By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With a 74 – 71 victory in overtime Canada forced Italy to its first defeat after three preparation games and won the Imperial Basketball City tournament of Bologna. The “Azzurri” didn’t manage to produce at a desired level and fell victims to a tight defensive output by their opponents.
Philip Scrubb scored 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, while Khem Birch was the best performer of the Canadian team after registering a double-double of 13 points (with 6/6 two-pointers) and 11 rebounds.
For Italy, Alessandro Gentile and Danilo Gallinari finished the match with 16 points. The Italian team shot with an ugly 29% from the field and lost in the battle of the rebounds by their opponents (33 vs 51).
This defeat however was the least of Ettore Messina’s worries, since who saw Marco Belinelli and Daniel Hackett getting injured during the game. Belinelli was hit in the face and went to the hospital with a swelling eye, while Hackett suffered an ankle sprain. It remains to be seen how big their problems are and if heir participation in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be affected.
In the other game of the tournament the Philippines beat China 72 – 69.