2007-08Regular SeasonRound 13
January 24, 2008 CET: 20:45
Local time: 20:45 TIVOLI ARENA

Union Olimpija downed visiting Virtus VidiVici Bologna 75-60

Union Olimpija gave its home fans in Ljubljana, Slovenia hope for a miracle when it downed visiting Virtus VidiVici Bologna 75-60 on Thursday to stay alive in the Top 16 - only the find after that the math had suddenly got a lot tougher. Olimpija moved up to 4-9 and still holds sixth place in Group A, but it's only hope for the Top 16 - finishing with the best sixth-place record across the three groups - is an even longer shot. That's because Group C's sixth-place team, Partizan, won by 48 points. Now, even if Olimpija wins its last game, it needs Partizan to lose and the combined margin of those results to be 98 points. What is sure is that Olimpija will keep fighting, as it did from the opening tip on Thursday, and went the entire 40 minutes without trailing on the scoreboard. Marko Milic again led the winners with 20 points, and got help from Jasmin Hukic, with 15, Maurice Bailey with 13 off the bench and Goran Dragic with 10. Bologna, under the orders of new head coach Renato Pasquali, had only Dewarick Spencer with 14 points reach double figures.

Boris Gorenc started and got Olimpija on the board before Milic and Dragic lifted the hosts ahead 6-3, although baskets soon proved hard to come by. Fabio DiBella answered for Virtus, then Spencer drilled the game's first three-pointer to tie it up, 8-8. Milic banked a jumper, before Roberto Chiacig and Mirza Begic traded free throws, with Olimpija still up, 12-10. Begic dropped a jumphook and Hukic buried a corner triple too boost Olimpija lead to 17-10 before Luca Garri and Milic traded tip-ins for a 19-13 score after 10 minutes.

Hukic drove untouched to open the second-quarter scoring, then a long lull ended with Bologna's Federico Lestini flying in for a dunk. Milic answerd right back, however, then Hukic stepped behind a screen and drilled a triple good for a 26-15 lead. Lestini had the answer for the guests, also from downtown, but only got help from Andrea Michelori. Meanwhile, Bailey hit a long two-pointer, Hukic bombed again from deep and Milic banked again to make it 36-23 for Olimpija. Spencer reappeared with a triple, but Bailey put back an offensive rebound and hit free throws for Olimpija's biggest lead yet, 40-26. Guilherme Giovannoni got 3 points back the hard way for Bologna, and Lestini launched a triple on the buzzer to cut the difference to 43-32 at the half.

Gorenc started the second-half scoring, too, and when Begic followed him, the difference was up to 47-32. Donnie McGrath's triple proved a spark for Bologna, and by the time he hit another, with Spencer and Giovannoni adding two-point buckets, the Olimpija lead was trimmed to 51-42. Spencer now hit from long-range and Chiacig from the paint as Bologna drew within 54-47. Olimpija needed someone to come to the rescue, and it was no surprise whom that someone was. Milic dunked and tipped-in a rebound to restore the double-digit difference, 58-47, before the third quarter ended.

Trading baskets to start the final quarter got Bologna within single digits again at 60-51 on Spencer's basket. A scoreless minute then ended with Hasan Rizvic stepping up with a three-point basket-plus-free throw for Olimpija to make it 63-51. Michelori and Dragic also traded baskets, which was all that the visitors could manage down the stretch as Olimpija kept its double-digit edge to the finish, adding a few points to the many needed to keep its season alive.

