Moncada Agrigento’s climb to salvation begins with the success over their direct rival Nardò. A victory that immediately puts Fortitudo in the running which they will receive at the PalaMoncada Cento on Sunday.
n score of 61-68 in an extremely hard-fought match which saw coach Pilot’s men fully deserve the success. Agrigento continues to harbor hopes of survival at the end of a complicated season, and this victory could be a crucial step towards this goal.
Ambrosin’s performance was extraordinary, with 27 points and a rating of 29, while Cohill contributed 10 points and captain Chiarastella recorded 9 points and 8 rebounds. Despite the 30 points scored by Smith for Nardò, they were not enough to obtain the victory.
The match started in a balanced way, with Agrigento getting off to a good start thanks to baskets from Chiarastella, Cohill and Ambrosin. Even though Nardò tried to respond, Ambrosin and Caiazza kept Agrigento ahead, bringing it to +11 (9-20) in the 7th minute, while the hosts seemed to be in difficulty. However, an 11-0 break by Nardò brought the match back to a draw, but Agrigento closed the first quarter at 20-23.
Nardò took control of the game in the second quarter, moving ahead by 4 points, but Agrigento responded, returning to -2 halfway through the quarter. Thanks to a triple by Ambrosin followed by a free throw by Cohill, Moncada Agrigento regained the lead, but Nardò continued to fight, ending the first half at 39-42.
The third quarter started slowly, but Agrigento maintained its advantage, moving ahead by 7 points midway through the quarter and then by as many as 12 points thanks to the performances of Cohill, Ambrosin and Chiarastella. Nardò struggled to react, but managed to reduce the deficit to -9 at the end of the third quarter.
In the last quarter, Moncada Agrigento maintained control of the game, always maintaining a 9-point lead until the final minutes. Despite the efforts of Smith and Nikolic for Nardò, Agrigento managed the advantage well, sealing the victory with a series of free throws, including decisive ones from Ambrosin and Sperduto, which set the final score at 61-68 in favor of Moncada Agrigento.
Referees: Rudellat from Nuoro, Lupelli from Aprilia and Tallon from Bologna Halftimes: 20-23, 19-19, 8-14, 14-12 HDL Nardò Basket – Moncada Energy Agrigento 61-68 (20-23, 19-19, 8 -14, 14-12) HDL Nardò Basket: Russ Smith 30 (7/8, 4/8), Wayne Stewart jr 9 (4/8, 0/4), Lorenzo Baldasso 8 (1/2, 2/6) , Matteo Parravicini 8 (1/4, 2/5), Andrea Donda 2 (1/3, 0/0), Andrea La torre 2 (1/3, 0/3), Lazar Nikolic 2 (1/2, 0 /4), Matteo Ferrara 0 (0/0, 0/0), Alessandro Ceparano 0 (0/0, 0/1), Antonio Iannuzzi 0 (0/0, 0/0), Lorenzo Scarano 0 (0/0 , 0/0), Gabriele Barbone 0 (0/0, 0/0) Free throws: 5 / 9 – Rebounds: 33 3 + 30 (Wayne Stewart jr 8) – Assists: 9 (Matteo Parravicini 3) Moncada Energy Agrigento: Lorenzo Ambrosin 27 (3/5, 4/8), Dwayne Cohill 10 (2/7, 2/6), Albano Chiarastella 9 (1/2, 2/4), Alessandro Sperduto 8 (0/1, 2/4 ), Jacob Polakovich 7 (3/12, 0/0), Davide Meluzzi 4 (1/7, 0/2), Emanuele Caiazza 3 (0/2, 1/3), Mait Peterson 0 (0/0, 0 /0), Sadio soumalia Traore 0 (0/1, 0/0), Nicolas Morici 0 (0/0, 0/0) Free throws: 15 / 18 – Rebounds: 38 9 + 29 (Jacob Polakovich 14) – Assists : 13 (Davide Meluzzi 6)
