Banco di Sardegna Sassari crowned Serie A champion

A gripping 2014/2015 season in Italy’s Serie A went right down to a deciding game in the finals series, with Banco di Sardegna Sassari winning the title. The club overcame Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia in the decisive fifth game of the championship series, claiming a narrow 73-75 win on the road.

It truly was a game and series without a history as neither of these clubs had ever won a Serie A crown before, so Italy was destined for a new Basketball champion either way. That champion is now in the form of Banco di Sardegna Sassari, with the club completing a domestic double after tying up the Italian Cup earlier in the season.

In Game 7 the contest was as tight as it has been throughout the series, but after the first quarter it looked as though Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia would stroll to the title. That’s because the hosts had put together huge plays in attack and defence during the first frame and had taken an impressive 21-4 lead after ten minutes. In the second quarter Sassari woke up in attack and drained 22 points, while managing to keep Emilia to just 11 points. However, through halftime the home team still held a solid lead, the scoreboard reading 32-26.

After the long break both teams found their scoring rhythm at the same time and traded buckets throughout the third act. Grissin Bon managed to edge the stanza 23-22 to lead 55-48 through thirty minutes, leaving Sassari trailing by seven points at the final split. With the pressure on, the visitors rallied in the fourth quarter with a stunning scoring effort pouring in 27 points to edge in front and win the Serie A title.

Rakim Sanders paced the winning effort with 18 points, while Jerome Dyson had a good all-round game with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. David Logan also shot double figures as he claimed 13 points.

Achille Polonara kept Emilia ticking with 17 points and 14 rebounds, the only double-double of the game. He was followed by Drake Diener with 14 points, Rimantas Kaukenas with 13 points and Andrea Cinciarini with 12 points.