Apu Old Wild West Udine’s journey in these playoffs begins with a victory. The Bianconeri prevailed in G1 over Juvi Cremona with a score of 95-65 in front of a packed Carnera, who responded to the club’s warm invitation to support their heroes.
Juventus MVP Jalen Cannon, author of an 11-point performance (5/6 from two and 1/2 from free throws) topped with 2 assists and 12 rebounds, for an overall rating of 26.
Jason Clark is still absent from the Juventus ranks but Lorenzo Caroti recovers. Apu presents itself on the pitch with the quintet made up of: Monaldi, Alibegovic, Gaspardo, Arletti, Cannon.
THE MATCH
The news (Source: Apu Udine Press Office) – It is Costi who inaugurates this G1 playoff with the triple which gives Juvi Cremona the advantage. Partial open for the Lombards with Cotton scoring 5 consecutive points and forcing Coach Vertemati into the first time out (0-8). It is up to Raphael Gaspardo to dictate the Juventus restart, with the basket worth -5. Shahid and Cannon get on the scoresheet, then Cotton again for a double-digit lead (4-14).
Caroti and Ikangi enter the field for Apu, with Gaspardo once again playing the charge, this time scoring from beyond the arc. Timperi and Tortù score 4 points in quick succession, Caroti, Da Ros and Alibegovic respond and shorten to a temporary -4. Another positive moment for the guests who regained the previously lost margin with baskets from Cotton and Benetti.
At the end of the quarter, Gaspardo’s triple stops the score at 18-25. It’s Da Ros time, the Juventus number 20 scores two consecutive baskets at the start of the second quarter, proving to be dangerous both from inside and outside the area. Cannon, from the charity line, makes 1/2, seasoning the Juventus open partial, then the Udine pair scores again, thus sealing the first lead of the match for the home team (27-25).
Cremona places its reaction in the hands of the two foreign players Cotton and Shahid whose efforts bring coach Bechi’s team back into contact with Udine (35-34). Of note in front of Apu is Gianmarco Arletti’s two-handed dunk which inflames the crowd at the Pala Carnera who always come in large numbers to support their team. With less than 1 minute left, Gaspardo scores the last basket of the quarter which gives the home team a new lead (37-35).
At the dawn of the third half of the game, Raphael “Gas” Gaspardo punctured the net with a triple for +5. Cotton and Shahid immediately scored in the following actions, bringing the score back to parity. Captain Diego Monaldi, however, does not agree and “fires” the bomb from over 8 meters which gives Udine the new advantage. Back and forth between the two teams, Arletti, Da Ros and Cannon manage to keep the 2-point advantage over Cremona, Alibegovic then opens the gap again with a triple in transition, forcing Coach Bechi into a one-minute suspension (56-51).
In the following minutes the owners managed to impose their rhythm on the match, maintaining the advantage and even reaching the maximum advantage of 9 points (62-53). Cannon scores the last basket of the quarter which ends with the score (67-61). The last half opens with the “bombs” of Da Ros and Ikangi (73-61). Apu again in these initial minutes, the Juventus partial is in fact enriched by the baskets of Ikangi and Cennon which force Cremona once again into a one-minute suspension (78-61).
Gaspardo’s triple gives the home team a +20 who, with 5 minutes to go, keep the bar firmly on the handlebars of the match. At the end of the match Udine digressed into the result, finding that alchemy that had made its fans dream so much in the past. Michele Zomero also found his first points of this season and made no mistakes from the line, with the game stopped. There is no story in G1, at Pala Carnea the match ends with a score of 95-65
THE SCORESHEET
Apu Old Wild West Udine – Ferraroni Juvi Cremona 95-65 (18-25, 19-10, 30-26, 28-4)
Apu Old Wild West Udine: Raphael Gaspardo 21 (3/5, 5/9), Matteo Da ros 17 (5/9, 2/4), Mirza Alibegovic 11 (1/2, 2/6), Jalen Cannon 11 ( 5/6, 0/0), Diego Monaldi 10 (1/1, 2/8), Iris Ikangi 9 (0/4, 3/4), Gianmarco Arletti 6 (3/7, 0/2), Lorenzo Caroti 5 (0/1, 1/4), Quirino De Laurentiis 3 (0/0, 0/1), Michele Zomero 2 (0/0, 0/0), Benjamin Marchiaro 0 (0/0, 0/1) , Marcos Delia 0 (0/0, 0/0)
Free throws: 14 / 19 – Rebounds: 43 12 + 31 (Jalen Cannon 12) – Assists: 20 (Lorenzo Caroti 7)
Ferraroni Juvi Cremona: Tekele Cotton 19 (4/10, 3/3), Vincent Shahid 13 (3/3, 1/4), Cosimo Costi 8 (2/3, 1/3), Gabriele Benetti 7 (2/2 , 0/0), Marco Timperi 5 (1/4, 1/4), Antonino Sabatino 5 (1/3, 0/4), Nicolo Virginio 4 (0/1, 0/4), Luca Vincini 2 (1 /3, 0/0), Lorenzo Tortu 2 (1/4, 0/2), Francesco Grassi 0 (0/2, 0/0), Alessandro Biaggini 0 (0/0, 0/0)
Free throws: 17 / 22 – Rebounds: 28 5 + 23 (Cosimo Costi, Lorenzo Tortu 7) – Assists: 13 (Tekele Cotton, Vincent Shahid 4)
