On Monday, October 7th, JCU Men’s Basketball was in action for another friendly but challenging game against a League-D team, Corbasket. Our Gladiators fell to the opponents 59-64, but they never surrendered for a second, fighting until the end of the game.
JCU started off the game in a low tone, which allowed the opposing team to immeditaely take the lead with a substantial advantage of 18-13.
However, in the second quarter, our Gladiators were able to find the right rhythm and balance, building a more solid game that allowed them to shorten the score gap. The second quarter ended with JCU down by only one point to Corbasket, 33-32.
The third quarter represented the turning point into the game with our Gladiators reacting fiercely and overturning the result. JCU picked up the first down by six points, 43-49, especially thanks to our best three-point shooter Sussman, Giordano‘s penetration into the game area, and Roux‘ game vision who was able to be in the right place at the right time contributing greatly to the defensive side.
“The defense was not at its best during this game,” coach Serraino pointed out. “But it was definitely better compared to our last games. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, tough, to maintain the advantage in the last quarter.”
Corbasket took the lead again in the fourth quarter and won the game, 64-59. Our Gladiators showed significant improvements in this match, but they were still facing a semi-professional and very organized team with experienced players.
Coach Serraino, then, continued, “At some point during the game, we lost the focus, and some particular situations just made things worse, causing the team a lot of stress. We definitely need to work more on finding the right cohesion between the players’ different game styles both in offense and defense. I can already see some improvements, and if they keep showing commitment, I think that we can face a satisfying semester even at a competitive level.”
Special mention for the significant contribution in the game also goes to Samaha, Denham, and Tricarico.
Good job, Gladiators! So keep working hard!
MVP – Francesco Giordano
