By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
After digging its way out of a ten-point hole, Virtus Segafredo Bologna held on to beat Germani Brescia, 90-87, in Game 1 of the LBA Finals Unipol 2025.
A bid for a 17th league championship in Italy was looking grim when the visitors went up by a margin of ten points early in the second half. However, 33-year-old Tornike Shengelia was unstoppable, driving his side back in the lead and ending up with 29 points behind 12/14 field goals. Matt Morgan added 19 points.
Opening the last best-of-five series of the Playoffs, Will Clyburn, due to a right thigh injury, and Achille Polonara, due to mononucleosis syndrome, remained unavailable for the team coached by Dusko Ivanovic.
On the opposite end, season MVP Miro Bilan scored 16 points, Demetre Rivers had 15 points, and Jason Burnell followed with 14 points in Virtus Segafredo Arena.
Staying in Bologna, Game 2 will be played on Saturday. Game 3 in Brescia is scheduled on Tuesday.
LBA Playoffs
Quarterfinals (best of five)
Virtus Segafredo Bologna – Umana Reyer Venice 3-2 (90-85, 77-75, 82-89, 78-84, 86-84)
Dolomiti Energia Trento – EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 1-3 (70-73, 70-67, 79-107, 82-89)
Germani Brescia – Trieste 3-1 (89-77, 92-103, 80-70, 92-88)
Trapani Shark – UnaHotels Reggio Emilia 3-0 (80-75, 102-88, 90-83)
Semifinals (best of five)
Virtus Segafredo Bologna – EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 3-1 (68-67, 66-85, 78-68, 84-78)
Trapani Shark – Germani Brescia 0-3 (92-93, 77-85, 86-92)
Finals (best of five)
Virtus Segafredo Bologna – Germani Brescia 1-0 (90-87)