Third fourth: the second half of the match resumes with baskets by Weber, in a mid-range jumper, and by Spissu, left free by the Reggio defense outside the three-point line. Chillo makes himself useful again by putting in the shot from the low post, then Reggio recovers the ball following Faye’s block on Kabengele and goes to the basket again with the same Faye. 47-32 with 8 minutes left. Tucker flies higher than the lights of the PalaBigi for the two-handed reverse dunk, but the ball escapes him, with Venezia still finding the rebound in attack and Wiltjer’s basket after the screwball on Galloway. Chillo fakes the shot and feeds Wiltjer’s defensive error by scoring the floater from the center of the area. Another excellent defensive sequence from Reggio, who prevents Venezia from shooting and scores from long range on the other side again with Chillo.
Second quarter (41-27): nothing to be done for the three-pointers by Wiltjer and Smith, the first points of the quarter came from the line with Tessitori. Black responds by playing it with his back to the basket against Tessitori and from the line with 2/2, 22-17 after 2 and a half minutes. Parks shows off his athletic abilities by scoring in the center of the area against Weber, but Atkins immediately responds with the fadeaway jumper. Galloway misses the coach’s free throw and Faye combines a 1/2 for Reggio’s +6. Tucker is in the evening and proves it by finding an impressive triple from a goal kick and at the end of the shot clock, but Atkins and Faye find each other for a 4-0 which brings the hosts to 29-22 and forces Spahija to timeout. Uglietti from the bench gives a free throw to Spissu, then Parks goes on his own and goes to the line on the (third) foul by Faye, however, 0/2 for the American winger, while Galloway’s bomb which brings Reggio to the maximum does not fail +9. Smith doesn’t give up either, beating Brooks and Kabengele off the dribble and making it 37-23 two minutes from the end. Spissu goes to the line and scores both free throws, Atkins responds with the fadeaway from the post, but Spissu scores. it’s on and he also makes the fadeaway from the dribble, forcing Priftis to call a timeout. Excellent penetrating basket by Galloway, then Weber recovers the ball from Spissu, but Vitali’s shot from the corner at the end doesn’t go and so the teams go down to the locker rooms on the dribble. score of 41-27 in favor of the hosts. For the red and whites 10 points from Smith, for the granata 5 each for Tucker and Spissu.
First quarter (18-16): the hosts take the field with Weber, Vitali, Galloway, Chillo and Faye; the guests respond with Spissu, Casarin, Tucker, Simms and Kabengele. Reggio starts off strong, immediately scoring a basket on an attacking rebound by Chillo and and-1 converted by Vitali following a foul by Spissu, 5-0 for the red and whites. Venezia started with the handbrake on, immediately losing two balls, but Simms responded to the Reggio players’ baskets with a triple opened from the tip. Two-way games Vitali-Chillo and Galloway-Faye, scoreboard reading 9-3 after just 3 minutes of play. Spahija was immediately forced into a timeout and Casarin broke the deadlock with the basket on the break after the goal kick. Excellent ball movement for Venezia which yields two more points on Kabengele’s dunk thanks to Tucker’s alley-oop. Reggio Emilia’s attack which, after an excellent start, stopped due to many shooting errors. Tucker unscrews himself from the dribble on Uglietti and scores in his face, extending the visitors’ lead to 6-0. Score that says 9 equals 3 minutes left in the period. Spissu doesn’t find the guest’s advantage with the triple from the corner, then Black flies to the basket off the dribble and finds the basket and the foul by Kabengele. Black doesn’t stop and stops Kabengele in defence, but from the goal kick Wiltjer scores a triple at the end of the first Venetian lead. Jamar Smith unleashed, disorientates Heidegger from the dribble and scores in his face, bringing Reggio back ahead, then steals the ball from Heidegger himself and goes to the line for 1/2. 14-12 with two minutes to go. 2/2 from the line by DeNicolao but Smith responds immediately with the layup, Chillo follows him with the free throw to make it 17-14. Tessitori also with 2/2 from the line, Weber responds with the free throw which closes the first quarter at 18-16. For Reggio 5 points each for Chillo and Smith, for Venezia 3 each for Wiltjer and Simms.
THE PREVIEW
It’s already time for Game 3 of the playoff quarterfinals and, therefore, the series between Unahotels Reggio Emilia And Umana Reyer Venice moves within the walls of the PalaBigi in the Emilian province. After a shocking victory (with final thrill) obtained in game 1 by the guests led by 25 points from Jamar Smith and a game 2 which was always spectacular but in long stretches dominated by the Venetians thanks to the super performance of Marco Spissu (18 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assist), this evening it’s up to Pallacanestro Reggiana to make the most of the field factor to try to reach match point and therefore have the possibility of closing the contest on Saturday always within friendly walls. Reyer, on the contrary, will have to try to replicate the performance shown in game 2 to regain the field factor and therefore give herself the opportunity to play the possible game 5, decisive for the passage of the round, within the friendly walls of the PalaTaliercio.
Tap-off which will be raised at 8pm by referees Rossi, Bartoli and Quarta, the match will be visible on EUROSPORT 1 And Dazn.
Below, from 8pm onwards, it will be possible to read the live text of the meeting.
