Bertram's Rome trip to forget: BC Roma wins 108-70
BC Roma – Bertram Derthona Tortona 108-70
(25-23, 56-44, 80-59)
BC Roma Mannion 19, Watson 13, Davis 13, Emejuru 4, Tavernelli, Stevenson 19, Ayayi 7, Strautins 12, Odzebe, Simonovic 14, Mezzanotte 5, Iuzzolino 2. All. Magro.
Derthona : Eboua ne, Hubb 8, Gorham 12, Pecchia 3, A. Alibegovic 4, Di Meo ne, Bortolani 4, Olejniczak 9, Maddox 15, Gazzotti, Jallow 8, Durham 7. Coach Fioretti.
Referees : Giovannetti, Lucotti, Dionisi.
Spectators : 2.842
Bertram Derthona Tortona had a disappointing first league away game. At the PalaTiziano in Rome, BC Roma dominated the second matchday of the LBA Serie A SisalClub, defeating the Bianconeri 108-70, their worst defeat by a margin since Derthona joined Serie A.
The Tortona game lasted the first quarter and a half, the time needed for the Capitoline team to continue to rage on all sides of the court, led at the beginning in particular by Mannion, followed by all the rest of his teammates, with Bertram on the other hand continuing to reveal two problems of this start of the season, the lack of consistency in defense and rebounding, the result of a difference in energy evident for the opponents.
At halftime, BC Roma's 17-of-19 two-point shooting (30-of-36 at the end) and their doubling of the rebound count (21-10, 43-21 at the end of the game) allowed the Romans to head to the locker room with 56 points and a 12-point lead. This trend worsened in the second half for the Lions, who were forced to fall well behind by 30 points at the end of the fourth quarter. This is an away game to forget as soon as possible, and they will return to the next EuroCup home match against Le Mans with renewed confidence.
The match
With Paul Eboua and Edoardo Di Meo still out with injuries, the latter also appearing on the scoresheet, for Bertram, Roma immediately made the game clear with three consecutive three-pointers from Mannion, Strautins, and Stevenson making it 9-4 after two minutes. However, midway through the first quarter, Bertram tied the game with Hubb and Maddox, who tied it at 13 with two jump shots. The game was played at a high tempo, with Rome's offense consistently outmaneuvering Derthona's defense, who responded with equal force at the other end, finding valuable plays from Gorham, Pecchia, and Alibegovic to close the first quarter with a close score, 25-23.
Two three-pointers each from Durham and Pecchia kept Bertram in the game. Bortolani also missed a three-pointer to take the lead, while Watson failed to do the same at the other end, making the score 37-33, prompting Fioretti to call a timeout in the 14th minute. However, it didn't have the desired effect: Mannion's coast-to-coast, a half-hook from Simonovic, a layup from Stevenson, and an offensive rebound with two points from Simonovic secured a decisive escape for the Romans, who leapt to a double-digit lead with this 11-0 run to reach 45-33 in the 17th minute, while Derthona couldn't even find any initiatives towards the opponent's basket. Mannion finds himself free to push his team to +14 (54-40), Maddox responds with a 4-point play but it is once again the Italian national team point guard (14 points at half time) who puts a bigger smile on the hosts' faces at halftime, 56-44.
The return from the locker room wasn't much better, with four straight points from former Strautins and a free throw from Simonovic bringing BC within a 4-point margin, a goal they achieved shortly after thanks to yet another basket from beyond the arc by Stevenson, 66-46. The American guard continued to be hot, hitting his fifth three-pointer to make it 72-51 in the 26th minute, a margin that was maintained by Davis' buzzer-beating basket, 80-59, in a game that was now slipping away quickly.
Mannion's alley-oop for Simonovic's dunk excites PalaTiziano in the first action of the final quarter (82-59), the Montenegrin forward also makes it +25 (84-59), Mannion makes it 87-59 and at that point Fioretti changes the entire quintet in a challenge that has nothing more to say.
Now all eyes are on Derthona's home debut in the BKT EuroCup against the French team Le Mans Sarthe, scheduled for Wednesday, October 7th at 19:30 PM and valid for the second day of the regular season in Group A. Tickets are on sale at www.derthonabasket.vivaticket.it, at the Derthona Basket Store on Via Carducci 11 in Tortona and at the Nova Arena ticket office starting at 17:30 PM on game day.
The statements
Coach Mario Fioretti: "We started poorly, unable to contain Roma on defense. We may have played a good first half offensively, but then we made a lot of mistakes on both ends of the court. We're really angry and disappointed. All we have to do is get back to the gym and work hard to turn things around."
"There was definitely a drop in energy, but I don't think it was related to the trip to Riga; we really had a poor game. I repeat, we need to put our heads down and try to fix things. Not that we're not doing it, we're trying, but we need to do better."
Photo credit: Ciamillo-Castoria Agency
