Petkimspor-Unahotels 87-91, Reggio conquers the difficult Turkish field

Aliaga (Türkiye), February 4, 2025 – Unahotels conquers, after a very long and intense match, the Petkimspor field. Hitting a very important blitz in the second match of the Bcl Top 16. A true team victory, brought about by Cheatham, almost brought to port by a Smith who was finally fundamental again, brought towards Reggio, in overtime, by Winston, and closed by a great defensive play by Uglietti.

Balanced start, 11-12 halfway through the period with Barford Reggio stands out. In the second half of the quarter, the home team takes the initiative, significantly increasing their defensive intensity and striking offensively with the Williams-Tyree axis.

Turks push up to +9 to then close ahead 25-19. At the start of the second quarter, Petkimspor is still dictating the pace, with Unahotels struggling to find the end of the tangle, although managing, with a competent defense, to stay within the contest.

As in the previous 10', it is a basket by Smith that reduces the margin with which Priftis' troops present themselves at the long interval, that is, seven lengths down. The return to the parquet of the red and whites is forceful: good percentages in attack, greater defensive solidity, guns primed.

All this yields an immediate 11-1 break. which gives the Emilians the lead, with a brilliant Cheatham in the spotlight. From that moment on, the match was essentially balanced, and at the final fraction Faye and his teammates were three points ahead.

The young man is tall, along with the aforementioned Cheatham they are also the propitiators of a new Unahotels lead in the first minutes. Factor that pushes the opposing coach, Goren, to call an immediate suspension of basketball hostilities. From which his team comes out with good spirit, puts the jammed parts of the mechanism back on track and returns to contact: 70-72 at 7'.

Petkimspor subsequently impacts, taking advantage of a couple of errors red and white capitals. The challenge is therefore decided in the final. With 24 seconds left, Reggio has the ball to win but gets tangled up and Cheatham's shot is off balance. Faried commits a foul on the rebound with Russell scoring from the free throw line for +2.

Ma a fabulous Smith, back to the levels he had accustomed us to before the injury, scores the “bomb” of the Emilian advantage. Grant’s foul, followed by a point out of two by Van Beck in free throws, sends everyone to overtime. The overtime, for Reggio, is in the sign of Cassius Winston, who scores many points from the free throw line and forces his direct opponent into a mistake, with defensive pressure. All this to bring the scoreboard to +1 outside with a handful of seconds to go. To close it out, there is a magic by Uglietti, who fights tooth and nail for a ball and brings the throw-in in favor of Reggio, and the 2/2 of a very cold Cheatham from the free throw line.

The little table

PETKIMSPOR: Dotson 3, Van Beck 12, Russell 15, Williams 27, Tyree 12, Sav 9, Gultekin 9, Efeoglu, Aldridge. Ne: Echenique , Senkahya ,Cevahir. All.: Goren UNAHOTELS: Winston 8, Barford 11, Faye 8, Gombauld 10, Smith 14, Uglietti 2, Faried 10, Grant 6, Chillo 2, Cheatham 20. Ne: Gallo. All.: Priftis. Referees: Wojciech Liszka (Pol), Gintaras Maciulis (Lit), Mihkel Manniste (East) Halftimes: 25-19, 42-35, 59-62, 79-79 Notes: 3-point shots: Petkimspor 12/31, Unahotels 11/ 32; free throws: Aliaga 27/32, Reggio Emilia 14/22.