Basketball, Serie A advances: Virtus Bologna, Tortona and Venice win

Triple advance for the third day of Serie A basketball. Three out of three victories in the league and also fresh from their first success in the Euroleague, Virtus Bologna of Scariolo goes to AGSM Forum against Tezenis Verona for 85-60. At the top of the standings with full points remains Tortona, who wins the clash at the top against Pesaro. Finally, at the Allianz Dome, Venice inflicts the third defeat out of three on Trieste.

VERONA-V.BOLOGNA 60-85
For a time Virtus struggled to unstuck Tezenis Verona, tenacious and tough, despite losing Selden (his agent declared the unilateral termination of the contract this week, affair in the hands of the lawyers), but Bologna with a devastating break after the long break guarantees a large victory (+25) in a sold out Pala Agsm Aim. Virtus always without Shengelia and Abass, there is no Teodosic. Bologna is not fluid in attack, at the start, but its defense blocks Verona, which scores the first basket with Smith after 2’58 ”: Virtus is ahead 5-2, then stretches with Mannion and pushes up to 14-2 . Belinelli strikes from outside. Bologna is ahead 21-12 at the first stop, then Imbrò unleashes: basket and foul with a free shot, triple and Verona is at -3 (21-18), pushed back by Mickey and five points by Pajola (31-22 ). Smith is a presence for Verona in the painting, his is the signature on the comeback that leads to a draw at 3’33 ” from the long break, with Anderson fixing the 31-31. Bologna replies with an 8-0 stamped by Ojeleye and Cordinier, stemmed by Anderson. At the turn, it is 41-35 Virtus. Bologna raises the wall behind again, Mannion directs the shot: it is a three-by-three that gives Verona a red record, down by 19 at 54-35. The break is a chasm that widens, arrives at 22-0, before Udom interrupts it, after 7’30 ” of the third quarter, which ends with a partial of 28-5 (69-4). Virtus controls and puts the success on ice for 85-60. (Matteo Fontana)
Verona: Anderson 18, Smith 16, Cappelletti 7
V.Bologna: Cordinier 16, Mannion 13, Jaiteh 11

TORTONA-PESARO 81-73
Tortona wins the home direct clash against Pesaro for 81-73, going well ahead, by over 20 points in the first fraction, against a sometimes harmless Pesaro, paying for the absence of Delfino. Already at 3 ‘Harper puts his two figures ahead of him, Pesaro pulls little and Tortona takes confidence. Macura opens the second period with a triple, Pesaro is nailed to only 4 points in 7 ‘, Tortona reaches 20 ahead with Harper at 17’ Pesaro more reactive but Tortona careful not to give in on anything, closing at 47-29. triple by Charalampopoulos and Cheatham at the start of the second half try to put Pesaro back in the running, with Tortona stopped on a 3-11 run in the middle of the period: Repesa tries to take advantage of the moment of slight decline of the opponents, taking to -6 with Kravic at 22 ” from the break, but just on the siren Candi’s triple puts the distance back to 9, 64-55. With 4’21 ” from the end, the mistake in Juventus pressing that opens the central way of the triple of the parity 71-71 to Moretti. Tortona clings to Macura and Daum, there is no frenzy, up to +6 marked by Christon on the counterattack on a ball recovered by Cain exactly 1 ‘from the end, with Tortona showing once again coldness of management and robustness, winning two very important points (Stefano Brocchetti)
Tortona: Harper 19, Candi 17, Christon 16
Pesaro: Rahkam 19, Charalampopoulos 18, Cheatam 14

TRIESTE-VENICE 78-95
Orogranata domain at the Allianz Dome. Coach De Raffaele’s Umana returns to success at the end of a match controlled right from the tap-off, played with the right intensity in forty minutes topped off with excellent shooting percentages. Trieste, a couple of flare-ups aside, never really entered the match, failing to repeat the excellent test offered last week in Bologna on the Virtus parquet. Reyer starts 0-8 with Willis and Freeman to hit from the arc then, after the time-out of Legovich and the reaction signed by Bartley and Davis, the further 0-9 with the heavy baskets of Granger, Bramos and Willis who sign the Venetian initial 5/5 and bring De Raffaele’s line-up on 5-17. Double-digit advantage preserved and increased right on the siren when Granger, from three, closes a practically perfect first quarter bringing the Umana to 15-29. The gap at the opening of the second quarter widens to 20 points. Trieste moves the board with two free shots from Bossi, on the other side Spissu, De Nicolao and Tessitori bring the score to 17-37 for the new minute called by Legovich. The team from Trieste tries it out, Davis pulls his team, Gaines is released, then Vildera takes the chair and with seven consecutive points he signs the 33-48 with two minutes still on the clock of the first fraction. Last one hundred and twenty seconds that give back to the Umana twenty points of margin, the first half closed at 35-55 thanks to an amazing 9/12 from the three-point line. Trieste comes back better from the locker room, takes advantage of some reyerina forcing and with a partial 11-4 returns first at 46-59 then, thanks to the free throws of Pacher and Vildera at 54-63 with 2’44 “on the clock. The points that give oxygen to a Reyer who recover a good margin and close the third quarter at 58-73 belong to De Nicolao. Final sprint without jolts, Venezia controls and closes at 78-95
(Lorenzo Gatto)
Trieste: Gaines 14, Pacher, Davis, Vildera 13
Venice: Watt 17, Willis 16, De Nicolao 14