The Baskonia dies on the shore in Bologna
Pablo Laso’s men fall to Virtus in a heart-stopping finale and move away from the ‘PlayIn’ zone
MADRID, 10 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Baskonia fell this Friday against Virtus Bologna (76-74) in the twentieth day of the Regular Phase of the Euroleague, a match in which Pablo Laso’s men managed to overcome a 16-point deficit after a blackout after the break but they were left in a very tight finale, which leaves them far from the ‘PlayIn’ zone.
With the score at 76-74 with just a few seconds remaining, American guard Trent Forrest was able to send the game to overtime, but he missed both of his free throws. In the subsequent jump won by the Vitorians, the Greek forward Nikos Rogkavopoulos, the best of the Baskonistas with 13 points and a PIR of 21, looked for the triple for the victory, but the shot did not go in.
Without three important men such as point guard Markus Howard, power forward Tadas Sedekerskis and guard Kamar Baldwin, the Basque team was reunited at the Virtus Segafredo Arena with an old man known as Dusko Ivanovic, who also lamented the losses of former Baskon player Toko Shengelia , Will Clyburn and Ante Zizic.
Despite the absences, Pablo Laso’s men managed to stop the Virtus attack, led by Isaïa Cordinier who finished the first quarter with nine points, and they gained their advantage by forcing free throws. All eight shots from the personal line in that period went in, and the good work on defense allowed them to have a six-point advantage at the end of the quarter (14-20).
The distance reached up to nine points in favor of the Vitorians, who began to lose it when a former Buesa Arena player, Achille Polonara, managed to stretch. The ten goals from the Italian forward, undefendable both in outside shooting and penetration, brought the transalpines closer.
In addition, the Baskonista team missed free kicks and began to suffer losses in the inside game. Only the six points from French forward Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot helped them stay ahead at halftime (37-38), but the movie changed as soon as they returned from the locker room.
American point guard Matt Morgan took command at the restart; His were the first seven points, with a triple and two consecutive baskets, of the impressive quarter with which Ivanovic’s team managed to turn the game around: 18-2. The Vitorian team, unable to close on the rebound and without ideas in attack, could not find solutions.
The North American Trent Forrest broke the drought (55-42) and little by little, as the third quarter advanced, the Baskonista team seemed to react to reverse a situation that left them 16 points behind. A triple by Greek forward Nikos Rogkavopoulos, at the end of the quarter, and two baskets by Croatian Luka Samanic at the start of the final quarter sealed a 7-0 that returned the excitement to the duel (59-58).
Five points from Luwawu-Cabarrot offered the initiative to Baskonia (62-63) at the beginning of a dance of two shots that distributed the advantages in the exciting final stretch. An unsportsmanlike foul called on the Frenchman allowed Morgan, from the free throw line, to advance Virtus, who went four ahead with a triple by Polonara that forced Laso to call a timeout (71-67).
Baskonia kept trying until the end, tight after a hit by Andrejs Grazulis in the face of Donta Hall, who ended up bleeding, allowed Forrest to make it 76-74 with 30 seconds remaining. Next, Grazulis’ three-point attempt did not go in and on the subsequent possession Forrest received a foul that opened the opportunity to tie from the personal line.
The American missed the first and tried to miss the second, although the main referees called for a fight. With only two seconds left, Rogkavopoulos looked for the triple, but it didn’t go in, and Laso’s team suffered their second consecutive defeat in the continental competition. Thus, they remain fifteenth with a balance of 8-12, far from the 11-9 scored by Bayern Munich, the last of the teams in the ‘PlayIn’ zone.
TECHNICAL SHEET.
–RESULT: VIRTUS BOLONIA, 76 – BASKONIA, 74 (37-38, at halftime).
–TEAMS:
VIRTUS BOLONIA: Cordinier (16), Pajola (5), Grazulis (13), Morgan (17) and Polonara (15) –starting quintet–; Belinelli (4), Visconti (-), Hackett (3), Diouf (3) and Akele (-).
BASKONIA: Forrest (10), Raieste (-), Luwawu-Cabarrot (11), Moneke (6) and Hall (10) –starting quintet–; Jaramaz (8), Rogkavopoulos (13), Diop (-), N’Diaye (-) and Samanic (16).
–PARTIALS: 14-20, 23-18, 22-16 and 17-20.
— ARBITRATOR: Pukl, Ryzhyk y Obrknezevic.
–PAVILLION: Virtus Segafredo Arena.