Bologna, 27 February 2022 – It was supposed to be the redemption match and so it was. L’Italbasket raises his head after the knockout suffered a few days ago in Hafnafjordur and in the second match of the February window of qualifiers for the 2023 World Cup makes the pair toIceland beating her 95-87 at the end of a match full of entertainment and sometimes played at a frenzied pace. The blues, who immediately had to deal with the injury occurred to Stefano Tonut at the start of the racetook a quarter to take the steps to Iceland, but then, dragged on by Amedeo Della Valle (best blue scorer with 26 points seasoned by 4 rebounds and 5 assists) and directed by Diego Flaccadori, raised the revs of their engine in the second portion of the race, putting the reins on Hlinason – who had proved a determining factor a few days ago in Iceland – (despite Tessitori’s problems with fouls) and closing at +8 half of initial competition (53-45). After the long break, the decisive draw came, propitiated by a high-level defense led by Pajola and an attack supported by a Michele Vitali by 14 points in the fraction (the Reyer player finished with a loot of 17 points). Then, reaching their peak at +19, the Azzurri managed to manage the Icelanders’ last attempts to recover, who were not enough with the 30 points of Elvar Fridriksson and the 16 of the former Fortitudo Bologna Jon Axel Gudmundsson.
The race
Iceland immediately tried to take advantage of the pick and roll to find the heart of the blue area and hurt Italy. Mission accomplished at least until Nico Mannion turned on (10 points in the first quarter alone) who took the keys to the attack of the Azzurri who replied blow for blow to the opponents and closed a first quarter played at -1 at -1. decidedly high rhythms (27-28). In the second portion of the match, Italy managed to further raise its level with the direction of Flaccadori and the baskets of Della Valle (15 points in the first 20 ‘) which led to the blue +8 in the middle of the match (53-45). After the long break, the decisive extension arrived, an 8-0 son of a grim defense led by Pajola and of an attack that got wings thanks to the jabs from Michele Vitali’s bow (17 points in the third quarter). Touched +19 on 84-65Italy has basically started the end credits of the match because Iceland, despite the generous attempt to recover at the end, was no longer able to worry Della Valle and his teammates.
