By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Well-experienced Marco Belinelli was clutch down the stretch sending Virtus Segafredo Bologna to the win, 77-73, opposite Bertram Tortona Friday evening.
The former NBA player and captain of the team coached by Sergio Scariolo, Belinelli scored 25 points, including eight points in the last two minutes of the back-and-forth contest opening the best-of-five series of the LBA Serie A Semifinals. Down 71-68, his side rallied to the win and thus protected the home-court advantage.
Teodosic ➡️Belinelli 🎯Instant classicpic.twitter.com/56MxgVTcZq
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) May 27, 2022
French center Mouhammadou Jaiteh produced 13 points and six rebounds. Falling narrowly short of a double-double, Georgian Tornike Shengelia paired 11 points with nine rebounds and Serbian Milos Teodosic combined ten points with nine assists. Kyle Weems added seven more points for the top-seeded team in the playoff bracket against the fourth-seeded side.
Jamarr Sanders was leading the upset bid against the defending champions in Italy and more recently 7DAYS EuroCup champions on their way back to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. The Chicago-born guard stood out with 16 points for the team coached by Marco Ramondino. Former Xavier standout J. P. Macura went for 12 points in the losing effort.
Second-seeded AX Armani Exchange Milan and sixth-seeded Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari are taking over with Game 1 of their own Semifinals best-of-five series tomorrow, Saturday. On Sunday, Virtus Bologna will once again welcome Tortona in Segafredo Arena, this time looking for a 2-0 lead.
The teams surviving the Semifinals and advancing to the Finals will then battle it out in a best-of-seven series for the championship.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net