Fortitudo, full speed ahead. Fifth consecutive victory

SCALIGERA 67 FORTITUDO BOLOGNA 77

TEZENIS SCALIGERA: Penna 11, Copeland 21, Udom 15, Esposito 6, Cannon 12; Faggian 2, Gazzotti, Bartoli, F. Frosini ne, M. Frosini e, Mecenero ne. Coach Ramagli.

FLATS SERVICE FORTITUDO BOLOGNA: Fantinelli 2, Bolpin 14, Mian 15, Thomas 6, Freeman 17; Vencato 2, Panni 3, Aradori 8, Battistini 10, Cusio. All Caja.

Referees: Barbiero, Berlangieri, Chersicla.

Notes: Partials 17-17, 32-38, 58-60. Two-pointers: Verona 11/27; Fortitudo 17/36. Three-pointers: 10/32; 11/20. Free throws: 15/23; 10/15. Rebounds: 29; 40.

Fifth consecutive victory for Fortitude which also passes through Verona. Coach Attilio Caja's team conquers the Pala Agsm Aim and continues its march towards the top of the standings, returning to the wake of the top of the class in a series A2 that continues to provide surprises.

Solid performance for the Flat Service who holds the lead of the match for a long time. Caja immediately launches Thomas into the quintet, lined up with Fantinelli, Bolpin, Mian and Freeman. On the other side, Ramagli has to give up Palumbo who is out due to lumbago and brings the Frosini twins, sons of the former Alessandro, current GM of Scaligera, to the bench. A minute of silence in memory of Drazen Dalipagic, Teddy Bear Toss for the first basket, but on the field things get serious right away. Verona starts off better, 4-0.

Effe breaks the deadlock at 3' with Fantinelli, but the first baskets by Cannon and Penna send Verona ahead 9-4. Flat Service rises in tone: triple by Bolpin, basket by Freeman and another triple by Battistini for the 0-8 that at 7' is worth the 9-12 first advantage for the white and blues, with Copeland keeping Scaligera afloat. At the start of the second quarter, Caja's team further raises its defensive level, drying up the offensive actions of the home team. An enterprising Battistini and Bolpin thus launch Fortitudo to +9 on 19-28 at 14'.

Fantinelli and his teammates always maintain the lead of the match thanks to Freeman, Bolpin and the first points by Thomas, while the other side relies heavily on Cannon, who is effective from the free throw line. The Effe lead always fluctuates between 6 and 9 points. At the start of the second half, Verona continues to nibble away at points, tying the score at 50-50 at 26' and then moving ahead 53-52 at 28', with Penna and Udom being decisive. The match finally turns around with 4 three-pointers by Mian, between the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth.

The inertia is once again all for Effe who closes the accounts with Panni and Aradori. Wednesday they return to the field for the PalaDozza challenge with Cantù.

The other matches: Urania Milano-Cantù 63-57, Udine-Brindisi 79-90, Rieti-Cividale 90-71, Vigevano-Avellino 79-69, Orzinuovi-Juvi Cremona 88-89, Turin-Cento 71-88, Pesaro-Nardò 84-70, Rimini-Piacenza 81-76, Livorno-Forlì 80-73.

The ranking: Rimini 36, Udine 34, Cantù 32, Cividale 30, Fortitudo Flats Service Bologna, Urania Milan and Rieti 28, Avellino, Pesaro and Verona 26, Forlì 24, Turin and Brindisi 20, Cremona and Orzinuovi 18, Libertas Livorno, Vigevano and Cento 16, Nardò 12, Piacenza 6.