The Italian side improves to 4-2 under new coach Dusko Ivanovic
Virtus wins another thriller over Baskonia, prevails 76-74 at home
Virtus Segafredo Bologna survived another major drama against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz to continue its push up the lower ranks of the standings with a 76-74 win at home. Virtus wasted a 15-point lead but managed to fend off the Spanish side for the second time in the last six rounds in moving to 6-14. The Italian outfit also took its record to 4-2 under new head coach Dusko Ivanovic – the first win being the improbable 81-82 win over Baskonia in Spain in Round 15.
Matt Morgan led the way with 17 points, Isaia Cordinier had 16 points, Achille Polonara 13 and Andrejs Grazulis chipped in 13 points. Baskonia dropped to 8-12, including 2-8 on the road and 2-5 in its last seven games. Luka Samanic shined in his second game with the team with 16 points and 8 rebounds, and Nikos Rogkavopoulos tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
Game Videos
Cordinier was Virtus’s main weapon early on with 7 points, including a three-pointer to pull the hosts even at 9-9. Baskonia could not get baskets to fall but made six free throws and pulled ahead 9-13. A triple from Ognjen Jaramaz pushed the guests ahead 12-18 and the score was 14-20 after 10 minutes.
Donta Hall threw down two dunks to put Baskonia ahead by eight points, 18-26. Polonara tried to get Virtus back in front with two triples, but the guests answered with three-pointers both times to make it 24-32. The Baskonia offense dried up with just one basket in 3 minutes and Morgan had 5 points to trim the deficit to 33-34. Virtus still went into the break down 37-38.
Morgan continued his hot play to start the second half with the first seven points and assisted on an Alessandro Pajola three-pointer as Virtus led 47-38. Baskonia needed more than 3 minutes to score and that didn’t stop the Virtus push with a put-back dunk and three-pointer from Grazulis and a Morgan three-point play for a 55-40 cushion. Baskonia punched back with a 2-12 run thanks to a four-point play from Rogkavopoulos, who also hit a triple at the buzzer, and the score was 59-54 after three quarters.
After two scores from Samanic made it a one-point game, Daniel Hackett knocked down a triple for Virtus’s first score of the final frame. Baskonia, however, was up 62-63 after a three-pointer and tip-in from Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. That was the first of six straight lead changes, with an unsportsmanlike foul on Luwawu-Cabarrot resulting in two Morgan free throws and a Polonara triple as Virtus was leading 71-67 with 3 minutes to play. A Cordinier layup had the advantage at 73-67. And the Frenchman buried a big triple with 77 seconds to play for a 76-70 cushion. After a Samanic layup, the officials reviewed a previous Virtus offense and ruled an unsportsmanlike foul on Grazulis, which Trent Forrest converted into two free throws. Forrest missed a chance to tie the game with 2.5 seconds left from the free-throw line and then Rogkavopoulos was just off target with a potential three-point winner at the buzzer.