Trieste gives no escape to Bertram, the direct clash is still with the Giulians
Basketball Trieste – Bertram Derthona Tortona 86-72
(26-23, 44-35, 61-52)
Trieste: Obljubech, Ross 24, Reyes 12, Deangeli, Uthoff 10, Ruzzier 5, Campogrande ne, Candussi, Brown 7, Brooks 2, Johnson 9, Valentine 17. All. Christian.
Tortona: Zerini ne, Vital 9, Kuhse 5, Gorham 14, Candi 2, Denegri 6, Strautins 12, Baldasso 5, Kamagate 4, Biligha 4, Severini 3, Weems 8. All. De Raffaele.
Referees: Lanzarini from Bologna, Paglialunga from Massafra (TA), Catani from Pescara.
At PalaTrieste, Bertram Derthona Tortona suffers its second consecutive defeat in the championship. The hosts of Pallacanestro Trieste inflict the biggest seasonal defeat of the tournament on the black and whites, forced to succumb for the first time with a double digit disadvantage. The match of the 86th day of the Serie A Unipol, a direct clash for seventh place, ends 72-18, with the hosts from Giulia repeating the success of the first leg. In the Tortona house there is also apprehension to know the extent of the injury suffered by Arturs Strautins, who collapsed to the ground holding his knee after scoring a dunk on the counterattack at the end of the third period.
The balance between the two teams lasts for a quarter and a half, then the team coached by Jamion Christon builds the conditions to go to the long break by equaling the +9 maximum advantage in the first half, 44-35, created a couple of minutes earlier by two triples by Brown and the former Ross. Tortona instead has to deal with 10 turnovers (there will be 16 at the end of the game) and the mere two points scored in the final six minutes of the second quarter, after having responded to the first Trieste escape marked by Reyes (32-25 at 13') with an immediate 8-0 counterbreak, with Gorham in evidence for the last advantage of Derthona in the game (32-33 at 14').
When returning from the locker rooms, Valentine takes the stage for Trieste, his 7 almost consecutive points launch the Julian team into orbit halfway through the third quarter, 56-42, and the news for Bertram becomes worse when 27” from the last mini-break Strautins gets hurt after having scored the 61-52.
The triple with which Denegri opens the final quarter is also the last chance for Bertram, who suffers Johnson's plays under the basket, together with the early exhaustion of the foul bonus and the always deficient shooting percentages (36% from the field), to see the game drift away, definitively closed by Ross' baskets for the 72-57 that brings the curtain down with five minutes to spare.
In the standings, Trieste is two points ahead of Bertram, who remains alone in eighth place at 20 points due to the victory in the other Saturday advance also of the other former housemate Reggio Emilia at home against Cremona (78-51). This time too there is no time to dwell on the defeat, on Tuesday at 18:30 Italian time there is the third away game in a week for the black and whites, busy in Athens against AEK Betsson for the second day of Group I of the Top 16 of the Champions League.
STATEMENTS “There was a substantial difference in energy throughout the match, we were only able to respond to Trieste in fits and starts, with little continuity in both defense and attack, where the shooting percentages certainly didn't help us”, the coach's comment at the end of the matches Walter De Raffaele. "Great credit to Trieste, we made an effort until the 61-55 at the start of the fourth quarter, then we suffered two consecutive three-pointers and we responded with frenzy, without the necessary patience. And with all our turnovers, Trieste's game went swimmingly. We have to try to recover energy but it won't be easy because in a few hours we have our third consecutive away game in a week. We have to keep our heads up. Strautins? I only know that he had a knee problem, when we return to Tortona we'll do the tests, but I can't say how serious it is. Besides, he was playing a good game after a period in which he was struggling to find his rhythm".
