Spissu and Tessitori were the Italian side’s two shining lights in Hamburg.
Reyer’s Italian connection put on a show in Round 18
Article
3 Mins read
With Umana Reyer Venice aware that it couldn’t make the BKT EuroCup Playoffs, it would have been easy to down tools on the road at Veolia Towers Hamburg in Round 18. But, for Marco Spissu and Amedeo Tessitori, they wanted to end the campaign in style.
Reyer ended up coming away with an 83-90 victory in Hamburg, with Spissu and Tessitori combining for 40 points on the night: 25 for the guard, 15 for the center. They both stepped up at different points of the game to ensure that Neven Spahija’s side finished the 2023-24 campaign with an 8-10 record.
This season has been one of frustration for a Reyer team which surely had hopes of making a postseason run, but Spissu and Tessitori demonstrated in Round 18 – and not for the first time – that there is definitely something to build upon heading into next season.
On Tuesday night, Tessitori set the tone for Reyer by scoring 6 points and dishing 1 assist as Reyer took an early 4-8 lead. The 29-year-old seemed to particularly enjoy his battle in the paint with Hamburg’s Aleksander Dziewa over the course of the game, even if Coach Spahija was only putting him in the game for a few minutes at a time.
With Hamburg having flipped the script and taken a 63-61 lead into the final period, Tessitori twice pulled Reyer level before Spissu showed that it was his time to shine. The Italian guard, who is 29 like Tessitori, erupted on the offensive end by netting 6 points in a row, 65-71, before scoring a further 7 points in the quarter to put the game beyond Hamburg’s reach, 75-87.
By the final buzzer, Reyer had won 83-90 and it had both Tessitori and Spissu to thank. The victory may have counted for little, but perhaps this Round 18 showing was evidence that the Italian club should build around its Italian connection of Spissu and Tessistori as we look ahead to the 2024-25 season.