Teodosic delivers Virtus past Monaco

In a contest with first place in Group A at stake, Segafredo Virtus Bologna bested AS Monaco 77-75 at the PalaDozza. Virtus rallied from a double-digit deficit to win it on the buzzer thanks to Mikos Teodosic, who shined with 24 points and 7 assists for the victors. Frank Gaines added 12 points and Julian Gamble scored 11. For Monaco, Jaleel O’Brien had 22 points and Yakuba Ouattara scored 11.

Gaines started well for Virtus as the home side grabbed a 10-7 lead midway through the first quarter. Monaco was not going anywhere though as Dylan Ennis made it 10-9. Virtus edged back in front though with a three from Teodosic to make it 14-11. After a lengthy delay, Teodosic hit a couple of free throws to turn that into a 17-13 lead. A circus shot from Wilfried Yeguete followed by a free throw made that 19-17, which is how that first quarter ended. Monaco led to start the second quarter with the first three-pointer of the game. It was Yakuba Ouattara with the finish to leave the score 19-20. Bologna built a healthy lead midway through the second as Julan Gamble scored to make it 27-22. Monaco clawed its way back, 27-26. After a couple of misses from both sides, Teodosic landed a big three. Bologna, in the ascendency, led 32-26. Monaco refused to lie down and a three from Ouattara followed by a Dee Bost layup left it 32-21 late in the second. Teodosic had another three with time expiring and it was all square at the break at 35-35.

Monaco scored the first 7 points of the half to retake the lead 35-42. Giampaolo Ricci responded with a three to get Virtus off the mark for the second half and it was 38-42. They turned that into a 43-51 lead as they opened up some daylight between the two teams. Virtus wasn’t in the business of quitting though and got it back to 50-53 with a quarter left to play. That became 50-60 as Virtus start to flag at the start of the second. It was having no joy from distance and Monaco was suffocating the hosts inside. Teodosic landed another three when it looked like Monaco was going to run away with it to get it back to 56-64. Filippo Baldi Rossi followed that up with a three and Virtus's tail was up. It was 59-64. Markovic scored another and it was suddenly 62-67 with 4 minutes to play. Teodosic was at it again and he turned it into a 66-68 game with his third three in the final quarter. Monaco seemed to be running out of steam. They traded scores with Gaines and O’Brien finishing to leave the score 68-72. Hunter landed a score and it was 70-72 with just over a minute to play. Markovic hit the go-ahead score from three and it was suddenly on Monaco to go and win it. With seconds left on the clock, it was 73-72. Yeguete hit a free throw to level things and then missed the second one and it was all square. Teodosic was fouled and he hit both free throws and it to leave it 75-73 and that looked to be the game. There were just seconds to go, but O’Brien matched Teodosic’s effort with his own two. There was less than a second to go and it looked like it was heading to overtime. But Teodosic won it 77-75 with the most improbable finish after a night of many twists.

Player of the game

Milos Teodosic was incredible throughout. He scored 24 points including some pivotal scores in the final quarter - including the deciding points at the end. He chipped in with 7 assists too.

Did you notice?

Teodosic hit 3 triples in the first three quarters as Virtus struggled to find its range. He hit the same amount in the final 10 minutes to end the quarter with 11 points and those all-important points to win the game for the home side.

Stat of the night

Virtus’s shooting from beyond the arc was not good for the opening three quarters. They hit 4 in those first three quarters. They hit 6 threes in the final 10 minutes with Teodosic leading the way with 3.

Next game

AS Monaco is on the road again to play MoraBanc Andorra on Tuesday, November 5. Bologna will welcome ratiopharm Ulm the next day.