By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Virtus Segafredo Bologna went to Monaco with a 0-3 record and knew in advance that it would be easy to get their maiden win in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.
That was proven on the court, with the hosts’ easy 101-85 win over the Italians and six players scoring in double digits.
Mike James with 19 points led the charge, Elie Okobo was the top scorer with 20 points, Mam Jaiteh added 15, Vitto Brown had his first good game for Monaco with 14, Matthew Strazel scored 12 points, and Jordan Loyd had 11.
“Getting back to my best level is a process that is following its course'”, said James after the game. “I try to get back in shape and the rest will follow. When we win, I am always happier with myself”.
Monaco with a solid 3-1 record remains among the top teams of the standings.
On the other side, Toko Shengelia with 17 was the top scorer, Mouhamed Diouf added 12, and the duo of Isaia Cordinier and Mat Morgan had 11 points each, but no one couldn’t turn the tide after halftime.
Luca Banchi was disappointed after the loss. “We played a very good first half, despite Monaco finding a very sharp night from the arc and they continued to shoot the ball very well”, he said.
“Their difficult threes affected our confidence. I have some regrets about the way they came back. We tried our best, but they played high-qualify basketball and our defense wasn’t able to stop their flow”, Virtus Bologna’s head coach added.
Monaco dominated the second half
The first half proved to be quite balanced with Virtus leading by four (24-20) to end the first quarter and despite extending their lead to 11 points (36-25), having just one point advantage at halftime (47-46).
To be exact, Monaco even got a 44-42 lead with James finishing the first 20 minutes of action with 12 points before losing their advantage.
Still, at the start of the third period thanks to a 10-0 run, Monaco got back into the driver’s seat (56-47) with Jaiteh scoring half of those points and closing the quarter leading by seven (71-64).
Brown was the X-factor as Monaco led again by 10 (78-68) and there was no coming back for Virtus after that. James took over, Monaco led by 15 (87-72) and ultimately got the job done.
In the post-game, Sasa Obradovic shared his happiness. “Honestly, I still expected some small inconsistencies in finding the rhythm in Mike and Jordan. But playing more together, we had a great game, we did a great job”, he first commented.
“We knew we had to act differently after the loss in Barcelona. I’m very happy with this kind of win. Offensively it was amazing basketball to watch”, AS Monaco’s head coach concluded.
Photo credit: EuroLeague