By Cesare Milanti/ info@eurohoops.net
Without suffering too much, Virtus Bologna came back to the winning side in the EuroLeague Regular Season after two consecutive losses, beating Panathinaikos 74-64 in front of its fans.
Tornike Shengelia was a factor for Virtus Bologna on offense, as the former CSKA Moscow player ended the game with 16 points, 7 assists, and 3 steals.
Ismael Bako and Mam Jaiteh won the matchup against Papagiannis and Gudaitis, combining for 19 points and 12 rebounds. Milos Teodosic registered 7 turnovers but had 12 points with decisive buckets.
“Very happy about the win, that our fans enjoyed a home win after a couple of losses. We kept the EuroLeague top scorer to 8 points, some of our important players were very tired. I liked a lot how we managed the situation in the fourth quarter. Players have to learn how to handle these situations and these slumps, and they did it”, Sergio Scariolo said in the post-game press conference.
Nate Wolters played one of the best games of his season on the offensive end. The Panathinaikos playmaker had 15 points in 22:52 minutes on the court.
Derrick Williams followed with 10 points and captured 7 boards, while Mateusz Ponitka added 13 points off the bench.
“After twenty minutes our defense in the second quarter was not good and then it was much better. After that, in the second half, our defense was quite good. In crucial moments we made some mistakes on both ends. In the end, Virtus deserved this win”, coach Dejan Radonjic said after the game.
Panathinaikos found its first game lead with 07:06 left thanks to a three-pointer by Ponitka. But from then on, Virtus Bologna produced a 19-7 run to seal the deal.
The home side dominated the encounter by getting both rebounds (40 vs 28) and assists (22 vs 12) than the Greek opponents.
Panathinaikos traveled to Bologna without Lefteris Bochoridis, who is dealing with quadriceps problems, and Lefteris Mantzoukas, who suffered an iliopsoas muscle injury. Virtus, instead, didn’t have Awudu Abass, who has been out long-term with a knee injury.
In Round 21 of the EuroLeague Regular Season, Panathinaikos (7-13) will come back home to host Zalgiris Kaunas on January 26 at 20:00 CET. Virtus Bologna (9-11), instead, will travel to Munich the following day at 20:45 CET.
PHOTO CREDIT: Virtus Segafredo Bologna