The evening was special tonight for the UEB Gesteco Cividale, called to attempt to perform yet another feat of its championship in front of its public and stop the leaders Pistoia with a Clarke still in the pits, who arrived in Friuli with a score of 13 wins out of 16 matches played so far. Mission impossible accomplished with full merit and now for the ducals chasing the play-offs can become a goal to put in their sights.
It starts with Rota, Mouaha, Pepper, Miani and Dell’Agnello on one side and Saccaggi, Varado, Copeland, Wheatle and Magro on the other, with Pistoia immediately defending across the board and after a brief head-to-head with the owners of home (5-5 after the first 2 minutes) extends to 5-12 at 5’47” thanks to Copeland’s triples and Saccaggi’s penetrations. Pillastrini’s boys, however, don’t give up, with a 7-0 counter-partial they win back the Tuscans with Miani on the shields, up to failing possession of + 2 at 2’42” and are then punished by some plays by Varnado who brings his 14-17 at the first siren. The start of the second fraction Cividale starts like a rocket and with a decidedly “on fire” Battistini and the usual aggressive defense goes up 22-20 at 6’43”, trivially losing even possession of the + 4, before Eugenio Rota places the bomb of +5 at 6’15” and forces coach Brienza to call time-out to rearrange his own. However, the Eagles do not lose concentration and the desire to amaze which leads them to + 11 (37-26) at 36″ with a dunk on the counterattack by Mouaha after yet another recovery by the magician Rota who also fixes the score in the middle of the match, filed by a Copeland free.
Battistini’s performance at the interval should be underlined, author of 11 points with 5/6 from the field and 8 rebounds and the “usual” 5 assists from captain Rota, while the Tuscans after a start to the game in line with expectations, suffered the defense of Cividale and an unusual 5/19 in archery done by Varnado (1/5) and his companions. However, the return to the parquet is not in favor of Gesteco, which loses the way to the basket and sees the return of Copeland who puts Pistoia back in line on 37-33 at 7’58”, with Pillastrini risking Clarke’s entry to try to give new solutions to his from the distance. The move has no effect, with Cassese taking over the USA at 3’20” and the partial at 44-42 thanks to the determination with which the ducals stop the leaders’ return in defense on shooting percentages more suited to the position ranking, which finally lead it to close ahead 47-49.
In the final stage Pistoia regains its maximum advantage over 47-54 at 8’34” and while Cividale is held back by an offensive black-out which seems decisive for the fate of the match – the first points arrive with a triple by Cassese at 5′ 45” from the last siren for 50-58. However, the heart of the Pilla Boys never stops beating and thanks to the recoveries and the defense of a Miani burdened with 4 fouls and the bombs of Pepper and Rota fly to 59-58 at 2’42” making the arena explode like a powder keg . Dell’Agnello launches the ducals on 61-58 “at 1’58” and the final is not the usual “prayer” for the faint of heart because the magician Rota hits 5 free throws in a row with Palgesteco singing non-stop until the final siren and which accompanies the amazing affirmation of the ducals for 65-58.
EPO Gesteco Cividale – Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia 65-58 (14-17, 23-10, 10-22, 18-9)
UEB Gesteco Cividale: Eugenio Rota 16 (0/5, 4/11), Gabriele Miani 12 (3/4, 2/3), Dalton Pepper 11 (2/6, 2/6), Leonardo Battistini 11 (4/7 , 1/2), Giacomo Dell’ uovo 9 (3/7, 1/2), Alessandro Cassese 4 (0/0, 1/1), Aristide Mouaha 2 (1/6, 0/1), Aleksa Nikolic 0 (0/2, 0/1), Rotnei Clarke 0 (0/0, 0/2), Michele D’onofrio 0 (0/0, 0/0), Enrico Micalich 0 (0/0, 0/0) , Lorenzo Bonello 0 (0/0, 0/0)
Free throws: 6 / 10 – Rebounds: 42 10 + 32 (Eugenio Rota, Dalton Pepper 9) – Assists: 18 (Eugenio Rota, Dalton Pepper 6)
Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia: Zach Copeland 17 (2/4, 3/9), Lorenzo Saccaggi 13 (5/5, 0/2), Carl Wheatle 10 (2/7, 2/6), Jordon Varnado 7 (2/ 7, 1/7), Gianluca Della Rosa 6 (0/1, 2/5), Matteo Pollone 3 (0/2, 1/5), Daniele Magro 2 (1/4, 0/0), Gregorio Allinei 0 (0/0, 0/0), Mattia Farinon 0 (0/0, 0/0), Tommaso Biagini 0 (0/0, 0/0)
Free throws: 7 / 10 – Rebounds: 39 7 + 32 (Carl Wheatle 16) – Assists: 10 (Lorenzo Saccaggi 3)
