Armani Junior Milan came back from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to pick up its first victory at the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT in Rome by knocking off fellow Italian club Virtus Bologna 85-81 in Group B action. Andrea Pecchia scored 12 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter while Francesco Villa added 14 points, Davide Toffali had 12 and both Filippo Rossi and Michele D’Ambrosio tallied 10 points. Bologna finished the group stage at 0-3 despite Danilo Petrovic scoring 26 points and Roberto Vercellino collecting 14 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks. Alberto Conti added 12 points and Andrea Graziani had 10 points in the defeat.

The game was tight throughout the first quarter with Bologna leading early by four points and four ties before Milan’s first lead at 17-16. Armani was up 20-17 after 10 minutes. Milan scored the first eight points of the second quarter to push the advantage to 28-17. Bologna fought back into the game and Petrovic push Virtus ahead 34-35. Stefano Colombo answered with a three-ball to push Milan back ahead and Armani was up 43-40 at intermission.

Milan scored the first four points of the second half but Bologna used a 2-14 run to take a 49-54 advantage. The lead grew to 53-59 and it was up to 56-65 after Petrovic nailed a three-pointer at the third quarter buzzer. Graziani and Vercellino pushed the lead to 56-69 early in the fourth quarter and Bologna still led 61-73 with 6:35 minutes to play. Toffali answered with back-to-back three-pointers and Pecchia stepped up and put Milan ahead 76-75. The game was knotted at 80-80 with 31 seconds left before Pecchia, Rossi and Colombo combined to make five of six free throws late to secure the victory.