L'Italbasket overcomes Banchi’s Latvia in memory of Marco Bonamico. Pozzecco’s dedication

Third win in as many matches in preparation for the European Championships for Gianmarco Pozzecco’s Italbasket, which on Saturday evening beat Latvia led by Luca Banchi 91-75 (27-25, 46-43, 69-63) in Trieste. Main protagonist of the match was Simone Fontecchio, top scorer with 21 points, also in double figures were Pippo Ricci with 16, Nicolò Melli with 13, Matteo Spagnolo with 12 and Marco Spissu with 11.

On the other hand, the 14 points each scored by Kristaps Porzingis and Kristers Zoriks were not enough, nor were the 13 by Davis Bertans and 10 by Rolands Simts. In front of the 5,200 spectators at PalaTrieste the match remained alive and balanced for three quarters, with Italy even down by 7 points at the beginning of the third period, but the Azzurri flew in the last 10 minutes up to +17 on 82-65 and, in fact, never had to look back.

At the end of the game, Gianmarco Pozzecco wanted to dedicate the success to a great champion who passed away a few days ago: “The first thought goes to Marco Bonamico and his family– he said -. Great man and great player, he taught me so much”. On the prospects of the national team, he added: “I have already said it, we are an open construction site and we continue to work”.

“There is enthusiasm but we have to channel it well and keep our feet on the ground– added Pozzecco. Thompson will fit in but it will not be complicated in a group like this”. Pippo Ricci in turn confirmed the good feelings: “We are training well and on the court we wanted to transmit all the energy that the arena gave us. We succeeded. We imposed our game as we wanted and always put intensity. We are happy with the result but it is only the third game out of six and there is still a lot of work to be done”.