Cantù gets unblocked in Reggio Emilia, Walter De Raffaele not satisfied

Aqua S.Bernardo Cantù finds the first away win of its season. The biancoblù come out in the second half and beat Reggio Emilia with a final score of 78-79 after a mighty comeback. Coach Walter De Raffaele chooses Chiozza, Bortolani, Sneed, Ajayi and Ballo for his first quintet. Bortolani scores the first five points of the game, then Williams unlocks the red-and-whites. Cantù shoots well from the arc and remains in command. However, the hosts manage to come back and find their first lead in the last minute of the fraction, which ends 20-19.

Martino Davidi

Ballo brings Cantù back ahead, but Reggio Emilia immediately responds and with a break touches +10. Moraschini leads the Acqua S.Bernardo reaction, which gets back to -4. UNAHotels hits a barrage of three-pointers and regains a double-digit lead. Barford’s triple at the buzzer is worth the 45-31 with which the first two quarters end. Acqua S.Bernardo comes out of the locker room well and thanks to Ajayi, Bortolani and Sneed gets back to -2. Brown unlocks Reggio Emilia with a 4-point game. Cantù doesn’t get rattled and responds, always staying one possession away. The white-and-blue end an excellent third quarter down 58-56.

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Barford and Moraschini open the last fraction with two triples. Green sinks the basket for the new Canturino lead, but Caupain answers with a triple. The two teams answer each other blow by blow, but thanks to De Nicolao’s free throws, it is Cantù that enters the last three minutes of the game ahead by one point. Barford and Ballo score in the two areas. Free throws by Caupain and Sneed tie the game with 45 seconds left at the buzzer. It is Caupain’s free throws again that give the hosts the lead. Green is fouled on the three-point shot and makes a 3/3. Reggio Emilia fails to score in the last attack and Cantù wins.

“I’m very happy for the players, for the ownership and for the fans, because nine defeats undermine any environment a lot – is Walter De Raffaele’s comment at the end of the game -. This victory can give us oxygen. It is a team that needs to work a lot, on many things, also because we have had few trainings”.

“It is a win we wanted, especially changing so many things at halftime defensively: in the first two quarters Reggio Emilia had been very good at punishing us in pick and roll situations. We were good in the last two quarters to do something different on defense, making important steps as evidenced by the 33 points scored by our opponents. This is an important win. We still have a lot to fix, but the intensity this team can produce is very high and we just have to work”, added De Raffaele.