Alston, Vildoza, and Edwards deliver late heroics as Virtus rewrites history in Bologna
Virtus vanquishes Zalgiris to snap historic losing streak
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 20 of 38
Regular Season
Virtus BolognaVIR
8379
Zalgiris KaunasZAL
Overview
w
w
l
l
w
l
w
l
w
l
Virtus Bologna finally broke a 19-year curse. After eight consecutive losses to Zalgiris Kaunas, the Italian powerhouse ended the drought with an 83-79 home victory in Round 20 of the EuroLeague Regular Season. The last time Virtus beat Zalgiris was back in October 2007 — Alan Anderson scored 28 points that night, and current Virtus forward Saliou Niang was just three years old.
This win wasn’t just about history; it was about resilience. Virtus led most of the way, but when Zalgiris clawed back to tie the game at 74-74 late in the fourth quarter, the hosts refused to fold. Derrick Alston Jr. and Luca Vildoza combined for 7 crucial points in crunch time, and Carsen Edwards iced the game from the free-throw line to seal a statement victory.
Several players stepped up during the game. Matt Morgan scored 13 of his 15 points in the first quarter to set the tone. Edwards, Alston, and Vildoza carried Virtus throughout, while Niang impressed with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 7 rebounds – including 5 on the offensive end – for a PIR of 15.
"Coach told me that I needed to go for offensive rebounds, because I can give energy and more opportunities to the team. And that's what I did tonight," Niang said. I'm very happy to help my teammates, and I'm also happy for the win."
For Zalgiris, Nigel Williams-Goss, Sylvain Francisco, Moses Wright, and Azuolas Tubelis all posted PIRs of 20 or higher, but the rest of the team combined for just 3 PIR.
Virtus remained rock-solid at home. Coach Dusko Ivanovic's team has won eight of its 10 games in several venues around Bologna, always pushed by thousands of diehard fans. With the team back at Virtus Arena, the home-court advantage is even stronger now.
"I remember I talked to Dani [Hackett] this morning and he said, 'I don't know, we've never beaten Zalgiris in EuroLeague'. So, we both unanimously said, we got to get one today. So, that was just the focus, trying to go there and get a win," Alston said after the game. "We just played super hard tonight and I felt like we stayed focused throughout the end. Even, it got close to the end, we stayed with it and got a win."
Virtus now has an opportunity to both win on the road and give itself a winning record. It faces Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens in the Greek capital in Round 21 before playing on the road at Dubai Basketball in Round 22.
