A victory of character and weight. It is the one obtained by Trapani Shark, who won 72-70 game 2 of the playoff final against Fortitudo Bologna and moved ahead 2-0 in the series, one success away from promotion to Serie A.
The match was truly incredible, with Bologna starting very strongly, as the granata coach Diana expected. But, despite this, Trapani was surprised, so much so that it even found itself at -12 during the first quarter, which then closed 10 down at 18-28.
At this point the Granata rearrange their ideas and, little by little, manage to recover point after point. Notae is limited by the Bolognese, but Trapani finds a super Marini who leads the comeback, together with an Alibegovic in a perfect evening. In the second period Trapani first recovers, then slips back to -10, but, in the final, recovers again, closing the set at 38-41.
In the third period Bologna maintains the advantage, albeit minimal, until the final minutes, when, finally, the Trapani team put their noses ahead at 52-51, before, however, Fortitudo finds the basket of 52 all with which the match ends period.
The last quarter is one for the faint of heart. Trapani slips back to -6 at 57-63, but scores a 12-2 partial thanks to a rediscovered Notae who first scores a triple, which first dances on the rim, and then a penetration with support on the scoreboard. At +4 the inertia is on Trapani’s side, but Fortitudo doesn’t want to give up and equalizes at 69 all when the last minute begins. At this point Notae had second thoughts and suffered a foul while attempting a 3-pointer, earning three free throws, all of which were made. With the +3, 20″ from the end, Trapani decides to defend and Gentile gains a breakthrough that seems to be worth the success. But Notae loses the ball on the throw-in and, thus, Bologna has the ball again to equalize. But Mollura sends in Fantinelli misses the first and scores the second, with Trapani thus celebrating the 72-70 success. And now the series moves to Bologna where Shark has the first match point for Serie A.
