Ancona beat Palarinaldi in game 1 of the playouts, overturning in the last quarter a match that seemed headed towards a success for the home team. The start was tense, the two teams felt the importance of the game and struggled to get into rhythm. Ancona is the first to break up, extending to 5-11 with Yusuf from below and shots from Rizzo and Malintoppi, but Roma mends the gap with Leghissa, Lucantoni and Benini: equal at 11 and the first quarter ends with a two-point lead for Ancona thanks to Pierdicca’s jumper. Roma started better in the second quarter, with a 5-0 scored by Cenci and Lucantoni which yielded the first internal advantage, then with two shots from Manocchio, but Ancona got back in the wake with Dinga-Nbomi who started his show with five consecutive points that bring the Marche team back to parity. In the middle of the quarter the score remained at 20 all and remained so until two minutes before half-time, when two free throws from Barbakadze and two consecutive triples from Dinga-Nbomi resulted in a new lead for the guests, with Roma limiting the damage in the final with baskets by Lucantoni and Fantini. 24-28 at halftime, and a game that hasn’t taken a direction yet.
A transformed Basket Roma emerges from the locker room, both in attack and above all in defense: it starts with a three-point play by Fantini, then Yusuf scores three consecutive points and puts two possessions back between the two teams, but from then on the defense of Roma finally manages to block Ancona’s attack, which remains dry for four minutes during which Basket Roma scores a 9-0 run with Preziosi, Leghissa, Fantini and Benini’s triple. Dinga-Mbomi again from the arc brings Ancona back to -2, but the end of the half is everything for the home team, which creates a new 9-0 closed by Preziosi’s triple which gives Basket Roma a double-digit advantage (45 -34) at the beginning of the last quarter.
The first two and a half minutes of the last quarter mark the decisive turning point of the match: Ancona in fact completely reverses the inertia of the match with eight consecutive points from Dinga-Mbomi, then a triple from Pellizzari, then two more free throws from the French winger, absolutely uncontainable today: a 13-0 which puts the Marches back in the lead by two points. Fantini equalizes from below but it is only for a moment, Ancona in fact extends further with Pierdicca and Barbakadze, and three and a half minutes from the siren the away advantage has risen to six points, but Roma immediately recovers three with Preziosi who steals the ball from the guest’s throw-in and finishes a three-point play. Pierdicca, however, responds immediately with the same coin in the opposite basket, and two minutes from the end Barbakadze’s basket from underneath gives Ancona its maximum advantage at 50-58. However, Rome does not want to give up despite Benini’s forced exit due to injury: triple by Lucantoni, turnover by Ancona, and two free throws again by Lucantoni for 55-58. Ancona returns to +5 with Dinga-Mbomi’s free throws, but Roma returns to Aghilarre’s 1/2 possession from the line, Lucantoni wins the rebound, is fouled and also scores the first free throw and misses the second. Basket Roma is conquered by Basket Roma with 35 seconds left, but Preziosi’s open triple stops on the second iron. In Rome all that remains is the systematic foul, but the hand of Rizzo and Dinga-Mbomi does not tremble and so Ancona takes away the pink sheet. Appointment on May 1st in Ancona for Race 2.
Basketball Rome 57 – Basketball Girls Ancona 64 (11-13, 13-15, 21-6, 12-30)
Basketball Rome: Leghissa 11, Perone, Lucantoni 15, Cedolini, Fantini 11, Belluzzo, Benini 3, Preziosi 8, Aghilarre 1, Cenci 2, Manocchio 4, Diagne. All. Bongiorno, ass. Canini, Curial, prep. physics Tonni, dir. Curial, Censini
Basketball Girls Ancona: Pierdicca 5, Rizzo 4, Francia, Pelizzari 7, Carloni, Manizza, Barbakadze 8, Yusuf 7, Dinga-Mbomi 28, Malintoppi 5. All. Piccionne, ass. Montanari, Recanatini, dir. Fabrizzi, Crucitti
Referees: Bruno Licari, Giovanni De Giorgio
