Final Eight Coppa Italia: Milan first finalist, Brescia beaten
Final Eight Coppa Italia: Milan first finalist, Brescia beaten
At’Inalpi Arena L’EA7 Emporio Armani Milano beats Germani Brescia 74-69 and goes to the final where it will seekà the thirteenth success in the competition against the winner between Dolomiti Energia Trentino and Pallacanestro Trieste.
Not even time to sit in the stands that Mannion, at the end of a perfect choral action, punishes Brescia through a triple from the corner. Germani doesn’t flinch and stays on the waterline, although shooting percentages are poor, thanks to a strong defensive application and attention in the defensive rebounding battle. Milan, along the axis composed of Dimitrijevic and Shields, who write five points of discrepancy between the sides, tries to take off, but Burnell and Della Valle, with grit and cynicism, continue to make their direct competitors feel the breath on their necks by equalizing the accounts of the dispute at the stroke of the first siren.
The second partial, at least in its embryonic phase, è of Brescian plate. Burnell and Ndour built a lightning fast 4-0 partial, cutting the enemy’s pitturato in two. Emporio Armani, as a strong and ambitious team, with patience and lucidity, sews up the slight white-blue tear, relying on the polite shooting hands of Shields and Mannion. Brescia accepts the challenge with great courage, continuing in the’execution of the game plan desired by coach Giuseppe Poeta. The game lives of overtakes and counter-overtakes, Dimitrijevic, following a burglary against Della Valle, deposits the lead, forcing the Brescia technical staff to suspend time. It’ a choice that pays off: Bilan a few seconds before the long break brings the delay to one length.
The third quarter è spariglive; by two beautifully crafted baskets by Ndour and Rivers, until then opaque, interspersed with a triple by Shields, the best among the meneghine ranks. The Senegalese long, on Ivanovic’s kissing service, nails a bimane that gives Germani a three-point lead, forcing coach Ettore Messina to suspend the half. On the resumption of hostilities; Leday breaks the red and white fast from the lunette, but Bilan, in the low post, and Ivanovic in penetration, push Germani to the five-point lead. Mirotic, on the offensive end, and the collective of the EA7, in closing the pitturato, allow the red shoes, to launch the new overtaking. Brescia did not give up and, through a great spirit of sacrifice, put its head ahead by a plug with ten minutes to go.
In the last fraction of the game Olimpia immediately attacked Germani, writing a dry 0-5 partial by Tonut and Shields. Brescia moves its scoreboard with a Della Valle free, due to a technical foul given to coach Ettore Messina. EA7 raises the level of intensity on both sides of the court, flying on the seven-point lead, while Germani remains stuck in the post, fighting with the iron, especially from beyond the arc. Milan, strengthened by its international caliber and experience, inserts the autopilot, stifling any white-blue ambitions and winning the ticket to the final, although Ndour and Dowe keep alive a glimmer of hope.
GERMANI BRESCIA-EA7 EMPORIO ARMANI MILANO 69-74 (16-16;17-18;19-17;17-23)
GERMANI BRESCIA: Ivanovic 11, Della Valle 4, Rivers 3, Ndour 20, Bilan 17, Dowe 7, Burnell 6, Cournooh 1, Ferrero ne, Mobio ne, Pollini ne, Tonelli ne. Coach: Giuseppe Poeta.
EA7 EMPORIO ARMANI MILANO: Mannion 7, Bolmaro 8, Shields 19, Leday 3, Gillespie 4, Mirotic 14, Flaccadori 6, Ricci 5, Dimitrijevic 4, Tonut 3, Diop 1, Caruso ne. Coach: Ettore Messina.
REBITTERS: Attard, Grigioni, Valzani
