An embarrassing 18 out of 37—Mario Fioretti is in over his head: “I’ve never seen anything like this at this level.”

Two and a half hours of battle, a comeback completed at the buzzer of regulation time, and a finish that leaves only bitterness. Bertram Derthona Tortona came close to pulling off an upset on the road against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, but ultimately fell 73-71 at the end of a hard-fought game full of twists and turns. The Bianconeri managed to force overtime with a true feat in the final moments of the fourth quarter, only to pay dearly for too many missed free throws (18 of 37, with Maddox the most off-target at 3 of 8) and a conclusion that favored the Slovenian hosts.

At the Arena Stožice, the opportunity to secure the team’s first road win of the season and take an important step toward the Group A playoffs of the BKT Eurocup thus slipped away. For the Piedmontese team, the regret remains of having come close to victory several times without being able to seal the deal. After six regular-season games, the Bianconeri’s European record is thus back in perfect balance, with three wins and three losses.

“It was a hard-fought game; it seemed like we were in control when we built a double-digit lead in the third quarter, but then we fell apart due to several silly mistakes in the final period. We managed to claw our way back and force overtime, but even in overtime, more silly mistakes cost us the game.”

“Obviously, our defensive screening wasn’t up to par, and our free-throw performance isn’t even worth mentioning—I’ve never seen a team shoot less than 50% from the line at this level.”