2020-21Top 16Round 5
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 98
Virtus Segafredo Bologna 108
March 02, 2021 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 ARENA STOZICE

Virtus wins Group G by edging Olimpija in OT

Virtus Segafredo Bologna survived a major battle and managed to knock off Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 98-108 in overtime on the road to remain undefeated on the season. Virtus gave up a 14-point lead and then trailed by 9 points with less than 3 minutes to play before coming back to force overtime and move to 5-0 and to clinch first place in Group G of the Top 16. Kyle Weems paced Virtus with 25 points while Marco Belinelli scored 16 points, Milos Teodosic collected 14 points and 12 assists and Vince Hunter added 14 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in the win. Olimpija dropped its first game at home in the EuroCup to fall to 3-2 despite Jaka Blazic scoring 29 points. Edo Muric added 18 points, Luka Rupnik scored 16 points, Kendrick Perry added 15 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists and Jarrod Jones chipped in 11 points in the loss.

Jones started the game with a three-point play for the hosts with Weems hitting a triple at the other end. Weems added a dunk and three-pointer and Giampaolo Ricci was also on target from deep for a 7-13 lead early on. Blazic started to pick things up with 8 points for Olimpija while Amar Alibegovic had 6 points for Virtus, which led 22-23 after 10 minutes. Hunter’s three-point play sparked a big 0-12 run to start the second quarter, including a three-pointer by Belinelli. Weems scored to make it 24-37. Olimpija did not score until Blazic’s free throw with 4:31 minutes left, but roared back with a 17-2 streak thanks to 2 three-pointers from Muric and a triple from Blazic to give the hosts the lead 40-39 at the break. Jones started the second half with a three-pointer, but was matched by a triple from Teodosic and Julian Gamble evened the game at 43-43 with a free throw. A Ricci triple put the visitors up 46-48 only to see Blazic punch right back from long range. Weems scored to put Virtus up 53-54, but the hosts closed on a 9-2 spurt to lead 62-56 after 30 minutes.

Awudu Abass’s triple to start the fourth quarter halved the deficit, but the gap was 66-59 after two scores from Mikael Hopkins. Belinelli drained a long three-pointer only to see Jones match from deep and Rion Brown’s layup made it 73-64. Virtus was not ready to give up with Alibegovic hitting a triple and Alessandro Pajola converted a three-point play to make it 75-72. Rupnik drained 2 triples and Blazic hit a three-pointer to extend the advantage to 84-75 with less than 3 minutes to play. Virtus raced back with a 2-11 run including a Belinelli three-pointer and 4 free throws by Teodosic to knot the game at 86-86. Perry responded with a three-point play with 49 seconds to play for an 89-86 cushion. After Teodosic and Blazic swapped free throws, Hunter got an offensive rebound on a Teodosic missed three-pointer and the ball landed with Belinelli, who tied the game with a triple with 1.9 seconds left to force overtime.

Weems opened the overtime with a three-pointer and Stefan Markovic also hit from deep for his first points and a 91-97 Virtus lead. Muric's three-pointer to get the hosts within 95-98 but Weems drained a triple of his own and added a basket to push the margin to 95-105 with 82 seconds left. Weems finished off Olimpija for good with a three with 30 seconds to play.

Olimpija still can book quarterfinals ticket

Olimpija missed its chance to join Virtus in the quarterfinals from Group G, but could still book its ticket to the next stage if Buducnost VOLI Podgorica loses against JL Bourg en Bresse on Wednesday.

Big second half and OT for Teodosic

Milos Teodosic really stepped up his game after halftime as the Serbian star scored all 14 of his points and dished out 8 of his 12 assists in the second half and overtime.

Telling numbers

Virtus took the rebounding battle 40-33 in picking up 18 second chance points to 7 for Olimpija. Virtus also held Olimpija to just 32.6% shooting on three-pointers.

Next games

Olimpija’s final game of the Top 16 will be at Buducnost VOLI Podgorica on Tuesday, March 9. Virtus ends its Top 16 with a home game against JL Bourg en Bresse the same evening.

