Umana Rare Venezia – London Lions 91-95

Particles: 30-25; 51-49; 72-72

Umana Reyer: Spiso 6, Tessitori, Cazarin 5, Di Nicolaou, O’Connell Ney, Janelidze Ney, Parkes 12, Brooks, Sims 14, Wiltjer 17, Brown Jr. 17 Tucker 20. Al-Sabahija.

London Lions: Olaseni 23, Taylor 13, Sandy Nee, Decker 7, C Morgan 11, Kweli 3, Sharma 5, Philip 10, M Morgan 19, Grantham 4. Coach Bozic.

At the end of a tense match, Umana Rayre was forced to surrender to the London Lions on the first day of the European Cup. The game in Taliercio ended with a score of 91-95 as the orogranata team managed to stay in the game until the last possession, winning the challenge in rebounds (39-38, with 17-9 in offensive attacks) and despite the opponents shooting the ball almost twice (40 to 21 ) and maintains higher shooting percentages from 2 (63.9% vs. 46.7%) and from 3 (47.1% vs. 34.4%).

With all the players registered, the coach introduced Sbahia Parkes in the five-a-side alongside Spiso, Tucker, who recovered at the limit and Tessitori, who committed two fouls in the first minute, even if the start was of a golden nature: a time-out in London. At 12-4 at 3′, with Tucker already in double figures. Umana Reyer plays as a team (8 assists in the first period), causes several turnovers (7 already for the Lions after the first 10 minutes) and, despite the bonus spent immediately after the middle of the quarter, manages to maintain 18-15 at 5′ 30″ for the opponents’ comeback. A good challenge for an unsportsmanlike shot from Dekker brought the score back to 23-15 at 6′, with London eventually pulling it back to 30-25 at 10′. At the start of the second quarter, the coach announced Spahia called a time-out at 35-30 at 12:30 minutes, bringing the score to 7-0 by a maximum margin (42-30) at 14 minutes. The match continues at a fluid pace, as the Lions begin to show themselves in the offensive rebound and closing in on – 4. The Whites got back to +8 (49-41) in the 17th minute, but the final half was up to the visitors, who returned to the locker rooms for the long break 51-49.

The second half started poorly for the Orogranata, as the Londoners immediately took the lead for the first time and then extended the lead to 51-60 at 22:30, with third fouls also by Parks and Tessitori. The first basket of the second half was a Umana Reyer 3-pointer from Wiltjer In the 23rd minute, the Canadian then repeated it twice more from beyond the arc to make the score 60-64 in the 24:30 minute. A great defensive rebound by Kazarin provokes the coach to protest and send Decker off in the middle of the quarter, and the Orogranata takes advantage of that to continue the break, until the overtake (65-64) was signed by Kazarin. In the 26th minute, after an important recovery, and despite the fourth foul committed by Wiltjer, Umana Rayer continued to fight in a match that lasted point by point, with London on the goal line often (also due to coach Spahija) until the score was 72-72 in the 30th minute. The score was sluggish at the start of the fourth, and despite Grantham’s layup, also capitalizing on a challenge that turned Sims’ pass into a fourth foul, the Lions led 74-82 at 33:30. And the time that coach Spahija spent was unable to return Orogranata’s attack to its rhythm. The score began to move again only in the 36th minute with 76-82 Tucker, who was then fouled in an attack by Philippe, thus recovering the ball which Sims then converted into a three-pointer 79-82. London scored again after 3’30’ on their return from the time-out and reached the final minute at 81-88, but Umana Rayre would not give up, and with Brown and Sims on the shields, they came back first at 88-90 at 39′ and then at 90-93. , but failed to complete the final possession and thus closed 91-95.

On the second day of their comeback, Umana Reyer will take the stage in Paris on Tuesday the 12th at 8.30pm. Meanwhile, the sons of Sebahia will return to the field in the 11th round of the Italian League on Saturday the 9th, at 7.30 pm, in Taliersio with Scafati.