Fourth consecutive defeat for Pallacanestro Varese who, without Nico Mannion, lost at home against Trapani with the result of 109 to 100. The red and whites will return to the field in exactly one week when they host Pistoia at the Itelyum Arena. Tap-off at 7pm.
The start of the match is balanced: Varese thrives on the gusts of Librizzi and Brown, while Trapani remains attached to the match (14-10) thanks to Alibegovic and Robinson. Fall’s entry gives a different defensive dimension to the red and whites who are able to get to +7 (19-12) with Alviti, a gap that the guests are able to close after Repesa’s timeout, but which the hosts are good at to restore for 33-24 in the 10th minute.
Librizzi opens the second period with a bomb that explodes the Itelyum Arena, followed by a 4-point play by Alviti which is worth the temporary +14 (40-26). The Sharks suffer the blow and lose again (48-30), only to then come back to -5 (55-50) thanks to the contribution of the Petrucelli-Yeboah duo, which forces coach Mandole to time out. The short stop unlocks Openjobmetis (Librizzi’s basket), but does not change the gap which, at 20′, is still +5 (57-52).
Varese returns to +9 (63-54) at the start of the third quarter thanks to Librizzi and Brown and holds off against a new return from Trapani (63-60) once again extending to +11 (73-62). The Sharks, this time, react well and, taken by the hand by Alibegovic, get back in the wake with the “baskets” of -4 (76-72) gap which, soon, narrows further until Pleiss’s triple which gives Trapani takes the lead in the 30th minute: 78-79.
Openjobmetis opens the last 10′ of the match with a score of 7 to 0 (Harris, Fall and Alviti) which forces coach Repesa to call a timeout. Upon returning to the pitch, the guests scored at 86 and then overtook the red and whites (92-97), forcing coach Mandole to stop the game with 4′ on the clock. The stop unblocks Varese who gets back to -2 with Hands (97-99), but doesn’t stop the Sharks who find poisonous triples from Notae and Petrucelli which, in fact, decide the match.
THE SCORESHEET – THE WORDS OF COACH MANDOLE
