Defeat for Guerri Napoli who lost away to Acqua San Bernardo Cantù 94-77, in the match of the twenty-second round of Serie A, played this afternoon at the PalaDesio. Coach Magro's team attempted a comeback in the final quarter, coming back to -6, before falling behind in the final minutes. Marshall made his debut, while El Amin, the leading scorer, was ejected for a technical and unsportsmanlike offense.
Guerri got off to a strong start with a 0-5 run from El Amin and Totè, who scored again from deep, before Cantù tied the score. The game was evenly matched at this point, with El Amin making no mistakes from the free throw line, Totè posting up, but Bortolani's three-pointer giving Cantù their first lead. The home team continued their 9-0 run, interrupted by Marshall's three-pointer, making his debut. The quarter ended 20-16 with a score from Okeke. Teams scores in the second quarter, with Caruso and Okeke, Cantù goes back to +6 with Green, 30-24, 1 of 2 from the free throw line by Whaley who then blocks Fevriere, Flagg finds two points from mid-range but De Nicolao hits a 3-pointer, 33-27 at half ot the period, Napoli calls a timeout. Ballo brings Cantù to +8 on offensive rebounds. The quarter ends on 41-33 for Cantù.
The home team started the second half well with a 5-0 run interrupted by El Amin, but Bortolani hit another 3-pointer. Cantù jumped to a 15-point lead with Fevrier, El Amin tried to keep Guerri in contact, but Sneed was perfect from the line. The Azzurri relied once again on El Amin, who scored the points to bring the score to -10, 56-46 with four remaining. Cantù, however, decisively extended the lead with another 9-0 run from Ballo and Green. In the final minutes, the Azzurri managed to mount a 7-0 run to bring the score to 67-58 at the end of the third quarter. Caruso scores a great basket, but Moraschini scores a sensational one from midcourt to make it 70-60. The Azzurri don't give up and get back within 6 points, with Okeke hitting 1 of 2 from the line. Fevrier brings his team back to a 10-point lead, 74-64, and El Amin commits an unsportsmanlike foul on Moraschini and is forced to leave the court. Moraschini himself scores another basket at the buzzer, Guerri tries her hand at the line, but Cantù, with Fevrier, brings their team back to a 15-point lead, 83-68 with 4 minutes remaining. The match ends 94-77 for Cantù.
Coach Alessandro Magro:
"We knew it would be a tough game on a very hot court. Cantù did a good job filling the paint with their physicality. We'd had a good week of practice. The two new players are still a bit out of step with the team. They made mistakes that we paid for. In crucial moments, Cantù found key baskets, I'm thinking of Moraschini's one for example. It was difficult to get back into the game, also due to El-Amin's ejection. We struggled to score; we almost never managed to run. We lost an important game, but I saw a team that tried to build. We mustn't give up, building on the good work we've done, and we need to prepare for another battle with Varese. We must get out of this moment through hard work alone. There are some positives, especially the impact of some players. We're waiting for Doyle's arrival to complete the roster; he could give us a little more unpredictability that we'd been missing."