Venice wins it over Tortona, Spahija: "What doesn’t kill you…"

Reyer Venezia beat Derthona Tortona in the decisive Game 5 of the playoff quarterfinal series, qualifying for the semifinals after a tight game at Taliercio that ended 89-83 for the home team. After the match coach Neven Spahija congratulated his team and Tortona: “We both showed great quality, I think it was the best playoff series since I’ve been here.”

“We changed a lot, they changed. Bertram is a very good team, they always stuck to the game. In theory when you play a fifth game there is some parity, but I think we deserved to go through. I thank the fans who helped us today. We got our usual numbers back and the defense did well too. Are we tough to die? When a team takes so many blows in the season it is tougher, they say in Croatia though that it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.”

In the semifinals Reyer will face the defending champions Virtus Bologna: “What do I need to correct? For now I only need to correct my shirt that doesn’t fit right now…. I’m not talking about anything else, just this competition. The team was very solid mentally, we learned, we didn’t give up and that makes you tougher.”

Venice’s top scorer was Cole, who also contributed 6 assists and three rebounds. Also noteworthy for Reyer were the performances of Tessitori (13 points and 8 rebounds), Bowman and Valentine (10 points apiece).