Game 3 will be needed to decide which of Ragusa and Bologna will be the team that will advance to the Scudetto semi-finals. After the 1-0 in Emilia Romagna, Passalacqua gave up the possibility of a home match point at home, and the field factor now shifts again in favor of coach Vincent’s team. The match will be played on May 1st. Still without captain Spreafico, it was a real shock start for Ragusa who suddenly found themselves at 2-16, before two triples from Jakubcova closed the gap 3′ from the end of the first quarter, warming up the good crowd who came to the Palaminardi and with the score going to 8-16, which then becomes 8-21 at the end of the first 10 minutes. Second quarter in which Bologna spreads and takes the maximum advantage of 18 points, but from the line Chidom, also by virtue of the bonus reached too early by Virtus Segafredo, and Jakubcova from three points even reduce the deficit to six points, before the second quarter ends at 24-32. The second part of the race at this point promises to be close and Ragusa seems capable of keeping up but this is not the case. In fact, in the third quarter Bologna started very well with a three-point play by Zandalasini and even reached the lead, Passalacqua resisted with Miccoli, but was unable to close it to less than 15 points. At the penultimate buzzer the score is 41-59. The last fraction has no history. Virtus Segafredo wins 59-81. “Playing in such a close time we cannot think of competing in terms of force management against a team like Bologna – says coach Lino Lardo – and not only due to the absence of Spreafico, but in general. Even today, with all the good will to match their physicality, we lacked the strength, regardless of the value of our opponents. We struggled to do everything and therefore there isn’t much to analyze. Despite this, it is clear that we go to Bologna with the spirit of winning: we have done it twice and we will try to put them in difficulty once again. Obviously the recovery time is very tight, but we hope to recover some energy. We have a duty to try to win again.”
Michele Farinaccio press office Passalacqua Ragusa
