By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Virtus Bologna used a dominant 33-14 start as a cushion to defeat Crvena Zvezda 84 – 72 maybe easier than what the final score shows and return to victories in EuroLeague. The Italian side is now 10-12 and two wins below the playoff zone.
Tornike Shengelia led a well-balanced Virtus effort with 15 points while dishing out four out of his squad’s impressive number of 28 assists. Kyle Weems scored 13 points, Isaia Cordinier contributed 11 points while Mam Jaiteh had 11 points plus eight rebounds. Milos Teodosic delivered nine assists to set the tempo for the Bologna team that also got the tiebreaker (Zvezda had won 83 – 74 in Belgrade).
“We just had a couple of minutes stretch [which were] not so good but I think, in the end, with fighting spirit defensively, being aggressive offensively and sharing the ball, we got this win,” Shengelia said. “We have to enjoy this one and have another tough one coming up.”
“For sure, one of our best games this season,” Virtus coach Sergio Scariolo commented. “We had a great start both times we came out of the locker room, first and third quarter, with great clearance in our ideas, about the game plan, and especially about our attitude, the impact, the approach, the physicality. And also, we played a very good game on the offensive end, sharing the ball and knowing their strong points, their weak points, and putting the ball where we had to.
Red Star reacted a bit after their ugly beginning but never managed to truly recover and fell once again behind by 19, 70 – 51, by the end of the third period. Only Luca Vildoza (20 points) stood out from the visiting squad that trailed by double figures for the entire game after the first seven minutes.
Zvezda had a huge number of fans attending the road game and their never-ending song, even after the defeat, was the one positive aspect of the team’s presence in Bologna. “They [fans] didn’t deserve how we played,” said coach Dusko Ivanovic.
“We started very soft: against Virtus and in the EuroLeague, we cannot start to play as soft as we did,” Ivanovic added. “And after that, we were always behind.”