Suffering, gritting my teeth. Decimated (with only one American on the field) but equally mangy, Gesteco beat Forlì away at the end of an epic match, thus finding their first away success in their A2 season.
Tight, the final 53-56 rewards the determination of the ducal defense. And the courage of the Pilla boys, young but vigorous; capable, with Micalich jr. to direct the challenge of the Unieuro Arena from the arc in the hottest moment. Right on top. And from the arc Miani is immediately on fire, at the start, with a couple of triples that are worth the 0-6 Cividale. Pollone responds promptly to the baskets of the host wing, equally lethal in impacting on 8-8. The returning Valentini then suggested for Raivio who, from the perimeter, gave him their first lead of the evening: 13-10 in the 7th minute. The former Piacenza Bakery did it again shortly after, expanding the partial, but it was Valentini who made the landlords’ extension official: in fact, his bomb chased the yellow-blues down, 19-10. The Eagles are bleeding, also punished by Cinciarini (22-10).
It doesn’t pay, Forlì insists: with a three-man play from Benvenuti, he scores 28-16; Dell’Agnello doesn’t fit in and drags his goals down to -8 (28-20) on 16′. Moving on to the area, the ducals nibble at other points and get back on track, Dell’Agnello himself skilful in signing the 28-25. Pepper then takes the chair: the USA puts in four thus sending the gialloblù team to the locker room at -2. The Levittown guard also becomes the protagonist of the first moments of recovery: first with the assist behind the back for Miani, useful to snatch the momentary equalizer, then finding the bottom of the retina from outside, for Gesteco +3 (32-35 ). Granitica, after the break, even for a man, the Ueb sends Forlì out of revs. Who starts losing balls in bursts. Battistini, taking advantage of the moment, widens the gap up to 32-39. With the landlords in stalemate, however, Cividale does not take advantage of it properly: the landlords, therefore, have the opportunity to shorten up to 37-40 on 31′.
The baskets cry in the following minutes, with both teams battling against the opponent’s iron. Radonjic breaks his fast with a triple of 40-40; Rota, in the line, helps the UEB to put their nose in front of the 35′ (40-42). The reply is from Valentini, the counter-overtaking from Adrian. And he arrives 3′ from the end. We continue to score with the dropper at the Unieuro Arena: Micalich, however, doesn’t care and throws the triple for 44-45. Rota follows the path laid out by the class of 2004 and places another brick from distance. On the opposite front, Gesteco defends compactly: nevertheless, 13” from the end, Forlì goes within 1 with Radonjic. Ball in the field, Dell’Agnello suffers a foul. The ex Bergamo feels the pressure and misses both free throws at his disposal. No problem, Pepper recovers and makes two out of two. Front change, Rota enters Valentini, whistle and three laps against the line. The red and white point guard, however, does not collect the full booty and definitively throws away the chance to take back the Eagles. Who thank you and take home the loot. Waiting for Clarke, whose arrival is expected at the beginning of the week.