By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Virtus Segafredo Bologna got an important win, as they defeated LDLC ASVEL 77-64 at Astroballe arena and gained the advantage in a potential tiebreaker with the French champions after losing the first game at home 79-84.
Marco Belinelli led the winning side with season-high 21 points, just two shy of his record in the EuroLeague that he achieved back in January 2007.
“Very big win for us, we played well from the beginning until the end, together, everybody was aggressive. We prepared the game in a good way. We knew it was important for us to win, we did that. Now it is important to keep going like that. We believe and will believe until the end, so we’ll try our best,” Belinelli said after the game.
Isaia Cordinier added 10 points with five rebounds and assists, and three steals for a team-high PIR of 18. Tornike Shengelia also added 10 points, but with four rebounds and three assists for a PIR of 17, the same as top scorer Belinelli.
The Italians missed both Milos Teodosic and Gabriel ‘Iffe’ Lundberg due to injuries and that makes their wins even more important.
For ASVEL, Nando De Colo made history as the top scorer of all European continental competitions surpassing Greek Hall-of-Famer Nick Galis! He ended the game with 15 points.
“Of course, I’m happy to take this step, but the people around me talked to me about it more than I paid attention to it myself. Tonight, I came to play a EuroLeague match. Obviously, this personal side was added, and it could have had a better ending. But it’s something very big that I accomplished today,” De Colo said to Skweek after the match.
Youssoupha Fall followed him with 11 points, while Amine Nua added 10.
“Good game from Bologna. They came with good intensity, and we had difficulty finding our offense at some point. Defensively it was not bad; it was good, they made some tough shots too, but overall we have to develop better things on offense,” the head coach of ASVEL, T.J. Parker, said after the game.
Virtus had a better start and took an early 9-2 lead, but the home side answered with ten straight points. Still, the guests quickly regained control and ended the quarter with 21-14.
After a couple of three-pointers from Belinelli, Virtus went up by 12 (29-17). ASVEL remained calm and made a big 12-2 run at the end of the first half to trim the deficit to just 37-39.
Both sides went to war after the break. It was a fight for every possession, but the team from Bologna found it easier to play in that kind of tension and slowly built a comfortable 55-48 lead before the last 10 minutes.
ASVEL tried to turn the game around but couldn’t find their offensive flow leaving Virtus in control until the end. With that, last season’s EuroCup champions improved to 11-12, while ASVEL fell to 8-15.
“Second half was closer to the first quarter than to the second. We had control of the game throughout most of it. Congrats to my players; we needed a road win. Asvel is a good team, and they beat teams like Fenerbahce or Milan. Very happy about the win. We are in the race, the competition is tough, the race for the playoffs is close and tough, but we are there,” the head coach of Virtus, Sergio Scariolo, stated after the match.