Perhaps with a thrill, but Gemini prevailed in Lumezzane, bringing home a success that completed a return round in which Mestre lost only 5 times, hitting a streak of 10 successes in the last 12 games, a sequence in which it only had to surrender in Ruvo di Puglia at Taliercio and Fabriano away, however this last stop suffered without Smjlagic and Perin, heavy absences on the occasion. There remains a ranking which therefore yielded a sixth place at the end of the regular season, a placing which will lead to a meeting with the battleship Montecatini, a challenge to which Mestre will arrive aware of the strength of its opponent but also aware that, after a season marked by various difficulties nature, it will be a pleasure to be able to play a playoff that seemed like a mirage at the end of the first round.
In Lumezzane Mestre he wins with difficulty but starts well:
first quarter with Gemini immediately pushed by their fans – present and noisy as always – in search of the result; Ciocca presents a new quintet which includes Perin and Mazzucchelli as the short ones together with Sebastianelli, while Lenti and Caversazio are the two big players, for the latter only 4′ due to a blow to a tooth. Start of the match with Mestre immediately in front, Luxarm is already safe and can play without worries, Gemini instead must try to maintain sixth place, an objective that Sebastinelli tries to build by putting in the first bomb of the match which makes up the first guest minibreak (2 -5), made by a basket by Lenti and by the former Di Meco at the start of the match. The match remains balanced until mid-period (9-9) with Gemini always giving the sensation of being able to take off at any moment, an impression that materializes in the last fractions of the quarter thanks to the timely baskets of Aromando and Lenti and to the bomb on the siren by Sebastianelli which pushed Gemini to the maximum advantage of the fraction (15-22). In the second quarter Mestre opened by reaching +9 thanks to Smajlagic and essentially confirmed the margin until the long break. Vitols tries to keep his team in contact together with the usual Di Meco (22-28), on the other hand, however, Gemini finds an equally punctual terminal in Aromando with Mestre who with an and one from Aromando goes to +11 (25- 36), a prelude to the maximum advantage achieved by Bocconcelli (27-40) at the turn of the half of the period. From there Aromando and Di Meco go back and forth until Perin’s bomb (36-47), a prologue to 38-48 which leads to a long break.
In the third quarter Mestre starts well again with a bomb from Perin (40-51) but from there suffers as the home defensive pace increases. Some badly managed attacks and the simultaneous bombs of Di Meco and Cecchi bring the hosts closer together who with Ndzie also find the new overtaking after the 2-0 at the start of the match: 52-51 with 5’50” to play. minutes that will confirm the balance of the scoreboard with Mestre relying on Aromando and Smajlagic and with the period ending with Mestre ahead by 1 thanks to two free throws by Mazzucchelli at the end of the half. Again Aromando and Smajlagic opened the fourth quarter well for Mestre (62-67) but Lumezzane didn’t give up and in the middle of the quarter it took a bomb from Bocconcelli to put Mestre back in the lead (73-74). The hosts suffer from the increased defensive intensity of Mestre and Mazzucchelli with two consecutive baskets puts Gemini back ahead by 5 with 3′ to play, but it is only a flash because the usual Di Meco with an and one, 2 free throws Cecchi and a basket by Vitols put the Lombards back in front (80-78). With 90” to play, first Bocconcelli makes an impact in penetration, then, after Cecchi’s error, Smajlagic takes over and scores from 3, also suffering a foul – but he doesn’t put in the free throw – sending Mestre back ahead by 3 (80-83). Cecchi’s basket, 2 free throws by Smajlagic, a new basket by Di Meco move the clock forward with Smajlagic returning to the line with 6” left to score the final score: Di Meco tries twice from 3 to equalize but fails on target. He scored his most important basket a few minutes later, after the game was over, presenting the engagement ring to Francesca in front of the public. For Lumezzane it ends in celebration for having achieved salvation, for Mestre the adventure continues in the playoffs where they arrive with nothing to lose.
Luxarm Lumezzane – Gemini Mestre 84-87
LUXARM LUMEZZANE: Maresca ne, Cecchi 14, Leone ne, Biancotto 2, Vecerina 11, Mastrangelo 7, Di Meco 19, Deminicis 2, Vitols 6, Minoli 3, Spizzichini 7, Ndzie 13. All.: Known.
GEMINI MESTRE: Smajlagic 17, Bocconcelli 12, Mazzucchelli 6, Pellicano, Bizzotto, Perin 9, Lenti 6, Caversazio 2, Sebastianelli 8, Aromando 27. Coaches: Ciocca.
NOTES: partials 15-22, 38-48, 62-63. Free throws Lumezzane 21/25 – Gemini 23/25, from 3 5/23 – 8/23, rebounds 48-43.
Spizzichini out for fouls at 1’10” at the end of the third period, Ndzie at 4’10”, Mazzucchelli 1’54”, Minoli 7” from the siren.
Tags: Serie Gemini Mestre defended sixth place Lumezzane
