Virtus Ragusa 74
Italservice Loreto Pesaro 72
Partial: 17 – 21, 36 – 35, 59 – 50Virtus Ragusa: Brown 20, Piscetta 8, Epifani 2, Cioppa 2, Simon 12, Tumino ne, Vavoli 10, Sorrentino 7, Gaetano 13, Mirabella ne, Calvi ne, Ianelli. All.: Recupido
Italservice Loreto Pesaro: Rupil 9, Lovisotto 4, Cevolini ne, Battisti 8, Cipriani 2, Maruca 13, Tombari ne, Tognacci, Broglia 2, Martinez 26, Casoni 8. Coaches: Foglietti
Referees: Rosé and Collura di Roma
Ragusa – Flashes of greatness Virtuscombined with boundless pride, allow Ragusa to return to the world of great basketball: victory for 74-72 on the Italservice Pesaroin race-3 of the play-off, promotion is valid National Serie B.
A near success in the final of Conference against Capo d’Orlando and arrived a couple of weeks later, at the end of a technically and mentally exhausting series.
Race-3 is as anomalous as the first two: there is tiredness, there is tension, but above all hunger, the kind that allows the kids to Recupido to overcome other difficulties (fouls against Gaetano) and get excited like in its best versions.
There Virtus manages initial anxiety better: the triple of Gaetano and the defensive strength of Go ahead, gave them their first lead (7-4 at 4′). Then the long of the Virtus commits the second foul, Recupido fishing from the bench Piscetta: it’s a lucky “catch” worth four points in a row and I extend it to 13-6 (great assist from Cioppa). Brown he scores two free throws and the game, however, changes face. He climbs into the chair Martinez with six consecutive points; then triple of Rupiland two others free of Martinez to complete a partial of 0-11 (closed only by a basket by Sorrento). The circus shot by Martinezon the siren of the first quarter, is worth +4 Pesaro.
Ragusa he desperately needs easy baskets. Simon unlocks from the bow. Then the Italservice scores another break of 0-6 and Recupido stops the match: 20-27 at 13′. Go ahead scores two comfortable points from an attacking throw-in and gets the crowd involved in the game. Baptists pots the triple for the new maximum advantage Weighor on 22-31. The game doesn’t find any rhythm due to the numerous referee whistles (we’re already at 22, eleven on each side, halfway through the quarter). There Virtus takes advantage of the good free throws to return to a possession away. Go ahead scores from below but it’s a triple Simon from the corner to turn everything around: 33-31. The basket of an immense Go ahead on the mermaid it returns a small dot to the Virtuswhich also grew as a defensive application: 36-35 at 20′.
Starts strong there Virtus after the break, but the fourth foul by Gaetano complicates plans. Back and forth between Go ahead And Martinezthe most important baskets, however, are those of Brown: two triples definitively unblock the American and force an immediate timeout Leaflets: 52-43 at 25′. The “PalaPadua” becomes incandescent. Piscetta widens the gap: +11 Ragusa. Sorrento punishes the delays of the visiting defense with a triple, Pesaro try to cling to the game with physicality and free throws. There Virtus at the last mini-break he took a 9-point margin with him.
The triple of Simon makes the Virtussino people jump to their feet, then a few empty laps in attack allows them to Pesaro to get closer in the score: 62-55 at 33′. A monster dunk Marcus Brown, with a foul by the defense, erases a few minutes of fear. There Italservice has the merit of not giving up: she stays focused, fixes her mistakes and with Casoni he comes back twice until -5. Maruca it’s still Casoni they are one step away from closing the comeback: 67-66 with 2’52” on the clock. Timeout Recupido. Despite the basket of Brown, which gives full possession advantage to Virtus, everything remains in the balance. In the last minute of the match, turnovers were the protagonists. The referees report an unsportsmanlike conduct in mid-field for the captain Sorrento: Rupil manages the two free throws perfectly and possession remains Pesaro with just one point to recover (71-70). Foul of Ianelli, Cipriani on the bezel it is 0/2. There Italservice commits a foul Gaetano at 13″ from the end: 2/2 e 73-70. Sorrento steals the ball on defense, gets another foul and the party can begin.
