Another defeat. The fifth in six championship matches. Sassari also loses to Varese: 90-79 . Match played without Diop (injured) and without his replacement Smith. The match was played without strength in defence, so much so that in the 25th minute Bucchi's team was -21. Then the recovery up to -4, but when the hosts started scoring from three again (17/36 in total against the Banco's 6/27) it was night.
Top scorers Gombauld with 17 points and Charalampopoulos and Whittaker with 16 points each .
In the starting lineup coach Bucchi puts Kruslin, Nice duel between Cauley-Stain and Gombauld who score 7 points each in the first five minutes, but Varese also has the winger Brown: 16-11. Treier comes in as a replacement for the French centre, Charalampopoulos as a replacement for the “4” McKinnie. Varese confirms his predilection for three-point shots and undermines the soft defense of the Banco which ends the first quarter at -11. The difference in the triples is eloquent: 5/12 for Varese, 0/4 for Dinamo .
The Sassari team gets into trouble, loses balls and shoots badly. Varese plays on velvet: 35-17 at 12'. Dinamo occasionally has flashes in attack, they also break free in triples, but the defense is inconsistent: 52-40 with Gentile who misses the triple of -9.
In the third quarter the tactical theme remains the same: the hosts continue to bombard from the arc, 68-47 in the 25th minute with Cauley-Stain's dunk. Whittaker is alive in attack (16 points) but commits his third foul. However, Sassari comes back with stubbornness when Varese doesn't make a three-pointer: 71-60 in the 28th minute with Gentile's free throws. Cappelletti's entry reduces the gap to under double figures.
In the last quarter Sassari places the zone press (only Italian and European players) and Varese derails by losing balls : Charalampopoulos' triple reopens it completely, -4 in the 32nd minute. It's a shame that in the following actions the Bank missed four shots to get close to just one basket.
Varese finds a couple of bombs and breaks away again when the Americans from Banco return: 81-71 in the 35th minute. Moretti and MacDermott close it out.
