Bertram Derthona leaves the away game in Rome defeated. Eurobasket wins 81 to 75
Eurobasket Rome – Bertram Derthona 81-75
(27-19, 47-32, 62-57)
EUROBASKET ROME: Piazza 6, Deloach 19, Pierich 14, Venuto, Bonessio 4, Torresani ne, Cesana, Brkic 9, Santini ne, Fanti 2, Sims 27, Casale. All. Turchetto.
BERTRAM DERTHONA: Spanghero 14, Radonjic 2, Sorokas 18, Johnson 15, Gergati 5, Stefanelli 8, Garri 11, Quaglia 2, Divac, Meluzzi. All Pansa
Bertram Derthona leaves the Palazzetto in Viale Tiziano in Rome defeated, overtaken by a Eurobasket team that has demonstrated that it is in excellent form, with three successes in the last four matches and a defeat in a sprint in Casale Monferrato.
Faced with a very fit opponent, the Lions suffered in the first half, which closed at 47-32, and then at the start of the third quarter (55-36) in the 25th minute, before returning to the game with an excellent partial in the third mermaid (62-57). In the fourth quarter Roma extends further, but Derthona doesn't give up and in the final minute they have the potential -1 shot in their hands: Radonjic's shot, however, is spit out of the rim and in the end it is Leonis who celebrates.
An immediate good start for Tortona led by the Lithuanian Sorokas who scored four points in the first two attempts. However, Bonetti and Sims forced Derthona to play point by point right from the start of the game, but when Captain Garri's triple arrived, the Eurobasket broke with Deloach. Garri's foul on the American gives Leonis the advantage with free throws, but the American duo hosts continue to drag their teammates on, breaking through the 20-point barrier after 7 minutes of play. Spanghero and Gergati try to make the deficit less bitter, but the first quarter ends 27 to 19 for the home team. The start of the second quarter was conditioned by errors on both sides, but in the long run Sims and Deloach confirmed themselves as unstoppable both in penetration and from the perimeter. Bertram Derthona, however, struggled to find the right way to the basket and Leonis, with Pierich's triple and the constant attacks on the basket by the usual Deloach and Sims, extended the deficit (41-31). The Lions try to react, but the attempts of Johnson, Meluzzi and Radonjic are unsuccessful. The teams thus go to halftime with a score of 47-32 with Sims' basket anticipating the sound of the siren. The returning Lions start immediately with excellent intentions with Garri's basket, but Leonis continues to hit the black and white wall: five points from Sims and coach Pansa is forced to call a time-out. It doesn't take long for Stefanelli's triple to arrive, acting as a back-and-forth with Deloach, both from long range. In this quarter we see Derthona showing off on an offensive level, almost completing the comeback with Johnson's triples and penetrations. In this quarter, with an excellent offensive performance, but above all on a defensive level, the Lions managed to contain the attacks of Sims and Deloach. Pierich's triple tries to give the final advantage, but in the final moments of the match Johnson manages to anticipate the sound of the siren from under the basket. Thus we go to the last act with a score of 62-57. Tortona tries to equalize the scores but Eurobasket rides on the wave of enthusiasm with triples from Piazza and Brkic bringing the hosts back to +12. Spanghero and Stefanelli shorten from long range while Sorokas responds to Eurobasket's attacks, but in the long run Leonis wins thanks also to the high percentage of free throws. Tortona thus comes out defeated 81 to 75.
