The provincial derby of Interregional Serie B belongs to Junior Casale: Gulliver Derthona falls at home in the direct clash for 3rd place
Gulliver Supermarkets Derthona Tortona – Junior Libertas Casale Monferrato 55-66
(15-15, 30-35, 44-54)
Derthona : Baldi 10, Farias 2, Bresciani n/o, Tambwe 11 (15 rb, 23 val), Errica 8 (4 ast), Korlatovic, Diodati (7 rb), Fonio Fracchia n/o, W. Bellinaso, Moro n/o, Conte 8 (4 ast), Josovic 16 (7 rb, 8 sub fouls). Coach: Ansaloni, assistant: Tosarelli, Censurini.
Junior Libertas : Giacomelli 7, De Ros 10, Milano ne, Sirchia 11, Avonto 8, Raiteri 5, Dimitrov 10, Cappello, Boeri 3, Galluzzo, Rosso 12. Coach Arioli.
Referees : Pirazzi and Rigon.
Gulliver Supermercati Derthona lost the Serie B Interregionale derby . In the match between the only two teams from the Alessandria province in the fourth national division, Junior Libertas Casale conquered the PalaCamagna 66-55 , moving ahead of the Bianconeri in third place in the standings. This match, valid for the 16th matchday of Division A of the North-West Conference , is worth 1.5 million euros.
A notable absence on each side—starting center Lamine Tandia for Tortona, veteran Matteo Formenti for Casale—followed nearly three periods of close play against the visitors, who, however, were more determined in attempting a couple of breaks away, until a powerful Casale run turned the tables on Derthona just when things were right. Having built a three-point lead after chasing the game, with a 43-40 lead set by a strong Gloris Tambwe , Junior Libertas, led largely by Avonto's two-and-a-half three-pointers, went on a 14-1 run to close the third period and extend their lead into double figures for the first time in the match just as the penultimate buzzer sounded. In the fourth quarter, the home team, playing their fourth game in nine days between the B Interregionale and U19 Eccellenza divisions, were unable to trouble the visitors, partly due to the poor shooting percentages from all over the court they had suffered throughout the match.
Gulliver is thus forced to suffer their seventh defeat in 16 matches and see their opponents, who were also strong with a 2-0 win in their head-to-head match, slide by two points in the standings. While waiting for the round to finish, Luca Ansaloni's boys still hold a solid fourth place , keeping them poised between the Play-in Gold and Play-in Silver spots, meaning they're in the running to fight for a playoff spot in the second group stage of the tournament.
Next week, a double round for Josovic and his teammates, expected on Wednesday 17th at 8.30pm on the Magic Oleggio Basket court and on Friday 19th at 8.45pm at the PalaCamagna for the match against Collegno Basket.
