With two Americans it would have been a tough climb. Without Hasbrouck, on the bench cheering on a physical problem on Saturday afternoon, and with just eleven minutes from Davis, he became a sixth grade without ropes and carabiners. This explains why Edilnol fell to sea level while trying to climb to the top of Udine: the home bianconeri explained with an 88-59 why they are among the favorites for the promotion (three wins out of three, all over double margin figure), folding a Biella that became even shorter when Luca Vincini injured his ankle, almost as soon as he entered to seat a Davis full of two fouls right away. The rossoblù have tried to do theirs, that is to attack and run. They did it in reduced ranks and in attack they bumped against Boniciolli’s organization, but also against the Juventus physicist (8 blocks suffered are enough?). The ultra-serious referee meter, with 30 fouls whistled to 29, only served to take the breath away even at the show. Only the home fans enjoyed themselves, certainly not Zanchi who could not even make progress in shaping his own.
Without Hasbrouck, Bertetti returns to the quintet for Biella with Soviero, Pollone, Davis and Morgillo. Udine responds with Cappelletti, Lautier-Ogunleye, Italiano, Esposito and Walters. The balance lasts just over three minutes, when Lautier’s bomb says 7-4 for the home team when Zanchi has already lost the only American available by two fouls in two minutes. Naive Davis, no doubt, but it is the first symptom of a triad of whistles that do not forgive even the hands that barely touch the bodies of others. In fact, shortly after, the Friulians lost first Italian (for him also a blow to the knee) and then Cappelletti, on the bench with two personal. A 0-4 by Morgillo and Soviero keeps Edilnol at 11-8 but the fastest to understand how to attack the rival defense is also the most experienced team on the pitch. Giuri’s 17-8 was born from a lost ball by Bianchi. Bertetti’s triple that follows is the last Biella basket. With Vincini who is accompanied with his arms on the bench with a knocked ankle to reduce Zanchi’s rotations even more, the end of the period is black and white: at the siren it is 27-11 with Davis who has time to commit the third foul in attack.
It already seems like a sentence, but on the return from the mini-interval the best things are rossoblù, for example the two triples of Pollone and Bianchi after a quarter with 30 percent from the field, or Morgillo who closes the partial 2-8 with a steady hand . There is a Zanchi timeout on the new -13 to give another round to the defense bolts that he continues to hold. Just Morgillo puts his own: two baskets in a row and an assist to Infante to stay at -11, a support on Soviero’s illuminating pass to return to -8. In the middle, lots of whistles that bring the count of fouls to 16-16 in the middle of the race, an enormous amount. The 42-32 of the siren is a solid insurance for Udine’s second half but not a guarantee.
The best moment of the match is at the beginning of the third period. The merit, on the part of the rossoblù, goes to Matteo Pollone and his three bombs one after the other, for holding on to the -10 when even Udine always found the basket from afar. When Soviero misses the penetration of the possible -8, it is as if the game ended suddenly. The home team puts in a mini-partial of 5-0, Zanchi’s timeout is of little use because there are blocks: there will be five, three of which by Pellegrino, in the fourth that ends with a +17, the maximum Juventus advantage, and with Biella who runs out of points for six minutes straight. The wind does not change in the final period: the gap exceeds 20 points with Walters’ two free throws and passes 30 three minutes from the siren, when the game has become a kind of via crucis between one referee’s whistle and another. Davis (with zero points), Pellegrino, Walters and Morgillo come out for five fouls. At the siren the -29 is almost logical and it is not the strangest figure of a match that Edilnol closes by shooting better from the field (22/62, 35 percent) than from the line, with an 8/24 in which the 2/11 by Matteo Pollone. Yet it was him, despite everything, the best on the field in an evening in which courageous eyes were needed. He, with 22 points and 12 fouls suffered, had them for sure.
Old Wild West Udine-Edilnol Biella 88-59
Udine: Cappelletti 9 (3/6, 1/2), Lautier-Ogunleye 13 (3/3, 2/3), Italian 3 (0/2, 1/2), Esposito 6 (2/4), Walters 15 ( 5/6), Giuri 12 (3/7, 0/4), Nobile 5 (0/4 of three), Ebeling 5 (1/3 of three), Antonutti 11 (1/3, 3/4), Pellegrino 7 (2/2), Pieri 2 (1/2). Coach: Boniciolli.
Biella: Soviero 8 (2/7, 0/1), Bertetti 12 (3/5, 2/8), Pollone 22 (4/9, 4/6), Davis (0/2, 0/2), Morgillo 11 (5/7, 0/1), Bianchi 3 (0/1, 1/2), Porfilio (0/4, 0/3), Vincini (0/1, 0/1), Infante 3 (1/1 , 0/1), Hasbrouck ne. Coach: Zanchi.
Partials: 27-11, 15-21, 30-16, 16-11.
From two: Udine 20/35, Biella 15/37. From three: Udine 8/22, Biella 7/25. Free throws: Udine 24/31, Biella 8/24.
Rebounds: Udine 45 (Walters 8), Biella 36 (Pollone 9). Assist: Udine 24 (Cappelletti 6), Biella 14 (Soviero 6)