Italbasket, European qualification despite knockout

Italy-Iceland 74-81

Italy will play the EuroBasket 2025. The Azzurri, even before facing Iceland in Reggio Emilia, got the European pass thanks to a victory over Turkey in Hungary in the afternoon (76-81). At the PalaBigi, moreover sold-out for the’occasion, it was the guests (74-81) who got the better of it.

The best scorer Azzurro è was Giampaolo Ricci with 18 points, in double figures also Michele Vitali and Diego Flaccadori with 10. Kristinn Pallson the top scorer of the game with 22 points and 5/6 from the’arc.
Debut with the Senior Jersey for Dame Sarr.

Coach Pozzecco analyzed the evening as follows: "Our heart è divided in half: on the one hand the joy for the qualification that è matured with the success of Turkey in Hungary, on the other hand the sadness for not being able to repay the extraordinary welcome that the cityà of Reggio Emilia, Pallacanestro Reggiana and the PalaBigi reserved for us. Congratulations to Iceland, we knew they were a’very good team and tonight they deserved to win by playing an aggressive and effective basketball: after tonight we have the confirmation that we can win and lose with any team. It depends a lot on the’intensity’that we bring to the court and tonight, although it should not be an alibi, maybe they were hungrier than we were. I thank those who contributed to our success in Iceland, tonight we presented another roster and I need to work with this group with more continuity before the European Championship, which we are very happy to play next summer”.

He was echoed by Nik Melli: “It’s been a special day for me, playing in the national team in my cityà è it was beautiful and I want to thank once again the PalaBigi crowd for the support that never failed us in the 40 minutes. Congratulations to Iceland who fully deserved the victory, we are happy with the qualification but there’è;s also a lot of bitterness for the result tonight”.