Trieste, 21 December 2024 – It's there second consecutive victory with the consequent sixth place alone, at least until tomorrow, the early Christmas present that Pallacanestro Trieste discarded after defeating Vanoli Cremona 91-83 in the advance match of the 12th round of the Unipolsai Serie A championship. Coach Jamion Christian's men were the protagonists of an extremely solid performance, leading for most of the 40' of the game and resisting the courageous comeback of the Lombards, who briefly put their heads ahead in the third quarter and then ended up holding their breath again , under shots from the bow of Colbey Ross (20 points with 4/6 from beyond 6.75 meters) e Denzel Valentine (19 points topped with 6 rebounds) who significantly increased the Giuliani's three-point shooting percentages in the second half – from 26.7% in the middle of the match to 39.3% at the end – and put their signatures on this seal. Supporting them were Jared Uthoff (15 points), Jayce Johnson, who finished in a double double with 14 points and 16 rebounds, and Jeff Brooks (10 points). Vaboli, who with this knockout remains in penultimate place in the standings with four points under her belt, however, were not enough with 20 points from Dario Dreznjak, 13 from former player Corey Davis and 12 from Taijon Jones.
The match report
The excellent work done on rebounds – and especially under the attack boards – and a good distribution of baskets among the collective they allowed the Giulians to start strong and reach the double-digit lead at 18-6, signed after a valuable step back from Uthoff. However, Vanoli's response was ready and, thanks to a 7-0 counterbreak, she got back on track by closing the opening quarter just six points behind (23-17). An illusory rapprochement, because in the second half the greater physicality in Trieste's paint made itself felt again and the advantage consequently grew again up to the new double digits (33-23), before the plays of Drenzjak and Davis who still held a never tamed Vanoli clinging to the match with all her strength (39-33). The Lombards' courage and determination did not end with the long interval.
Upon returning from the locker rooms, in fact, coach Cavina's team further increased the engine speed and, driven by the triples of Willis and Dreznjak, were even able to put the arrow on the overtaking and subsequently reach their maximum advantage at 46-49. In the moment of maximum difficulty for the Giulians, however, Colbey Ross came to the rescue, warming his hand with three close-range triples, raising the red and white percentages in outside shooting and bringing forward a Trieste who then placed a 10-2 partial and regained an 8-point lead. Jones then tried to stem the bleeding with five points in a row but the hosts still entered the final quarter at 66-58 and in the final 10 minutes they found the right spearheads in Uthoff, Ruzzier and Johnson to place the final reach and place your hands on the two points.
