The heart beyond the obstacle. Pallacanestro Forlì 2.015, in front of the 2,385 spectators of the Palafiera, makes its Race 3 against Acqua San Bernardo Cantù with a score of 76-72, with the possibility of taking advantage of the field factor also in Race 4, scheduled for Saturday evening at 20.30. Pieffe 2.015 was a two-sided game: a wrong approach in the first half, especially in defense, conceding 48 points and closing down by ten; then coach Sandro Dell’Agnello tightened the shirts, leaving the team of coach Marco Sodini just 24 points, while also finding the heavy baskets of Kalin Lucas, finally in double figures with 14 points, and the two “Americans added”: a monumental Rei Pullazzi, author of the best performance of the season with 20 points, and a superlative Riccardo Bolpin, with 14 points on the scoreboard.
But the image of the Unieuro evening is in the stubbornness of Erik Rush: author of 6 points, he fought like a lion on every ball, taking 8 rebounds and also serving four assists. It was a Unieuro who prevailed over Cantù in rebounds (39 to 31) and in shooting from distance, with percentages that reached 50% (15 out of 31 against the 9 triple out of 25 of the opponents). From below Cantù did better (18 out of 34 against 12 out of 33 from Forlì) and you want to find a mole in the match, in addition to the bad first half, are the 8 points of the longs (only Lorenzo Benvenuti scored, while Davide Bruttini a dry), called to overtime in defense. With the determination put in place on Thursday evening Forlì can dream of extending the series to Race 5. First, however, there is Race 4 and that must be won before making long-term predictions. Surely Saturday will be a very interesting match.
The match
Still without Mattia Palumbo, coach Dell’Agnello starts with Benvenuti, Bolpin, Lucas, Rush and Natali. Cantù is immediately aggressive in defense and in the blink of an eye is already 5-0, with the first triple of Allen’s match. But Forlì reacts positively, throwing go-go grenades with Natali, Benvenuti and Bolpin and the scoreboard immediately evolves to 14-8. The guests approach, but Forlì continues in his ballistic streak: the fifth is from Rush (17-12). Bolpin is the American, giving away a valuable basket out of balance, but the guests – lined up with the 2-3 zone – remain in the wake, and on the siren they find with Da Ros the triple of 19 equal.
We continue to score from afar even at the beginning of the second quarter. Nikolic burns his retina, but Pullazi’s angry support under the basket is pure gold (21-22). Lucas, closely marked, continues to argue with the basket, while Cantù stretches and on the 22-29 coach Dell’Agnello is forced to call a timeout. With the long, in the grip of the Brianza, still in difficulty and the Americans dry, it is Pullazi who keeps the Unieuro in the game, loading the red and white attack on his shoulders. But with two triples in a row, Acqua San Bernardo has a double-digit advantage, with the score at the long interval of 38-48.
Back on the pitch and Forlì shortens to -5 with Lucas’ first field goal and Pullazi’s triple, but from the possible -3 failed by Bolpin Cantù he regains confidence with the retina, crushing the ball of +9 with Allen (43 -52). The Unieuro does not get discouraged and with the triples of Bolpin and Pullazi they get back to just one possession late (52-54). The long pursuit of the red and white is crowned by the second basket from the painting of Lucas, who also signs the triple overtaking (57-56). In the end Giachetti takes the chair, who with a ballistic magic achieves the +4 from the bow (62-58).
The last quarter begins with Stefanelli’s fourth triple and Da Ros’s draw from the line. But Lucas towers over the arch, with Forlì reaching +4 again (68-64). Forlì is aggressive in rebounds and the second triple of Rush’s match is worth 72 to 66. It’s not over, because Cantù finds the hook 45 seconds from the end. Lucas misses a triple, but Pullazi is determined to rebound, recovers the ball and scores the advantage basket with 21 seconds left (74-72). Then the immense Giachetti forces Bucarelli to make a mistake, who loses the ball. The last seconds run on fixed fouls, he ends 76-72 with two free shots from his captain’s line. Forlì extends the series, dreaming is legitimate.
The match report
Unieuro Forli – Acqua S.Bernardo Cantù 76-72 (19-19, 19-29, 24-10, 14-14)
Unieuro Forli: Rei Pullazi 20 (5/7, 3/3), Riccardo Bolpin 14 (1/2, 4/7), Kalin Lucas 14 (2/7, 3/9), Jacopo Giachetti 9 (2/6, 1/5), Lorenzo Benvenuti 8 (2/4, 1/1), Erik Rush 6 (0/4, 2/3), Nicola Natali 5 (0/1, 1/3), Davide Bruttini 0 (0 / 2, 0/0), Giulio Zambianchi 0 (0/0, 0/0), Mattia Palumbo 0 (0/0, 0/0), Benjamin Ndour 0 (0/0, 0/0), Paolo Bandini 0 ( 0/0, 0/0)
Free throws: 7/11 – Rebounds: 37 13 + 24 (Rei Pullazi, Erik Rush 8) – Assist: 14 (Erik Rush 4)
S.Bernardo Cantù water: Francesco Stefanelli 17 (1/2, 4/6), Stefan Nikolic 17 (5/6, 2/3), Matteo Da ros 12 (2/4, 2/4), Trevon Allen 11 ( 4/8, 1/4), Jordan Bayehe 6 (2/5, 0/0), Marco Cusin 5 (2/3, 0/0), Lorenzo Bucarelli 4 (2/3, 0/4), Giovanni Severini 0 (0/0, 0/2), Luca Vitali 0 (0/3, 0/2), Guglielmo Borsani 0 (0/0, 0/0), Ilia Boev 0 (0/0, 0/0), Gabriele Tarallo 0 (0/0, 0/0)
Free throws: 9/12 – Rebounds: 29 7 + 22 (Matteo Da ros 7) – Assist: 14 (Luca Vitali 4)
