Verona wins at the end of Game 3 at the Allianz Cloud in Milan and takes a 2-1 lead in the series. Game always led by Coach Ramagli’s men who played an excellent first part of the match, even reaching +19 in the second quarter and finishing ahead at 20′ 24-39. Urania’s reaction came promptly in the second part of the match, Amato and his teammates reduced the gap and took the lead with 26″ to go with Landi’s triple. Verona, however, is tough, Captain Penna serves Saverio Bartoli in the corner who explodes the yellow-blue joy with the triple. 69-70 and Tezenis victory. Verona will have the match point in the series on Saturday at 8.30pm in Game 4 which will be played at the Allianz Cloud.
NEWS
Coach Ramagli chooses the quintet with Penna, Udom, Gajic, Esposito and Buva. Coach Villa responds with Amato, Potts, Severini, Lupusor and Beverly. Buva breaks the deadlock with an assist from Lollo Penna, the Croatian repeats himself and scores the yellow-blue 4-0. Milan gets on the scoresheet with Amato and Beverly, Tezenis continues to ride its long players in the central phase of the quarter and gets to +7 with the support of Buva. 4-11 and Villa timeout in the 5th minute. Milan comes out of the break well and taking advantage of the initiatives of Potts and Landi comes back within 8-11; Stefanelli responds with the jumper from the center of the area. The Bartoli brothers also make their debut in the match, Saverio crushes at the end of the period and the quarter ends 10-15 in favor of Tezenis.
Udom places the +8 bomb, Saverio Bartoli and Udom follow him and there is the first double-digit lead of the match, 10-22 and second timeout for Coach Villa after 2 minutes of the period. The yellow-blue partial, however, does not stop, Saverio Bartoli and Gajic again and maximum advantage at +16. Potts takes care of stopping the bleeding for Urania from the line, Amato tries to close the gap but again a super Saverio Bartoli and Penna extend the lead 14-30 with 4’30” to play. What has made the difference so far is the great defense put in place by Ramagli’s men, another recovery by Penna who serves Esposito for the 2+1 of +19. In the last possessions of the first half, Urania has the merit of not taking its mind off the match and with Severini’s zone and baskets it gets back to -15. We go to the long break with the score 24-39 in favor of the yellow-blues.
Urania starts the second half with a different face and scores a 6-2 which pushes Coach Ramagli to stop the match at 30-41 after just 1’15”. Amato brings his team back to a single-digit deficit, Udom takes care of the reversal in front of putting the triple of the new +12, 33-45. Tezenis tries to escape again on the wings of the Penna – Udom couple but the former Severini is once again ready outside the 6.75 range and signs the 4-point play of 39-50. Lupusor scores -6 with two consecutive baskets and on the other side of the pitch the yellow-blue attack struggles to find solutions against Urania’s zone, entering the last 2 minutes of the period with Tezenis at 44-50. It is the points from Penna and Stefanelli that give partial relief to the yellow-blues, Amato’s basket at the siren closes the third quarter. We go to the final break at 46-54.
Potts and Bonacini score the -4 Urania at the start of the last quarter, Stefanelli stops the red and white break with 2/2 from the line. 50-56 with 8 minutes on the clock. Buva breaks the deadlock with the first basket of his second half for the new +8, Amato stings from long range but the Captain with a great baseline scores the 2+1, Tezenis ahead 53-61 when entering the last 5 minutes of the match. The match gets dirty, the attacks struggle to find easy solutions and the yellow-blues find in Ivan Buva the reference they can rely on, 2/2 on the line by the Croatian and Villa timeout at 53-63 with 3’52” from the siren. Urania coming out of the one-minute break creates another mini break that brings them back to -5, Ramagli’s quintet is unable to find the way to the basket and it is Beverly’s dunk that brings Urania back to -2. 63-65 with 1 minute to go. Verona makes a mistake with Buva and on the turnaround in front Landi is unforgiving from long range, the first advantage of the match for Urania. 66-65 and Verona ball with 26″ to play. Tezenis fails to finish and is forced into a systematic foul, Landi scores 2/2 and brings his score to +3. Urania resorts to the foul to prevent Verona from scoring a triple, Penna makes both free throws and Landi returns to the line after the yellow-blue forced foul. 1 out of 2 and possession Verona down by 2 points, Lollo Penna serves Saverio Bartoli in the corner who at the end scores the winning triple. The yellow-blue fans explode, Verona is ahead 2-1 in the series and on Saturday at 8.30pm match point will be played to reach the semi-final.
WEGREENIT URANIA MILAN – TEZENIS VERONA 69-70 (10-15, 24-39, 46-54)
Wegreenit Urania Milano: Anchisi ne, Potts 8, Piunti, Amato 12, Lupusor 7, Montano 2, Landi 12, Bonacini 2, Beverly 19, Solimeno ne, Severini 7, Cavallero ne. All. Villa
Tezenis Verona: Mbacke ne, Stefanelli 5, Gazzotti, Gajic 2, Esposito 8, Murphy, Penna 16, Buva 14, Udom 12, Bartoli V., Bartoli S. 13. Coach Ramagli
