Play-off, game 1 Canusium-Molfetta. Molfetta Basketball, ranked fourth at the end of the single Serie C championship, is entering the play-offs for promotion to the interregional Serie B. President Solimini’s club, which achieved the seasonal goal, will face Canusium, top of the class at the end of the regular season with 40 points to its credit, 8 more than the red and whites returning from the defeat in Mesagne, in the last round of the regular season .
Molfetta arrives at game 1, the best of three games will be played «Aware of our strengths and weaknesses – he said Francesco Infante presenting the match -. In the end we expected to finish fourth, although perhaps winning with Mesagne would have allowed us, given Castellaneta’s result, to finish third. In any case we get there in shape and above all – underlined the center, MVP of the last round with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists – with the awareness that the playoff games are quite different from those of the regular season».
The post-season draw includes, for the first phase, the semi-final with Canusium in the best of three games scheduled for Sunday 28 April (game 1, at Trinitapoli), Thursday 2 May (game 2, at home) and Sunday 5 May ( possible game 3, still away from home).
The red and whites without pressure for game 1. On the horizon, for coach Gesmundo’s team, there is game 1 of the play-offs against a quintet, that of Canosa in Puglia, which proved to be an authentic bête noire for the red and whites: Canusium, in fact, won in the championship both in the first leg (86-80) and in the return leg, 80-84.
«Canusium dominated the regular season – continued Infante -, they had an important summer signing campaign, they strengthened themselves with a very strong player during the winter transfer market, they have a long, expensive roster and then they declared with facts that they want to win this championship. And if she doesn’t win it – he said again – for them it would be a big problem because in the end it would mean that they didn’t confirm what they did in the regular season».
The locals, coached by coach Ciociola, hired Acosta in January (absent in Molfetta, he has an average points of 17.2), as well as having access to Ordine (20.5 average points per game), Migliori (15.1 average) and Murolo ( 13.9 on average).
«We are going there to have fun – said Infante -, we are a group that gets along well and has had fun this season, albeit with some ups and downs. Pressures? Zero – he cut it short -. We are there to have fun and see how it goes, they are there to win the championship». The appointment with race 1 is for Sunday 28 April at the PalaPertini in Trinitapoli at 7 pm.