Milos Teodosic - Virtus Segafredo Bologna (photo Olimpija) - EC20
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: PASTUSIAK, PIOTR; LAURINAVICIUS, JURGIS; BARTH, BENJAMIN
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234Extra 1
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana221822297
Virtus Segafredo Bologna2316173517
End of Quarter1234Extra 1
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana2240629198
Virtus Segafredo Bologna23395691108
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 RADOVIC, ROK DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3 PERRY, KENDRICK 30:22 15 4/4 0/10 7/9 1 4 5 9 3 1   1 3 6 21
5 HOPKINS, MIKAEL 28:06 4 2/4 0/1   1 4 5       1 1 4   2
7 DUSCAK, DAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 MURIC, EDO 34:38 18 3/5 4/9   2 3 5   1 2     4 1 12
11 BLAZIC, JAKA 37:01 29 4/11 4/10 9/13 2 3 5 3   1   1 1 10 27
15 BROWN, RION 29:51 2 1/2 0/1     2 2 3   2   1 2 1 1
20 HODZIC, ALEN 8:13 2 1/1       1 1           2   1
21 JONES, JARROD 29:53 11 1/1 2/6 3/3   1 1   3 2     2 2 9
23 SCUKA, LUKA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
27 DIMEC, ZIGA 12:18 1     1/2 1 1 2           2 2 2
55 RUPNIK, LUKA 14:38 16 1/1 4/6 2/2   2 2 1 1 3     2 3 16
Team           4 1 5     2         3
Totals 225:00 98 17/29 14/43 22/29 11 22 33 16 8 13 1 4 22 25 94
        58.6% 32.6% 75.9%
Head coach: GOLEMAC, JURICA
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 Segafredo Bologna
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 TESSITORI, AMEDEO 4:49 6 2/2   2/2   1 1 1         3 1 6
3 ABASS, AWUDU 9:14 3   1/1   1 1 2     1 1   3 1 3
6 PAJOLA, ALESSANDRO 7:10 3 1/2 0/1 1/1   1 1 1 1       2 1 3
7 ALIBEGOVIC, AMAR 15:36 11 4/4 1/3     2 2 2   1     2 1 11
9 MARKOVIC, STEFAN 30:58 3 0/1 1/3   1 1 2 6 1 2     1 2 8
11 RICCI, GIAMPAOLO 17:32 8 1/4 2/5   1 6 7 1       1 2   7
14 ADAMS, JOSH 8:19   0/4 0/2     1 1 1   1     1   -6
18 BELINELLI, MARCO 29:29 16 1/2 4/7 2/2   3 3 4   1       3 21
32 HUNTER, VINCE 24:57 14 5/5   4/5 5 5 10 2 1 1 3   4 4 28
34 WEEMS, KYLE 32:04 25 5/6 5/8   1 6 7   2 1     3   26
44 TEODOSIC, MILOS 32:38 14 0/2 2/8 8/8 1 1 2 12 2 6     1 7 22
45 GAMBLE, JULIAN 12:14 5 1/1   3/4   1 1   1 1     3 2 4
Team             1 1               1
Totals 225:00 108 20/33 16/38 20/22 10 30 40 30 8 15 4 1 25 22 134
        60.6% 42.1% 90.9%
Head coach: DJORDJEVIC, SASA

Head Coaches

GOLEMAC, JURICA
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
"Congratulations to Virtus for the win. For sure we had our chances. It’s a bitter taste in our mouths because we had everything in our hands. But in the end, this is sports. They scored tough shots, important shots. And we lost our energy in the overtime. We were not like we were in regulation."
DJORDJEVIC, SASA
Virtus Segafredo Bologna

"It was our mistake to let Olimpija pick up their game, to pick up their transition game and that is why they led at halftime. After that, we were a little bit down emotionally because we knew it was our mistakes. And then an already-lost game, we stepped up playing a strong last 3 minutes. The last 3 minutes is something that every coach can be proud of. I’m proud of my team the way they responded. It was a tough game for us, but we showed character and a lot of personality."

"I think our team needed a game like this to grow, to understand what is needed to win on courts like this against teams like this who know how to play basketball and where to go and how to attack you aggressively. We showed character the last 3 minutes of [regulation], the character we didn’t show in the last 3 minutes of the second quarter. That’s why we allowed Cedevita to come back. Their offensive transition was one of the biggest keys to the game. That’s what they did in the last 3 minutes of the second quarter. And we didn’t close it well. We were up by 14 and it’s something that we should have managed differently and much better. In the end, we showed our character and our personality. We have players who know how to play these kinds of games - obviously. Teodosic found his game offensively. Belinelli also, he made a great shot. I will not say we were not ready, but the game that Rupnik had off the bench was something unusual to their team, that was a big key for their game. In the end, I am proud of the players, proud of the win. Very important for us. We just keep on going.”

Players

RUPNIK, LUKA
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana
"Obviously it was a tough game. We expected it. It was tough mentally and physically. We really gave it all on the court. At the end, we just needed one situation to go in our favor, but it just didn’t happen. In sports, you live for the next day. So tomorrow we will come back to work and the team will be even more solid after that."
WEEMS, KYLE
Virtus Segafredo Bologna
"They’re a really good team. They’re well-coached. They play fast. They have good guards, they have good bigs. They have good role players. We knew it was going to be a tough game. We knew our hands were going to be full tonight. The most important thing is we came out with a win. We let them get their confidence up in the second quarter. We have to be better with that because every point counts in this competition. But I am proud of the way we grinded it out and stuck with it. Not every win is as pretty. Sometimes it has to get ugly. I’m just happy we were able to win this game."