La Sella wins a fundamental match, after a sprint finish. Mussini is the cover man, after 31 on Sunday, he scores 27 with three triples in the last minute.
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Mussini, Palumbo, Toscano, Archie and Bruttini in a quintet on one side, Cohill, Meluzzi, Ambrosin, Chiarastella and Polakovich on the other. Cento starts off on the right foot. Two supports from Bruttini, a triple from Mussini and a series of excellent defenses force Pilot into the first time out of the match. Agrigento also enters the game and reduces the Centese lead, despite Toscano’s 2+1, and draws at 10 all before and goes ahead after a triple from Ambrosin, the third in a row for the hosts.
Mussini takes Cento’s attack on his shoulders, scoring five excellent ones in a row, then it’s Palumbo’s turn, with two triples, but Agrigento shoots at very high percentages and the first quarter ends at 27 all. The second quarter opens again in the name of Mattia Palumbo for Benedetto, but it is Agrigento dictate the rhythms of the game while maintaining high three-point percentages. Chiarastella gets up and scores the +6, Toscano responds with the same coin and Moreno brings the match back to parity with another triple. Cento regains the advantage with a 2+1 from Bruttini in the post. The defenses adapt better than in the first quarter and Mussini once again takes care of breaking the balance with a stop and shot from mid-range with also the foul: +5 Sella.
Mecacci’s team clearly raises the defensive intensity and Agrigento struggles to find continuity with outside shots, a triple from Palumbo launches the guests and the first half ends at 45-51. Agrigento enjoys the third period with a partial 8-0, then two baskets from Mussini and Moreno give oxygen to the red and whites. Ambrosin puts his team back ahead with another triple and the score is 56-55. Bruttini interrupts Agrigento’s inertia after Palumbo’s assist and Cento manages to return aggressively in defense and force the home team into a few turnovers.
Mussini and Bruttini continue, together with Palumbo, to be therethe soul of the attack Centese, but Sperduto scores another triple and Agrigento remains there at -1, in a quarter in which much less is scored than the previous two. Palumbo scores a crazy basket at the siren, after an offensive rebound. 61-64 after 30 minutes. The decisive period opens as the previous one ended, Cento thinks patiently in attack and Agrigento relies on three-point shooting. Then comes the moment of ‘tanito’ Musso who scores first a basket from the corner and then a triple, to bring Benedetto to +6. Meluzzi responds again with a triple from the weak side, the real problem of the Cento defense and brings him back to one possession. Cento puts in a couple of defenses like a great team, but on Sperduto’s triple Musso exceeds and commits a foul, bringing the match back to a draw at 71 all.
It’s the start of the Agrigento partial, another triple from Meluzzi puts the home team ahead and they extend the lead to +4 after Ambrosin’s basket and foul, with only three minutes remaining. Coming out of the timeout, Mussini once again dresses as a superhero: an isolated three-point shot before another from the corner, with incredible coolness, 6-0 signed by Federico Mussini and +2 Sella. we go towards the final in a sprint. Agrigento equalizes from the line, but after a very important offensive rebound from Bruttini he is still the decisive man: another triple from Mussini after a lethal crossover, the iron spits out Ambrosin’s triple and Mussini is glacial with free throws. 79-84 and large sprint victory for Benedetto.
