Basketball, the results: Trapani wins in Milan, the derby with Cantù in Varese

Lioness pirate in Naples, wins 72-85 at the Alcott Arena on the eighth day of the championship and maintains the top spot at 14 points while waiting for Bologna to play Treviso on Monday. Jasmin Repesa returns to winning at the Forum, her Trapani remains ahead throughout the match and beats Milan 80-86, moving them to fifth place in the standings despite the 4 penalty points at the start of the season. For Ea7, which finds Ettore Messina on the bench and Shields on the parquet, despite without Bolmaro, Brown and Nebo, it is the third defeat in the championship. In the midday match Sassari prevailed at the last gasp: Dinamo beat Trento 89-88 thanks to two plays – one in attack and one in defense – by Thomas in the last 20 seconds, fourth knockout in a row for Dolomiti Energia. Great joy at Varese, who won the highly anticipated derby with Cantù and returned to success after the streak of 6 defeats. Reggio deludes itself after a great first half but gives way to Venice in the second half: the Emilians’ negative streak, between championship and cup, thus extends to eight games without a win.

Milan – Trapani 80-86

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Without fear at the Forum. Trapani defeats Assago and coach Jasmin Repesa, a great ex of the match, takes a 2-1 lead in the direct clashes with Ettore Messina, who returns to the bench after the flu stop. Great performance for the Sicilians: they take risks in the final, thanks to Brooks unleashed, author of three triples in the last 2′, but they remain ahead for the whole 40′ with maximum advantage in the 1st quarter, 19-7. Jd Notae immediately takes the Sharks by the hand while Milan struggles a lot throughout the 1st half, always chasing and with Shields recovered but still far from optimal form. Bolmaro is at rest and so Tonut takes care of it, 7 points and 7 rebounds, and especially Brooks: the US guard scores his first basket after 15′ of the game (9 points in the 2nd quarter alone) and Ea7 returns to -3, Trapani disoriented, Alibegovic scores 0-4 from the line. Matthew Hurt, however, is effective from the arc and the Sicilians are back at +6. The last seconds of the 1st half are all for Ford for better or for worse: basket plus foul and 3-point play 3” from the siren but then he commits a foul on a 3-point shot by Ellis (great duel between the two). The former Trento player makes 3/3 and is 38-44 at halftime with Milan 0/11 from three (he will finish 5/30). Ea7 alive in the second half, inertia remains in the hands of Trapani. Who puts the turbo and gets back to +10 with Ford from the line. Olimpia recovers at the end of the period, driven by an infinite Pippo Ricci, fresh from almost 30 minutes on the pitch against Olympiacos, scoring 9 only in the 3rd quarter which ends 60-65. Last 10′ and the nervousness rises: four technical fouls, two on each side and Petrucelli out for five fouls with Alibegovic. Booker surrounded by 4 opponents in the area brings Ea7 back to just one possession: 69-72 with 5′ left. Allen and Notae respond: Shark +8 2′ from the siren and so Brooks goes wild again, three triples in a row. Milan gets up to -1 a few seconds before the siren but Shields misses the equalizing shot, Notae instead is perfect from the line: 12/12. And for the Forum it becomes… Note and foundation.

Milan: Brooks 15, Ellis 14, Booker and Ricci 13

Trapani: Notae 26, Allen 11, Eboua and Alibegovic 10

Napoli – Brescia 72-85

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The student beats the teacher. At the Alcott Arena in Naples the two points up for grabs go to coach Cotelli’s Germani, assistant to coach Magro for years who this year coaches the Neapolitan team after 3 seasons in Brescia. The Leonessa doesn’t give up the top, now it’s alone in the lead with 14 points waiting for Virtus tomorrow. The hosts are good at never dying, without however managing to complete the many comeback attempts. Della Valle is man of the match, 5/10 from the arc even if in the 1st quarter it is Bilan (6 points) who shows off: Brescia also gets to +10 with a triple from Cournooh, then an 11-2 run and Napoli gets back to -2 in the 2nd quarter and Bolton (7 assists) on top. The last 3′ of the 1st half are all for Germani, who extends again up to +11 for 33-44 at the break. The Neapolitans don’t shine from 3 points (they finish 4/17), Leonessa in full control in the second half, at least until halfway through the third quarter, with a new lead that makes it 51-37. It is the momentary maximum advantage, which however wakes up Naples: partial 12-5 for the hosts and 9 points for the former Mitrou-Long. We go to the final break at 49-56. The Campanians attempt yet another climb but don’t go beyond -7 after 4′ in the 4th quarter (58-65). Too little. Della Valle definitively takes his team’s hand until the new maximum lead, 60-75, and Napoli surrenders, despite being supported by an audience that never stopped singing.

