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Derthona Basket
Derthona Basket
Nickname	Leoni (Lions)
League	LBA; Champions League
Founded	1955
History	Derthona Basket; 1955–present
Arena	PalaFerraris
Capacity	3,510
Location	Tortona, Alessandria, Italy
Team colors	White, Black and Orange;
Main sponsor	Bertram Yachts
President	Marco Picchi
Head coach	Walter De Raffaele
Ownership	Beniamino Gavio
Championships	1 Italian LNP Cup ; 1 Italian LNP Supercup
Website	derthonabasket.it
Home	Away

Derthona Basket, known for sponsorship reasons as Bertram Derthona Tortona, is an Italian professional basketball team of the city of Tortona, in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont.^[1]

The team has achieved the promotion to the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) after the end of the 2020–21 season of the Serie A2 Basket.^[2]

History

1955–2014: Decades within minor leagues

Derthona Basket was founded in 1955 in Tortona, a small town near Alessandria; however the club was later dissolved in 1962, only four years after obtaining the affiliation with the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). In 1965, Derthona was refounded within the newly formed multisport club of the town.

After decades in the minor leagues, in 2008, Tortona signed the Macedonian point guard, Petar Naumoski. With the Macedonian champion, the team achieved the promotion to Serie C1, ending the season unbeaten. In the 2013–14 season, Derthona, led by coach Antonello Arioli, was the protagonist of an extraordinary season, which saw the so-called Lions at the top of the standings from the beginning to end of the season. One of the greatest moments of that year occurred on 19 January 2014 in the historic PalaDozza in Bologna, where Derthona beat Fortitudo Bologna 61-83. The team won the playoffs, defeating Legnano Basket Knights in the finals and reaching the Serie A2.^[3]

2014–2018: Years in the second league

In the 2015–16 season, Derthona arrived third in the West Group, qualifying for the playoffs, where it eliminated 3–1 Pallacanestro Trieste in the first round, while in the quarterfinals it lost 3–2 against Pallacanestro Brescia. In the 2016–17 season, led by coach Demis Cavina, Derthona ended the regular season at the second place in the West Group, qualifying for the playoffs where it ousted 3–1 Pallacanestro Mantovana in the first round, but it was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Trieste for 3–1.^[4]

On 4 March 2018, Derthona won his first official title, the Italian LNP Cup, defeating Basket Ravenna 89–57. The team, coached by Lorenzo Pansa, qualyfied for the playoffs, ending the regular season at the fifth place in the West Group. However, the Lions were eliminated in the first round 3-1 by Udine.^[5]

2018–present: Ramondino era

On 22 October 2018, after three defeats in the first three games of the season, Derthona sacked Lorenzo Pansa and, on the following day, signed Marco Ramondino as the new head coach of the team. On 29 September 2019, Derthona won its second official title, the LNP Supercup, defeating Basket Torino 81–84.^[6]

In the 2020–21 season, Derthona ended the regular season at the second place. In the playoffs, the Lions defeated 3–2 Ravenna in the quarterfinals and 3–1 Eurobasket Roma in the semifinals. On 29 June 2021, led by important American players like Jamarr Sanders and Jalen Cannon, as well as the young Italian pointguard Bruno Mascolo,^[7] Derthona defeated Torino 3–2 in the national finals, reaching the Serie A for the first time in its history.^[8]

In the following summer, the entrepreneur Beniamino Gavio, who already sponsored the team in the previous season with his luxury yachts company Bertram Yachts, became the new owner of the club.^[9] During the first season in the top league, the team confirmed the backbone of the roster, but signed also good international players like J. P. Macura, Chris Wright, Tyler Cain and Mike Daum, as well as the Italian-Argentine veteran Ariel Filloy. The Lions took part in the 2022 Italian Basketball Cup, defeating Trieste 94–82 and Virtus Bologna 94–82, reaching the finals, where it lost against Olimpia Milano 78–61.^[10] Derthona ended the season at the fourth place and, after having defeated Reyer Venezia in the playoffs' quarterfinals by 3–1, it lost against Virtus by 3–0.^[11]

Honours

Italian Cup

Runners-up (1): 2021–22

Italian LNP Cup

Winners (1): 2018

Italian LNP Supercup

Winners (1): 2019

Players

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Derthona Basket roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Age
C	0	Zerini, Andrea	2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)	112 kg (247 lb)	36 – (1988-10-25)25 October 1988
G	1	Vital, Christian	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	85 kg (187 lb)	27 – (1997-03-21)21 March 1997
PG	2	Kuhse, Tommy	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	84 kg (185 lb)	26 – (1998-01-05)5 January 1998
PF	4	Gorham, Justin	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	102 kg (225 lb)	26 – (1998-08-06)6 August 1998
PG	7	Candi, Leonardo	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	86 kg (190 lb)	27 – (1997-03-30)30 March 1997
SG	11	Denegri, Davide	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)	82 kg (181 lb)	26 – (1998-05-08)8 May 1998
SF	12	Strautiņš, Artūrs	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	100 kg (220 lb)	26 – (1998-10-23)23 October 1998
G	13	Baldasso, Tommaso	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)	80 kg (176 lb)	26 – (1998-01-29)29 January 1998
C	14	Kamagate, Ismaël	2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)	100 kg (220 lb)	23 – (2001-01-17)17 January 2001
C	19	Biligha, Paul	2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)	106 kg (234 lb)	34 – (1990-05-31)31 May 1990
PF	20	Severini, Luca	2.04 m (6 ft 8 in)	95 kg (209 lb)	28 – (1996-06-20)20 June 1996
SF	34	Weems, Kyle	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)	100 kg (220 lb)	35 – (1989-08-23)23 August 1989