Virtus Bologna continues its march to the top of the standings. The bianconeri beat Bertram Derthona Tortona at home 101-83 in the first advance of the twenty-eighth day of Serie A basketball. Coach Scariolo’s team strengthens its leadership with 48 points, also securing first place in the playoff grid. Tortona tries to keep up with the Italian champions as long as he could, with the greater depth of the Bolognese roster making the difference in the second half.
Top scorer by the V-nere ‘Mam’ Jaiteh with 23 points, along with 15 from an excellent Alessandro Pajola. Second game in double figures for Nico Mannion (11 points), while for Tortona the best scorer is Mike Daum with 23 points.
Break at the opening of Tortona signed by Sanders-Cain (0-5), to which Jaiteh replies with 2 + 1 (3-5). Cain scores again (8-10), but it is Shengelia who signs the Virtus counter-overtaking from the arc (12-10). Two free from Daum and a placed from Macura bring the Piedmontese back in front (12-14), but Jaiteh in suspension equalizes the score (14-14). The Macura-Sanders axis works wonders: partial 5-0 and Tortona tries to escape in the middle of the quarter (14-19). Weems and Teodosic mend the gap (18-19), with the game remaining balanced at 21-21. Two bombs in a row by Mike Daum bring the Bertram back to +5 (22-27), with Nico Mannion returning fire with a triple of -2 (25-27). Two free throws by Macura and a long-range shot by the former Golden State Warriors set the score at 28-29 after 10 ‘.
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Two free by Sampson inaugurate the second quarter, with Virtus returning to the front (30-29). The Italian duo Mascolo-Severini collects four consecutive points for the counter-overtaking Tortona (30-33), returning to +5 thanks to the support of Ariel Filloy (32-37). Still Severini and the Italian-Argentine playmaker have a hot hand from the bow: two bombs in a row are worth the maximum advantage at +9 (34-43), tweaking it up to the double-digit margin thanks to Cain’s free throw (34-44) . Weems is only 1/3 from the line (35-44), keeping the disadvantage below -10 thanks to two consecutive dunks by Jaiteh (39-48). The French center is still the protagonist (43-48), with Alibegovice’s counterattack that is -3 (45-48) at -2’10 ”from the second siren. Five points in a row by Jamarr Sanders restore oxygen to Tortona (45-53), with Teodosic’s triple on an assist from Michele Ruzzier at the edge of the siren that seals the 49-53 with which the two teams go to the long interval.
Virtus Bologna further shortens the distance at the beginning of the third quarter with Shengelia (51-53), but Tortona promptly responds with two free throws and a triple from Mike Daum (51-58). Jaiteh from the lunette and Teodosic from the painted show the V-nere at -3 (55-58), with the Piedmontese guests who do not break down while maintaining a small advantage of four lengths (60-64). Kyle Weems first and Alessandro Pajola then sign the overtaking of the Italian Champions (66-64), with the play from the Marches who also shoots the +5 bomb (69-64). Severini replies from a distance (69-67), but the free players of Pajola and Sampson bring the Bolognese to +7 (74-67) with less than three minutes at the third siren. Bertram’s attack seems to have lost its effectiveness, while Virtus administers the advantage: Sampson leans on the basket for the 78-67 with which to prepare for the last fraction.
Two points from Ariel Filloy inaugurate the last quarter, with Tortona returning below the double-digit disadvantage (78-69). Pajola is in a state of grace, with the blue player shooting the +12 bomb (81-69). Question and answer between Wright and Alibegovic (85-73), with Tortona returning to -10 thanks to Mike Daum’s triple (87-77). The Piedmontese have the last gasp to try to worry Virtus, but the Bolognese manage the accumulated advantage and increase it even in the final minutes thanks to an unleashed Alessandro Pajola (15 points). Alibegovic’s bomb is worth +21 as the maximum advantage (101-83), to which Mike Daum replies at the sound of the siren: ends 101-83 at the Segafredo Arena in Bologna, with Virtus celebrating their fourteenth consecutive championship victory.
THE MATCH TABLE
SEGAFREDO VIRTUS BOLOGNA-BERTRAM DERTHONA TORTONA 101-83 (28-29, 21-24, 29-14, 23-16)
Virtue of Bologna: Tessitori, Mannion 11, Belinelli 5, Pajola 15, Alibegovic 8, Ruzzier, Jaiteh 23, Shengelia 8, Weems 7, Teodosic 16.
Tortona: Wright 6, Fridriksson, Filloy 9, Mascolo 6, Severini 8, Sanders 14, Daum 22, Cain 5, Macura 13.
Credit: Ciamillo
