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Bertram stops in Naples. The last day of the first leg is decisive for the qualification to the Final Eight

Bertram stops in Naples. The last day of the first leg is decisive for the qualification to the Final Eight

Napolibasket – Bertram Derthona Tortona 92-83

(20-17, 43-39, 69-57)

 

Naples: Pullen 28, Zubcic 8, Treier, Pangos 5, G. De Nicolao, Woldetensae 2, Saccoccia, Newman 11, Green 20, Totè 10, Mabor ne, Bentil 8. All. Valli.

Tortona: Zerini, Vital 18, Kuhse 10, Candi 3, Denegri 6, Strautins 12, Baldasso 16, Kamagate 8, Biligha ne, Severini 5, Borasi ne, Weems 5. All. De Raffaele.

Referees: Lanzarini from Bologna, Paglialunga from Massafra (TA), Marziali from Viterbo.

 

Bertram Derthona sees its championship run stopped in Naples. At the Fruit Village Arena, the hosts of Napolibasket win 92-83 in the 14th day of the Serie A Unipol, interrupting the streak of three wins of Tortona, which must postpone the possibility of getting the ticket to the Final Eight of the Italian Cup to the last day of the first round, when it will receive the visit of Givova Scafati next Saturday at the PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris.

In the capital of Naples, Bertram paid for the low percentages in long-distance shooting for most of the match, excluding the final, and the short rotations in the long sector due to the already known absence of Gorham, the unusable Biligha on the bench and the blow to the nose that at the beginning of the second half also put Zerini out of action. All this in the face of the great desire to win and the qualities of Naples, much more evident after the numerous interventions on the market made to try to get out of the last place in the standings.

After a fairly balanced first half that ended 4 points down, 43-39, Tortona suffered in particular the return from the locker rooms after the break, marked by a 14-4 of the Campania team (including an 8-0) that created a gap that was never filled, with Totè in the role of protagonist with 8 consecutive points for the 57-43 of the 26th minute, after Green had previously given the home team some energy. From then on, Tortona, after having touched -16 as the maximum disadvantage (60-44), came back under double digits of deficit several times thanks above all to the long-distance shots of Vital and Baldasso (4/7 from three), the latter fresh from being nominated as the best sixth man of the month of December in the championship. Their triples, combined with Denegri's fighting spirit in directing, produced a maximum effort of 86-81 with 28" to go, too late for any hopes of a comeback after Pullen had marked Napoli's winning second half with 19 personal points.

The sixth defeat leaves Derthona temporarily in sixth place in the standings with 16 points, waiting for the end of the round and waiting for the home match against Scafati on Saturday at 19:30, decisive to close the first leg within the "magnificent eight". But now the concentration of the black and whites returns to the Champions League for another crucial match to be played on the home parquet, Game-1 of the Play-In against Peristeri Athens, scheduled for Tuesday 7 at 20:30.

 

STATEMENTS "Napoli deserved it, except for a few minutes in the first half they were always ahead in the score, especially thanks to the physicality they put into playing a tougher defense that they are not too familiar with but that due to their sense of urgency, they managed to put on the field, something that we did not do, even in a presumptuous manner.", is the coach's comment Walter De Raffaele. "After the great game against Trento we thought we would arrive in Naples to play a game only of attack, but for the quality that Naples has now it is a big mistake. I must also say that playing without big men is very hard, Gorham, Biligha were missing, Zerini broke his nose. I cannot say anything about the attitude shown anyway, I can complain about the reading of the game of many of my players, it is a step of maturity that we must take if we want to perform at a high level, because now Naples as a roster with the fight for salvation has little to do with it, it presents a quintet with many players who have played in the Euroleague. We - he concludes - We have to get back to the gym right away, on Tuesday we have a very important match in the Champions League, we will have to get back to doing the things that, in terms of physicality and collaboration and sharing the ball, we didn't have today, given that we were often tied to shooting after just one pass which is something that doesn't belong to my playing philosophy".