This Derthona never dies: Vital saves him at the end of regulation, victory in overtime over Varese
Bertram Derthona Tortona – Openjobmetis Varese 89-82 dts
(18-14, 41-33, 54-53, 75-75)
Tortona: Zerini ne, Vital 24, Kuhse 12, Gorham, Candi 12, Farias ne, Denegri ne, Baldasso 5, Kamagate 11, Biligha 6, Severini, Weems 19. All. De Raffaele.
Varese: Akobundu-Ehiogu 5, Alviti 12, E. Mitrou-Long 14, Gray ne, Bradford 7, Tyus, Librizzi 11, Virginio, Turconi ne, Assui 12, Fall ne, Hands 21. All. Kastritis.
Referees: Baldini of Florence, Bongiorni of Pisa, Dionisi of Fabriano.
viewers: 2434.
An endless game leads Bertram Derthona Tortona to an exciting victory. It took the black and white team two hours and 25 minutes to beat the resistance of Openjobmetis Varese, 89-82 the final score for the home team after overtime in the match of the 21st day of the Serie A Unipol. A game that was resumed by the hair in the exciting atmosphere of the PalaEnergica Paolo Ferraris in Casale Monferrato, with two triples that made the home team explode with joy at the end of regulation time and overtime: the first by Vital with 2" to go for the unexpected tie at 75 with a very strong shot on Bradford's defense (in the photo) and the second with the same American guard to coolly serve the assist for another difficult three-pointer by Kuhse who with 29" to go in overtime put more than one possession of distance between the two teams. An advantage never overturned by the hitherto indomitable guest team, which came within a hair's breadth of taking home two points of fundamental importance for its hopes of moving away from the red zone of the standings, supported by the cheering of hundreds of Varese fans. On the contrary, two points came out of it with which Bertram responds to the success, again in a sprint, a few hours earlier of its direct competitor Venezia in Sassari to defend tooth and nail its playoff position, remaining two points ahead of the lagoon team thanks to its twelfth joy in the championship.
It is difficult to summarize the thousand emotions of the Casalese afternoon, which started immediately before the match with the memory of the passing of Sandro Galleani, particularly felt inside the arena due to the presence of his Varese team and which transformed what should have been a minute of silence into a prolonged round of applause from the entire audience. After the tip-off, it was all a rumba, starting with the 0-11 with which Varese, dragged by the hyper-athleticism of Akobundu-Ehiogu (7 blocks) decidedly approached the match better. A monumental Candi responded to him coming off the bench (15 evaluation and +19 plus/minus in less than 6 minutes in the first half) to put Derthona in the game, inspiring a counter 11-0 break. The partial becomes a 20-1 partial (22-14 at 11, Biligha also doing well) which helps to reach, after three consecutive dunks by Kamagate on as many assists by his teammates (Vital 5 assists at half time, 7 at the end), the new maximum gap of +9 after a triple by Vital just over a minute from the interval, 39-30.
The third quarter is very intense, Kuhse's first points in the game are two triples to equal Bertram's maximum margin (49-40 at 24'), but Varese responds promptly, relying on Hands and Akobundu-Ehiogu and above all on Librizzi's gusts, who marks the Varese overtaking in the first part of the fourth quarter with three almost photocopy penetrations, 56-62 at 33'. Three triples by Vital (2) and Weems (double double with 19+11 rebounds) mean the tie at 67 with just over two minutes to go. From there it's all blow for blow, Mitrou-Long rises to the fore for the 40-72 which at -75" gives the match point to the Lombardy team, after the Tortona time-out the ball goes to Vital who finds the triple already described to avoid the KO for the home team. In overtime, it is always the US guard who signs the overtaking with a trip to the free throw line, 11-83 with 82'1" remaining. Hands misses a three-pointer for a rebound by Biligha, on the counterattack Vital invents the assist that Kuhse, off balance, converts with a three-pointer from the corner on the final whistle, 13-24 with 86" remaining. After the missed shot by Mitrou-Long and the subsequent systematic foul converted by Weems into two free throws (82-28 with 88"), the game officially ends on a three-pointer missed by Mitrou-Long with 82" remaining, sparking joy among the over two thousand in the stands.
In the next round, the Bianconeri will travel to the Givova Scafati field, scheduled for Sunday at 19pm, preceded on Wednesday 12th at 18pm Italian time by the match in Greece for the first return leg of the Champions League Top 30 group against Promitheas Patrasso.
STATEMENTS “I am convinced that it is a very, very important victory, first because it closes a super week with three victories, with the relative expenditure of energy, second because it was obtained against an opponent who we knew had changed face and who put us in difficulty for the whole match”, is the coach's comment Walter De Raffaele. "Varese has now become much tougher, tougher, with so much talent that it has always had, they were really good, but then again anyone who thinks that from now on there can be easy games is deluded. We have recovered with great credit to the players, you can say anything about this team but not that it is not a group that wants to sacrifice, because beyond the adaptations it is a team that finds energy from anyone. Now we are trying to recover energy, but I am very happy for the fans and the players”.
