Bertram Derthona Tortona - Napoli Basketball 87-76
(23-19, 20-22, 22-14, 22-21)
Napoli stay in the game for the first two quarters, but then lost to league leaders Bertram Tortona in the final minutes with a score of 87-76. Six players scored in double figures, with Caruso limited in his use due to a blow to the face suffered at the start of the game.
Gorham's first shot of the game. Napoli immediately loses Caruso to a blow to the face that forces the center to undergo medical treatment. Bertram takes a 9-4 lead, but Mitrou-Long's shot puts the Azzurri back in front. Midway through the period, Tortona leads 11-8. At 13-8 for Tortona, coach Magro calls the first timeout of the game. Simms, Flagg, and Croswell bring the Azzurri back to a 15-15 tie. Caruso returns, and the first quarter ends with Bertram ahead 23-19.
At the start of the second period, Napoli continued to fail from three, and Bertram extended the lead to 29-22. Simms and Flagg tried to respond, but midway through the period, Tortona climbed to an eight-point lead at 34-26. El-Amin hit a three, and Bolton, with a splendid drive, brought Napoli back within three, 34-31. Bolton was inspired, and with a three-point play, he brought the Azzurri to minus 2. Simms also had a good game, keeping Napoli in the game. Baldasso and Flagg hit three-pointers, and at halftime, Tortona closed the lead at 43-41.
At the start of the third quarter, Hubb scored eight consecutive points, Napoli was slow on offense, and Tortona jumped to a nine-point lead at 52-43, forcing Magro to call a timeout. Croswell tried to respond with three points, but Tortona extended the lead to ten at 56-46 at middle. Napoli continued to make numerous mistakes on offense, and with Tortona up eleven at 62-51, Magro called another one-minute timeout. The third quarter ended with the Azzurri within ten at 65-55.
At the start of the final quarter, Napoli tried to react with El-Amin and Flagg, but Tortona replied the comeback attempt and regained the lead by 11. At mid-quarter, Bertram led 82-67. At the end of the game, Tortona managed the advantage and celebrated its 70th anniversary and first spot in the league beating Napoli by a score of 87-76.
Box Score:
Flagg 11, Mitrou-Long 10, El-Amin 11, Croswell 13, Simms 10, Bolton 12, Treier 2, Gentile 2, Caruso, Faggian 5, Saccoccia n.e., Gloria n.e.
Coach Alessandro Magro:
"Congratulations to Tortona for this incredible arena, which should be taken as an example. We objectively had a very difficult night. I expected more disciplined game from my players, and I obviously take my responsibility for the fact that we reached a level of energy and focus that wasn't good against such a talented team. We prepared the game to limit their three-point shooting, but in transition, we were objectively punished defensively and offensively every time we tried to run. We were very hasty, mistaking haste for speed. If you have 11 assists and 17 turnovers against such a strong team on the road, it becomes quite difficult to win. We took a step back from last week in terms of application and physicality. It's part of the process. It's a game we need to digest and get over quickly because we have another high-profile team like Trapani at home on Wednesday. The goal is to understand that we need to be much tougher and more physical and start over from the mistakes we've made. Once again, the turnovers prevented us from recovering and staying in the game, but on the contrary, they allowed Tortona to counterattack, which hurt us."