ITA - Benetton Treviso shots fall and so do Lottomatica Roma

BOLOGNA (Coppa Italia) - Benetton Treviso relied on a one-two punch from America to pull away from Lottomatica Roma in the last first-round game of the Coppa Italia on Friday.

In a battle of teams that have progressed to the Top 16 of the Euroleague, Terrell Lyday poured in 20 points and Benetton veteran Marus Goree scored 17 as the defending Lega A champions won 75-67.

Both players killed the Romans from three-point land, with Lyday four of six (66.7%) on the night and Goree three of five (60%).

Benetton came into this game on the back of a 70-69 defeat to Tisettanta Cantù, and Lyday said that result had had a major impact on their Coppa preparations.

"After last weekend's defeat, we practiced really hard the past few days and I think it showed on the court," Lyday said to PA Sport.

"I'm really happy with my performance. My team-mates gave me the ball and as the game went on, my confidence grew."

His biggest three came at the end of the third quarter after Loukas Mavrokefalidis had scored to pull the Romans to within 52-49.

Lyday answered immediately with a shot from long range, and after Mavrokefalidis missed at the other end, Goree struck from the arc for a 58-49 lead.

Benetton widened the gap to 70-56 just past the midpoint of the fourth quarter, but their opponents did not give up and reduced the arrears to 70-64 on an Alessandro Tonolli three inside two minutes.

This time, Greek international Nikos Zisis calmed the Benetton nerves with a three-pointer and Benetton held on.

Benetton, who had their string of three consecutive Coppa Italia triumphs snapped last year, now face Montepaschi Siena in the semi-final round after they ended the Coppa title defence of Eldo Napoli.

"Montepaschi also had a hard game," Lyday said. "They've been playing very well and it's going to be difficult for us."

If Benetton shoot as well as they did against Roma, they will fancy their chances.

They were 22 of 33 (67.7%) inside the arc and nine of 25 (36%) beyond it.

"Our biggest problem was overcoming last week's close defeat to Cantu, and we did it nicely," said Benetton coach David Blatt.

"We shot the ball well and that really helped us. Usually, our defence is our stronghold. We've had problems in the past with our shooting percentage, but tonight we did a really good job.

"The positive aspect was that I got a contribution from everyone and that's important because we've got two games left and we will need that kind of contribution in the next games."

From Cindy Garcia-Bennett
Bologna, FIBA