By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Jacob Pullen made the start with 16 out of his 20 points in the first half and Jaka Blazic took over by dropping 11 out of his 18 points after the break as Cedevita Olimpija grabbed a big 86 – 74 away win over Virtus Bologna.
This was the fifth win in a row for Cedevita that has now improved to 8-7 and climbed fourth in Group B of the EuroCup regular season. Virtus has the same record but that 12-point deficit cost them the tiebreaker against the Slovenian team.
Former All-EuroLeague forward Tornike Shengelia scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed even rebounds in his debut with Virtus but his performance wasn’t combined with victory. Mam Jaiteh added 11 points plus 14 rebounds and Kyle Weems also scored 14 for the Bologna side was without head coach Sergio Scariolo (COVID-19) star wing Marco Belinelli (hamstring).
Pullen went off right from the beginning with 16 points in the 11 minutes to set Cedevita with an early 26 – 36 lead. Bologna tried to keep up and closed halftime down 44 – 51.
Cedevita remained in control upon the team’s return from the locker rooms and never allowed Virtus to become actually threatening. The hosts went 64 – 73 with six minutes to play but Blazic hit back-to-back 3-pointers and the margin never fell below double figures for the rest of the match.
Edo Muric contributed 14 points plus seven rebounds to Cedevita’s win while Yogi Ferrell posted 11 points plus six assists. Zoran Dragic also scored 11.