Bologna, June 16, 2022 – La Virtus Segafredo Bologna cancels the first match point of the Armani AX Milano championship by winning game 5 of the championship finals 84-78. The bianconeri were the protagonists of a game of great substance sealed by the great tests under the scoreboards of Mouhammadou Jaiteh (17 points and 13 rebounds put on the farm for the most part in the first half) e Shengelia shop who, despite a feverish attack suffered in the last few hours, once again showed great solidity in the area, closing with 15 points, 11 of which were signed in the second half. Fundamental, however, also the contributions of Hackett, Belinelli, Teodosic and Cordinier who, although not reaching the double figure, guaranteed quality on the exteriors. The bianconeri started with the turbo engaged and reached +13 at the end of the first quarter. Milan still had the merit of not letting go of the match and slowly, relying on Nicolò Melli (20 points), Kyle Hines (15 points) e Sergio Rodriguez (16 points and 6 assists), he made a comeback that culminated in overtaking in the fourth quarter. A technician in Melli less than 3 ‘from the end, however, again turned the inertia of the match bringing him towards Virtus who closed the accounts with the spectacular plays of Shengelia and Cordinier.
The race
Virtus got off to a good start, putting in great intensity, looking for the heart of the area and finding it with Weems and Hackett putting the first Bianconeri points on the farm (10-4). When Jaiteh also rises with blows, the Bolognese advantage grows up to +7 (15-8). On the opposite side, however, Milan tries to stay in the wake with Shields and Hall but misses a lot in the close-range shot, in defense it concedes too much in the internal game and with three points in a row by Sampson even slips to -13 at the peak of a 9-0 (21-8). The partial is interrupted by Melli with three important plays but the lengths of delay for Olimpia at the sound of the first siren are still thirteen because on the umpteenth assist from Teodosic he scores the ninth personal point in the fourth, to which he also adds five rebounds . Milan tries to react at the dawn of the second quarter but temporarily loses Shields who comes out of the field limping: it is Chacho Rodriguez who tries to load his shoulders, bringing them back from -14 – reached with the triple from Cordinier’s corner – to -7 (28-21) forcing Scariolo to take refuge in a timeout.
The minute of suspension does not affect the confidence found by Olimpia who extends the partial to 10-0 with a triple from Hall for the red and white -4 (28-24). Jaiteh’s floater and Shengelia’s entry make the “black Vs” breathe again, returning to +8 (36-28). At 3’30 ”from the interval, the spirits heat up a bit with a double technical to Grant and Weems who thus reaches the three personal and is forced to return to the bench. Thus we enter the final straight of the first half and the sprint smiles on the guests who, despite an unleashed Jaiteh (8/8 initial shooting, 17 points and 8 rebounds in the first 20 ‘), manage to narrow the gap only five lengths thanks also to an unsportsmanlike suffered by Melli (42-37).
Virtus comes out well from the locker room and scores an 8-2 signed inspired by Hackett who, together with Shengelia and Cordinier, brings them back in double figures (50-39). Olimpia is forced to stop to rearrange their ideas, but when the Milanese return to the field it rains in the wet with Bentil’s fourth foul, third in just over 3 ‘. Virtus seems to have fully returned to having the inertia of the match in their hands but risks complicating life a bit with two technicians in an amen which, combined with Melli’s free throws, bring Armani back to a single figure behind (54-45 ). Rodriguez from the corner hits the triple of the potential -6 outside. Hines takes care of it with a personal 4-0 to keep him in the slipstream, who at 3 ‘from the penultimate siren find the same gap at the end of the first half (57-52). Scariolo tries to stop the bleeding with a timeout but Milan returns to only one late possession (57-54). The Juventus response is entrusted to Pajola and Belinelli who with a jumper and a bomb once again lengthen the elastic of the virtussino advantage (62-54). The Armani managed to resist even this mini-shoulder and to score a 4-0 for the -4 to 10 ‘from the end. The break is extended at the opening of the fourth quarter with Grant’s four-legged game which is worth the Milanese parity at 62-62 and the subsequent theft of the red and white ball culminating in Hines’ hand which is even worth the external overtaking (62-64).
Yet another break of the evening goes up to 10-0 and is stopped by the basket and additional free by Belinelli. For Olimpia, things are further complicated with the exit from the field due to another problem in Shields’ ankle who gets furious and also gets the technician. Hines labeled the guest replica but on the other hand Belinelli was unleashed and the new +3 Bolognese branded, however, was canceled by Rodriguez’s five consecutive points who labeled the Armani counter-overtake. The head-to-head is tight and the turning point of the match comes less than 3 ‘from the end when Melli is whistled by a technician: Teodosic does not miss the free throw and on the following possession from the corner comes the triple from Shengelia that pushes his team on. 80-75. Grant fails the triple of -2 and Shields is blocked on the counterattack by Shengelia and then also fails one of the two free throws earned in the following action. Marco Belinelli, on the other hand, does not miss a shot in the line and with an icy two out of two puts the seal on Juventus’ success.