Italy Serie A: Rough Day for Home Clubs

The Italian Lega Basket Serie A completed Week 12 of Round 1 Sunday without any major surprises. The top end of the standings continued their winning ways as the top four teams earned victories, giving the top three 13 wins in their last 15 games. The only top 5 team to come up on the short end of their score was Acea Roma, who fell to No. 3 Banco di Sardegna Sassari at home, 66:77. Cimberio Verese continued their control of the top spot in the league moving to 11-1 with a 77:83 win over EA7 Emporio Armani Milano in Milano. It wasn’t a good week for the home clubs as six of eight contests went to the visitors.

Acea Roma – Banco di Sardegna Sassari, 81:83
No. 2 (tie) Sassari pulled out a two-point win in Rome, but they needed to fight off a hard charging Acea squad to do it. The hosts were up 41:39 at the half and extended their lead to 56:53 by the end of the third quarter. With three minutes to play the two clubs had knotted the score at 67, but Sassari outscored Acea 5:13 over the next minute and a half to build an 8-point margin with just over a minute to play. Acea countered with a 8:1 run to pull to within one at 80:81. Drake Diener hit two singles to Sassari to extend to 80:83; Datome Luigi dropped in one of two free throws with seconds to play and Sassari grabbed the defensive rebound to secure the win.

SAIE3 Bologna – Montepaschi Siena, 66:77
Montepaschi Siena kept their No. 2 (tie) position in the league with a big 66:77 win on the road, improving their record to 10-2. The visitors jumped out to a substantial lead after the first quarter, 16:30, and despite a 19:10 second quarter won by SAIE3, Siena never looked back, earning an 11-point win. SAIE3 drops to 6-6 with the loss.

Angelico Biella – Enel Brindisi, 59:94
Enel Brindisi stayed in the top eight with a dominating win over Angelico Biella. The hosts picked up the first basket of the night and held a 4-3 lead for a short time, otherwise Enel led the entire contest and won every quarter by six or more points. The win improves Enel’s record to 7-5 and tied for 5th in the league, while Angelico drops to 3-9 and tied for 14th.

Sutor Montegranaro – chebolletta Cantù, 79:100
chebolletta Cantu provided yet another road-win blowout on the day when with a 79:100 victory. The win keeps Cantu at the top of the standings in 4th place, with an 8-4 record, while Sutor Montegranaro dropped to 3-9 and tied for 13th.

Trenkwalder Reggio Emilia – Sidigas Avellino, 91:64
Trenkwalder Reggio Emilia picked up one of two home wins on the night with a 91:64 pounding of Sidigas Avellino. Other than 2-2 and 4-4 ties, Trenkwalder led the entire game. Trenkwalker evens it’s record to 6-6 and moves into a tie for 7th place, while Sidigas drops to 3-9 and tied for 13th. Antonutti Michele let the winners with a game-high 24 points.

Vanoli Cremona – Scavolini Banca Marche PU, 91:73
Vanoli Cremona earned the second home win of Week 12 with a 91:73 victory over last placed Scavolini Banca March. The game was close until the very end of the second quarter when Vanoli outscored Scavolini 10:5 to end the half with a six-point margin. Over the last two quarters they continued to build the advantage, ending the contest with a 12:0 run. Vanoli improved to 4-8 and 12th place, Scavolini dropped to 2-10.

Juve Caserta – Umana Venezia, 77:83
Juve Caserta and Uana Venezia had the most exciting game of the day as they ended regulation knotted at 69. In the extra five the visitors took the early lead with a couple of singles and a deuce, going up 69:73. Juve Caserta dropped in two three-balls that were countered with jumpers by Umana, to bring the score to 75:77. A foul and technical put Rosselli Guido on the line for four singles, which he connected on all of to push the lead back to six, 75:81, and ice the game for Umana. Juve Caserta’s season record dropped to 5-7 with the loss, putting them tied for 10th in the league, with Umana, who’s record improved to 5-7 with the decision.

EA7 Emporio Armani Milano – Cimberio Varese, 77:83
The leaders of Serie A earned a big road win when they squared off with EA7 and came out with a 77:83 win. The two clubs played to a 24-all tie after the first frame and Cimberio built a three-point margin at the half. In the third Keith Langford dropped in four consecutive free throws after a foul and technical to five Milano a 56:53 advantage. The visitors then went on an 0:8 run to take a five-point lead, 56:61. The hosts never got closer than four points for the rest of the contest to improve Cimberio’s record to 11-1, and drop EA7 to 6-6 and tied for 6th place.

Standings[standings league_id=5 template=extend]

Next Week’s Matches[matches league_id=5 match_day=13 template=sumnoscore dateformat=”M. j, Y”]