Despite the forced stop that lasted from December 27, the excellent period of form of Pallacanestro Brescia continues. The Lioness hits the fourth victory in the last five outings, overcoming a Brindisi with little energy and ideas. Little room for doubts about who would win, after a first quarter in which Brescia controlled their rivals, the Lombards accelerated by taking the lead in the second half to never look back. The third quarter was decisive, won 20-10 by the boys of coach Magro, who then managed the attempt to return from Brindisi in the closing quarter with coldness and clarity. Five double-digit players for Brescia, who finally catch a signal also from their long department: Gabriel is tonight’s MVP (21 points with 7 rebounds), however not so sharply, but if he starts shooting with decent percentages, adding everything what he is already doing, especially in defense, can become a fundamental piece in the Brescia of the future. Mitrou-Long and Della Valle also did well (22 the first, 16 the second), as well as a Petrucelli of +21 plus / minus, among the best. Toast is small this evening: Josh Perkins disappears after the first quarter, while Nick Perkins has problems with fouls. It follows that the best scorer is Visconti (13 points), which is a symptom that something is wrong. Decisive, in negative, the percentages of travelers, with a measly 20% from the arc on 35 attempts, very little to hope to bring home the big booty. It is true that the Apulians have been stopped due to Covid, but for the Happy Casa this defeat jeopardizes participation in the Pesaro Final Eight, being the sixth in the last seven in the league. A march that coach Vitucci will have to try to reverse, even if Virtus Bologna arrives next week at PalaPentassuglia.
Quintet Brescia: Laquintana, Della Valle, Petrucelli, Gabriel, Burns
Quintet Brindisi: J. Perkins, Chappell, Visconti, Adrian, N. Perkins
Match that immediately highlights the great physicality put in place by the defenses, but at the same time also the quality of the attacks. Brindisi is leading the operations in the first minutes, pushed by the points of Visconti very concrete. Brescia, which has done without Mitrou-Long in the quintet, he found the Canadian almost immediately and began to grind the game. Very good axis Valley-Burns, with the former Milan center that is quick to find points and get Nick to commit Perkins some foul too. The advantage of the travelers never goes beyond 5 points, with Brescia impacting at 17 at 6 ‘of play. Good impact from Moore on the one hand and Josh Perkins on the other, to close the first quarter at 21-22.
In the second quarter the locals try to accelerate with the backcourt Mitrou-Long e Of the valley on shields. The former Buducnost for now is well limited by the bow, but always manages to gain some whistle from the backhoe. On the other side Gaspardo e Udom they are not very precise in shooting, while Clark he loses a few too many balls. It follows that Brescia goes on to lead at 13 ‘with the free of Moore. The Happy Casa appears quite tangled in the offensive phase, succeeding only in situations of counterattack or transition. Brescia, on the other hand, is more square, even in defense, also drawing a couple of jokers of Mitrou-Long, which sends three bombs to target in the second part of the fraction, pushing the Lioness to the maximum advantage (+9, 43-34 at 19 ‘). The former Utah Jazz is in great shape, helping his team-mates to close the first half by 7 points (43-36).
Weather in Petrucelli marks the layup of +9 at the opening of the second half. Brescia touches + 10 shortly after with the rebound tap-in of Of the valley. Toast in difficulty, with Vitucci’s boys trying to stay attached to the race. However, the hosts seem to have more energy, driven by a Gabriel very perky on both sides of the pitch: he owns the +13 basket. Shortly after the same Gabriel scores a triple from 8 meters which is worth +16 from Brescia, with a partial of 16-7 in the third period. Brindisi is on the ropes and relies on Nick Perkins, but with little success, as the gap increases to 18 points. Gaspardo tries to shake his team with a shot from the arch, but at the penultimate siren the road for the guests is steeply uphill, with 17 pitches to recover: 63-46.
5-0 Brindisi, all signed by Adrian, to start the last period trying to put the dispute back on its feet. Immediate timeout of coach Magro, with the Apulians who are now very reactive in defense, managing not to score Brescia for over three minutes (five between the third and fourth fraction). In attack Clark continues to magnify the break for his team (8-0), interrupted by free throws Mitrou-Long. Shortly after it is Gabriel to score from the arc, followed again by the Canadian. In between, Brindisi attempts to make sense of the end of the race. Brescia remains on the piece in a very important way, gathering around Mitrou-Long, which leans against the glass +17 which tastes of ko for the opponents. The ending reads 88-67.
Germani Brescia vs Happy Casa Brindisi 88-67 (21-22; 43-36; 63-46)
Brescia: Gabriel 21, Moore 2, Mitrou-Long 22, Petrucelli 12, Della Valle 16, Eboua 0, Parrillo 0, Cobbins 2, Burns 10, Moss 0, Mobio ne All: Magro.
Brindisi: Adrian 8, J. Perkins 8, N. Perkins 10, Visconti 13, Gaspardo 7, Redivo 5, Clark 7, Chappell 3, Udom 6, Guido ne, Ulaneo ne, Guido ne All: Vitucci
MVP Basketinside: Kenny Gabriel. He has shown that he knows how to defend, that he has above average athleticism and energy. Today he also adds killer instinct to the shot. Sure, the percentages aren’t great, but they’re good enough when added to everything else. Gabriel in his career has shown that he can keep these numbers, if he can keep them Brescia could have found (or rather found) his starting big forward.
