Next Gen Cup: Allianz Tortona beats Armani Milano in overtime and takes the lead alone in Group A after the first day of the Biella stage
Allianz Derthona Tortona – EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 97-94 (dts)
(27-15, 45-35, 65-61, 87-87)
Derthona : Tandia 20 (8/11 shooting, 17 rb, 4 ast, 37 val), Baldi 7, Van Der Knaap 14, Farias 14 (10 rb, 10 sub fouls, 4 ast, 27 val), Tambwe 4, Errica 8, Korlatovic ne, Diodati , W. Bellinaso ne, Moro, Conte 13, Josovic 17 (7 rb). Coach: Ansaloni, assistant: Tosarelli, Censurini.
Milan : Alberti, Casella 17, Miccoli 26, Karem 9, Shaw 8, Suigo 2, Lonati, Garavaglia 14, Ceccato, Badalau 11, Van Elswik 1, Marcucci 6. Coaches Catalani.
Referees : Berlangeri, Vastarella, Buoncristiani.
Allianz Derthona Tortona must win it twice . But the "hard work" is even more satisfying because the overtime victory comes in the big match between undefeated teams against EA7 Emporio Armani Milano and means they take sole possession of Group A of the IBSA Next Gen Cup . The second and final stage of the qualifying phase of the Legabasket tournament reserved for the U19 teams of the sixteen Serie A clubs begins at the Biella Forum with a thrilling and sweet finale, for the fourth victory in as many matches of the competition, adding the three obtained in the inaugural stage in Varese. After a game in control for the vast majority of the time, except for a couple of Milan overtakes brought back by Miccoli and Casella from deficits often in double digits (-15 the maximum), with a few seconds left Tortona seemed to have already brought it home at 87-82 with 13" to go, to which everyone had contributed, with special mentions for Tandia, Van Der Knaap, Farias, Josovic and Conte. But with 2" to go Milan pulled the rabbit out of the hat by scoring the triple to bring the score to -2 with Marcucci at the same time as a rebound call against the Bianconeri defense on Garavaglia, a foul that – due to the new Next Gen regulation that provides for an automatic 1 point for each foul committed under the foul bonus system used up by the opponent – gives Milan the -1 and sends Garavaglia to the free throw line to tie the score at 87. Having swallowed the bitter pill of having conceded 5 points in a single action at the moment in which We were ready to celebrate, but Allianz did not lose heart and in the overtime of overtaking and counter-overtaking, first the indomitable Farias found the bonus point for a foul with another free throw converted to bring the score to 95-94 with 13" left and then the seal on the victory with the steal on the throw-in in his own defensive half of the court by Tandia, who flew on the counterattack to dunk the +3 that a desperate last attempt by Milan from beyond the arc failed to equalize.
Lamine Tandia finished the game with an eloquent 37 rating, the tip of an iceberg that not even very far below the surface also shows Bruno Farias ' triple double in points, rebounds and fouls drawn.
With the defeat of former league leaders Dolomiti Energia Trentino in the other group, Luca Ansaloni's team remains the only undefeated team in the group and is preparing to challenge bottom-placed Academy Scafati Basket on Wednesday at 13:30 p.m. (also live on legabasket.it) at the other Biella stadium, the PalaPajetta , the latter still undefeated after their defeat by GeVi Napoli. Another win would mean Derthona would secure qualification for the Final Eight for the second year in a row.
