2020-21Regular SeasonRound 10
December 16, 2020 CET: 20:30
Local time: 20:30 VIRTUS SEGAFREDO ARENA

Virtus outlasts Antwerp to stay perfect

Top 16-bound Virtus Segafredo Bologna remained the only undefeated team in the 7DAYS EuroCup by adding a 92-73 home win on Wednesday against already-eliminated Telenet Giants Antwerp. The victory lifted Virtus to 9-0 with one game pending in Regular Season Group C, while Antwerp dropped to 1-9. Amar Alibegovic led the winners with 16 points and 6 rebounds, Kyle Weems added 14 and Awudu Abass and Josh Adams had 11 points apiece. For Antwerp, Vrenz Bleijenbergh and Ibrahima Faye scored 14 points each, Vincent Kesteloot posted 13 and David Dudzinski had 12.


Giampaolo Ricci's three-pointer launched Virtus to a 7-1 lead, but the guests managed to rally and stay close until Stephaun Branch went for the steal and slam to make it 13-12 midway through the first quarter. With 7 turnovers for Virtus and 6 for Antwerp in minute 7, the score struggled to climb. Milos Teodosic stepped on court then to give Virtus some more offense smoothness as the lead climbed to 26-21 after Amar Alibegovic's put-back. A beautiful assist from Teodosic to Awudu Abass for three made it 31-23 early in the second quarter. Bleijenbergh and David Dudzinski nailed threes to keep Antwerp in the mix, but Adams replied swiftly to keep the hosts ahead 40-29 and steadily running away. In the final stretch of the first half, Virtus soared on a 12-0 run that made it 57-38 at halftime. Amedeo Tessitori and Faye traded nifty moves in the paint to launch the second half, as Antwerp's busier defense let their offense run a tad better, getting within 66-53 after Dennis Donkor's three. The same difference stood after 30 minutes, 73-59. In the last period, Alibegovic lifted Virtus anew as the hosts built a solid lead again. Free throws by Abass made it a 20-point game, 87-67, and that sealed the outcome, letting the hosts give young forward Lapo Galli his EuroCup debut in the last 2 minutes. Virtus keeps at its quest to end the regular season undefeated, with one game pending scheduled for December 22.

Did you know?

Virtus is 9-0 and is the only undefeated team remaining in the competition. If the team manages to win its last game, rescheduled for December 22 against MoraBanc Andorra, which just booked a Top 16 ticket this week, it will be the first time ever for the club to finish the regular season with no losses.

Stellar stat

For the second time this season, Virtus managed to dish more than 30 assists in a game. On October 21, the Black V dished 32 against AS Monaco, and now it had 31 against Antwerp, 19 of them in the first half. Veteran playmakers Stefan Markovic and Milos Teodosic combined for 15 of them. Only one other team, Bahcesehir Koleji Istanbul, managed to reach the 30 assists in a game this season.

Welcome to the big stage, Lapo

With 1 minute and 39 seconds to go in the game, Kyle Weems sealed a good performance with a three-point play that lifted him to 14 points. He went to the bench and was substituted by 17-year-old Lapo Galli, who was making his 7DAYS EuroCup debut. Galli is one of the finer prospects to come out from the youth teams of Virtus and even if he could not score in his debut despite trying a three, it will hopefully be the first step in a long European career. Welcome Lapo!

Kyle Weems - Virtus Segafredo Bologna (photo Virtus - Giulia Pesino) - EC20
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: ALIAGA, JORDI; TRAWICKI, TOMASZ; THEPENIER, HUGUES
Attendance: 0
By Quarter1234
Virtus Segafredo Bologna26311619
Telenet Giants Antwerp21172114
End of Quarter1234
Virtus Segafredo Bologna26577392
Telenet Giants Antwerp21385973
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 14:04 8 4/6       1 1   2       3 1 7
1 DERI, LORENZO 4:26   0/2           2   1     2   -3
3 ABASS, AWUDU 25:17 11 2/2 1/2 4/4   4 4 4 4 2 1   4 3 20
7 ALIBEGOVIC, AMAR 23:20 16 6/6 0/1 4/4 3 3 6     4     2 4 19
9 MARKOVIC, STEFAN 23:52 5 1/2 1/2     4 4 9 2 2 1   2 1 16
11 RICCI, GIAMPAOLO 16:40 9 0/2 3/5     2 2 3 1       1 1 11
14 ADAMS, JOSH 23:43 11 4/5 1/3     1 1 2 1 3     1 1 9
17 GALLI, LAPO GIACOMO 1:39     0/1                     1  
32 HUNTER, VINCE 11:01 7 3/5   1/1   2 2 2 4 1     1 2 13
34 WEEMS, KYLE 20:01 14 5/5 1/4 1/1   3 3 2 2 3 2   1 1 17
44 TEODOSIC, MILOS 21:02 3 0/2 0/2 3/3   3 3 6 1 3       1 7
45 GAMBLE, JULIAN 14:55 8 4/4   0/2   3 3 1   2     3 4 9
Team           1   1     1          
Totals 200:00 92 29/41 7/20 13/15 4 26 30 31 17 22 4 0 20 20 125
        70.7% 35% 86.7%
Head coach: DJORDJEVIC, SASA
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
Telenet Giants Antwerp
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 BRANCH, STEPHAUN 23:06 7 2/7 1/2 0/2 2 3 5 3 2 6   2 4 2 -1
2 JENKINS, JALEN 14:31 6 1/4 0/1 4/4   2 2 1 2 1     5 3 4
9 VAN DEN EYNDE, NIELS 14:37 2 1/2 0/2     2 2 4   3   1 1 1 1
11 DE RIDDER, THIJS 1:30                              
12 BLEIJENBERGH, VRENZ 29:09 14 1/1 4/9     2 2 5 1 6     4 2 9
13 DE RIDDER, NIELS 6:18   0/1 0/1     1 1     2     1 1 -3
22 KESTELOOT, VINCENT 29:08 13 2/3 3/4   1   1   1 2     1 2 12
23 DUDZINSKI, DAVID 29:42 12 0/1 3/4 3/4 2 4 6 1   1     1 3 17
28 FAYE, IBRAHIMA 29:29 14 6/11 0/2 2/3 3 3 6 1 2 3   1 1 4 14
32 DONKOR, DENNIS 22:30 5 1/3 1/2     1 1 2   1     2 2 4
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 73 14/33 12/27 9/13 9 19 28 17 8 25 0 4 20 20 59
        42.4% 44.4% 69.2%
Head coach: BEGHIN, CHRISTOPHE

Head Coaches

DJORDJEVIC, SASA
Virtus Segafredo Bologna
"I think that in the first half we showed a great defensive attitude. We had 19 assists and more than 10 turnovers, I believe. That was the desire to play together. We should have taken more care of the ball, but the game is like that. It was the time for some other players to step on the court and show what they have."
BEGHIN, CHRISTOPHE
Telenet Giants Antwerp
"We knew coming here it would be a very difficult game against such a tough team as Virtus. I think we played solid in the first half, 17-18 minutes, but in the last minutes we had many turnovers in a row and that gave them a real boost. In the second half we came out with another mentality, we took care of the ball and went down to 11 points. But against such a team if you make a couple mistakes they punish you right away. I am proud of the guys because we never gave up today and for our domestic league it's good to have that kind of mentality. Congratulations to Virtus, I think they can go really far in this competition."

Players

ABASS, AWUDU
Virtus Segafredo Bologna
"It's great thing that if we won every game it means that we have a very good team with very good people. We try to play better every time, we try to get better and this is the way. This is the way to keep going and reach for our goals."
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