THE Tonut clean for Italy in the premiere! Ponceco’s team may have struggled for 30 minutes against Angola, but with the main protagonist being the Armani guard who succeeded 18 points and handed out two assists prevailed 87-61 of the fighting Africans, making a positive debut in their Mundobasket group.
A great appearance from Fontekios as well 19 points, 2 assists and 5 rebounds helped the “squadra azzura” to win. Impressive for Angola o Dudao who had 19 points with 4/8 three-pointers.
The match:
The start of the match was impressive for Angola, which, led by Dadao, led by five points. Polonara and Tonut, however, took Italy by the hand, putting them in front of the score with 14-13. Datome’s 3-pointer brought Ponceco’s team up 6, while a blistering 7-0 run by Angola made it 20-17 with Severini closing the first period with a 3-pointer to make it 23-17.
In the second quarter, the Angolan players “tightened” the defense and with Francisco as the protagonist brought the match to -1 (23-22). The match remained scoreless for about a minute and a half and Angola even managed to take a 24-23 lead with Fernando. Tonut with two free throws made it 25-24 for Italy with the match halfway in the 2nd period tied by Fernando’s three-pointer (29-29). De Souza and Gonzalez put Angola up 32-29. However, Meli took the lead and after excellent collaborations with Fontekios and excellent defense, the players of Pocheco went ahead again with 35-34.
Bruno Fernando takes flight! ?? #FIBAWC x #WinForAngola ???? pic.twitter.com/3LdnK7UeAf
— FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup 2023 ?? (@FIBAWC) August 25, 2023
The Africans proved too tough to let up and led by the rebounding De Souza and Kokila found themselves at 36-35 about two minutes before halftime. The first part of the match ended with Meli and Tonut taking action for Italy and taking it to the locker room with 43-40.
In the second half Italy found a way to break the Angolan zone with Ricci proving to be a key player for Posteco with seven points in the third quarter, bringing the score to 57-61!
The Italians hit the gas in the fourth quarter, with Fontecchio, Meli and Tonut, all bringing out the quality bringing the score to +7 (69-62) halfway through the fourth period. Monteiro with a lay-up at 4:14 before the horn sounded, reduced the score to five for Angola, but the trio of Italians opened the gap to ten effectively ending the match at 87-61!
Hammer time for Simone Fontecchio! ??#FIBAWC x #WinForItalia ???? pic.twitter.com/1lP7ZVdAGV
— FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup 2023 ?? (@FIBAWC) August 25, 2023
See match stats here
Source: Sport Fm
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