Pesaro never gives the feeling of being able to lose it. He leads the match from start to finish, focusing on the quality of his attack, and drags Virtus to game 3 of the play-off: it ends 89-79. It will be the “bella”, scheduled for next Thursday at PalaPadua (8.30 pm), to decide the second promotion in the National Serie B championship. This time in a match of no return. Ragusa misses the first match point due to the unusual defensive concessions and the poor percentages in attack: 5/21 from long range and 63% on free throws (against 85 of the opponents) stands out.
In the first quarter balance reigns. Italservice keeps its head ahead thanks to the initiatives of Maruca (already in double figures), Ragusa shakes off with Vavoli and Gaetano and finds the first (and only) overtaking of the evening with Brown: his triple of 18-19. The American is already very inspired, with 13 points in 7 minutes of use. The distance is minimal, with the performance of the attacks more accentuated than that of the defenses. Virtus scores 28 points and concedes 24 in an anomalous start. The guests return to -1 with Epifani, but grant two comfortable solutions to Maruca and Broglia: Pesaro finds themselves 33-27 in the 13th minute. Rupil scores the +8 from the dribble, this is Ragusa’s first moment of slippage and Recupido stops the game with a timeout. We play with a high number of possessions and Virtus slips past the double-digit deficit, until they manage to increase their defensive intensity and return to -5. Casoni, however, re-establishes the distance from the arc: 50-42 at 19′. At half-time for Italservice there are already 54 points on the scoresheet, just eight less than those conceded by Ragusa in the entire match-1.
With Ianelli with four fouls and Simon with three, the rotations were affected. Upon returning to the field, Virtus was sent within 15 by the baskets of Lovisotto and Battisti, but the most serious thing was that they were unable to find the way to the basket for three and a half minutes, until a free throw made by Brown. Gaetano tries to wriggle on the guests’ doubles, Epifani leads the transition for the comfortable support of Brown. But it’s still -10. The home quintet comes out of the timeout with a 6-0 break, but the escape attempt is stopped by triples from Vavoli and (again) Brown: 69-59 in the 30th minute. Ragusa tries to gain some inertia, but Battisti holes a “zone” attempt from three. Virtus struggled to find continuity in attack and, the few times they managed to do so, they were immediately pushed back. At the halfway point of the quarter, Pesaro leads 78-65. Simon’s basket shakes Recupido’s team: Sorrentino scores a three with the help of the table, Gaetano makes it 2/2 on the line and Ragusa is again at -6. What definitively condemned it, however, were a couple of bloody turnovers and the cursed free throw carousel. The verdict is postponed.
Italservice Loreto Pesaro-Virtus Ragusa 89-79
Italservice Loreto Pesaro: Rupil 3, Lovisotto 7, Cevolini ne, Battisti 11, Cipriani 7, Monterisi ne, Maruca 23, Tombari ne, Tognacci 4, Broglia 9, Martinez 12, Casoni 13. All.: Foglietti
Virtus Ragusa: Brown 24, Piscetta 3, Epifani 3, Cioppa 1, Simon 7, Tumino ne, Vavoli 12, Sorrentino 3, Gaetano 26, Mirabella ne, Calvi ne, Ianelli. All.: Recupido
Referees: Di Santo from Chieti and Galieri from Termoli
Partials: 28-24; 54-43; 69-59.
Note. Out for five fouls: Martinez and Tognacci (I), Gaetano (W)
