By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
ANTWERP — A couple of hundreds of Virtus Bologna fans were bursting into song at the prospect of their beloved team returning to a European final.
On the court, Bologna players were throwing their own party at the expense of Brose Bamberg.
Kevin Punter scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Virtus Bologna beat Brose Bamberg 67 – 50 to become the first finalist of the 2019 Basketball Champions League Final Four. The Italian side will face either hosts Telenet Antwerp Giants or former BCL champs Iberostar Tenerife for the trophy.
Bologna was superior from start to finish and made short work of a highly problematic Bamberg squad. The 10-0 run with which Sasa Djordjevic’s players entered the fourth quarter to skyrocket their lead to 63 – 39 just confirmed their dominance.
It also left no room to Bamberg for any potential reaction.
The Bavarian side finished with an offensive season low. A result of their numerous scoring issues that derived for their obvious lack of solid ball movement and missing way too many easy shots, be it under the basket or open looks from beyond the arc,
There were few options save for Tyrese Rice’s outbursts.
Rice finished with 21 points but shot poorly. He had 6/21 from the field, including 1/10 2-pointers.
At the end of the third period, Bamberg had just three assists to go with its 12 turnovers, something that illustrated an aspect of their inefficiency. Bologna’s decisive run left them behind for good.