The Italian side got its first win of the season in Round 5
Will Clyburn instrumental as Virtus gets the monkey off its back
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 5 of 34
Group Regular Season
l
w
w
l
l
w
l
l
l
l
In a thriller, Virtus Segafredo Bologna edged Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 69-70 on Tuesday night to secure its second win in as many years at Belgrade Arena, with two-time All-EuroLeague forward Will Clyburn leaving his fingerprints on the contest.
With Virtus' win, all 18 teams competing in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague this season have at least one victory to their name. Since last week, there are no undefeated teams left in the competition. Virtus used defense to keep its chances open in the fourth quarter, limiting Partizan to just 8 points in the final 10 minutes. When it was time to deliver, Clyburn was ready.
He had the most crucial baskets of the game in the final two minutes. Iffe Lundberg hit a three-pointer to give Partizan a 68-66 edge, then Virtus put the ball in the hands of Clyburn, who missed a step-back three-pointer. Matt Morgan grabbed the offensive rebound and found Clyburn all alone under the basket for a layup. Lundberg split free throws at the other end and Partizan got the ball back. Rayjon Tucker collected the all-important steal before Clyburn got the ball and silenced the home crowd with a go-ahead driving layup, which ended up being the final basket of the game.
Clyburn finished the contest with 27 points on 9-of-12 two-pointers, scoring 13 of those in the final 15 minutes. At the end of the game, Clyburn said something that made us double-check what he said.
"I am just happy we got the win. I am pretty sure I have been winless in this building against Partizan, so I am just happy we got the win," Clyburn told EuroLeague TV in a courtside interview. "That's all that matters, we got the win today.
"We were fighting. Obviously there are going to be ups and downs in the game, but it was no point in the game where I felt we were out of it today. Everybody was locked in defensively and it was only a matter of time before we made shots and get back in the game."
Indeed, Clyburn had not enjoyed great results at Belgrade Arena. He played his first-ever EuroLeague game with Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul against Crvena Zvezda MeridianBet Belgrade in the Serbian capital, registering a 70-73 win and scoring 19 points, but the game was played at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall. During his two years at Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Clyburn twice played against Partizan at Belgrade Arena, losing both games.
It gets worse. Clyburn also lost twice at Belgrade Arena at the 2018 Final Four with CSKA Moscow; first against Real Madrid in the semifinals, then again Zalgiris Kaunas in the third-place game. Until tonight, Clyburn was 1-5 in the building. His only victory came with CSKA against Zvezda, 59-85, on November 15, 2017, almost seven years ago.
Clyburn was not the only key contributor for Virtus on Wednesday night as Isaia Cordinier finished the game with 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, recording his first EuroLeague double-double in his 55th game in the competition. Cordinier thinks that playing in front of a such strong atmosphere helped the team get the focus it needed to finally get that elusive first victory.
"First win of the season in the EuroLeague. Coming in, in this special atmosphere, maybe it was the type of game we needed to find ourselves," Cordinier said. "And today we fought until the end. We had a great effort on defense, rebounding the ball and thanks to Will [Clyburn], who scored these big buckets to get the lead down the stretch.
"I want to enjoy the first win of the season. We went through a lot of struggle and kept building, trying to find our chemistry, our identity. And tonight, we found something we can work on and build on for the future."
Cordinier talked about rebounding at the end of the game, and that definitely was one of the keys to his team's win. Virtus outrebounded Partizan 28-34, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds and only allowing the hosts to grab 18 defensive boards. In other words, 45.5% of all rebounds under Partizan's rim went the other way. Virtus grabbed 65.5% of all rebounds under its rim, 19 out of 29.
Virtus is not leaving Italy during the next three rounds as it hosts FC Bayern Munich in Round 6, visits EA7 Emporio Armani Milan in Round 7 and plays at home again against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv in Round 8. It should be a good test for Virtus, which started the 2023-24 campaign with a 5-1 record but is 1-4 so far this season. At least it got the monkey off its back and notched its first win in Round 5.