Rimini and Rieti, two historic squares of Italian basketball, two realities that in the past have faced each other several times. And there is a precedent, in particular, that the most elderly ‘aficionados’ in these parts remember with pleasure. It is the 8788 season, after a tragic first round (3-12 the balance), the then Biklim Rimini begins to go upstream, to target a salvation that seemed a chimera: important victories arrive against Fortitudo and Forlì, blitz in Gorizia, Mestre, Udine and in the last of the regular season the home match against Dentigomma Rieti is a kind of play-off to stay in A2. It’s Saturday 2 April and the tension is palpable at the Flaminio. Halfway through the race, Biklim is ahead 45-40, but the Lazio players do not give up and in the final, pushed by the former Ottaviani (25 points for the wing), they are even ahead of 4. Rimini returns to -1, Rieti does not find nothing and the hosts have the ball of victory in their hands. The action is messed up, finds no outlets, but Maurizio Ferro (photo) comes up with a crazy conclusion, almost resting one knee on the ground. It seems like a ‘prayer’ and instead it is the basket that guarantees the red and white to stay in A2.
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