Brescia still knocked out, Virtus Bologna one step away from scudetto
Ready, start and the game immediately turns into a shootout on both sides with Ivanovic and Hackett arming the heavy hand from beyond the arc with percentages bordering on perfection and making the match balanced. Virtus, however, buoyed by the home crowd, writes a 6-0 partial thanks to Zizic and Taylor, adept at punishing the Brescian defense. Germani doesn’t agree and, through the initiatives of Della Valle and Rivers, as well as accomplice to a fluid circulation of the ball, rebounds blow after blow and ties the result. Merit also goes to Brescia’s renewed defensive intensity, with Cournooh and Burnell keeping their respective opponents in a stranglehold. The point gap, at the first siren, is only one.
The second quarter is split by a beautifully crafted basket by Cournooh, which Akele echoes with a 4-0 personal partial, allowing the Black Vu’s to get the ball back. Germani, for its part, slams against the defensive organization of the opponents, who force the Biancoblu to stain their percentages. Brescia, however, does not lose heart and, through two flashes of Burnell and Ivanovic, makes the counter-breakthrough. The home coaching staff decides to pause the half. At the resumption of hostilities Bilan recovers the treasure, but Shengelia decides to take the lead. The long Georgian, in fact, loads his teammates on his shoulders and propitiates an 8-0 partial, which leads Segafredo with the lead seven points ahead at the long break.
The third period, at the outset, is of the Bologna plate. Virtus, in fact, immediately prints a lightning fast 5-0 partial, fixing the discrepancy at twelve lengths. Germani stays on the piece and applied, trying to break through the black-and-white defense by flipping the side to fish for the best solution. Ivanovic and Dowe fatten Germani’s scoreboard, reducing the gap below double digits in the face of the virtussino defensive castle. Pajola, until then opaque on offense, sends a triple on target that restores oxygen to the hosts. Germani, in its moment of greatest difficulty, pulls out its claws and, buoyed by the dynamism and energy of Dowe and Burnell, pulls back to within three points, before a heavy basket by Akele pushes Bologna still ahead by seven points.
The last ten minutes are scattered by five consecutive points by Pajola, strongly intent on bringing the game over the virtussini tracks. Coach Giuseppe Poeta is not up for it and decides to call a timeout. When Burnell returns to the parquet, he tries to sound the charge, but Shengelia and Taylor send back any ambition, stretching the twelve-point lead. Germani does not lose heart and tries to express its offensive flow of play, while defensively it is not afraid to get between its body and that of its opponents. Bologna, an experienced formation, searches for its most incisive solutions and, in fact, approaching the iron, Shengelia delivers shots that, in the economy of the game, will prove crucial. Virtus also conquers game 2.
