Luca Banchi's side grabbed its 12th win of the season, with its bench players stepping up in critical moments of the game.
Second unit helped Virtus silence Partizan at Stark Arena
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Regular Season
Round 17 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Virtus Segafredo Bologna improved to 12-5 in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings on Thursday night, having gone to the home of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, where the Serbian side was on a six-game winning streak, and won 75-77. Last season, the Italian team reached the regular season's halfway mark with an 8-9 record, so it's been quite the improvement under the orders of head coach Luca Banchi.
Role players were key in win at Partizan
Virtus controlled the game early and quickly built a double-digit lead, 10-21. However, Partizan came back to tie the game, 23-23, early in the second quarter. In need of a go-to guy, Virtus found Awudu Abass, who came off the bench and needed just 18 seconds to bury his first three-pointer. Iffe Lunbderg also struck from downtown and Abass downed another triple to give Virtus plenty of fresh air at 25-34.
The guests never trailed after that, but James Nunnally managed to bring Partizan within 72-73 with 1:11 remaining in the contest. Virtus called a timeout and Coach Banchi brought Lundberg back on the court. The Dane delivered by hitting a critical basket, going one-on-one against Zach LeDay and banking in a close shot with 18.9 seconds remaining.
When the dust settled, Lundberg led Virtus with 16 points off the bench. Abass had 10 points, his second double-digit scoring effort of the season, in less than 14 minutes. Virtus also got a solid contribution from backup center Devontae Cacok, who had 4 points, 5 rebounds and a PIR of 8 in over 13 minutes on the floor..
"It is always difficult to stay calm, especially in an atmosphere like this, a really hostile environment," said Lundberg after the game. "We knew coming in here that the victory tonight would give us a really good chance in terms of the standings.
"We tried to keep our composure throughout the end of the game and luckily it was in our favor. We always wanted to finish the first half of the season with a win, and against the toughest crowd in Europe. You couldn't ask for more!"