Virtus rolls through Andorra, 66-82

Virtus Segafredo Bologna stayed perfect and extracted some revenge by running down host MoraBanc Andorra 66-82 in Group C on Tuesday. Virtus lifted its record to 3-0 and dropped MoraBanc's to 1-2 almost a year after the result was the opposite on the same floor. MoraBanc led this time by as many as 9 points in the early going, but a 10-29 second-quarter onslaught led by Milos Teodosic put Virtus in charge the rest of the way. Teodosic scored 21 points and dished 6 assists for Virtus. Amar Alibegovic and Julian Gamble followed him with 16 points each. David Jelinek led MoraBanc with 15 points while newcomer Tomasz Gielo had 12 and Sergi Garcia a career-high 10.

Gamble went inside for the visitors' first 4 points but Garcia did him one better and assisted both Jeremy Singlen and Jelinek on triples as MoraBanc surged in front 13-4. Adams, Kyle Weems and Giampalo Ricci shot Virtus back to within 15-11. Alibegovic added a triple and a hook shot for the visitors but with 5 free throws by Haukur Palsson and Oriol Pauli, MoraBanc led 20-16 after 10 minutes. Midway through the second quarter, Teodosic hit 3 layups and a triple as Virtus surged to a 28-33 lead. Virtus continued for a 0-11 run to lead 28-37. Vince Hunter and Weems kept it going until a second blocked dunk by Josh Adams led to the former beating the buzzer for whopping 30-45 Virtus lead at the half. Gamble and Alibegovic combined for the first 7 points after the break as the lead soared to 22 points, 30-52. Despite MoraBanc dropping some threes, after missing 21 in a row, to get within 40-53, Teodosic answered with 5 points and an alley-oop assist to Hunter to make it 40-60. MoraBanc followed Gielo and Jelinek on a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to 52-67 after 30 minutes. Teodosic and Jelinek traded triples to open the final quarter, but there would be no comebacks as Adams, Teodosic, Gamble and Alibegovic kept the pedal on the metal and the lead hovering around 20 points all the way to the finish.

Teo comes alive

Teodosic bided his time until midway through the second quarter when he quickly amassed 11 points and an assists in just over 3 minutes as the scoreboard flipped from 26-22 for MoraBanc to 28-35 for Virtus. The visitors never trailed again

The lid closed

MoraBanc made its first 3 three-pointers and wasn't shy about trying more, but the next 21 refused to fall in until Jeremy Senglin finally dropped one at the 7:24 mark of the third quarter, by which time Virtus had taken full control of the scoreboard. The hosts ended up making 10 of 44 triples. Those 44 attempts tied for the highest total in a non-overtime game in EuroCup history, matching Unicaja Malaga's 44 in December of 2018.

Stellar stat

In part because of MoraBanc's injuries in the frontcourt, but also due to its own great passing, Virtus had astounding two-point shooting. The visitors finished the game having made 24 of 35 shots inside the arc for a 68.6% rate that was not only a club record but the best in the competition so far this season.

Stepping in

MoraBanc, due to its injury woes, picked up 27-year-old forward just in time for him to arrive to Andorra and practice on the morning of the game. He celebrated his EuroCup debut with 12 points and 4 rebounds in 19 minutes of play.

Next up

MoraBanc travels for Round 4 to meet a former EuroCup champion in Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar on Wednesday. On the same night, Virtus will host AS Monaco, the only other Group C team to start 2-0.