Trieste made it two from two at the start of the pre-season, leading the match against Treviso with authority from start to finish. The protagonists changed, but the score remained similar to the one already experienced in Castelfranco Veneto against Cremona: this time Candussi and Uthoff led the charge with a rain triple, while the veteran Brown closed the score in the final. The next stage towards the Serie A championship is scheduled for the weekend in Jesolo, where the team will try to continue the good path made so far.
Starting Five Trieste Basketball: Colbey Ross, Markel Brown, Jeffrey Brooks, Jarrod Uthoff, Jayce Johnson
Start with Five Nutribullet Treviso: Ky Bowman, D’Angelo Harrison, Bruno Mascolo, Olsvaldas Olisevicius, Pauly Paulicap
Uthoff opened the ball with a triple after a minute of play, and it was almost time for Olisevicius to close the gap with two free throws; Uthoff, however, was motivated and punished again from the corner. Mazzola found two points, then Valentine first missed and on the second attempt after an offensive rebound he scored the bomb. The success achieved by Brown improved the red and white bench, while Uthoff continued to find the back of the net with a beautiful cut to the basket and Macura responded with an approaching metaphor that met the rim. The five points that accounted for 16-6 heading into Coach Vitucci’s time were Uthoff and Candussi, from three and two. Trieste’s defense forced opponents into a turnover, and it took a strong three-point play by Harrison to shake off Treviso. Candussi converted two free throws earned by fighting in the area, then answered a bomb from Mazzola with the same coin for 21-12. Macura cut short with a rebound, but Candussi recorded another +3 on the scoreboard with a shot from the corner; Torresani and Macura scored four easy points, stopped by a challenge on the glass by Brooks. Bowman scored a layup in front of Deangeli, who redeemed himself with a triple assisted by Valentine before a fade-away by Bowman in the end.
The second quarter opened with a half-hook from Paulicap that was swallowed by the iron after a few seconds of balance, followed by a tap from Brooks. Valentine began to take more responsibility in the attack that provided two points for Trieste, followed by two free throws and a triple from Bowman. Colbey Ross could hardly move his net from a good seven meters, as well as Harrison in the next game and Olisevicius in close: 36-34 for Trieste in the middle of the quarter. Now it was up to Ross to carry most of the offensive load, so after the previous triple two free throws came after a convincing expedition into the paint; Mascolo mimicked him on the attack but he couldn’t stop him on the other half of the court, then Bowman took care of finding himself Mascolo alone under the basket. Candussi made one of the two from the charity stripe, before Brooks made a plastic shot from improving the offensive rebound; after good defense comes another triple from the Friulian big man forcing Treviso to time out 45-38. Candussi added two more points to his personal tally, followed by one of two free throws by Brown, the result of a counterattack that was stopped by a foul after a high-flying block by Brooks. Mascolo scored a jump shot, but Trieste continued to find a way to the line along with Ruzzier and took a double-digit lead. The first half ended with a score of 52-40 with another rebound basket by Brooks.
Paulicap first and Olisevicius then made a strong statement on the spot to bring their team back under double figures in just over a minute; Candussi did the same and scored the first four points of the quarter for Trieste making it 56-45. Bowman’s entry once again broke the threshold of ten points, which was quickly recovered by a triple from Uthoff after two free throws from Paulicap. Bowman found two more magical points in a period of the game where teams struggled to express themselves at their best, so you’ll have to wait for a bloody red and white defeat to see the other lone basket from Bowman. Three minutes into the last quarter, a free throw by Olisevicius and a half-hook from Johnson made the score 61-53; Valentine finally found the measure of the three-point shot, while Treviso relied on the bonus to accumulate easy points. However, Bowman’s triple – with a foul – ending the third period at 64-57, was not easy.
Treviso started the last sprint on the right foot with seven points that were beaten by two baskets from Brown: the first with a long move in the area and the second with a three-point stepback. Two points from Torresani’s entry closed the gap to within three, but first Uthoff leaned on the table and then Valentine in the return attack re-established the margin of seven points. Valentine also got two free throws that attacked Paulicap, who responded by scoring from underneath. Harrison made a counterattack to two points with less difficulty than expected, Ross made one of the two on the line, Paulicap scored again, as well as Brown imitated by Mazzola; the exciting sequence of play was closed by Brown with a triple to make it 81-74 two and a half minutes before the siren. Uthoff from the charity line and Olisevicius from the field kept the gap unchanged for the next minute, closely followed by Brooks and Mascolo. With just over a minute left, it was the usual Brown who scored two bombs from the corner that ended any desire for a comeback from Treviso. 91-84 in the end.
BASKETBALL TRIESTE – NUTRIBULLET TREVISO: 91-84
Nutribullet Treviso: Bowman 18, Harrison (k)13, Torresani 4, Mascolo 10, Mazzola 7, Mezzanotte, Olisevicius 13, Paulicap 9, Macura 10, Spinazzè, Muarem, De Marchi.
Coach: Francesco Vitucci. Assistants: Alberto Morea, Mattia Consoli.
Trieste Basketball: Ross 8, Uthoff 18, Brown 17, Ruzzier 2, Brooks 10, Deangeli (k) 3, Johnson 2, Reyes ne, Valentine 12, Bossi, Candussi 19, Campogrande.
Coach: J. Christian. Assistants: F. Taccetti, F. Nanni, N. Schlitzer.
Progressives: 29-22 / 52-40 // 64-57 / 91-84
partial: 29-22 / 23-18 // 12-17 / 27-27
Referees: Almerigogna, Roiaz, Bartoli