Eurocup, Umana Reyer Venezia routs Hamburg
Hamburg-Venice 77-90
Umana Reyer Venezia won 77-90 in Round 14 of BKT Eurocup 2024/25 on the court of Veolia Hamburg Towers, climbing to an 8-6 record in Group B standings and keeping itself well alive in the playoff zone. Top scorer orogranata è was Parks with 19 points and 7 rebounds, followed by Wiltjer (16 points and 7 rebounds) and Kabengele (11 points and 9 rebounds).
Balanced, high-tempo start to the game, as Parks and Wiltjer from distance immediately unblocked Reyer but Kuath’s verticalism and baskets from distance by Ivey and Rich wrote 10-10 on the scoreboard. After that, Reyer turns up its defense and concretizes on the other side with Wiltjer from the arc and Kabengele and Simms in the pitturato, closing a 0-8 break interrupted by Lottie’s three-point play and Stove’s 15-18 counterattack support. Umana per’s showing its muscles again by sealing another partial, this time of 0-12, opened by Moretti and Fernandez threes and continued by Casarin’s energy in transition, before Stove beats the quarter siren with the 17-30 support. The Venetian wave continued in the second half as well, as Lever and Moretti from distance and a Simms counterattack launched Reyer to +17 while Hamburg relied on Ivey’s talent and quickness to try to react (27-41). A spectacular closed alley-oop between Ennis and Kabengele and a wild card drawn by Casarin at the 24-yard buzzer later updated the maximum Orogranata lead to +19, leaving Parks and Wiltjer then to rebound to Ivey and Stove for 34-52. As time expired, Parks again showed his repertoire with a winning post-basket and a triple and closed out the Laggunarians’ excellent opening 20’ with the 36-57 triple.
The plot of the match did not change at the start of the second half, with Ennis slicing through the opponent’s defense and twice triggering Parks from the arc and fending off perimeter assaults by Wimberg and Ivey, propelling Venice to 46-71. Ogbe’s free throws and a winning Giessemann counterattack, however, spearheaded Hamburg’s surge of pride, which answered Lever with baskets from distance by Barnett and Stove halving the gap to 63-74. A game-winning half-break by Simms put a damper on the 12-0 Teutonic break but again Stove beat the third-quarter buzzer by signing the 65-76 jumper. At the end of the quarter, Venice shook it off with Parks and Simms in the area stopping the impetuosity of Kuath and Barnett and keeping the distance at 71-80 with just under 6’ to go. After that, the Towers’ offensive fury stops and Kabengele and Parks show their muscles again and the orogranatas get the helm of the match clearly back in their hands and Ennis signs the bomb that puts the lacquer wax on the match. It ends 77-90.
The orogranata will now return to the court on Sunday, January 12 at 4:30 p.m. (live on DAZN and Eurosport 2) on the court of Vanoli Basket Cremona while in the Eurocup they will be on home court on Wednesday, January 15 at 8 p.m. against U-BT Cluj-Napoca.
