Grissin Bon, One Win Away from Serie A Title

Grissin Bon Reggio Emila has taken a 3-2 lead in their Finals series against Banco di Sardegna Sassari in the Italian Serie A. They put up an effective home stand and prevailed in Game 5, 71-67. Game 6 is scheduled on June 24th and this series, which has had its fair share of back-and-forth shifts in momentum, may just come to an end. Sassari now have their backs to the wall and need back-t0-back wins if they want to claim the 2015 Italian league championship.

Grissin Bon took control of the game early and established that they would greet their guests with some serious defense. Their game plan was successful as the white shirts showed that they would protect their rim. The win itself was not an easy task, by any means. Grissin Bon had to overcome a monster game from Sassari’s Olesani Lawal, who put up an insane double-double performance with 17 points and 21 rebounds. Unfortunately, Lawal was the only player from Sassari who was able to find reasonable success in the paint. His lone effort in the shaded area, while valiant and admirable, was not enough to match Grissin Bon by-committee approach to addressing the low post.

Grissin Bon managed to carve out a seven point lead at the end of the first half. Sassari responded in the third frame with a rally, led by Lawal and Rakim Sanders. And just like that, the game boiled down to how Grissin Bon would be able to hold onto their one-point lead with one quarter left in regulation. The home team responded to the challenge well and continued their strong defensive pressure and in the end prevailed 71-67.

Ojars Silins led four Grissin Bon players who scored in double figures with 14 points. Achille Polonara scored 13 points, while Rimantas Kaukenas and Amedeo Della Valle added 10 points each.

Olesani Lawal wasn’t the only one to step up for Sassari. Rakim Sanders finished with a game-high 19 points and Jerome Dyson chipped in 12 points of his own. Sadly, three of Sassari’s reserves were held scoreless for the duration of the contest.

Which team will prevail and raise Italian gold over their heads at the end of this series? Will Grissin Bon seal the deal in Game 6 or will Sassari come from behind to reign supreme?