BRINDISI – After 12 years, Happy Casa Brindisi says goodbye to Serie A. The good victory (84-80) won over Reyer Venezia is not enough to avoid relegation: a verdict that has been in the air for weeks now, which matures on the penultimate day of the Lba . New Basket, tied with Pesaro in last place, is two points behind Treviso, which won in Varese. But even if they had arrived on equal points with the other teams, Brindisi would have been condemned by the calculations of the separate rankings.
Video: President Marino’s emotion on the PalaPentassuglia parquet
Happy Casa paid dearly for the disastrous first round, which began under the technical guidance of coach Corbani, who was replaced by Sakota on 26 October. In the second round things went better, but not enough to reach the safety zone. At the end of the race, despite the bitter disappointment, the 3 thousand of the PalaPentassuglia gave a round of applause to the Southern Star.
Twelve unforgettable years
Never in the history of professional sport of any discipline had a team from Puglia managed to play twelve consecutive seasons in their top league. From the season of the return to Serie A in 2012/13 to the current 2023/24 season, an absolute record has been established which belongs to New Basket Brindisi with 398 games played in official Legabasket competitions (regular season, Italian Cup, Super Cup and playoffs championship).
A twelve-year journey dotted with great results and emotions: 5 participations in the Scudetto Play Offs (one Semi-final); 8 participations in the Final Eight of the Italian Cup (two Finals); 3 participations in the Italian Super Cup; 7 participations in the European Cups (1 Eurochallenge – 1 Eurocup – 3 Basketball Champions League – 2 Europe Cup).
The match
First quarter. Happy Casa Brindisi starts with Sneed, Laszewski, Bartley, Bayehe, Washington. Umana Reyer Venezia responds with Spissu, Casarin, Brooks, Kabengele, Tucker.
Sneed has the hot hand and starts with two triples in just a few minutes. Brindisi has the right approach. But Venice is no different. In the 7th minute Reyer, thanks to a 16-2 run, took a margin of 9 points (12-21). Brindisi recovers and in the 7th minute, making the most of an unsportsmanlike whistle called to Reyer, returns to one possession away (18-22). In the 9th minute the scoreboard goes haywire and the game is suspended for about 5 minutes. We start again with the good old manual scorecard, but only for a short while, because by the end of the fraction, the electrical system comes back into operation. At the end of the period, Brindisi is down 3 (19-22).
Second quarter. At the start of the second quarter, Venezia gets stuck. New Basket, with the second lines Laquintana, Morris and Lombardi, scores an 8-0 break, going +4 (26-22). In the 15th minute, Morris scores a triple for +7 (31-24). Again in the 15th minute, Laquintana recovers the ball and flies away alone, scoring the +10 basket (35-25). Reyer is in trouble. Brindisi doesn’t slow down. At 17′, Lombardi, from 3, scores the +11 (40-29). At the end of the first half, Southern Star was ahead by 7 (45-38).
Third fourth. After the break, Brindisi returns to the field with a good attitude. At 23′, Happy Casa extends to +9. The pace doesn’t drop. Venice is not about to suffer flight. The Happy Home undergoes the transitions of the Human. Also thanks to a lackluster Washington, the guests, at the 27th minute, returned to a one possession gap (59-56). Sneed and Morris took care of driving New Basket, who ended the third quarter leading by 10 (67-57).
Last quarter. Brindisi defends the lead tooth and nail. In the 35th minute, Tucker was sent off for an elbow on Laquintana. Happy Casa extends to +11(62-73). Meanwhile, the news arrives of Treviso’s victory, which condemns New Basket to relegation. The team seems to be affected. Within a few minutes, the lead dwindled to three points (77-74). But in the final Brindisi resists the attacks, gaining the useless victory.
Stay updated on news from your province by subscribing to our whatsapp channel: click here
