Macura 9. Coach Vitucci.
Referees: Mazzoni from Grosseto, Bettini from Bologna, Radaelli from Porto Empedocle (AG).
Bertram Derthona loses the home challenge at PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris, Nutribullet Treviso wins the direct clash valid for the tenth day of the Unipol Serie A by 95-90. Tortona is thus unable to give continuity to the good result in Milan the week before, Treviso confirms its black beast by winning for the fourth time in as many matches in Casale Monferrato and overtakes Bertram in the standings, caught at 10 points and ousted for the first time this season from the top eight positions that will lead to the Final Eight of the Italian Cup. The encouraging start of the first quarter, with 32 points scored and a 10 point lead, was not reflected in the rest of the match, where the guests, who remained in the wake of another attempt to extend the lead by the home team, showed reactivity and concreteness, especially near the basket (63% from two with 31 baskets made), neutralizing Tortona's 20 offensive rebounds, the aspect in which they were most preferred to Treviso, which found in Bowman and Olisevicius the decisive players after Paulicap and the former Mascolo had previously helped them hold out against the shots especially of Vital (5/9 from three, 8 assists) and Strautins.
Absences on both fronts, Biligha for Derthona, confirmed Harrison and Mazzola for the Venetians, Bertram starts attacking with fluidity, Vital, Kamagate and Strautins are the finishers of Kuhse's assists, who then gets applause with a desperate defensive dive to save from an opposing counterattack, with the next 5 points in a row and with the assist for Vital's triple that means Tortona's first double-digit advantage (29-18), held until the first mini-break thanks to Weems' triple at the buzzer for 32-22 in the 10th minute. Upon returning, the script immediately begins to change, Treviso's immediate 0-9 neutralizes almost all the disadvantage, 32-31. The guests get close to the iron too easily, Tortona responds with the dominance of offensive rebounds (14 in the first half alone) but the Venetians run the court well, find the tie with a three-point play by Mascolo at 41 and shortly after shoot the arrow for the first time with two free throws by Olisevicius launched by a block by Alston, 43-44. At the half-time siren the tie at 46 is the right balance of a period each for the two teams.
In the second half, three consecutive bombs by Vital and Baldasso (2) give Bertram new verve at the end of the third quarter, together with a fighting Severini under the opponent's basket to present themselves ahead at the beginning of the final ten minutes, 72-68. The power forward of the Italian national team also scores a three-pointer to open the fourth quarter on yet another assist by Kuhse (7 at the end of the game), but Treviso places another counterbreak to prevent Tortona from escaping with the 8-0 finished off by Olisevicius's three-pointer which means a new overtaking by the Veneto, 75-76. But what hurts the home defense even more is Bowman, his 5 consecutive points allow Treviso to present themselves at the sprint of the final two minutes with a full possession of distance, 86-89. Olisevicius from the free throw line does not imitate Severini's 0/2 from just before, but from 86-91 with just over a minute to go Bertram, aided by a 0/2 with the clock stopped also by Mascolo, still manages to create the shot for a possible tie, but from the corner Weems misses the triple to tie the game at 91 with -35". On the new systematic foul Mascolo this time scores both free throws with 30" to go (88-93) and the subsequent error from beyond the arc by Strautins can make Treviso rejoice once again in the away game in Piedmont.
In the next round, another home match for Bertram and another direct clash, Saturday 14 December at 20:45 against Umana Reyer Venezia. Before that, on Tuesday evening, the Bianconeri are expected to travel to Germany for the penultimate round of the Champions League group stage against Niners Chemnitz.
STATEMENTS "Congratulations to Treviso, they were very good at always staying in the game and taking advantage of the mistakes we made, without ever giving up every time we broke away. We, on the other hand, as a great coach famously said, gave a good kick to the milk bucket, because we ruined what we did in Milan last week with a defeat that was hard to digest.", is the comment of the Juventus coach Walter De Raffaele. “I feared our mental attitude in being able to replicate the intensity we had in Milan, we proposed a low-level defense for all 40 minutes, with errors in communication, attention to the characteristics of the opponents, all signs of little mental tension and awareness of how dangerous this game could be. Evidently I was not good at transmitting it to the players during the week. As I told them in the locker room at the end of the game, we have to roll up our sleeves again. Beyond our limits we compete against everyone, but we have to rebuild again once again”.
