Napoli Basket picked up another preseason win as Coach Alessandro Magro’s squad defeated Tezenis Verona, a Serie A2 team, 90–80. American forward Savion Flagg sat out as a precaution due to muscle fatigue.
Napoli started strong behind an energized Jordan Simms and a bucket from Alessandro Gentile. Verona traded baskets early, but Simms threw down a dunk off a Quadir El-Amin assist to put Napoli ahead 11–9. Making his preseason debut, Kaspar Treier—just back from EuroBasket with Estonia—helped keep things even, and his three-pointer tied the game at 20–20 at the end of the first quarter. In the second, a Faggian triple sparked Napoli, though Verona responded with threes from Zampini and Monaldi to level it at 28–28. Key buckets from Filippo Caruso and Faggian pushed Napoli back in front, and with Caruso and El-Amin adding more offense, the team took a 46–39 lead into halftime.
Caruso opened the third quarter with five quick points, but Verona answered with a 7–0 run to go ahead 54–52. Napoli regained momentum with a Bolton basket and a Simms three, then rode a 9–0 run fueled by Croswell to surge ahead 63–52. The team controlled the tempo and entered the fourth up 71–62. Napoli stretched the lead to 84–68 on another Croswell-led run, forcing a Verona timeout. From there, Coach Magro’s side managed the game and closed out a deserved 90–80 victory.
Box Score:
Croswell 15, Simms 14, Caruso 13, El-Amin 13, Bolton 11, Treier 9, Gentile 7, Faggian 6, Saccocia 2, Gloria DNP, Forchetta DNP.
Coach Magro’s comments:
“We played a solid game against a well-prepared, well-coached team that has been performing at a high level. It was another good contest on both sides. We spread out the minutes, had nearly six guys in double figures, and shared the scoring load—that gives us confidence in the direction we’re going. Now we’ll work to get Savion Flagg back as soon as possible, and next week we expect Naz Mitrou-Long to arrive so we can finally practice with a full roster.”
Napoli Basket will be back on the court Saturday, September 20 at 8:00 p.m. in another preseason test against JL Bourg-en-Bresse of France’s Pro A League.
Credits: Scaligera Basket / @dnldmr.ph