Basketball Serie A: Brescia beats Venice and enjoys a night in the lead

Germani’s show of strength on the 13th day of Serie A: the Leonessa beat Venezia at home (104-93) and gave themselves a night at the top of the table. Bilan’s 21 points were decisive, Wiltjer’s 34 were not enough for the guests. But the news of the day comes from Alcott Arena. In the 13th minute of Napoli-Cantù, a dunk by Basile bent the iron and interrupted the match for almost an hour, which was then won by Guerri thanks to the triple double almost achieved by a feverish Mitrou-Long (20 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds). Tortona seals qualification for the Final Eight of the Italian Cup – it is the fifth team already arithmetically admitted to the draw – with the home success against Reggio Emilia, driven by 23 points from an excellent Vital. Trapani Shark, however, failed to qualify, falling for the first time at home against a Varese team enhanced by Librizzi’s triples (17 points and 5/6 from 3). Sassari passes to Treviso (89-92) and forces Nutribullet to their eleventh knockout in the championship.

BRESCIA-VENICE 104-93

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Brescia gets back up after the defeat against Bologna and sinks Reyer thanks to excellent offensive percentages (24/39 from 2 and 12/23 from 3). Bilan was decisive, finishing with 21 points. 34 points from a super Wiltjer are not enough for Spahija. The PalaLeonessa match proceeds in fits and starts. Venezia relies on individual solutions, suffering the intensity of the opposing defense. Brescia, with pick and rolls in transition and fluid ball circulation, took control of the game in the second quarter (51-31 at 18′) after Rivers’ fourth triple. In the last minute of the first half, Wheatle with a 3-point play and a triple puts Reyer back at -12 (52-40 with 32” left on the 20th minute), sealing the break together with Cole that rekindles the guests. The Venetian partial continued until 23-6, thanks to baskets from 6.75 by Lever and Wiltjer, and then culminated in a basket in transition by Wheatle himself (57-54 in the 22nd minute). Both teams find continuity from beyond the arc and the match remains point-to-point, despite a wild Wiltjer. The Lioness roars at the start of the fourth quarter and runs away, with Mobio’s triples and combinations between Ivanovic and Ndour, which yield a 10-0 break. It’s the decisive break, Brescia continues to play with great pace in the following minutes and, despite a timid Orogranata jolt (96-90 in the 38th minute) after a tap in by Wiltjer, they manage the result, exceeding 100 in attack.

Brescia: Rivers 22, Bilan 21, Ivanovic 16

Venice: Wiltjer 34, Wheatle 16, Lever 12

TORTONA-REGGIO EMILIA 81-67

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Third consecutive victory for the Piedmontese and two important points to seal qualification for the Final Eight. On the other hand, Reggiana’s previous success against Trento was not enough to revive Priftis’ team, beaten in 8 of the last 9 matches. After a balanced start to the match, in the second quarter Bertram seemed to take control with a run of 16-0 (30-21) driven by an excellent Vital (15 points in the first half). Reggio regains ground by increasing the aggressiveness in defense, and with a triple from Thor they get back on track (36-34) immediately after the long interval. But just when UnaHotels seemed one step away from catching up, Vital and Hubb lead a further run of 10-2 (46-36) and the inertia returns to Tortona’s side. Barford and Uglietti go up in shots between the third and fourth periods, but the pair of wingers from Reggio Emilia are not enough: Bertram manages the gap comfortably and in the final run away definitively with Olejniczak and Baldasso.

Tortona: Vital 25, Olejniczak 13, Baldasso 11

Reggio Emilia: Barford and Uglietti 13, Caupain 11

TREVISO-SASSARI 89-92

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Sassari returns to winning away games and reaches five wins in the league, condemning Treviso, increasingly last, to their eleventh defeat in Serie A. The excellent percentages from 3 to Rossi’s men (10/26) and 30 points from a very continuous Weber (9/13 from 2) are not enough. In the finale, Buie’s coldness is decisive. The Palaverde match, very balanced with the two teams exchanging scores throughout the match, was decided in the final period. A triple from Buie closes the 20-3 run that the home team had built between the third and fourth quarters, thanks to the incursions of Weber, Pinkins and the perimeter threat of Abdur-Rahkman (74-73 in the 36th minute). Buie is the decisive man and, after engaging in a back-and-forth with Radosevic from the arc, he breaks the tie by scoring the +3 from the corner (83-86 with 22” left). Rossi is in the hands of Torresani, who however makes it 1/2 with the clock stopped. Johnson, Pullen and McGlynn do not tremble from the line and cancel out the last desperate comeback attempts by Weber (free throws) and the aforementioned blue from the arc.

Treviso: Weber 30, Torresani 20, Radosevic 12

Sassari: McGlynn, Johnson, Pullen 17, Beliauskas 14, Buie 10

NAPLES-CANTÙ 98-85

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Two fundamental points for Napoli with a view to the Final Eight, while the sixth consecutive defeat has an extremely bitter taste for Cantù: Brienza’s men have a great impact on the match, but when Basile’s double-handed strike in the 13th minute bends the iron and interrupts the match for almost an hour, Cantù does not seem to have returned to the pitch. In fact, the hosts led the match with a 19-6 run (45-33) in 5 minutes of play, led by a Mitrou-Long who was still feverish, but extraordinarily effective all round: the US guard ended his match by almost achieving a triple double (20 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds). In the second half the script does not change. Cantù has the opportunity to get back on track halfway through the fourth period with triples from Bortolani, but Mitrou-Long and Treier respond immediately from beyond the arc: a new partial score of 10-1 (86-68) in favor of Guerri, who then manages comfortably for the rest of the match.

Naples: Mitrou-Long 20, Bolton 17, Simms 16

Cantu: Bortolani 16, Moraschini 15, Gilyard 14

trapani-varese 88-95

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Shark in the self-managed version of captain Petrucelli falls again: after Sassari, Varese also stops the Sicilians, who collapsed emotionally in the second half and were defeated for the first time at the PalaShark. The guests started well immediately with Alviti, Shark entered the race late, making the most of her larger size. Hurt and Sanogo make a loud statement under the Varese basket, while Openjobmetis limits the damage thanks to Iroegbu’s skilful direction: at half-time the score returns to parity (47-47). But after the long break Trapani loosens up defensively, in the first 4′ of the second half Varese scores a 15-2 run (49-62) driven by triples from Renfro and Nkamhoua and then definitively exalts itself from long range thanks to Librizzi. The last call for the comeback comes in the final minutes from captain Petrucelli, on half serve due to fever: 6 points scored in 1′, a few seconds from the end Trapani has the opportunity to equalize (86-89). The decisive ball ends up in the hands of Cappelletti, who however misses from the corner: Varese closes it with Alviti’s free throws and Moore’s dunk, which warms the spirits in the final.

Trapani: Hurt 17, Arcidiacono 15, Petrucelli 13

Varese: Librizzi and Iroegbu 17, Alviti 16

ON THE FIELD TOMORROW

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Milan-Cremona (8pm), Trieste-Virtus (8.30pm)