Zeus Energy Group Rieti vs Bertram Tortona

Defeat in the sprint for the Bertram Derthona who played a game of great character against Rieti, surrendering only in extra time: what decided a hard-fought and very balanced match - which saw continuous overtaking and counter-overtaking in the score - was a tap-in by Bonacini at the end of overtime.

Low-scoring start to the match, thanks to two excellent defences: it was Rieti - who, already forced to give up Nikolic, lost Adegboye after a few seconds of the match - who led in scoring in the first minutes of the game. It is the plays of Tomasini and Casini that allow the hosts to produce the first break in the match (16-9 at 7'): in the final part of the half the three-point baskets by Conti and Casini give Zeus Energy Group the advantage in double figures (26-15 at 10').

The increase in the defensive intensity of the formation coach Ramondino, free Pike, absent due to injury, allowed the guests to reduce their gap in the second quarter: after the lay-up by Viglianisi, which is worth 30-24, coach Rossi stops the game. The partial favorable to the Bianconeri also continues in the subsequent actions: the guests overtake in the score (34-35 at 17') with a triple from Alibegović. At the end of the first half, a couple of plays by Toscano put Rieti ahead 42-38 at halftime.

After Tomasini's basket that opens the ball in the third period, Bertram finds good offensive solutions that allow her to lead again in the score (44-45 after the lay-up by Bertone): the subsequent technical for flopping given to Toscano is capitalized by the bianconeri, who extend further with the triple of Garry (44-49 at 25'). In the moment of maximum difficulty of the match, the hosts find an emotional reaction that allows coach Rossi's team to impact the match at 51 points, forcing coach Ramondino to stop the game. Conti's and Di's baskets Blizzard – from three points – close the third period: the Derthona leads 53-54.

In the last quarter the defenses of both teams take center stage, limiting the opponents' offensive initiatives: it is once again the Bianconeri who try to increase the score and, after the Viglianisi on the counterattack which scores 55-60, coach Rossi interrupts the operations. Rieti loses Toscano in the 35th minute following his second technical foul for flopping but finds a new overtaking (64-61 in the 37th minute) with Tomasini's triple, which forces coach Ramondino to stop the game. In the final, after having reached -5, Tortona finds the new equalizer at 66 with the basket of ndoja with 13 seconds left. Carenza loses the ball on the home team's final offensive possession, but the triple by Alibegović doesn't hit: it's overtime at PalaSojourner.

In extra time the balance on the pitch remains between the two teams, who respond blow for blow to the opposing baskets: the Bertram regains the lead (72-73 with 1'30" to go) with a basket ndoja at the end of 24 seconds. Zeus Energy Group overtakes with two free throws from Tomasini and takes a full possession lead (76-73) with Gigli's basket 14 seconds from the end. The subsequent technical foul called against Tomasini was capitalized by the guests, who regained the lead with a triple Blizzard (76-77 with 3 seconds left). Following Casini's error, Bonacini's winning tap-in gives Rieti success: the final is 78-77.

Thus coach Marco Ramondino at the end of the meeting: ˝We often went beyond our limits in terms of physical effort and found good offensive solutions even though it was difficult to find advantages against their defensive changes: it's a shame not to have capitalized on the performance with the result in the last action. We entered the match emphasizing Rieti's physicality and ability to play through contact, which is one of their strengths. The loss of Adegboye forced them to propose a quintet with three big men, huge for the A2: after having had difficulties for some actions, we expanded the field with small quintets with Ndoja as number '5' which allowed us to build good shots . In extra time we decided to play the last action starting from the baseline to find a dynamic solution in order not to have the difficulty of playing statically against Rieti's physical size. I believe that what Blizzard did at the end of overtime should represent normality: recently I have seen several players become protagonists of these gestures of sportsmanship. We must continue to work because we have two games to make up for those ahead of us in the standings, it is necessary for us to score points˝.