Cantù beats Fortitudo Bologna 72-64 in game 1 of the quarterfinals

CANTU' 72 FORTITUDO BOLOGNA 64

WATER S. BERNARDO CANTU': Valentini 8, McGee 3, Riismaa 2, Basile 20, Hogue 2; Baldi Rossi 13, Moraschini 14, De Nicolao 4, Piccoli 4, Okeke 2, Viganò n/a, Beltrami n/a. Coach Brienza.

FLATS SERVICE BOLOGNA: Fantinelli 3, Bolpin 2, Mian 5, Gabriel 11, Freeman 13; Vencato, Panni 3, Aradori 23, Cusin 4, Battistini n/o, Costoli n/o. Coach Caja

Referees: Radaelli, Moretti, Nuara.

Footnotes: partial scores 18-24, 41-38, 56-52. Two-pointers: Cantù 13/31; Fortitudo 14/34. Three-pointers: 11/30; 9/30. Free throws: 13/19; 9/11. Rebounds: 41; 39.

Reset and restart. Fortitudo falls in front of Cantu. It's the Brianza race 1 of the quarter finals. Three quarters into the game then a tired Flats Service with reduced rotations, Vencato just 2' on the field, falls in front of the rivals. Attilio Caja's team is not satisfied with the good ballistic performance of Pietro Aradori who in the first half keeps Effe afloat.

Offensively stopped Aradori, Fortitudo was unable to find valid alternatives given the poor performances of Mian and Gabriel, the first conditioned by fouls, the American blocked between nervousness and too many useless fouls. Fantinelli and his teammates will have to reset quickly, tomorrow at 20.30:2, again at the PalaDesio, it is already time for revenge in game 5. Balanced start of the confrontation, then at 12' Cantù tries the first break, taking the lead 7-3. Boom-boom Aradori takes care of it with XNUMX triples in a row to overturn the inertia. The challenge is immediately intense, the tension is high, the contacts decidedly rough.

Again Aradori (14 points in the first quarter) well supported by Cusin launches Effe to +8 18-26 at the beginning of the second quarter. Basile lights up and Cantù ties at 26-26 at 13'. The initiatives of Baldi Rossi, Moraschini and Basile put Effe in difficulty and the Brianza team takes the lead 35-29. Finally Freeman is seen too, scoring 7 points. Gabriel, the great absentee, is not seen, just like Mian, who suffered three fouls after 2'.

The atmosphere is very tense with sparks in the underpass on the way back to the locker rooms, but without the referees sanctioning anything. On the way back after the break, the scores are very few, Cantù however reaches +9 on 51-42, while in the Effe, finally, a couple of flashes of Gabriel and Mian and the triple at the buzzer by Panni arrive.

Fortitudo is tired though and scores only one point with a free throw by Aradori, while Cantù tightens its defense and with a 10-1 run, at 35', takes a double-digit lead for the first time at 66-53. There is no more match and it ends with a victory for Cantù who takes the series lead 1-0.