The victory on the pitch in Rieti allowed UCC Assigeco Piacenza to obtain two important points in the race towards the playoffs and was the result of a sensational team performance despite the absences of Malcolm Miller and Lorenzo Querci. For the seventh day of the scheduled phase, the red and whites return to play within their home walls by hosting Fortitudo Agrigento at the PalaBanca, with the tap-off set for Saturday 30 March at 8.45pm. Among the protagonists of the last match there is certainly Michele Serpilli, decisive with 20 points and 6 rebounds, who declares himself satisfied with the team’s and personal progress but is at the same time aware that the road to reaching the playoffs is still difficult:
“It was a great satisfaction to go to Rieti on Sunday and play the match we did: we knew about the difficulties at the moment, with the absences of Miller and Querci, but we did well to fight and offer a performance of great value. We are very happy and this gives us great confidence for the final phase of the clock phase, a very tough period given that all our direct rivals in the final phase are always winning.”
In a crucial phase of the championship like this, what specific weight does this victory have for you?
“It has a lot of weight, especially because it comes away from home, therefore against a team that has a higher position than us in the standings.”
After Miller’s injury you joined the quintet on a permanent basis, always being ready. What do you think are the main differences in approaching a match from the first minute rather than from the bench?
“Starting from the starting five, perhaps the only difference is that I can wait longer for the match, not necessarily having to take a shot straight away but perhaps doing other small things such as a rebound, a defense or a steal, without immediately being active in attack. Personally, however, I see few differences: every time I take to the pitch I give my maximum effort.”
Agrigento arrives at PalaBanca on Saturday. What match do you expect and what do you think will be the keys that will decide the match?
“Agrigento comes from a painful defeat against Chiusi which would have meant a lot for them in terms of ranking, so they will be eager for revenge. Naturally, we are not intimidated by anything: it is a match that we absolutely must bring home, where we will have to be as solid as we were in Rieti, doing the things we know how to do.”
Given the importance of the match, do you want to send a message to all the red and white fans?
“We badly need the warmth of all the fans, I hope as many people as possible will come to support us in the hope of reaching the playoff finish line together and ending the season on a high note.”
FORTITUDO AGRIGENTO – After a superlative last season which ended in the first round of the playoffs at the hands of Vanoli Cremona, this year Fortitudo Agrigento is fighting tooth and nail to try to obtain salvation. With a record of 6 wins and 22 defeats, this week the club announced the return to the bench of Damiano Pilot, who was sacked at the beginning of January to make room for Marco Calvani, who can count on a quintet made up of the American rookie Dwayne Cohill in the backcourt, from the Argentine Nicolas Morici, who underwent a small operation during the week due to pneumothorax and from the winger Lorenzo Ambrosin, the team’s best scorer with 14 points in this phase. In the long sector, in addition to the historic captain Albano Chiarastella, we find the American pivot Jakob Polakovich, capable of grabbing 24 rebounds in the home match on 6 December against Urania. Coming off the bench are the former Rimini player Davide Meluzzi, the young player born in 2000 Alessandro Sperduto, who has just returned after two months out due to injury, the Argentine veteran Agustin Fabi and the Estonian big man Mait Peterson. The roster is closed by the young Campanian Emanuele Caiazza and Sadio Soumalia Toure.
