It’s the first round of the second half of the Italian league season, and Olimpia faces the same team they opened against in October, Bertram Tortona, this time on the road, in an arena it has never played before. It’s a game that falls amidst a EuroLeague tour de force, but it remains important for many reasons. Tortona has reaffirmed its position as a contending team despite the events in Trapani that deprived them of a victory they had earned without any “help.” It’s also a head-to-head clash in the standings with Tortona, who won the first leg by three points (just in case you need to check the point differential). Olimpia arrives in Tortona on a six-game winning streak in the Italian League, climbing to third place in the standings, one win behind Bologna and Brescia. This is one of the most challenging games of the second half of the season, with all that entails. Facing a well-prepared team like Tortona, coached by Mario Fioretti, on a short rest and on the eve of the trip to Madrid doesn’t help, but Olimpia has recently been able to draw on its pride to overcome certain obstacles. The team has won four and “three fourth” games in the last ten days, but the defeat against Red Star Belgrade obviously weighs on morale. Olimpia has almost always won when it has managed to defend well at least in key moments, while it has lost when failed to impose its defense. This is the starting point for the Tortona game.
Tip-off time in Tortona on Saturday, January 17th, 2026, is 18:45.
COACH PEPPE POETA – “Tortona is obviously a very well-coached team, with a clear identity. They play with the idea of maintaining pace offensively through transition and the goal of taking a shot at the first possible advantage, attacking identified defensive targets. They’re supported by the great season that Christian Vital, who is the league’s leading scorer, is having, and they’ve found solidity in the effectiveness of Gorham and Strautins, as well as a reliable core of Italian players. Their offensive rebounds and the level of energy they produce have always been a constant in their home games. We’ll have to be diligent in transition and be very careful on offense to avoid being overwhelmed by their aggressiveness.”
BERTRAM TORTONA OUTLOOK – Derthona finished the first half of the season with a 9-5 record despite being able to use the starting point guard Ezra Manjon in just five games (12.7 points and 5.3 assists per game) and Arturs Strautins in eight. They are third in scoring and fourth in assists. The key player on offense is the shooter Christian Vital (19.9 points per game), in his second season at Tortona, a guard who helps with rebounding (3.4) and passing (3.4 assists on average). Vital takes 7.9 three-pointers per game and goes to the line 6.2 times on average with 87.4 percent of accuracy. In Manjon’s absence, the de facto starting point guard is Prentiss Hubb, formerly in Trento, in his second Italian season, averaging 9.7 points and 4.6 assists per game, shooting 38.7 percent from three. Tommaso Baldasso, who plays 22.6 minutes per game, always comes off the bench and produces 10.9 points and 2.1 assists per game, is shooting 88.6 percent from the free throw line and shoots 6.4 three-pointers per game. The small forwards are Andrea Pecchia (4.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game), a player who helps with energy and defense, and Arturs Strautins, one of the league’s most effective bench players, averaging 13.1 points in 18.3 minutes on the court, 3.0 rebounds, 67.7 percent from two and 50.0 percent from three. Jonas Riismaa (3.0 points per game) has lately being the starter at the small forward position, although his minutes are less than those of Strautins and Pecchia. The power forward is Justin Gorham, a second-year Tortona player, averaging 8.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game (2.1 offensive rebounds). Brekkott Chapman (4.3 points and 2.2 rebounds) is his backup. Polish international Dominik Olejniczak (11.2 points and 7.2 rebounds) is a center who converts at the rim (69.7 percent). His back-up is Paul Biligha (5.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game).
THE TORTONA CONNECTION – Paul Biligha spent four years at Olimpia, making 127 Serie A appearances and scoring 416 points. In his four seasons, he won two Italian league championships (2022 and 2023), two Italian Cups titles (2021 and 2022), and a Supercup (2020), reaching the 2021 EuroLeague Final Four. Tommaso Baldasso played in Milan for two seasons, winning two championships with 58 Italian league appearances. The third former Olimpia player is Andrea Pecchia, who grew up in Olimpia’s youth academy, where he also won a championship. Pippo Ricci spent one year in Tortona when the team was still in the second division. Coach Mario Fioretti is having his first head coaching experience at Tortona, after 22 seasons as an assistant coach at Olimpia.
