BASKETBALL
Benacquista Assicurazioni Latina Basket bids farewell to its fans with a defeat, beaten 77 to 81 by Moncada Energy Agrigento in the penultimate match of the survival phase, the last played at home in Cisterna. The absence of anything really at stake was immediately evident from the start of the match, with both teams not particularly aggressive from a defensive point of view. So much so that in the first quarter there were just 5 fouls, unlike the shots attempted by the two quintets. The result thus benefited, equal to 22 to 17 for the hosts at the end of the opening 10 minutes, 7 of which were scored by Mayfield, who was always particularly inspired against Agrigento. Many second lines for Latina also in the following half, also given the numerous absences due to injury, with the class of 2004 Rapetti and the 2005 Spadon back on the pitch at the start of the second quarter. Same performers, same score, with triples fired from one side and the other which increased the distance between the teams to 6 5 minutes before the break, remaining the same at the last time-out before returning to the locker rooms.
However, an unexpected mini-break scored by the Sicilians allowed them to take the lead and overcome Benacquista, who suddenly found themselves trailing at 39-49 at the long break. An attempt to escape, that of the islanders, continued even once they returned to the parquet after the break, which however met with resistance from the Pontini players. In fact, despite the many baskets scored by the guests, coach Sacco’s boys managed to close the gap to just 4 points with 180 seconds left in the third quarter. Dragged by a revived Amo, who was scolded by the Pesaro coach after the match of the last match and who, after yesterday, seems to have struck the right chords to bring out the best in the number 5, the Nerazzurri thus succeeded in the counter-overtaking, made possible by the triple from Canterano Spadon, acclaimed by the home crowd and at 5 points on the wings of enthusiasm. Therefore, 10 minutes from the final whistle, Latina was ahead again at 66-58, a margin of 8 points to be defended during the last quarter. However, this time too Agrigento managed not only to catch up with the hosts at 67 all, but also to put their noses ahead with full possession. A distance that remained the same until 3 laps of the clock from the end of the match, when coach Sacco’s quintet managed to equalize again at 77 all. However, the mid-range basket from a wild Cohill, at 28 personal points, definitively directed the match, with Latina unable to take advantage of the 27 seconds left before the referee declared the match over.
THE SCORESHEET
Benacquista Assicurazioni Latina – Moncada Energy Agrigento 77-81 (22-17, 17-30, 24-11, 14-23)
Benacquista Assicurazioni Latina: Cicchetti 12 (4/8, 0/2), Moretti 11 (5/12, 0/0), Amo 11 (1/4, 3/7), Mayfield 11 (1/2, 1/2 ), Alipiev 9 (3/6, 1/4), Romeo 8 (3/6, 0/3), Borra 8 (4/6, 0/1), Spadon 5 (1/3, 1/1), Rapetti 2 (1/1, 0/0), Collazo 0 (0/0, 0/0), Parrillo 0 (0/0, 0/0) Free throws: 13 / 15 – Rebounds: 41 11 + 30 (Moretti 10) – Assists: 16 (Cicchetti, Romeo 4)
Moncada Energy Agrigento: Cohill 28 (7/10, 4/5), Sperduto 11 (0/1, 3/9), Chiarastella 8 (2/2, 1/2), Polakovich 7 (3/5, 0/0 ), Peterson 6 (2/5, 0/0), Ambrosin 5 (1/2, 1/3), Morici 5 (1/2, 1/3), Traore 5 (1/1, 1/3), Caiazza 3 (0/5, 1/8), Fabi 3 (0/0, 1/3), Meluzzi 0 (0/0, 0/0) Free throws: 8 / 11 – Rebounds: 31 6 + 25 (Polakovich 8) – Assists: 20 (Cohill, Morici, Caiazza 5).
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