Virtus Segafredo Bologna held serve at home to even the Italian League finals with a 75-68 victory over visiting AX Armani Exchange Milan on Friday. Tornike Shengelia poured in 22 points for the winners, while Mam Jaiteh had a double-double of 11 points, 10 rebounds. Marco Belinelli added 10 points for Virtus. Devon Hall had 16 points and Shavon Shields 15 for Milan.
Milan stormed to an early 4-13 advantage behind 5 points from Shields before Jaiteh helped Virtus reel it back. Free throws by Shields and Hall kept the hosts from taking the lead, and the latter's late and-one conversion meant a 17-23 Milan lead after 10 minutes. Bellineli's 8 points in less than 2 minutes of the second quarter got Virtus ahead 29-26, but the hosts eventually needed a triple by Milos Teodosic for a 38-38 halftime tie. Virtus took its biggest lead at 47-40 on 5 consecutive points by Shengelia midway through the third quarter, but Shields and Hall fired Milan back to withing 55-54 after 30 minutes. Amar Alibegovic and Alessandro Pajola added 4 free throws to the Virtus lead before Shields closed the gap to 62-59 from deep. Jaiteh's 4 points in a row and a basket by Pajola lifted Virtus up 68-61 with 3 minutes left. Shengelia stepped in with 4 quick points around a triple by Sergio Rodriguez for Milan as Virtus's defense held on to even the series 1-1.
FC Barcelona will defend its Spanish league title after winning its second game in a row on the court of Joventut Badalona, 60-63 on Friday, to win their semifinal series 3-1. Barca will meet archrival Real Madrid in the best-of-five finals starting on Monday. Nikola Mirotic powered Barca with 20 points and 7 rebounds, while Cory Higgins added 13 points and Nick Calathes 12. Ante Tomic had 15 points and Derek Willis 14 for Joventut.
Joel Parra and Tomic worked inside to put Joventut up early while Calathes and Mirotic put up 11 points to keep Barcelona in step. Free throws from Pau Ribas meant a 14-13 lead after one quarter for the hosts. Parra and Ferran Bassas filled a 10-0 start to the second quarter that ballooned Joventut's lead to 24-13. Higgins had the only 2 baskets in Barca's six-point second quarter, the last with 2:43 left as Joventut stayed up 28-19 at the half. Calathes, Higgins and Mirotic scored the first 6 points after the break to signal Barca's comeback. Mirotic would tie it 34-34 before Higgins hit from long range for a lead change that the visiitors held onto, 39-40, after 30 minutes. Brandon Davies broke a 43-43 tie in the fourth quarter and Mirotic's 5 points in a row soon made it 46-54 for Barca. Willis suddenly unloaded 8 points to get Joventut within 54-56 with 2 minutes left. After Tomic tied for the hosts, Calathes answered and Barca stayed strong the rest of the way to win the series 3-1.
