Bertram shows its muscles: Derthona monologue in Scafati
Givova Scafati – Bertram Derthona Tortona 79-102
(15-23, 36-45, 49-78)
Scafati: Gray 23, Sangiovanni no, Zanelli no, Anim 5, Ulaneo no, Sorokas 12, Borrelli no, Miaschi 9, Pinkins 12, A. Cinciarini 10, Maxhuni 7, Akin 1. Coach Ramondino.
Tortona: Zerini 8, Vital 9, Kuhse 6, Gorham 16, Candi 4, Farias 3, Denegri 6, Baldasso 13, Kamagate 9, Biligha 2, Severini 11, Weems 15. Coach De Raffaele.
Referees: Giovannetti from Bari, Paglialunga from Massafra (TA), Galasso from Siena.
Still overflowing. The golden month of March continues for Bertram Derthona Tortona. Coming off a +22 win at home to Promitheas Patrasso in the Champions League this week, the black and white team also dominates the away match against Givova Scafati, overwhelmed 102-79 on matchday 22 of the Serie A Unipol, a new seasonal record in terms of losses inflicted on opponents for Tortona. The men coached by Walter De Raffaele confirm their excellent feeling with travel, at the Beta Ricambi Arena PalaMangano they get their seventh win out of eleven away matches in the league, which reinforces their precious eighth position in the standings with eight rounds to go in the regular season. The Campania home team of former Tortona coach Marco Ramondino certainly had no shortage of motivation, on the eve of the round they were only 2 points above the red zone of the standings, but they had to surrender to a perfect performance from the start by Derthona, which extended the positive streak between Serie A and the cup to 5. The two long-term starters, Zerini and Gorham, initially pushed Bertram, inspiring the 6-14 that in fact directed the match after just 7 minutes given the control of every phase of the game in the continuation, transforming a potentially very complicated match into a one-way challenge with a once again choral performance in attack and defense (22 assists, Scafati forced to just 35% from the field) and bombing from distance (13/29 from three).
The first two quarters ended respectively at +8 and +9 after overcoming the only difficult moment represented by Scafati's 9-0 run at the end of the second period after a +17 signed by Candi, Severini and Vital (24-41 at 16'), a partial interrupted with a winning tap-in on the half-time buzzer by the gladiatorial Zerini, the decisive push was given by the exciting start to the second half: six consecutive actions all ending with three points in the loot, with Kuhse, Gorham and Weems (11 points for the captain in the third quarter) raging from beyond the arc and inside the area until Weems' exclamation point with a dunk on yet another assist by Kuhse (6 at the end of the game, like Candi) to mark the 42-65 that closed the match halfway through the third period. From there it was a very long wait towards the final siren, with Bertram also reaching +32 with the 60-92 set by Denegri. The wait also became exciting for the first points in Serie A of 2006 Bruno Farias, it was the Italian-Argentine point guard of the youth team who scored the 100th point with a free throw after having made a basket on the drive shortly before.
In the standings, the thirteenth victory is worth reaching 26 points for Trieste, which however maintains its seventh place due to the direct clash already acquired in its favor, and above all allows it to resist the new attempt of assault by its only pursuer in the playoffs, Venice.
In the coming week, another double of matches between the championship and the Champions League, this time on the home parquet of the PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris in Casale Monferrato. It starts on Wednesday at 20:30 with the challenge of the penultimate day of the group of the Top 16 of the Champions League against AEK Athens, Sunday at 17:30 the match of the 23rd round against Estra Pistoia.
STATEMENTS “We played a high level match on a historically difficult pitch, after the victory in the cup we therefore close another excellent week”, is the comment of coach De Raffaele. “The thing that makes me happiest is how everyone was involved, how much and how the team is playing as a team, always sharing the ball in attack looking for an extra pass and then helping each other defensively in a very decisive way. A heavy success, let's continue this March so full of commitments, in three days we await AEK Athens for a very tough challenge”.
