Italy Serie A: Four-way tie for the top spot

Four teams now share the lead in the Italy Serie A with identical 11-5 records after round 16 of the regular season. A loss by Pallacanestro Cantu and former top team Enel Brindisi have allowed EA7 Emporio Armani Milano and Virtus Roma to catch up and tighten the race. Not too far behind are Montepaschi Siena and Banco di Sardegna Sassari, both of which are at 10-6 and are capable of challenging the top four teams.

Virtus Roma cruised to an easy victory over Sutor Montegranaro, 88-70. Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia (7-9) needed an extra period to upset Cantu, 82-77 OT. In the end, it was 24-point slaughter of visiting Enel Brindisi at the hands of previously fourth-ranked EA7 Emporio Armani Milano, 89-65, that swung things into the current four-way gridlock.

Once again, Armani got a dominant performance from Keith Langford who came up with 20 points to end Enel Brindisi’s three-game winning streak. He also got help off the bench from Curtis Jerrells who chipped in 20 points of his own. Armani’s shots were falling from downtown as they converted 11 of their 21 attempts from deep. Langford and Jerells accounted for seven of those long bombs. Alessandro Gentile and David Moss added 13 and 10 points respectively for the hosts.

Enel Brindisi could not get their offense going and were also clearly stifled as seen by their 18 turnovers for the game. Jerome Dyson led the charge with 16 points and six boards, but at the end of the day it was his team’s inability to shut down Armani’s shooters that spelled their downfall.

The rest of the games in round 16 came up with less surprising outcomes. Umana Reyer Venezia defeated Pasta Reggia JuveCaserta, 73-60. Meanwhile, Cimberio Varese beat Grissin Bon Reggio Emila, 80-73. Montepaschi Siena, a former top team, has to find it’s groove once again as it fell to Vanoli Cremona, by a small four-point margin 72-68.