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MANILA, Philippines–Simone Fontecchio erupted for 30 factors to grease Italy’s 78-76 win over Serbia within the second spherical of Fiba World Cup on Friday evening.
However a lot of that gorgeous comeback wouldn’t have been attainable if not for the squad’s ageing skipper, Gigi Datome, the Utah Jazz standout mentioned.
“I imply, Gigi is simply, you already know, merely a legend. What he did at present was only a cherry on high of his profession which is one thing unbelievable,” Fontecchio mentioned shortly after the win at Good Araneta Coliseum in Quezon Metropolis.
“He confirmed us the way in which. Down 16, it doesn’t matter what, he saved taking part in. How outdated is he? 35? He was simply merely wonderful, main by instance,” he went on.
Datome, a EuroLeague champion, completed with 10 factors, most of it coming in a third-quarter flurry that saved the Eagles inside putting vary.
It was a well timed step-up efficiency for the veteran, who additionally performed for the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics, having been restricted to only single-digit outputs earlier than Friday evening—together with within the win over Gilas a number of nights in the past.
“He’s our captain, he’s our chief, he’s simply the perfect teammate you would think about and that basically pushed us to seek out the final stand that we had in our physique to make a comeback,” Fontecchio mentioned.
Fontecchio and Datome subsequent play Puerto Rico, which is main the Dominican Republic in a sport that’s being performed as of press time.
These three groups and Serbia are in a decent race for a quarterfinal berth that might imply a conflict with the favored Workforce USA, which was severely examined by Montenegro at Mall of Asia additionally Friday evening.
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