Lucca, 1 May 2024 – We go to game three of the play-offs. Saturday 4 May at 9pm at PalaRonchi Saronno to decide who will face in the semifinal playoff for the National basketball team, the winner of the series between Pavia And Virtus Siena.
Lucca, therefore, evened the score by dominating game two, scoring almost 100 points when, three days earlier, Saronno had forced BCL to have a small offensive turnover, just 65 points in game one. But these are the playoffs.
The coaching troop Olivieri This time he scores 27 in the first quarter, a balanced match until the 9th minute then two triples from Factor B, Burgalassi and Barsanti, extend the gap until the first escape attempt, 27-18. He ran a step-back from 6.75 meters at the start of the second period. The team in the light blue shirt that comes from Lombardy is in a phase in which the shooting percentages are low and therefore the hosts do not pay the price for offensive rebounds and turnovers. The guests remain in contact, 30-24 at 13′ and with the three points from Pellegrini Negri and his teammates they close again, 30-27, with a 6-0 run for the Varese players.
Olivieri tries the quintet with the four small ones and only Simonetti as a pivot, but without particular success, so much so that Trentin returns, together with Simonetti, with the two big men. Tempestini hits twice from long range, but Nasini does the same, equalizing, at 33 and then at 36′ in the 15th minute. Lucca’s red and whites in the zone, guests who miss several shots but keep themselves afloat with offensive rebounds. De Capitani returns (who signs the Varese lead, 39-40) and the balance remains until the long interval, 45-43 for the Luccas. The guest coach Biffi, after an ineffective first quarter on a defensive level, puts the mechanisms in place and Saronno collects only 18 points against 27 in the first 10′. He scores 25 and the match is practically equal. The number one seed, the franchise from the city famous for amaretto, is struggling after the easy success of the first match. Intense match also in the second half. Trentin scores the 55-49 with 4 points in a row from the low pivot position, Ugolini replies from 6.75. Pierini asserts his size in the paint area and with a basket plus a foul he carves out a small gap at 58-52 and then 60-52 again with Pierini in the 26th minute. Partial score of 9-3 for the hosts.
AZ Pneumatica in difficulty. In the 27th minute Barsanti gets hurt, the Lucca captain places his ankle badly and has to temporarily come off. Pierini, MVP, (decisive when Lucca splits the game with his mismatches), does what he wants in the area, Lombard defense cut into slices, 66-58 in the 29th minute. Tempestini reaches the maximum advantage from 3, 69-60. Technical to coach Olivieri and in the 30th minute the scoreboard says 73-65, thanks to a penetration by Beretta. High score for a playoff race, rough and edgy. Also technical on the visiting bench, Negri and his teammates no longer score, Barsanti scores from far away and a “stole” by Lippi increases the gap to 79-65 and then Trentin scores 81-65, curiously the same score as the first leg for Saronno. Barsanti returns and scores a game over triple, 84-65 in the 34th minute. Lombardi who risk boarding. Partial score of 14-0 for Lucca in the fourth period in the first 4′.
The unders enter, Landucci, Brugioni and Lenci, a sign that it’s really over. All that remains is to establish the score in full garbage time and with Saronno almost taking the centello. Everything postponed to game three on Saturday evening at 9pm in Saronno.
