By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After getting the upper hand against Fenerbahce, Virtus Bologna managed to beat another EuroLeague powerhouse as Sergio Scariolo’s team got the 83-75 on-the-road win against Barcelona.
Iffe Lundberg was the highest scorer for the guests. The Danish former Phoenix Suns player had 20 points with 4 steals shooting 7/9 from the field.
Milos Teodosic played a good contribution off the bench, ending the game with 8 points and 6 assists, including some highlight reel dimes to Ismael Bako (8 p).
Returning from injury, Semi Ojeleye scored 14 points with 4 rebounds and clutch plays in the last minutes of the game in fast-break opportunities.
“Extremely valuable win against a top team in this competition, leading basically from the beginning to the end. My players showed character bouncing back from a bad league game loss two days ago. We prepared well and this is a matter of pride. We shared the ball well, but defensively we had a slump in the last five minutes of the second. A good win, let’s move on”, Sergio Scariolo said after the game.
Oscar da Silva, who came off the bench to substitute Nikola Mirotic (9 p), had basically the perfect night, shooting 3/3 FG and 5/5 FT for 11 points with 6 rebounds.
In the second game of 2023 after beating his former team Real Madrid, Nicolas Laprovittola registered the first double-double of his EuroLeague season with 11 points and 10 assists. Jan Vesely added 12.
“They came here with much more desire to win the game. It’s very clear that as a coach I didn’t get my guys ready to play this kind of game and they didn’t understand this was going to be a difficult game”, Sarunas Jasikevicius said in the post-game press conference.
Sergio Scariolo didn’t have Daniel Hackett and Isaia Cordinier, other than Awudu Abass. Sarunas Jasikevicius, instead, had to do without starting playmaker Tomas Satoransky and Sergi Martinez.
After finishing the first quarter up by 11 points, Virtus Bologna managed to stay ahead until 5:28 left in the third quarter, where the home side found the first lead of the game.
However, things changed once again, with the Italian team running away with a night to remember shooting the ball inside the area (22/30 vs 15/30). Barcelona had 17 turnovers in the loss, while Virtus recovered the ball on 12 occasions.
Despite the loss, Barcelona hasn’t moved from first place in the EuroLeague since both AS Monaco and Baskonia lost as well, respectively against ALBA Berlin 85-84 and Partizan Belgrade 100-80.
In Round 18, Virtus Bologna (8-9) will come back home to face Zalgiris Kaunas on January 10 at 20:30 CET, while FC Barcelona (11-6) will visit ASVEL in France on the following day at 20:00 CET.
PHOTO CREDIT: Virtus Segafredo Bologna