The sprint smiles at Bertram, the Eurobasket falls in the final
Bertram Derthona-Eurobasket Roma 66-65
(24-11, 41-38, 56-53)
Scoreboards:
Derthona: Valle ne, Buffo, Seck, Festinese ne, Gaines 23, De Laurentiis 6, Mascolo 9, Čepić ne, Gražulis 8, Martini 9, Casella 6, Pullazi 5. Coach Ramondino
Eurobasket: Sabatino 3, Veideman 10, Fanti 17, Sacchettini ne, Loschi 7, Cicchetti 4, Amici 12, Taylor 12, Maganza, Graziani. All. Maffezzoli
Bertram Derthona returns to success, which in the last home match of 2019 leads the match against Eurobasket with authority for the first two quarters, before suffering the opponent's comeback and prevailing only in the final stages of the match. Balanced first minutes of the match between Bertram and Eurobasket, who rely on collective solutions to move the score: in the 5th minute the Bianconeri lead 10-9. Three consecutive triples from Gaines then created the first break in the match (19-11 in the 8th minute), then fueled by Pullazi and Casella who set the score at 24-11 in the 10th minute. A further 7-0 at the start of the second half (23-2 open half) allows Derthona to extend their maximum advantage to 20 points (31-11 at 12'), while in the following moments Eurobasket raises the intensity of the own defense and finds in Fanti the protagonist of a 0-7 which shortens the gap (38-25 at 17') which forces coach Ramondino to stop the game. In the final moments of the first half the guests reduced their gap to just one possession (41-38 at halftime) thanks to Veideman's initiatives. Upon returning from the locker rooms, the Lions regained a double-digit lead (50-38) with a 9-0 run, stopped by coach Maffezzoli with a time-out: the Eurobasket's reaction came with choral solutions that allowed the Lazio team to close trailing 56-53 in the third quarter. In the final period Roma found parity at 60 (in the 34th minute) with Taylor's basket, crowning a long chase that lasted three quarters; in the subsequent phases the match flows in the name of balance and with 97 seconds to go Derthona leads with a one point margin (63-62) over their opponents. Gražulis' basket puts full possession back between the two teams; after the goals of Fanti and Mascolo, Amici's 1/2 on the line and Gražulis' block on Taylor gave Bertram the victory with a score of 66-65.
