What a shot! After Milan and Naples, even the strong Tortona must bow to Pallacanestro Trieste who went on to take a well-deserved success in Casale Monferrato for what they showed during the match. This time, when Brown only scored eight points, Denzel Valentine was the protagonist, especially in the last quarter when he kept Trieste ahead until the final siren. On the eve of the championship this calendar could have given shivers, but the shivers, the pleasant ones, were given by the team to the fans. Trieste therefore flies. Able to resist in tight finishes, a sign of great mental coolness. Brown on the pitch for 37 minutes, Ross 36, Uthoff 33. These are the most used players in Piedmont. Reyes, on the other hand, did not set foot on the pitch, evidently still injured or not ready.
Valentine breaks the ice from beyond the arc. Vital replies in the same way on the opposite side: 3-3. Derthona doesn’t stop, Vital scores again and then Kamagate: 7-3. Rossi on the line to stop the opponent’s partial: he makes one out of two: 7-4. Locals at 11-6. Three-pointer between Uthoff and Strautins: 14-9. Crushes Uthoff: 14-11. Two free throws from Ross on target: 14-13. Zero on two instead for Johnson: 18-15. Trieste remains close and scores with a triple from Brown: 22-22. With 4″ left in the quarter, Brooks goes to the line, misses the first and scores the second: 22-23 and the teams at the first break. So far 8/8 from two for Tortona; from three instead 2/11 for the Piedmontese and 3/4 for Trieste.
At the start of the second quarter Tortona takes the lead again with Baldasso as the protagonist, first two free throws and then two bombs: 30-25. Uthoff three and dunk by Brooks: 30-30. Denegri from beyond the arc: 33-30. Brown equals: 33-35. And then Ross also scores: 33-37. Trieste extends to +8 with a triple from Ross: 35-43. Last basket of the half by Baldasso who thus reaches 1000 points in his career: 37-43 and the teams at halftime.
Good start for Trieste in the third quarter: Valentine from three and Ross coming in: 39-50. Another triple by Valentine: 39-53. The red and white fans’ eyes shine. Foul by Ross on Kuhse’s three-pointer (he scores all three): 42-53. Two baskets by Johnson keep Tortona behind: 44-57. Brooks from three: 46-60. So far 10/20 for Trieste from 6.75. Ross comes out to catch his breath, the hosts don’t give up: 53-62. A dunk by Kamagate makes it 55-62. The advantage was halved. Brooks fights under the basket and gets the foul, scores both free throws (plus one from Valentine for a technical): 55-65. Baldasso from three: 60-65. Last break with Trieste ahead by five points, a shame because they could have been a little more.
Valentine from afar: 60-68. Weems and Kamagate for 64-68. Very open game. Johnson makes one of two on the line: 64-69. Weems on the other hand doesn’t miss them: 66-69 with less than 7′ to go. Valentine from three: 66-72. Ross makes a mistake on entry, Baldasso on the other hand scores 2+1: 69-72. Valentine again from afar: 69-75. Foul by Valentine himself on Weems’ three-pointer: 3/3 and 72-75 with less than 5’19” left. Ross two free throws, scores one: 72-76. Kamagate: 74-76. Trieste is out of breath. Brooks from three: 74-79. Uthoff on the line, scores one: 74-80 with 2’37” left. Gorham on the line, misses one: 75-80. Ross makes a mistake. Tortona is also wrong. First Ross and then Valentine miss from three. Gorham scores: 77-80. Last minute. Ross misses the triple. Counterattack 4: 79-80. Valentine three free throws at minus 26”, scores them all: 79-83. Trieste recovers the ball and Brooks goes to dunk on Valentine’s assist: 79-85 with 13 points behind. Tortona from three with Kuhse: 82-85 at minus 9″. Trieste throws back but the ball goes out, thrown back to Trieste but instant replay in action. Remittance confirmed. Trieste starts the attack again. Sensational, attacking foul by Brown. Ball to Tortona who misses the shot of desperation.
The scoreboard.
BERTRAM DERTHONA 82
BASKETBALL TRIESTE 85
(22-23; 15-20; 23-22; 22-20)
BERTRAM DERTHONA TORTONA: Zerini, Vital 5, Kuhse 11, Gorham 11, Candi, Farias ne, Denegri 3, Strautins 7, Baldasso 18, Kamagate 12, Biligha 2, Weems 13. All. The Raphaels.
TRIESTE BASKETBALL: Bossi ne, Ross 19, Reyes ne, Deangeli ne, Uthoff 11, Ruzzier, Campogrande ne, Candussi 3, Brown 8, Brooks 13, Johnson 9, Valentine 22. All. Christian.
Note.
2-point shots: Tortona 40/55, Trieste 13/32
3-point shots: Tortona 8/34, Trieste 14/31
Free throws: Tortona 14/16, Trieste 17/24
Rebounds: Tortona 36, Trieste 43