Thursday, January 24, 2008
Euroleague.net
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Referees: PILIPAUSKAS, KESTUTIS; CASTANO, ANIBAL; ANASTOPOULOS, PANAGIOTIS
Attendance: 4000
By Quarter1234
Union Olimpija19241517
Virtus VidiVici13191513
End of Quarter1234
Union Olimpija19435875
Virtus VidiVici13324760
Union Olimpija
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 DONCIC, SASA 16:55     0/2     4 4 1 1       1   3
6 BOOKER, CHRIS 16:59 4 2/4 0/1 0/2 1 1 2 1     1   2 1 2
7 MOCNIK, JAN 0:39                              
9 DRAGIC, GORAN 33:41 10 4/6 0/1 2/3 1 4 5 3   3 1   3 3 12
10 GORENC, BORIS 26:27 4 2/3 0/2 0/4 1 2 3 2   2   1 2 3  
11 RIZVIC, HASAN 16:28 3 1/2   1/1   1 1   1 2 1   5 2  
12 MILIC, MARKO 31:00 20 9/15   2/4 4 1 5 3 2 1     1 5 25
13 HUKIC, JASMIN 29:15 15 3/4 3/6     3 3   1 6     3 2 8
15 BEGIC, MIRZA 15:33 6 2/3   2/2 1 8 9   1 2 4   4 3 16
20 BAILEY, MAURICE 13:03 13 3/3 1/3 4/4 1 2 3     2     2 4 14
24 ZUPAN, MIHA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
30 TAYLOR, RONELL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team                                
Totals 200:00 75 26/40 4/15 11/20 9 26 35 10 6 18 7 1 23 23 80
        65% 26.7% 55%
Head coach: DZIKIC, ALEKSANDAR
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Virtus VidiVici
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
6 SPENCER, DEWARICK 38:34 14 2/10 3/6 1/2 2   2   1 1 1 2 3 3 3
11 CROSARIOL, ANDREA 11:45 1 0/3   1/2   4 4   1 2   1 3 2 -2
12 GIOVANNONI, GUILHERME 27:06 8 2/7 0/1 4/5       2 1 1     3 3 3
14 CHIACIG, ROBERTO 14:38 5 1/3   3/4 1   1   1 1   1 1 5 6
15 MICHELORI, ANDREA 20:42 7 3/7   1/2 2 5 7 1   3   2 2 4 7
16 DI BELLA, FABIO 20:18 4 2/4 0/2   2 1 3   4 1   1 4   1
17 CANELO, JEAN CARLOS 4:14                   2     1   -3
18 LESTINI, FEDERICO 16:55 8 1/2 2/4     1 1     2     2 2 4
19 DA ROS, MATTEO 0:39                              
20 GARRI, LUCA 14:00 5 1/2 0/2 3/4 1 3 4   1 1     2 3 6
21 McGRATH, DONNIE 31:09 8   2/6 2/2 1 2 3 3 1 2     2 1 8
Team                                
Totals 200:00 60 12/38 7/21 15/21 9 16 25 6 10 16 1 7 23 23 33
        31.6% 33.3% 71.4%
Head coach: PILLASTRINI, STEFANO

Head Coaches

DZIKIC, ALEKSANDAR
Union Olimpija
"Every win is important and this one is no different. I am satisfied with the way my team played tonight, even when not everything works the way it should. We must keep working hard and focus in the Adriatic League from now on to achieve our goals this season."
PASQUALI, RENATO
Virtus VidiVici
"I only practiced twice with the team, so it was difficult to change anything. The main goal is to change my players' way of thinking. We are in a losing streak and that affected them a lot. We have to work very hard to get the winning mentality back in the team."

Players

DRAGIC, GORAN
Union Olimpija
"We showed that we are able to play well and win. We want to dedicate this win to our loyal fans, who followed us throughout the season even when sometimes we did not play at a very hugh level, losing one game after another."
MILIC, MARKO
Union Olimpija
"It is nice to win our final Euroleague home game this season. We once again showed that we know how to play hard in Tivoli, where we can beat any EUroleague game. We struggled to the road and this is why we ran out of chances to reach the Top 16. I think this is all because of our lack of experience. We should not lose our motivation because we still have a long season in front of us."
CHIACIG, ROBERTO
Virtus VidiVici
"Union Olimpija got a well-deserved win, as they played better than us throughout the entire game. We didn't do what we needed to get back in the game and make things happen."
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