Naples: Mitrou-Long 18, Bolton 17, Simms 13.

Brescia: Della Valle 24, Bilan 19, Burnell and River 10.

Sassari-Trento 89-88

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A heavy victory for Sassari, the second of the season, which allows the Sardinians to temporarily put themselves behind the relegation zone. Game for strong hearts at Palaserradimigni, decided by two super plays from Rashawn Thomas in the final seconds. Sassari’s first breakthrough came at the end of the first quarter: 4/6 from 3 and Marshall Jr’s 10 points made it 28-21 in the 10th minute. Banco di Sardegna’s percentages remain very high in the first half: in the 15th minute the score is 41-30, with Dinamo shooting 7/9 from the arc. Trento responds with a run of 17-4, and Aldridge’s triple at the siren makes it 49-50 at halftime. The trips to the line seem to make the difference in the second half: L’Aquila will finish 31/36 against the hosts’ 16/24. Battle and Jones lead Trento to what appears to be the decisive breakaway, but Buie (17 and 9 assists) and Johnson respond: it reaches 20” from the end at 87-88. From there, Thomas decides to win it: first on offense, grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring the passing basket, then on defense, blocking Jones’ penetration attempt at the end.

Sassari: Johnson 19, Buie 17, Marshall 14

Trent: Battle 22, Jones 19, Jakimosvski 15

Varese-Cantù 91-82

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After six consecutive defeats, Varese chooses probably the most awaited match of the season to get back up and return to victory: Openjobmetis wins the derby with Cantù, thanks to a great performance from Iroegbu and the impact of Nkamhoua and Assui. However, the Brienza boys started off strongly (4-14 at the start) with Gilyard: Cantù remained ahead until halfway through the second quarter, when Iroegbu broke out. The Nigerian point guard turns everything around, one penetration after another, and also scores the basket to make it 43-40 at the end of the first half. Then, in the second half, Cantù’s percentages collapsed (8/33 from 3 and 36% from the field), with Varese running away (70-57 at 30′). Despite the superiority in offensive rebounding (9-15) and several trips to the line, Acqua San Bernardo did not completely reopen the match: thanks above all to Assui, who was decisive in both defense and attack (he made the basket to make it 82-67 in the 35th minute) and to Nkamhoua, who closed the match with the triple for +10 1′ from the siren.

Varese: Iroegbu 25, Nkamhoua 16, Assui 12

Cantu: Gilyard 17, Ajayi 15, Bortolani 13

Reggio Emilia – Venice 79-89

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Only three field goals for Venezia in the first 10′. Reggio on the other hand never makes mistakes, or almost never: 11/18 from the field led by Caupain who plays the point guard but also the pivot: 4 rebounds and 4 assists (in the end 12) in the 1st quarter alone. There is no time out that matters for coach Spahia: triple by Vitali (formerly on duty) and maximum advantage 26-10, distance also maintained at the end of the period (28-12). Valentine breaks the rhythm with a triple and goes wild: he scores 12 in the 2nd quarter alone with 4/5 from the arc (4/7 at the end). Partial score 6-19 and coach Priftis is forced to use up the available timeouts before the half but Reyer doesn’t stop: the tie arrives 3′ from the break, 42-42. Balance, but also nervousness: coach on the Umana bench. The advantage that Reggio manages to maintain until the end of the 1st half (47-46) does not last long. Cole-Bowman-Parks: three triples in a row in the first 3′ of the second half and Venezia scores: 57-53. Emiliani without a goal for 4 minutes, Cole takes the lagoon players by the hand and gives them the maximum lead: 66-53 halfway through the 3rd quarter. Barford breaks his fast but Venezia now also controls the rebounds: 5 in attack only in the third period, which ends 57-68. It’s not over. In 4′ Reggio comes back to 70-71 thanks to the Williams-Smith-Echeniuque trio. The effort, however, is too great, Una Hotels doesn’t find the clarity to overtake while on the other side Rj Cole is glacial with the triple to make it 76-72 with 5′ to go. Reggio doesn’t collapse but loses contact and never finds it again, Uglietti commits a foul on Cole’s 3-pointer, also the man with the most points in the season, and scores the score 89-79 from the line, 30” from the siren. Reggio with their eighth defeat in a row between the LBA and the Fiba Cup, for Venezia their fourth victory in a row in the championship.

Reggio Emilia: Williams 21, Barford 20, Echenique 10. Venice: Cole 29, Valentina 23, Parks 12.