By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
BOLOGNA, Italy – Following the impressive away victory in Round 2 against AS Monaco, Virtus Bologna didn’t stop and earned another win in the EuroLeague Regular Season, this time beating ALBA Berlin 87-76 by leading from the first to the very last minute in front of its fans in PalaDozza.
Tornike Shengelia was absolutely dominant tonight for Luca Banchi’s team, ending the game with 26 points and 4 rebounds while shooting 8/9 from two-point range and 7/8 at the charity stripe. He shared the frontcourt with veteran Bryant Dunston, who helped Virtus Bologna stay up front in the third quarter, appearing in the final boxscore with 7 points and 4 rebounds, and with Jordan Mickey, who had 15 points and 5 boards.
Despite struggling from the three-point range (1/4) and scoring only 3 points, Alessandro Pajola made this game feel like a nightmare for ALBA Berlin’s guards, providing 3 steals and tons of defensive intensity. Marco Belineli had a great start to the game and managed to end it on the winning end with 12 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
“A good win, our second in a row, the first at home. Very impressive start to the game, with a good quality of effort controlling their talent. We came out of the locker room not with the same level of energy, they have talent and versatility. We struggled a little bit to control the game, it’s not easy to go into a double week mentally. It’s a process, trying to build a better identity within the team”, Luca Banchi commented in the post-game conference.
Being his team’s prominent force on the glass, Johannes Thiemann provided a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds for ALBA Berlin, followed by Sterling Brown’s 17 points and 6 boards.
The young Italian duo composed of Matteo Spagnolo and Gabriele Procida combined for 28 minutes on the floor and 17 points, playing their first game together against an Italian team since the playmaker’s move to Germany in the summer. The point guard had 15 of them.
“We started the game really bad, not being focused. Even with a little energy, we let all the open shots to Virtus. After that we played with effort, we shot better in the second half, we could fight a little, and they could control the situation and managed to punish us. We have a lot of things to improve. Matteo Spagnolo needs to find himself in the team and to be comfortable with everything, he was great in the fourth quarter”, coach Israel Gonzalez commented after the game.
Marco Belinelli proved his experience earlier in the game, contributing to Virtus Bologna’s first nine points of the game with two fadeaways, one corner three-pointer, and one magnificent assist to Bryant Dunston; the home side rapidly went up 12-4 with 6:10 on the clock, ending the first quarter with a comfortable 16-point gap (27-11), following Jordan Mickey’s assist to Alessandro Pajola while sitting.
Johannes Thiemann tried to make his presence felt around the rim in the second quarter, but things didn’t change that much as Virtus Bologna kept on leading before halftime. With a three off the dribble in transition, Daniel Hackett put the black-and-white team up by 16 points (37-21) once again with 3:02 minutes left, and Luca Banchi’s side went on to conclude the first half with the extended 18-point lead (44-26).
Entering the third quarter on a 16-9 run, ALBA Berlin tried to catch up with Louis Olinde’s eight straight points – two clutch three-pointers and one baseline thunderous dunk. Johannes Thiemann proceeded to bring his team back to an 8-point deficit (55-47) with 3:58 on the clock in the third quarter; however, from that moment Virtus Bologna entered a 7-0 run to put itself back in a comfortable position.
Entering the fourth quarter up 67-51 after Iffe Lundberg’s stepback three-pointer late into the third, the home side never lost control of the encounter even in the last ten minutes of the game. Coming off the bench after spending only 4:52 minutes on the floor in the first half, Matteo Spagnolo gave flashes of talent on the offensive end, but he wasn’t enough to make ALBA Berlin recover into the game.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague