Derthona-Agropoli 54-67: the news
VOGHERA. "The dream continues". Thus begins with a banner from the Lions' curve the last regular season match that Derthona plays at the PalaOltrepo with Agropoli. Coach Cavina's team loses 54-67 and with the simultaneous victory of Scafati (91-64) with Ferentino finishes third behind Agropoli and Scafati. Game 1 of the play off against Trieste is scheduled for May 2nd in Casale Monferrato. Brooks is not part of the game as he is out due to an unabsorbed blow, so Cavina chooses Antonietti as a power forward together with Spissu, Reati, Marks and Garri. Paternoster instead starts with Di Prampero, Roderick, SAntolamazza, Spizzichini and Trasolini. Reati's bomb followed by one from Spissu, Roderick responds with a dunk (6-2). The pace is high and both teams don't give up running. After a good start the Lions struggled to get timing in attack. Antonietti makes himself felt on the rebound, Simoncelli goes on his own and scores 7 consecutive points which give the +7 (14-7) with 4' left in the quarter. Agropoli makes up for it with Roderick and closes the period down by 4 points (19-15).
The second quarter begins and Trasolini scores four consecutive points. Romeo penetrates and earns a foul: Agropoli is ahead for the first time in the match (21-19) after two minutes. Coach Cavina calls timeout after a 6-0 run. The first two points of the quarter are two free throws by Marks. The pace remains high, Trasolini punishes a bad defense from the Lions with a long shot. Garri's third foul, much contested, brings Iannilli back onto the pitch. But Derthona struggled to execute offensive plays: the team slipped six points down with a place by Di Prampero. Cavina calls the second timeout. Iannilli's fourth foul forces Cavina to call him to the bench. Another nail from Roderick and a support from Spizzichini give Agropoli +14. Gay's bomb and Antonietti's rebound bring the locals back to -9. The first half ends 33-42. The Campania team scored double the points of Derthona in the second period (14-27).
The third period starts and Derthona tries a small reaction with Bianchi and Marks, but Agropoli is up by 7 points (38-45) with 7'30'' from the end. Roderick always beats his direct opponent and creates good shots for his teammates, Tortona continues to argue with the basket. Reati's bomb brings Derthona back ten points. Any attempt by the Lions to get back into the match is snuffed out by Roderick. The quarter ends with Agropoli leading 56-45 and Tortona having already collected 13 turnovers against 7 by the guests.
The period begins with a black and white mini-partial: Marks and Iannilli score. The usual Roderick penetrates the local defense. He scores Garri with a nice low post move. PalaOltrepò explodes due to some dubious decisions against the Lions, in the middle of the quarter the score is 60-53 with the Salerno players. Tortona puts in its maximum effort in the final minutes, but five consecutive points from Roderick bring Agropoli back to +11 with 2'18'' from the end. It ends 67-54 for the Salerno players. But PalaOltrepo gave an ovation for Derthona's dream season which finished third in the regular season.
TORTONA 54
AGROPOLIS 67
TORTONA: Spissu 7, Gay 3, Reati 6, Bianchi 4, Marks 8, Simoncelli 11, Garri 9, Antonietti 2, Iannilli 4, Frattalone, Markus, Maghet. All. Cavina
AGROPOLI: Romeo 3, Santolamazza, Guaccio, Bovo, Bolpin 6, De Paoli 2, Trasolini 18, Spizzichini 6, Di Prampero 4, Roderick 28. All. Paternoster
REFEREES: Brindisi, Caruso and Saraceni
NOTE. First half: 33-42. Partials: 19-15, 14-27, 12-14, 9-11
