Brindisi, narrow comeback and bitter Europe Cup debut

Frank Vitucci’s men came close to a comeback.

Bitter debut in FIBA Europe Cup for Happy Casa Brindisi, defeated at home at PalaPentassuglia by BC Budivelnik within an evening of sport and solidarity in which the 1,200 fans present were able to applaud openly the twinning between the two teams.

The match saw the guests in command since the two-ball, much more determined and concrete at the start in the first half able to block the spearheads of Happy Casa stopped at only 30 points in 20 minutes. The hosts’ comeback materialized on the shoulders of Perkins, the entries of Mascolo and Riismaa and Reed’s raids. Brindisi gets as close as -2 with three minutes to go (61-63) but misses the shot of the final hook-up and overtake. Budivelnyk grabbed an important win in the finale (70-74) to open round F, in which the Estonians of Kalev/Cramo won in their home opener against the Dutchmen of Groningen.

Next round of the Europe Cup on Wednesday 19 in the Netherlands at home to Groningen; Happy Casa will return to the court Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Forum in Milan to face Italian champions Olimpia.