Virtus Segafredo Bologna defeated visiting Lietkabelis Panevezys 75-67 on Wednesday night and will face ratiopharm Ulm in the quarterfinals.
Virtus holds off Lietkabelis, 75-67
Despite enjoying a 14-point advantage early in the third quarter, the hosts had to use a strong defensive display in the fourth, in which the visitors were held to just 10 points in the opening 9 minutes, to confirm the win. Mam Jaiteh led the way for the winners with 20 points in just 21 minutes on 9-of-10 shooting from the field. Kyle Weems had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals and Jakarr Sampson contributed 11 points. Gediminas Orelik and Nikola Radicevic were Lietkabelis’s top scorers with 12 apiece.
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Lietkabelis used the three-point line as its main weapon in the early going with Orelik and Kristupas Zemaitis burying back-to-back triples that boosted the visitors to a 2-8 advantage. The hosts reacted in style with a 14-0 run in which Weems had 6 points to turn the tables and go ahead 16-8 after 5 minutes. The trend was interrupted by a timeout and so was Virtus’s scoring. Sampson was the only Virtus man able to score from then on, while Orelik and Vytenis Lipkevicius chained together a couple of threes, the last one from three-quarters court on the first-quarter buzzer to make it 18-14.
Sampson brought the home team back to the scoring ways by providing 5 points in a row right after the game resumed. Kevin Hervey joined in and Marco Belinelli added 3 free throws to build a double-digit lead, 28-18, soon after. Lietkabelis did not give up, though, as Zemaitis, Djordje Gagic, Panagiotis Kalaitzakis and Orelik combined in a 2-10 run that brought the visitors within 30-28. A three-point play by Jaiteh and a strong dun by Weems kept Virtus in charge, 36-30, and it was 39-34 at the break.
Virtus started at full throttle after the break, as Daniel Hackett opened fire with a three and then Jaiteh and Tornike Shengelia combined to cap a 9-0 run and expand the margin to 48-34. Dovydas Giedraitis stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer, but that ended up as the only field goal made by Lietkabelis in the first 5 minutes. Free throws by Nikola Radicevic and a layup by Kalaitzakis were enough for Virtus to stop the game at 50-41. Gabrielius Maldunas and Radicevic came up big and reduced the margin to 52-50. Lietkabelis couldn’t go further because Hervey contributed a three-point play and Belinelli scored from the line to sustain a 56-52 edge for Virtus entering the last stanza.
Lipkevicius made it 56-55 with a corner three, but Belinelli showed up with consecutive buckets to keep Virtus’s lead safe. Sampson added another to extend it to 62-56 with 6 minutes to go and, even though Orelik made his fourth triple of the night, the visitors went through a 2-minute scoring drought that allowed Virtus to escape to 68-59 when Weems capped a 6-0 spurt with a corner three. Lietkabelis tried to get closer from the line, but it proved too short when Jaiteh dunked for a 71-62 lead entering crunch time. Radicevic tried to keep the visitors’ chances alive, but Hackett followed with a couple of free throws and Jaiteh scored inside to secure the outcome.