Virtus took the Italian “civil war” with Armani with a twist

After a real “thriller”, Virtus defeated Armani Milano in Bologna 89-84 in the “civil war” of the 34th matchday of the EuroLeague and took the 14th place in the ranking, with the Italian champions wanting Valencia to lose to Barcelona the Great Friday for the 12th to come out, otherwise it will be the 13th.

The two teams alternated for most of the match, the Italian champions were up +8 at the end of the half, but back-to-back three-pointers from Virtus brought about the upset in the final minutes.

For the winners, Hackett stood out with 25, Belinelli with 21, Sengelia with 15 and Zaitech with 13 points. For the Lega Basket champions, Feigdman stood out with 19 and Baron with 14 points.

The match

Hackett’s picks inside the opposing racket kept Virtus +2 at the start of the match, with Voigtman in awe as an opponent. A 5-0 run by Armani made it 7-12 for the Lega Basket champions and Ettore Messina’s right player choices on the opposing racket kept them at +2 to +4. Belinelli’s three point reduced to -1 and Baron brought +6. Virtus went on a 5-0 run to cut it to 22-23, but Datome’s three-pointer made it 22-26 at the end of the first quarter.

With Hines as the leader in the racket of the “black and white” and maintained +4 to +6 for the champions of Italy. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Armani made it 9-0 and 25-39 for the three-time European champions and Thomas 29-42 under pressure from Virtus. A 5-0 run by Sergio Scariolo’s players cut it to -8 and another 5-0 to -6 and Tonut ended the first half at 39-47. Virtus had 13/23 two-pointers and 10 rebounds and Armani 10/14 two-pointers, 6/5 shots and 14 rebounds.

Voigdman’s 3-pointer at the start of the second period made it 42-50 for Armani, but two straight by Virtus cut it to 48-50 and Belinelli’s to 51-52. Hackett tied it at 54-54, but Armani’s right choices inside the opponent’s racket made it 54-60. Ojeleghe’s 3-pointer cut it to 62-64 and Armani’s 5-0 run made it 65-68 at the end of the quarter.

A 5-0 run by Virtus to start the fourth quarter made it 70-68. A 4-0 Armani run made it 70-72, but there the home team put the ball right in the basket, scored continuously and, with a 9-0 run, made it 79-72. Miki’s three-pointer made it 83-74 and the home team maintained +7 to +9. Voigtman was the initiator of a 5-0 run at 85-81 and the German reduced it to 87-84 at 52”. Ojeleghe’s shots made it 89-84 at 38” and late missed shots gave Virtus the win.

The quarters: 22-26, 39-47, 65-68, 89-84

The statistics