After Cremona’s external blow, another one proof of great defensive concreteness against Reggio Emilia is worth it Bertram Tortona the victory and the fateful ticket to the Italian Cup Final Eightcanceling with skill and application the threat represented by Reggio Emilia in a Nova Arena with an audience for great occasions (4,316 spectators in the stands of the stadium in the heart of the Cittadella dello Sport of Tortona).
Greetings to Severini
The greeting to the great former Severini (ovation from the stadium and presentation of a black and white vest by captain Baldasso) serves as a preview of a duel initially channeled by defensive executions, effective in complicating each other’s initial attacks in midfield.
Bertram tries to get out of the way a little more by trying to fire up from long range, while Una Hotels is patient to find corridors in the direction of the rim and shots from the mid range with Barford. Then the lions, kept moving by a Vital already at full scoring capacity, try to explore the post with Gorham a little more and throw Strautins back into the fray. In short, coach Fioretti experiments with a bit of everything to be able to decipher a match without a precise path to victory in the first 10′. A statement that applies to Reggiana itself, who decides to take it physically at the beginning of the second quarter (three of Thor-Echenique-Cheatham on the pitch at the same time).
Tortona instead remains with elements in their usual roles and thus begins to build better games under the basket for Olejniczak, one of the levers that acts to overturn the balance together with the “usual” great baskets of Vital and a positive defensive presence across the board (in pairings, rebounding and in pressure on the ball). The opposing coach Priftis had to resort to two timeouts in the half to undermine Tortona’s increasingly solid certainties on the parquet. An objective which, as the long break approached, his team partially managed to achieve, returning to -5 at the last minute.
Second half
The second half begins and a match with very different contents does not begin, except for a couple of details. What weighs most is represented by Hubb’s exit from the locker room, to which Thor responds on the other side with his great physical presence also accompanied by a nice shot from distance. The Emilian center does not have the same impact as Olejniczak, another fundamental player in the attempted local push to reach a double-digit lead. However, Una Hotels has enough quality, both technical and athletic, to gain points close to the basket (whether from one-on-one or from trips to the line). At the start of the final sprint it was still +9 in favor of Bertram, a gap that would seem substantial for a race with “old school” European scores.
And so it is, given that the guests do not know how to build a substantial partial. The Tortona advantage remains solid and time passes inexorably. Only Uglietti tries to act as a crazy variable with his baskets in the context of a match that now seems written, in its contents as well as in its final verdict. It ends amidst the chants of celebration for winning the Final Eight. There is also room on the parquet in the “garbage time” for the unders Di Meo and Tandia.
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