ITA - Italian league review

Siena obliterates Napoli to stay perfect

SIENA (LEGA A) – Montepaschi Siena crushed winless Martos Napoli 143-49 to make it 16 league wins in as many games and stay comfortably ahead of closest rivals Pepsi Caserta and Armani Jeans Milano in the league race.

Siena head coach Simone Pianigiani made the most of the opportunity to rest key players as the likes of Terrell McIntyre, Henry Domercant, Romain Sato, Ksistof Lavrinovic, Ben Eze, Shaun Stonerook and David Hawkins sat out altogether.

With the aforementioned players watching and cheering from the sidelines, 16-year-old Giovanni Severini led the scoring onslaught for Siena with a game-high 19 points. Seven of his team-mates also reached double-digits.

Matteo Giovannelli had 16 points for Napoli, who are still in search of their first league win.

Meanwhile, Ebi Ere broke out for 24 points and nine rebounds in leading Caserta to an 84-67 away win over Angelico Biella. The result saw the winners hold on to a share of second place.

The visitors led 40-34 at the break and a run of 11 unanswered points over the second and third quarters allowed them to pull away for good. Fabio Di Bella added 19 points and eight assists.

Elsewhere, Armani Jeans Milano used a 12-0 run early in the final frame to pull away and beat visiting Cimberio Varese 74-70.

The hosts led 39-30 at half time but Varese erased that deficit altogether in the third period thanks in large part to 21 points from Michel Morandais.

Milano used of some balanced scoring to strike back and the strategy paid off as their spurt proved decisive.

Jonas Maciulis and Marco Mordente had 10 points each and four players had nine apiece.



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